History Main / RedemptionEqualsDeath

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', [[spoiler:Gemini Saga kills himself after his good side regains control of his body, believing the only way of redeeming himself after what he's done to Athena and his fellow Saints is death]].
* ''Manga/HaouAiren'': Hakuron, as he dies in the last volume. It ''really'' depends on your view of him.
* ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'': Mamiina starts as the AlphaBitch, tries to kill a teammate, grows into a responsible {{true companion|s}}, gets the love and respect she wants, and dies in a HeroicSacrifice.
* ''Manga/SailorMoon''. The manga version of Sailor Galaxia realizes she was manipulated by Chaos and wanted love rather than conquest immediately before her death.
** Nephrite turned his back on the Dark Kingdom for the sake of Naru and their growing relationship...and then gave up his life to protect her from Zoisite's youma.
* [[spoiler:Both Mdlock and Ralph]] in ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry''. [[spoiler:Ralph sets Medlock's [[HoistByHisOwnPetard own Tumor robots]] to tear her apart once she defects to the Union. Ralph's has more in common with a HeroicSacrifice, although he is killed by Sara for his crime instead of jumping in to save her or anything. As The Gloire is about to blow up, he looks at his musical pendant and tells Sara to take care of the Emilys.]]
* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', it happens to [[spoiler:just about every first season villain. Gakuto (Gaito, if you're watching the anime) is doomed to be crushed by or sealed inside [[NoOntologicalInertia his own castle]], and the Dark Lovers stay by his side; Sara, seeing the damage she's done, goes voluntarily with him]]. (Strangely enough, the actual dying only happens in the anime, which is generally the more child-friendly version.) [[spoiler:Then there are Mimi and Sheshe, who were actually redeemed in the anime -- in the manga, it's debatable. They get offed by Michel.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FatalFury The Motion Picture'', Laocorn instantly feels remorse for his sister's death, realizes he was being used all along, and then saves Mai at the cost of his own life, all in about three minutes.
* Many times in ''Manga/DragonBallZ'', but most would fall under HeroicSacrifice, with the notable exception of Piccolo's death at the turning point of the climactic battle of the Saiyan Saga. This is an example as he had been training his ex-archenemy's son for the previous year, and showed more kindness to him than anyone before.
** Partly averted in the case of [[spoiler:Vegeta's HeroicSacrifice when fighting against Buu after he betrayed his TrueCompanions to become a Majin and beat Goku]]. This might redeem him in the eyes of most of the human characters, but [[spoiler:King Yemma sees things differently and [[HeelFaceDoorSlam sends him to Hell for his previous crimes]]]].
** It should be noted that [[DeathIsCheap death is rarely permanent in]] ''[[DeathIsCheap DBZ]]''.
*** Although none of the villains (who stay evil) are ever wished back. The only two times anyone has ever considered it were Nappa asking Vegeta if they should wish Raditz back to life, and Garlic Jr. planning on collecting the Dragonballs to wish his father Garlic (who is dead before the first episode, probably before Dragonball itself) back to life. The closest to an exception is [[spoiler:Kid Buu who is reincarnated as Uub, who fortunately is good and not evil]].
** How does Piccolo's death ''not'' fall under HeroicSacrifice? He specifically threw himself in front of an energy blast meant for Gohan, but rather than doing it purely out of good, he saw Gohan as an extension of Goku, and saving the most treasured aspect of Goku's life is a form of repentance.
** Android 16, despite being an intended weapon of mass destruction, is the only one to step in to save tremendously outmatched Gohan in his fight with Cell.
** And in Dabura's case, it's more like Death Equals Redemption: not only because dying released him from Babidi's control, but because he was [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment sent to heaven because King Yemma thought he would enjoy hell]].
* [[spoiler:Teresa of the Faint Smile]] in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', both on a personal level (recovering her human emotions) and on a ConspiracyRedemption level.
* [[spoiler:Almost ''everyone'']] in ''End of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' dies after attempting a ConspiracyRedemption.
** Although not a villain herself, [[ApocalypseMaiden Rei]] redeems her previous unflinching subservience to morally nebulous [[KnightTemplar Gendo]] when she defies him and leaves the fate of the world in Shinji's hands. She dies sometime afterwards.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' is full of this trope, both on a 'redemption for evil' and 'trying to redeem themselves of their part of a conspiracy' level. [[spoiler:Havoc]] is a prime example of the former (dying after recovering her Contractor powers, yet managing to retain her humanity and thus not use them), while [[spoiler:November 11]] is a prime example of the latter (and he takes his "conspiring to kill him" superior with him).
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' seems to take great delight in showing how many of the show's villains and side characters are only flawed human beings with their own drives, problems and emotions and not soulless monsters... [[spoiler:Most of them, in showing their human sides or by righting their previous flaws and sins, are killed by Johan shortly after.]] Even nearly dying doesn't redeem the titular Monster, however.
** In fact, in what may be a subversion of this trope, nearly dying makes him ''worse''. Near the end, [[spoiler:his sister comes to believe that if she had forgiven him at that juncture instead of shooting him in the head, Johan may have stopped killing at that point. It's debatable whether his second near death experience, his sister's later forgiveness, and (above all) Tenma's saving him again (despite knowing what a monster he was this time) had any effect on him, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism but we can always hope]]]].
* Variation: In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Suzaku ''[[DeathSeeker thinks]]'' that Redemption Equals Death; having never been punished for the [[spoiler: murder of his father at the age of 10]], he throws himself into battles with the hope of being killed and redeeming himself, which has the side effect of making him look like a brave, heroic KnightInShiningArmor. [[spoiler:The loving irony of this is that Lelouch eventually puts a "Live" Geass on Suzaku, so as to save himself when Suzaku tries to throw away both their lives under orders. This makes it impossible for Suzaku to willingly sacrifice himself for any reason, as he is now supernaturally hardwired to survive at any cost despite his emotional torture. It gets even worse for him when he learns about the command.]]
** Played straight, however, with [[spoiler:Rolo, who died saving Lelouch's life. Also overlaps with AlasPoorScrappy because some ''really'' bad screw ups made him one of the most hated characters in the series, but lots of people cried for him after his HeroicSacrifice. The sad music and speech really helped]].
** Invoked with [[spoiler:Lelouch, who incorporates his own death into his plan to bring peace to the world to atone for all the terrible things he's had to do to get to that point]]. The [[AllThereInTheManual Official Guide Book]] points out that [[spoiler:Suzaku is punished by having to continue living instead of dying per his wish, while Lelouch's death forever separates him from Nunnally]]. Lelouch had other options on the table, such as remaining around to help with the reconstruction of the world, but a combination of the painful experiences he went through [[spoiler:(which most recently included Nunnally's apparent demise plus the Black Knights betrayal and barely saving Kallen from going down with him by lying to her)]] led to a ThanatosGambit that simultaneously culminated in the rearrangement of the global status quo and [[spoiler:his own SuicideByCop]]. That said, there was also an odd double subversion of the trope since Lelouch's plan was fairly comparable to Schneizel's because it involved [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans causing additional death and destruction for the sake of peace, to the point of exceeding what he was purportedly atoning for]] - albeit without intending to hold the world hostage or in fear forever and ever - which damned him in the eyes of history but grudgingly rehabilitated him from the perspectives of Nunnally and Kallen, among others.
* [[spoiler:Lust]] from the ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime dies shortly after defecting to the heroes' side.
** It's also one possible interpretation for [[spoiler:Scar's death]] in the TV series, and [[spoiler:Wrath, and Hohenheim]]'s in the movie, for that matter. Although [[spoiler:Scar has just killed thousands of soldiers to create the Philosopher's Stone, and Hohenheim's HeroicSacrifice (?) is a dubious way of apologizing to his son for abandoning him, not to mention the thousands of victims if not more that he created indirectly by making Envy and not killing him before four centuries had elapsed]]. At least, [[spoiler:he seems to feel sufficiently punished for surviving his first son]].
* At the end of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[spoiler:Wolfwood's death in both the manga and anime]] qualifies too. Confetti and churches, FauxSymbolism.
* In the ''Manga/NaruTaru'' manga and anime, [[spoiler:Shiina's mother Misono became an absolute cold bitch after her eldest daughter Mishou died, apparently by suicide]], blaming it on the main character in despair. In the manga...[[spoiler:after many years, Misono starts to regret what she has done and how badly she treated Shiina. This reaches its peak in Volume 11, where after the death of Shiina's father Shunji and with some help of Shiina's friend Akira, mother and daughter are reunited and patch things up. But few after her redemption, Misono ends up shot to death in front of Shiina.]]
** Then again, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll it's not so much she died because she was redeemed, it's more because all but two people on earth die within twenty pages of her death]]]].
* Any single villain in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' that feels ANY amount of sorrow for their heartless deeds after Kenshiro beats some sense into them WILL die. The most certain of them would be [[spoiler:Raoh, Kaioh and Raiga and Fuuga, though it takes a few episodes for this to kick into effect for the latter two]].
** Raiga and Fuuga are not really villains at the first place; they were forced to guard the gate of Cassandra because their younger brother, Mitsu, was being held hostage by the true villain, Uighur.
* In ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: Dolores, I'', the main bad guy had plan to literally sweep out the whole earth. After getting [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan his ass kicked by the main characters]], he realized error in his way, and then sacrifice himself to save the earth.
* Done {{t|earJerker}}ragically in ''Manga/DeepLove: The Story of Ayu'', although the character in question isn't exactly evil. Rather, she's a bit immoral and misguided in her life. After meeting a kind old lady, [[spoiler:Ayu]] learns to be a better person, and what it means to sacrifice for another. Through her efforts, another character is able to be healed of his previously fatal ailment. For all her new found selflessness, she contracts AIDS and ''dies''. Alone. Wishing she could live. [[DownerEnding Holy crap...]]
* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', [[FanNickname Cloney]] recovers his soul and emotions during the final battle just in time to take a fatal blow for the original.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:Zabuza]] fits this. [[spoiler:Chiyo]] also consider her HeroicSacrifice as a form of redemption, as it was for [[spoiler:Gaara, who she sealed the One-Tails into, which is why he was killed by Akatsuki]].
** [[spoiler:Also Pain]] in chapter 449. Intersects with KarmicDeath since it was the evil act he committed that causes it.
** Probably the biggest one in the series, [[spoiler:Obito. After returning to his old-self, Obito is at death's door, but manages to keep on fighting it off in order to help the heroes against Madara and later on Kaguya. He finally dies TakingTheBullet for Naruto and Kakashi, his final words thanking Naruto for making him realize the error of his ways, and saying that he knows Naruto will become Hokage]].
** Filler character "Menma" also matched this. A career bandit, he repented during a raid and saved a girl from his former comrades. Ultimately, his entire run on the show was the time-gap between Redemption and Death for him.
* In the Virtual World arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', [[spoiler:Noah bites it after he is about to escape the Virtual World, leaving the characters inside to die, but instead decides to return and rescue them, at the cost of his own life]].
** After his darker persona takes over his body, Marik realizes that a lot of the hardship he went through was his own fault and becomes horrified at what he's done, so he invokes this by trying to urge Yami Yugi to defeat him in any way possible even though it will mean his death as well. [[spoiler:Subverted as Yami Yugi manages to still save Marik anyway.]]
* Gin of ''Manga/OnePiece'', formerly a ruthless killer in the service of Don Krieg, decides to spare Sanji and ask Krieg to leave the Baratie. Krieg responds by ordering Gin to throw away his gas mask and attacking with poison gas. When Luffy throws him and Sanji gas masks, forgetting to get one for himself, Gin throws him his, and is seemingly fatally poisoned as a result. He isn't shown dying, though, although he is speculated to only have hours to live.
* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', [[spoiler:at the end, Yukio Oikawa apologizes to the Digidestined for creating Arukenimon and Mummymon and ripping a hole between the real world. Then he dies/turns himself into butterflies to save the Digital World]].
** But averted when [[spoiler:Ken finds out everything he's been doing as the Digimon Emperor is completely wrong and ends up...getting amnesia?]]
*** He's apparently displeased with the aversion, as he tries to [[DeathSeeker invoke the trope]] a few episodes later. Daisuke [[DontSaySuchStupidThings talks him down from it]], though.
** Averted in ''[[Anime/DigimonTamers Tamers]]'' by [[spoiler:Beelzemon, who almost died from an attack from the D-Reaper but was rescued by Grani and recovered while spending time with his Tamers]].
* Subverted somewhat in ''Manga/{{Bleach}} 354'' when [[spoiler:Ulquiorra finally learns what the heart is ''as'' he is literally disintegrating]].
** Played straight a chapter earlier, where he [[spoiler:saves Orihime and Ishida from Zombie!Ichigo, but uses up the last of his energy doing so and is thus unable to regenerate]]. He dies in this chapter, but gets an internal monologue in the one above, which is how he both subverts and plays this trope straight.
** Lampshaded and mixed with DyingAsYourself in 387 where [[spoiler:Tousen finally see's that his path was wrong and that he has those who care for him the same way he cared for his friend only to explode into a mass of blood seconds later]].
* Mostly averted in ''Manga/FairyTail'', except for [[spoiler: Jellal]], who supposedly gives his life to keep Erza from giving up hers to save her friends, and she mourns for him. Later, when it turns out he didn't die (how this is possible [[HandWave isn't even questioned]]), he tries to pull this a ''second time'' by blowing himself up to take out an ancient magic superweapon. Erza however, yells that he doesn't have the right to take his life and he can't atone if he's dead. Still, at least he tried, and the whole thing turned out moot when the ArcVillain revealed he knew how to dispel the self-destruction spell he used so it would be a SenselessSacrifice anyways.
** [[spoiler:Hades, the BigBad of the Sirius Island Arc]], gets in on this act as well. Though [[spoiler:he was originally killed brutally by [[GreaterScopeVillain Zeref]] and had [[AndIMustScream his soul absorbed by]] [[TheAssimilator Franmalth]], after said demon's defeat freed his soul,]] he gives Lucy and Natsu a message. "It's not over yet. Tartaros's real goal [[spoiler: is not Face. Tell Makarov...that it's time to let out the light."]]
* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' has a number of examples, but some of the most notable are [[spoiler:Yamane, Masao and Sadakiyo]]. A major theme in the final arc of the series is that of the people who help put Friend in power and, by extension, put the world in the [[CrapsackWorld sorry state its in]], realising the error of their ways and seeking redemption. This leads to a number of deaths and HeroicSacrifices on their part, leading to this trope.
** Additionally, this almost happens to [[spoiler:Kiriko]] when she [[spoiler: testes out the vaccine to the blood virus on herself]],
* In ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'', [[spoiler:Sasame defects from the Leafe Knights to be by [[DarkMagicalGirl Takako]]'s side because he fell in love with her--even though he knew she didn't love him in return]]. On her side, [[spoiler: he attempts to kill his former teammates and turns Mawata into the Puppet of Darkness by breaking her heart]], but [[spoiler: when Takako has a VillainousBreakdown and is nearly attacked by the dark tree she summoned, Sasame [[HeroicSacrifice throws himself in front of an attack]] meant for her. The dark energy possessing the two disintegrates, and (after admitting "[[LampshadeHanging Not even my death will redeem me]]", he dies in the redeemed Takako's arms [[GoOutWithASmile with a smile]]. His soul is even seen flying away into a bright white nothingness by his former teammates]]. However, this is one example where the redeemed ''DOES'' come back to life-- [[spoiler: Himeno revives him (and others) through her powers during the final battle with the Great Tree]].
* Metal Sonic in ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie''. He tries to destroy the world, but gets stopped and beaten by Sonic. He then rescues the President and Old Man Owl from a burning aircraft. Immediately afterwards, he collapses and falls into a LavaPit, and [[LastSecondChance and brushes away Sonic's attempt to save him]].
* [[spoiler:Shion]] at the very end of Meakashi-hen in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', as she finally becomes sane and apologizes to everyone she's killed as she falls to her death, promising she won't do it again the next time.
* This is what happens to Kenshin in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin: Seisohen'' OVA. That this represents the ideological antithesis of the manga's conclusion is the specific reason why creator Creator/NobuhiroWatsuki disowned it.
** Subversion with one of the filler villains for the anime, Tomoe. He acted as a vigilant killing politicians that were supposedly corrupt, but wasn't aware that the politician sending him and supplying him with men was just using him to get rid off his political rivals and planned to kill him and his men they were done. [[CurbStompBattle After getting his kicked by Kenshin]] and learning the truth, Tomoe tries to kill himself, but his former teacher stops and tells him the suicide is just running away.
* In ''Anime/BurstAngel'' (Bakuretsu Tenshi), at the end Jo's born enemy, Maria, dies so that Jo and Meg can escape the ship. Maria does this after realizing she likes Jo and is not able to fight.
* In ''Manga/TowardTheTerra,'' Keith Anyan ultimately redeems himself by turning against Grand Mother and freeing humanity from the SD System. He's rewarded for his efforts with a sword through the gut.
* This happens to [[spoiler: Ray Lundgren]] of ''Anime/GunXSword'' just after he accepts an alternative form of revenge in place of the one he wanted.
* In ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel'' this may apply to Mikael after Noelle eventually turns into an angel and saves Yuusuke, which in turn allows him to save her family. After that he, Noelle and Silky start to merge into one angel being (meaning they start dying) so he indeed does something redeemable after becoming the series' BigBad.
* In ''Yoiroiden Samurai Troopers'' AKA ''The Anime/RoninWarriors'' this is the fate of [[spoiler: Dark Warlord Shuten Doji (Anubis)]] after his HeelFaceTurn when he saves [[spoiler:who is the last of the Ancients clan Lady Kayura]].
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' with [[spoiler:Seijirou Kira]]. After he [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone comes to realize what he's been doing has been a terrible mistake]], minutes later the [[spoiler:Aliea Academy]] building starts to collapse. As everyone else flees, he decides to [[GoingDownWithTheShip let the building crush him to death]] as his way of atoning for his crimes and kneels in the middle of the collapsing building. But in the end, Hiroto and Endou turn back and talk him out of it, and he (and everyone else) escapes unscathed.
** Played straight with [[spoiler:Kageyama Reiji]] though. After confessing to all his crimes and willingly leaving with the police he gets killed by [[spoiler:Garshield Bayhan]] who made his death seem like an accident.
* [[spoiler: Viro]] in ''Manga/ElementalGelade'', who fails spectacularly in her job as a spy/assassin.
* A rather sad one in ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed''. Teru's father, an [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], was given the choice to either save his son from Hougen's hired assassins (Thunder and Lector) or to run away. After choosing whether or not to kill Kyoshiro, who attacked him and cut off his ear earlier, he [[spoiler:chose to rescue his son. But then he ends up getting killed while fighting]]. His good-bye to his son was heart-wrenching.
** Also [[TheMentor Jerome]] in the anime. After [[spoiler: being exiled by Weed for killing Thunder and Lector in cold blood]], he helps Weed stay afloat during a flood. But then, to save him and to assure the safety of Ohu, he lets Weed be saved by the pack while he drowns.
* Another sad one in ''Anime/AquarionEvol''. Just after completing his ''HeelFaceTurn'' and saving his new friends from defeat, [[spoiler: Jin is killed by Mykage]].
* Downplayed in ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'': [[spoiler:Shougo in chapter 166 saves Yuu and beats down Ryuu]], then gets arrested.
* In ''Anime/UmiMonogatari'', [[spoiler:Urin believes this in the finale, but she's convinced otherwise and saved]].
* ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple:'' Redemption may be too strong a word, but Kii Kagerou ultimately proved willing to sacrifice himself to give the Katsujinken masters a chance against the One Shadow Nine Fist.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' has a classic example. In this case, the improbability of [[spoiler:Korso]]'s sudden betrayal and total personality change, sudden redemption, and even suddener death really draws attention to this trope. It's even lampshaded. The hero hesitates to leave him to die, but he says, "Just go, it's easier this way."
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', also directed by Don Bluth, Jenner's henchman Sullivan ([[NominalImportance only named in the credits]]) refuses to do the deed in Jenner's evil plan and is slashed to death by him, [[spoiler:but before he dies, he throws his knife into Jenner's back, killing him, too]].
* Subverted in the [[DuelingWorks/FilmAnimated dueling animated films]], ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', where the main plot is about a supposedly irredeemable villain finding himself turning a new leaf completely and gaining a new, happy and fulfilling life as a result.
* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' has an unusual variation of this, which also overlaps with RedemptionEarnsLife, of all the tropes to overlap with. The protagonist, Charlie, is introduced to be, to be blunt, [[{{Jerkass}} a bit of a selfish, greedy, unsympathetic dick]]. Then he's murdered by the BigBad, Carface, and goes to heaven, but he gets hold of his "life-clock" and tricks his way out of heaven, returning to life. He ends up meeting Anne-Marie, a young girl who SpeaksFluentAnimal, and at first he just manipulates her to get money out of her so he's still being a selfish, greedy {{Jerkass}}, but over time [[MoralityPet he grows to genuinely care about her well-being]]. Eventually, [[spoiler:he dies again to save her life, and this time he goes to Hell, but he is snatched up and told that because he sacrificed himself to save someone else, he gets to go to heaven after all. So, in the end, he's a morally ambiguous character who loses his mortal life through an undeniable act of heroism and selflessness, and in doing so, earns his redemption and a good afterlife]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'', 1 spends pretty much the whole movie being a real {{Jerkass}}, all but admitted he sent one of his own group out to die because he was old (despite 1 himself being even ''older''), and didn't ''appear'' to give a crap about most of the others. Later, when he finally sees the error of his ways and shows remorse for what he's done, he [[TakingTheBullet dies in 9's place, at the hands of the Fabricator]].
* In ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' after Kerchak finally starts to accept Tarzan after years of being coldhearted towards him when they fight the poachers together, he is soon afterward shot and killed by Clayton.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}}'' is full of odd examples thanks to the fact that all of the major antagonists are already dead. [[spoiler: The zombies are only allowed to pass on after they do all that they can to undo the harm they caused to Agatha, who in turn can only pass on after she realizes that seeking revenge isn't right and that, ultimately, it's really only harming her]]. This is also a strange example because [[spoiler: the ability of Agatha and the zombies to finally die is unambiguously good, and was the best possible outcome of their redemption]].
* Cade in ''Animation/SkyBlue'' decides to help Shua and Jay at the very very very end of the movie, after Jay is shot by Locke. He dies.
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' features a subversion. About fifteen minutes towards the end of the movie, a reformed Diego takes a blow that Soto meant for Manny. Then he gets his own TearJerker death scene and everything. It isn't until the very end that we learn that it was a DisneyDeath. Interestingly, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Diego]] ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen was]]'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally going to die permanently]], but test audiences found this unnecessary.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Boromir's famous death scene in ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'' happened right after he attacked Frodo, tried to take the ring from him, and cursed him along with "all the halflings". What was he doing during his death scene? Defending two of these "Halflings" with his life.
* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': James Norrington's reversion to the honorable man he was in the first movie, compared to his more amoral behavior in the second, leads to his death at the hands of Bootstrap Bill while ensuring Elizabeth's escape.
* Darth Vader could well be considered the TropeCodifier. ''Franchise/StarWars - Episode VI: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': The Emperor is electrocuting Luke with force lightning. Choosing his son over all power, Darth Vader lifts the Emperor away from Luke, hurls him down the Death Star reactor shaft, and as he does so is himself shocked touching the unintentionally self-inflicting Emperor, shorting out his life support system. After one last talk with his son, he dies peacefully. On the bright side, Anakin became [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence one with the Force]] alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan.
* Horribly apparent in the run-of-the-mill Creator/HarrisonFord action/suspense movie ''Film/{{Firewall}}''. Within a certain character's first few lines, it becomes obvious what his eventual fate will be.
* Sort-of in ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'': Tony Montana is shown to be [[EvenEvilHasStandards not-so-bad]] when he refuses to make a hit that will involve children in the collateral and pays for it when Sosa orders him killed. But he also kills his best friend and sister's future husband.
* Fox in ''Film/{{Wanted}}'' gets hit with this one, although it's a little closer to Redemption ''Is'' Death.
* Grandmother Ruth in ''Film/DantesPeak'', who has been hostile to Rachel since [[BackStory before the movie]] swears, [[FamousLastWords "this mountain would never hurt us"]] just before the lava destroys her house. When the boat they escape across the lake in begins sinking because the lake has turned to acid, she jumps out and pulls the boat safely to shore at the cost of acid burns [[NightmareFuel from her mid-chest down]]. Naturally, this is too much for an old lady; she has just long enough to reconcile with Rachel before she dies of the burns.
* In ''Film/ActOfViolence'', ultimately what happens to Frank: he agrees have Joe killed, but he decides to run and save him from being shot, but he’s killed himself.
* Used in ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' with Jamal's brother, Salim. After living a life of crime to survive, including killing a man while he was in his teens and betraying his own brother, he then rescues his brother's love, Latika, from a crime lord and sends her after him--then, after shooting the crime lord, willingly allows himself to be shot to death while laying in a bathtub full of money.
* [[spoiler:Nathan/Repo Man]] in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. His scene with [[IllGirl Shilo]] as he lays dying also pulls double duty as the movie's biggest TearJerker and SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.
* In ''Film/TheInternational'' two villains redeem themselves before dying. The first is an assassin employed by the evil Bank. Clive Owen's character pursues him and is about to make an arrest when the bank's other assassins turn on them both now that their assassin's identity has been compromised. He saves Owen's life and allows him to escape, fighting off the other assassins before being fatally wounded. The other character is an old guy employed by the bank who helps Owen later on bring down the bank but it costs him his life.
* When Frank Hummel in ''Film/TheRock'' does the noble thing and spares thousands of lives by cancelling the detonation of a chemical weapon, he is killed by his subordinates. Hummel was never planning on killing anyone with them (or anyone at all really), but his men didn't know that, and they certainly were.
* In ''The Corruptor'', Chow Yun Fat plays a corrupt cop who redeems himself in the end by taking a bullet to save a good cop. He gets a heroic cop send off at his public funeral. No one ever learns he was corrupt.
* In ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'', Creator/AlPacino's character is a cop who crossed the MoralEventHorizon but redeems himself in the end saving another cop from the BigBad but dies in the process. He wins over her respect at least.
* After spending the entire movie being a complete twat- going as far as pulling the trigger on a (thankfully unloaded) rifle at Shaun- [[spoiler:David]] in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' gets this via one of the most horrific live dismemberments in cinema moments before he is about to apologize for his twat-iness.
* ''Film/ManOnFire's'' [[spoiler:main character]] (in the 1987 version starring Scott Glen) follows a path of redemption that culminates in this trope when he [[spoiler:trades his life for the life of a child]].
* In ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'', Frankie Dalton spends most of the film hunting the remaining humans as part of the U.S. Army to feed the world's [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] population. He finally has a change of heart after witnessing the execution of the daughter of the BigBad who refused to drink human blood. After receiving the cure for vampirism, Frankie saves his brother Edward and his {{Love Interest|s}} Audrey from a group of bloodthirsty vampire soldiers by throwing himself at them and allowing himself to be ripped apart.
* Inverted in ''Film/BrooklynsFinest''. Richard Gere's character redeems himself at the end and lives. The other two main characters die.
* In ''Film/TronLegacy'', [[spoiler:Rinzler, who is the brainwashed Tron]] switches sides and kamikazes CLU, destroying both of their light-jets. However, when he tries to pull out a second light-jet, CLU attacks him and steals it, leaving him to fall to his presumed death in the Sea of Simulation. [[spoiler: Then the [[DyingAsYourself lights on his costume come back on, and they've changed back from red to blue]].]]
** Arguably [[spoiler:Flynn]] succumbs to this trope as well, though his crimes were more of carelessness and hubris than of serving evil.
* In ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'', Lee, played by Creator/RobertVaughn, is a gunfighter who has lost his nerve and usually tries to hide from participating in any of the shootouts in order to avoid being killed. In the end though, Lee finally finds his courage in rescuing some townsfolk inside of a farmhouse from three banditos during the climactic final showdown between the Seven and the Banditos. [[spoiler: He's killed immediately after he walks out of the farmhouse.]]
* In ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}'', redemption is the ''cause'' of death. Ed Harley, a good man who is driven to a terrible act out of grief and anger at the death of his only son, sends the unstoppable demon Pumpkinhead after the city kids who accidentally killed him. His conscience soon gets the better of him and he sets out to stop the monster, but finds that it won't listen to him. Ed discovers that he and Pumpkinhead are linked, as he is the one who summoned it, and shoots himself in the head to save the few survivors.
* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'':
** [[Comicbook/DoctorOctopus Doctor Octavius]] gets this in ''Film/SpiderMan2'': when he drags his out-of-control fusion experiment underwater, stopping it but killing himself in the process.
--->"I WILL NOT DIE A MONSTER!"
** In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Harry Osborn gives his life to save Peter by jumping in the way of Venom who is about to impale him with the goblin glider.
* In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', Sybok ultimately attacks the entity claiming to be God in order to allow Kirk and the others to escape, and is killed in the ensuing struggle.
* In ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', not long after formerly MadScientist Dr. [[PunnyName Catheter]] decides to dedicate his life to good, he gets killed by the Electric Gremlin.
* Marcus Wright before the start of ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' in the cop-killing for which he was sentenced to death. At first, he is perfectly willing to have his body transformed following his lethal injection for a second chance at life, but by the end he realizes that he really did deserve to die, so [[spoiler: he decides he may as well go out with his final act being a good deed: he volunteers to donate his own heart to John Connor, who was mortally wounded during the climax. [[HeroicSacrifice Wright's heart ultimately saves John's life]].]]
* This is what gave Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/TheKiller'' its ShootTheShaggyDog ending, though it was the hero rather than the villain who went through his redemption, as the victim was [[spoiler:the hitman protagonist]].
* The title character of ''Film/CarlitosWay'' is a gangster who has been freed early [[OffOnATechnicality on a technicality]]. He really, sincerely strives to now live an honest life. Unfortunately, just about every other character in the film is determined to see him fail, and, while he does achieve his dream of redemption, it costs him his life.
* ''Film/PitchBlack'':
** This almost happened to [[spoiler: Riddick. In the original script, Riddick was supposed to die instead of Fry]]. Executive Meddling put a stop to that, since [[spoiler:''The Chronicles of Carolyn Fry'' would not have made for a decent sequel]].
** Keep in mind, it ''was'' redemption for [[spoiler: Carolyn, since she almost sacrificed her crew to save herself at the start of the film]].
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'': Loki dies heroically defending his brother Thor. Apparently. Subverted by the film's TheEndOrIsIt ending, in which it's revealed that he [[FakingTheDead faked his own death]] as part of a plan to become king of Asgard by usurping and impersonating Odin. And it worked!
** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}}, a foe to the Avengers through the early goings of the film, give his life to protect Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} and a child he had gone back to rescue when ComicBook/{{Ultron}} shoots up the joint in the Quinjet he hijacked.
** Over the course of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' Yondu admits to his mistakes and starts to attempt to remedy them, culminating in giving the only spacesuit he has to Peter so that his son can survive their exposure to space. The redemption is two-fold, as he not only redeems himself as a person, but also in the eye of the Ravagers.
** At the climax of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', [[spoiler: Skurge stays behind and fights off Hela's minions in order to allow the surviving Asgardians to escape, and ultimately ends up being {{impaled|WithExtremePrejudice}} by Hela after she realizes what he's doing]].
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': [[spoiler:After also redeeming himself and siding with his brother in ''Thor: Ragnarok'', Loki ultimately meets his end, having his neck snapped by Thanos after he attempted to kill the Mad Titan]].
* ''Film/CubeZero''. After Dodd has aided the Cube puppeteers for a long time and ignored all the people he's been ordered to kill, he helps Wynn escape from the Cube by sabotaging the Cube's power supply, knowing that this would mean certain death. Dodd is then murdered by Jax for his troubles.
* In the ''Film/VeronicaMars'' [[BigDamnMovie movie]], [[spoiler:Gia Goodman]] and [[spoiler:Deputy Sacks]] are killed almost instantly after they break their silence over their involvement in separate crimes.
* In ''Film/DarkBlue'', Detective Bobby Keough comes clear about his crimes an those of his partner Perry to InternalAffairs agent Beth and Holland, and they arrange for him to expose his department's corruption in a public inquiry. Bobby is later shot to death in a botched arrest of the criminals Orchard and Sidwell. Perry witnesses Bobby's murder and is apologetic, but Beth points out that Perry poisoned Bobby's mind to begin with and that it [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead should have been Perry lying on the ground with a bullet in his gut instead]].
* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'': Elsa Schneider qualifies to an extent. She helped Indiana dispatch the BigBad, Walter Donovan, by purposely choosing one of the false grails for him to drink. This might have atoned for previously helping the Nazis; however, it’s arguable that she was doing it to get the real grail for herself. Ultimately, her redemption does not spare her from a KarmicDeath. She crosses the seal, causing the temple to collapse in an earthquake. Indy catches her before she falls in a chasm and she’s faced with a TakeMyHand choice: Let Indy pull her to safety or risk reaching for the grail. [[DeathByMaterialism She can’t resist reaching for the grail and she falls to her death before she can.]]
* In ''Film/XMen1'', just as Senator Kelly renounces his bigoted ways, the effects of Magneto's device overwhelm his body and kill him.
* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'':
** Towards the end of the film Antonius Proximo, a man who had essentially previously become a profiteer off of the deaths of others because of a cynicism that grew inside of him, willingly gives his life in an attempt to help Maximus escape from Commodus' Praetorians after the two have spent a good deal of time together as mentor and student, as well as to honor his debt of sorts to the late Marcus Aurelius. He openly defies the guards at the gate in order to give him the keys so that he can try and escape from Rome and bring back his army to overthrow Commodus. After which a group of the Praetorians find him in his chambers, him holding his rudis prepared, and kill him.
** Marcus Aurelius would likely also count. When reflecting on his life and what it truly meant whilst facing his own death, he worried that he would be remembered as a tyrant who "Brought the sword, nothing more" as well as for Rome's well-being/survival and thus he sought to redeem himself and save Rome by passing his power to Maximus after his death so that he could help transition power back the Republic and thus by proxy the people in order to give, "Rome back her true self." Him feeling guilty about feeling he wasted his time as emperor who brought little more than war in the long run, and also felt complicit in allowing the festering of corruption in Rome by remaining so sharply focused on the battlefront. However, when Commodus is told of these plans he murders his father in order to try and keep this from coming to pass. Though the fact that he started reflecting on this was because of how he was dying of an illness, though ultimately was slain by his son because of his attempt at redemption, one could argue it also to a degree qualifies as an example of DeathEqualsRedemption.
* ''Film/ElCid'': Count Ordóñez throughout the film does anything he can to try and win over the love of Jimena. Including betraying his countrymen in an attempt to have Rodrigo Díaz killed. After King Alfonso has Jimena and her twin children locked up, she pleads to Ordóñez for help. After he realizes that her heart won't be truly is and that she is serious when she claims that she will kill herself and her children to make sure Rodrigo does not break off from the siege of Valencia he decides to not only set them free, but he decides to join with Rodrigo's force as well. However, when he later is out on patrol he is captured by the Almoravid force. Ordóñez is subsequently tortured, and after he proclaims his loyalty to and faith in The Cid, Ben Yusuf kills him.
* ''Film/{{Troy}}'': Achilles throughout most of the film is focused on personal glory and immortality above pretty well all else. Eventually being convinced to fight in Agamemnon's army by his mother to pursue it, even though he finds him to be reprehensible. He also singles out Hector for killing his cousin Patroclus, and subsequently desecrates his body before his family after killing him. After which Priam confronts him seeking to retrieve Hector's body, and forces him to reflect on what he had done to him and to other "cousins...sons...and fathers...and brothers...and husbands". He subsequently allows the Trojan king's request and also frees Briseis. And when the time comes he puts her safety above glory through victory in the war during the final sacking of the city. Rescuing her from Agamemnon's guards who are about to execute her after she had slain the king himself. However, that put himself into the line of fire of a vengeful Paris who winds up shooting him to death with arrows.
* ''Film/GranTorino'': Walt Kowalski was a man guilty of horrible actions during the Korean War as well as racist tendencies afterward. However he ultimately redeems himself by facing a brutal death in order to get the gang tormenting his new Hmong friends arrested.
* ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'': After completing the titular bridge Col. Nicholson sees that a group of Allied troops have come to destroy it. Because of all the work put into it and what he thought the bridge represented he initially intervenes to stop them. Leading to the death of Joyce. After exclaiming in shock, "What have I done" Nicholson is injured by mortar fire but uses his last moments to try and reach the detonator that was planted and falls on top of it. Thus completing the mission.
* ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'': Pretty well right after Godfrey returns home in order to set things right with his estranged illegitimate son, he gets mortally wounded battling in his defense. A wound that leads to him dying not too long after.
* ''Film/TheMission'': The story is largely a redemption story for the lead Rodrigo Mendoza. A man who starts out in the story as a slaver who also comes to murder his half-brother Felipe. He is offered the path of salvation by Father Gabriel after which he joins up with his mission. Bonding with the Guaraní community and the Jesuit priests. Subsequently becoming a priest himself. When the community comes under threat he fights to protect it in a battle that ultimately claims his life.
* ''Film/AViewToAKill'': This is the ultimate fate of May Day. After her boss and lover Max Zorin leaves her behind to die in the mine where he's setting off explosives in order to create a massive earthquake that would lead to the flooding of Silicon Valley. After she realizes this she decides to help Bond stop him. When they try to get the bomb out, May Day is forced to go with it in order to transport it to a place where it wouldn't cause the damage. Being caught in the explosion in the process.
* ''Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans'': There is a case to be made for this being the fate of Duncan Heyward through a self-sacrifice.
* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', [[spoiler: Nux, who was previously ones of [[BigBad Immortan Joe's]] {{mooks}}, [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to allow Max, Furiosa, and the Wives escape while crashing the Rig to [[TakingYouWithMe take Rictus with him]] and block the canyon pass to prevent the rest of the War Boys from pursuing the group]].
** Furiosa, who believes that certain things she's done in her past require redemption, attempts this when she goes to kill [[BigBad Joe]], [[spoiler:believing that she's already going to die from the severe stab wound she took, to make sure the Wives are free of his oppression. Even what she thinks are her last words to Max ask him to get them home. However, Max manages to save her life with a blood transfusion just in time]].
* An extreme rare heroic example is the obscure German short film "Himmelfahrt" (Ascension). It stars a young biker with a terminal brain tumor who passes a traffic accident. Rush-hour, everything is blocked, the ambulance doesn't come through. He quickly pulls the injured child up and rushes to the next hospital. Kid saved, biker DOA. Note this isn't HeroicSacrifice since he would have died anyway, and it would have been pointless, so calling the fact that fate allowed him to save another life "redemption" is not too off.
* In ''Film/BloodDiamond'', [[spoiler:Danny Archer]] spends most of the movie being a violent, cynical, unrepentant asshole. At the very end, though, [[spoiler:he gives up his place on the plane for Solomon and his son, and holds the mercenary army off long enough for them to escape]]. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in that he had already been shot in the chest and was probably going to die anyway.
* In the ''Creator/NicholasSparks'' film ''The Lucky One'', the heroine's {{Jerkass}} ex, who has spent the entire film bullying her and threatening to take custody of their son away from her (he's jealous over her new relationship), dies saving the boy from raging floodwaters (the kid had run out into the storm when his dad showed up at the house, fearful that he had come to take him away), providing the new lovers with both this and a very convenient DeathOfTheHypotenuse.
* ''Film/{{Purgatory}}'': Granted he was never really bad, but [[spoiler:Sonny]] did beg to join Blackjack's band, knowing fully what they did. Of course, he doesn't have too far to go once he dies.
* R.K. Maroon in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' hires Eddie Valiant to blackmail his neighbour Marvin Acme, so Acme will sell his studio to Cloverleaf Industries. [[spoiler:Then he realizes what Cloverleaf ''really'' wants is Toontown, which Acme also owns, so they can demolish it. Maroon then tries to find Acme's will and testament, which will return ownership of Toontown to the Toons and keep it out of Cloverleaf's hands. This, [[HeKnowsTooMuch and attempting to explain it to Eddie]], gets him killed by the BigBad.]]
* At the start of ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'', Red has betrayed the apes and sided with the humans. During the final battle, [[spoiler: he redeems himself by killing the soldier who was about to shoot Ceasar, which ultimately leads to the apes' victory and escape. Seconds later, he is shot in the head by one of the humans]].
* ''Film/TheMeg'': Heller apologizes to Taylor for declaring him a coward after he made a ColdEquation during a previous deep sea rescue mission after he discovers that Taylor didn't make the Megalodon up, but Heller eventually sacrifices his own life by attracting the Megalodon to keep it away from Jaxx.
* ''Film/ReformSchoolGirls'': Charlie does a HeelFaceTurn and joins Jenny's rebellion against Sutter and Edna, but is killed as she drives a bus into the tower to kill Edna.
* Implied for exiled angel Bartleby in ''Film/{{Dogma}}''. After JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in an attempt to get home to Heaven, he ends up throwing a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum, declaring that his intent is no longer to go home, but to put an end to the "failed experiment called existence". When fellow angel and close friend Loki tries to stop him, Bartleby [[spoiler:kills him. Bartleby then has his wings shot off, becoming human, allowing him to carry out the final stage of his plan. Before he can, he comes face to face with God once again, and breaks down in TearsOfRemorse, apologizing, and thanks God for killing him a moment later.]]
* ''Film/JudgeDredd''. Judge Griffin is behind the plot to cause city-wide chaos and restart the Janus project. When Rico goes rogue and uses his mutated DNA to create the new judges, Griffin realizes that he's gone insane and tries to stop him. Rico orders the ABC robot to rip off Griffin's arms, leg and head, killing him.
* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'': In the end, [[TheBluebeard Sir Thomas Sharpe]] tries to convince his {{ax crazy}} sister not to kill [[TheHero his wife, Edith,]] even though he spent the first part of the movie helping Lucille plot against her and poison her. Unfortunately, when Lucile realizes that he [[BecomingTheMask really developed feelings for her]], she [[EyeScream stabs him in the eye with a knife]] in a [[BrotherSisterIncest jealous rage.]]
* In ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'', [[spoiler:commissar and bitter love rival Danilov tries to destroy heroic sniper Vasily's reputation in the Red Army when Tania chooses Vasily over him. When Tania is seemingly cut down by shrapnel, Danilov is grief-stricken and as a final act of friendship to Vasily, [[HeroicSuicide he peeks out of cover and allows Major König to shoot him through the head]]. König, believing he has finally got Vasily, leaves his position to confirm the kill and this allows Vasily to catch him in the open and kill him in turn.]]
* ''Film/TheTerrorOfTinyTown'': When the sheriff finally stands up to Haines and exposes him as a rustler and murderer in front of the entire town, Haines shoots him dead.

[[folder:Literature]]
* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Literature/AnnaKarenina''--the title character has gotten pregnant from her adulterous lover, Vronsky, and seems fated for DeathByChildbirth, so she calls back her husband in order to obtain his forgiveness before she dies. He grants it, Vronsky leaves...and Anna survives. Given the choice of staying with her husband and resuming her old life, she instead runs off with Vronsky, [[IgnoredEpiphany apparently having learned nothing]], and more tragedy comes to follow from this decision.
* ''Literature/HouseOfTheScorpion:'' [[spoiler: Tam Lin]] invokes this trope on himself as a form of penance for accidentally killing twenty school children in a bomb plot gone awry.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** [[spoiler: Severus Snape]]. He spent his entire life [[spoiler:trying to make up for unknowingly betraying Lily Potter, the love of his life, to Voldemort. He ends up giving Literature/HarryPotter just the information the boy needs to finally take down Voldemort]]. And then dies.
** Wormtail, though his death was case of Doubt Equals Death along with HoistByHisOwnPetard. [[spoiler:When he refrains from killing Harry, his silver hand promptly chokes him to death.]]
** There's also a subversion later on in the same book. Near the climax, [[spoiler:Percy]] finally comes back to the good side, only for [[spoiler:his brother]] to promptly die.
** Also subverted with Voldemort. It's stated that if he took back all his horcruxes, by feeling real remorse, then its fairly certain he would have died in the process. And it probably wouldn't have been very lovely. Of course, he is too far gone for that and has to be killed without redemption.
** This also happens to Regulus Black.
** And Grindelwald, who lies to Voldemort about the Elder Wand.
** To some degree, this happens with Rufus Scrimgeour, even if he wasn't one of the bad guys. All throughout Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, he's trying to get Harry to be a Ministry poster boy, even though Harry disagrees adamantly. When Scrimgeour goes down in a fight against the Death Eaters, defending the Ministry, and refuses to betray Harry to Voldemort, right to his face, the trio grows to respect his bravery more.
** Another subversion is the Malfoy family. They were among Voldemort's earliest and most enthusiastic supporters, but grew disillusioned primarily because of the poor treatment they received at Voldemort's hands. By the end Lucius and Narcissa remained in the final battle only to search for their son, and Narcissa in fact betrayed Voldemort by protecting Harry in order to find Draco. In the end, there is no mention of any of them being punished for their actions. In fact, it's said they "weaseled their way out trouble."
* Nevva Winter (Gee, sound familiar?) from the ''Literature/{{Pendragon}}'' series was a Traveler gone wrong; she turns into an emotionless ManipulativeBitch. However, thanks to her mother, Bobby, and his friend, she turns into a good guy-- just to be killed by the person she'd turned "evil" (depends on your view of her) for, Saint Dane.
* In ''Literature/BeingAGreenMother'' in Piers Anthony's Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality series, [[spoiler:Satan]] has this happen when [[spoiler:he falls in love with Gaea and sings her a hymn to God at their wedding]]. He literally goes up in flames as a result.
* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'''s Christopher Hitchcock has no GenreBlindness, so he had an internal monologue to this effect in book 11. "I was so dead. By all the Unwritten Rules of Movies and Television, I was dead: The reformed bad boy who does the heroic thing at last? I could not be more dead."
* Dates back to Victorian times: If a woman had sex outside of marriage or in adultery, the only accepted redemption for her was death. The very rare plays that dared to challenge this sexual DoubleStandard, such as W. S. Gilbert's ''[[http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/other_gilbert/html/charity.html Charity]]'', were declared immoral.
** Averted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's ''Literature/TheScarletLetter,'' where the married Hester Prynne sleeps with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, whose sin is considered worse than hers because of his position, so he dies instead, and she redeems herself through general good works.
*** Also, Hester couldn't hide her adultery because of an ill-timed pregnancy. She faced up to her punishment, and started to redeem herself. Dimmesdale continued to live in the community's good graces while Hester was shunned, and only fessed up when he couldn't take the guilt anymore. It's possible that his part of the adultery ''was'' worse, but hiding it didn't get him any redemption points either.
*** And once more--the strange thing about ''The Scarlet Letter'' is that the whole novel up to the point of Dimmesdale's death reads as a subversion of this trope. But this is the Victorian era, so of course, someone must die for the adultery.
** Also averted in Jane Austen's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', where Lydia Bennet gets to marry Wickham instead. Some scholars see her treatment as progressive, where similar behavior in other novels would have resulted in death.
** Victorians also averted this trope by shipping "fallen women" overseas. Creator/CharlesDickens does this in ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'' (Emily and Martha head off to Australia, along with several other characters). Though he played it straight with Nancy in ''Literature/OliverTwist''...
*** To an extent, Sidney Carton's death in ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' counts. Although not a sinful man, Sidney spent much of the story as a useless, inactive character with low self-esteem. Then, he takes steps to rescue Lucy and Charles, eventually dying.
%%* Renfield from {{Literature/Dracula}}.
* [[BrokenAce Boromir]] of Creator/JRRTolkien's ''TheLordOfTheRings'': Though never a villain, he ''did'' screw up enormously, briefly became TheAtoner, and then got mercilessly slaughtered.
** Also, Théoden nearly allowed Rohan to fall by trusting Gríma, but rose and proved critical in victories at Helm's Deep and the Pelennor Fields, where he died a hero's death. "I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed."
* In ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'', [[spoiler:Diotallevi]] rejects the Plan and dies of cancer shortly thereafter. [[spoiler:Jacopo Belbo]] refuses to tell the horde of Diabolicals where the Map is, or even reveal that the [[spoiler:whole story of the Map is a lie]]... and is then hanged. On a pendulum.
* The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series does this twice: first, [[spoiler:Cindy Stoker]] in ''Something Rotten'' ''literally'' takes Thursday's place crossing the Styx, saying that Thursday is a better person than she will ever be, and more deserving of a second chance. In ''First Among Sequels'' Evil Thursday uses her final moments to help Thursday to safety, knowing that she herself cannot escape.
* Subverted in Creator/FredSaberhagen's ''Third Book of Swords''. Yambu, the Silver Queen, who was the antagonist of the first book, joins forces with the heroes to [[EvilVersusEvil stop the even worse villain]] Vilkata, the Dark King, who possesses the Mindsword. In the final battle, she draws Soulcutter, which neutralizes the power of the Mindsword, but which also appears to kill her. But it turns out she survives after all, although she is prematurely aged as a result; she then gives up her throne and spends the rest of the follow-up series on a pilgrimage with Prince Zoltan to find redemption the old-fashioned way.
* In Gav Thorpe's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} [[Literature/TheLastChancers Last Chancer]] novel ''Annihilation Squad'', at the very end, Kage [[spoiler:is freed from a daemon's control, manages, with great effort, to remember what had happened while he was controlled, and realizes the value of sacrifice. He immediately drags the man they had come to assassinate over the cliff]].
* [[RoyalBlood Prince]] Ellidyr, the resident {{Jerkass}} in Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' spends most of ''The Black Cauldron'' putting down the main character for being lowly born and eventually betrays the party to satisfy his own lust for glory. At the end, he realizes the error of his ways and makes a HeroicSacrifice to destroy the titular ArtifactOfDoom before it can be used on the heroes.
* In ''[[Literature/KushielsLegacy Kushiel's Dart]]'', [[spoiler:Isidore d'Aiglemort]] goes on a suicide mission to avoid being remembered as a traitor (and foil the plans of TheChessmaster, [[spoiler:Melisande]]).
* In Creator/JamesSwallow's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Deus Encarmine]]'', when taxed with the Word Bearers still in their midst, and they can't tell the Blood Angels where they are, the people of the planet voluntarily, even ecstatically, submit to death as punishment.
* In Peter David's ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' novel ''Treason'', [[spoiler: Dr. Selar]] dies in an explosion that saves other characters' lives--making up for the rest of the novel, in which she goes temporarily insane, contemplates murdering one of her patients, continues destroying her relationship with Burgoyne 172, kidnaps a former crewmate's newborn son, and various other things of like ilk.
* In the works of Creator/AgathaChristie
** In the novel ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons'' [[spoiler:one of the murderers]] redeems herself by taking a bullet to stop her best friend being killed and thus atoning for her own murder.
** Another Creator/AgathaChristie example is [[spoiler:Mrs Lorrimer]] from ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', who, the night before being murdered, attempts to turn [[spoiler:herself]] in for the murder of Mr Shaitana, both to protect another suspect and to atone for having gotten away with murdering [[spoiler:her husband]] years earlier.
** Perhaps the ultimate example comes in ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'', when [[spoiler:Poirot]] kills [[spoiler:Norton, the orchestrator of all the previous murderers]], he then [[spoiler:casts aside his nitroglycerin pills for his heart, leaving his physical and eternal fate to God]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}: The Book of Ti'ana,'' [[spoiler:Veovis]], who has been manipulated by A'gaeris into helping him destroy D'ni, refuses to let A'gaeris set himself up as a god. A'gaeris then backstabs him. As he is dying, [[spoiler:Aitrus]] finds him. He repents of his evils and gives [[spoiler:Aitrus]] the way to save his family, then dies.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Gods of Mars]]'', Phaidor, the WomanScorned, attacks and kills Thurid, before explaining to John Carter that she has seen the error of her ways and there is only way she can atone. Then she jumps from the airship.
* The fate of Commander Gaes in ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' who had been opposed to Geary's methods of running the fleet and latter mutinied with Captain Falco. The carnage Falco led her through followed by Geary's rescue led her to have a change of heart and she latter warned him of an attempt on his life by [[spoiler: Captain Kila]]. When it became clear Gaes was no longer cooperating, the next attempt on Geary's life included a successful one on hers.
* In ''[[Literature/TheBlackCompany Annals of the Black Company]]'', may or may not be averted by [[spoiler:The Lady]]. Knowing what the outcome will be, she chooses to accept the loss of her powers rather than allow an even bigger evil than herself to be unleashed on the world. On the other hand, her powers had allowed her to maintain her [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty youth and beauty]] indefinitely; it is strongly hinted that without them she ''will'' die eventually. So this could be seen as a very delayed form of Redemption Equals Death.
* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Plan of Attack'', [[spoiler:Russian chief of staff General Nikolai Stepashin]] had planned the nuclear sneak bombings on the US. He later gives away the position of General Gryzlov's alternate command centre, where they are both hiding in, to the Air Battle Force. He dies when the man finds out and kills him.
* This is how [[spoiler:Kronos]] is killed in the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series. Luke remembers his promise to keep Annabeth safe, and realizes that he's come very, very close to killing her, so he fights against Kronos, takes Annabeth's knife from Percy, and kills himself with it, killing Kronos in the process.
** [[spoiler:Silena Beauregard]] was killed after taking her best friend's armor and leading the Ares cabin into battle, trying to make up for the fact that she was TheMole the entire time.
** [[spoiler:Ethan Nakamura]] is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killed]] after realizing that Kronos only wants to destroy everything, not make things more equal for minor gods/goddesses like Ethan's mother.
* In ''Literature/{{Farworld}}'', Land keep, [[spoiler: Rhaidnan]] betrays his friends Kyja and Marcus to the Zentan. One chapter later, after being berated by his family, [[spoiler:he takes a flaming dagger to the chest]] to save [[spoiler:Kyja]]- saying as he[[spoiler: bursts into flames]]
-->" tell[[spoiler: Char]] I didn't disappoint. Made...children...proud"
* In ''Literature/{{The Guardians|MeljeanBrook}}'', death is the only way to release [[spoiler: Lilith]] from their DealWithTheDevil. Unfortunately, it doesn't take.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': In near the end of ''The Great Hunt'', one of the characters revealed to be a darkfriend decides to stay back to [[YouShallNotPass hold off the approaching horde of mooks]] to allow Rand and his friends to escape. This HeroicSacrifice allows him to die with honor and return to the Light.
* The character of A.J. Raffles, upper-middle-class gentleman-thief created by E.W. Hornung, volunteered with his sidekick Bunny for service in the Boer War after his exposure; Raffles is killed, Bunny is wounded. In the words of George Orwell, it was Raffles' only acceptable way out. "A duke who has served a prison sentence is still a duke, whereas a mere man about town, if once disgraced, ceases to be "about town" for evermore.... According to the public-school code there is only one means of rehabilitation: death in battle. Raffles dies fighting against the Boers (a practised reader would foresee this from the start), and in the eyes of both Bunny and his creator this cancels his crimes."
* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:
** In the novel ''Literature/DeathStar'', the Imperial chief gunner for the station, Tenn Graneet, feels [[WhatHaveIDone utterly sickened with himself for destroying Alderaan]] since he was the one in charge of the superlaser. He can't get over the guilt of being the man that pulled the trigger and killed two billion people. So when Luke is racing for the exhaust port and he is ordered to destroy Yavin IV, Tenn has his hand on the lever and is ready to pull it--but, praying for a miracle, he holds off executing the order for as long as he can get away with it. (In the film, he's the one who keeps repeating, "Stand by... stand by...") And his prayer is answered as Luke fires the torpedo that destroys the Death Star, not only saving Yavin IV but unknowingly granting Tenn death and redemption.
** In ''[[Literature/StarWarsRazorsEdge Razor's Edge]]'', [[spoiler:Captain Metara]], an Alderaanian who has turned to piracy, is starting to come around to Leia's way of thinking, and is certainly feeling personal loyalty to Alderaan's princess. She probably could have been convinced to join the Rebellion, except that she [[TakingTheBullet dies saving Leia]]. The other Alderaanians, [[spoiler:inspired by her sacrifice, do come around in the end]].
* The ancient Irish story of ''[[Literature/TheChildrenOfTuireann Lugh and the Sons of Tuireann]]''. In it, the sons kill Lugh's father and in response, Lugh sends them on a massive and nigh impossible fetch quest. Naturally they succeed, but all three are mortally wounded during the last task. They have just enough time to return to Lugh and show them that they have atoned before they all die.
* Sextus, son of the last Roman king Tarquinius Superbus had raped one Roman woman, Lucretia, who was well known for her beauty and goodness. Now at this time raped women were seen as damaged goods. And additionally, there was mistrust around: Would they believe her, or claim she was lying? The solution for her dilemma: She confessed being raped to her relatives and killed herself afterwards. So, nobody could claim that her example would set a bad precedent for women randomly accusing men of being rapists. Her male relatives went on and kicked the king out, starting UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic.
* In one instance in a ''hadith''[[note]] A saying or event ascribed to Muhammad, and used to better interpret the Quran[[/note]], there was a woman who came to him, saying she had become pregnant from [[YourCheatingHeart adultery]], and that she wished to be purified. He told her to come back after she had the baby, which she did, again requesting purification. He told her to come back after she had weaned her baby. She did, even feeding her toddler a piece of bread to prove that the child had, in fact, been weaned. He then condemned her to be stoned to death, the ordinary punishment for adultery.
* Literature/InDeath series: Poor Mick Connolley from ''Betrayal in Death''. He helped to distract Roarke long enough for a group of criminals to pull off a heist at a big auction. Roarke did figure it out beforehand, and got his old friend Connolley to explain everything. Mick didn't feel bad about what he did...until he found out from Roarke that the criminals tried to distract Roarke by having a hitman kill off two employees, and try to kill off Summerset. Mick doesn't have a problem with stealing, but he does have a problem with being a party to murder. He did attempt to make amends, and it cost him his life.
* Ebenezer Saint in ''The Inventors and the City of Stolen Souls'' dies (for the second time, thanks to a robot body) taking over the [[AGodAmI megalomaniac computer]] that was the book's final villain and making a HeroicSacrifice to take it with him, admittedly after a brief attempt to take over the computer and the world with it. In the previous book, he'd been working on a plan straight out of the ''Film/JamesBond'' villain playbook to obliterate the surface with nukes, then build his own "perfect world".
* Averted and subverted in ''The Aftermath'' by Creator/BenBova. The book starts off with a mercenary leader destroying a colony full of defenseless civilians. He afterwards tries to commit suicide, is brought back as a cyborg, and spends most of the rest of the novel trying to atone by giving final rites to the victims of old space battles lost in space. [[spoiler: He tries to get himself killed repeatedly but fails, and survives through the end of the book finally achieving redemption and a will to go on living]]
* Denna of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth''. In a surprisingly heartbreaking way to end a gratuitous S&M sequence.
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''[[Literature/StarTrekATimeTo A Time to Heal]]'', Erokene Yaelon is a military leader on planet Tezwa, and a supporter of power-mad prime minister Kinchawn - at least at first. After Kinchawn's DrunkWithPower outrages lead to a brutal Klingon counterstrike that kills Yaelon's family (among many others), he loses faith in his leader. Eventually, he earns a degree of redemption for his earlier support by helping Commander Riker escape captivity, at the cost of his own life.
* Zigzagged in ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm The Painter Knight]]'' when a child sovereign declines to condemn the repentant traitor and orders him to return for sentencing after she's of age, knowing [[spoiler:he's mortally ill and won't live that long]].
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'' combines this with ToBeLawfulOrGood and TakeAThirdOption. Inspector Javert, who has spent his life believing dogmatically that Law = Good and law-breakers are evil forever, tries again and again to arrest Valjean, who was a petty crook but redeemed himself into a paragon of selfless goodness. When Javert is caught undercover behind the barricade, Valjean volunteers to execute him... and promptly lets him go, telling him Valjean's home address so that Javert may arrest him afterwards. This proves Javert's entire mindset wrong, and throws him into a tailspin: he can arrest Valjean and uphold the law, or let him go and repay the life-debt, mutually exclusive actions that would put him at odds either with his vocation or with God. He avoids having to make the decision by [[DrivenToSuicide throwing himself off a bridge]].
* ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'': [[spoiler:After betraying the other Gatekeepers to the Old Ones, Scott regrets his actions and sacrifices himself to open the portal at Antarctica after it was sealed by the Old Ones, allowing Pedro and Jaime to reach the other Gatekeepers and put a stop to the Old Ones]].
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' book, ''Deathwatch'', [[spoiler:Captain Higgan Dozois]] was "in the eyes of many, a worthless, lecherous, drug-dealing rogue" and near the end of his life, his ship was commandeered by two Genestealers and a hybrid human that demanded passage to the planet Melnos. The hybrid demanded that they warp away from the current planet immediately to escape Imperial starships. Knowing that he would be branded a traitor by history if he did so, he instead set his warp engines to overload, killing his men and the alien threat to Melnos. This action saved the 64 million inhabitants of that planet. This was all despite the fact that he had no idea what the Genestealers even were and despite the fact that they promised to spare his life (implying that they would implant him).
* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': The Phantom/Erik lets Christine and Raoul go, and kills himself shortly after.
* Played with in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Death is required for Edmund's redemption, but not ''his'' death.
** Which, given the allegorical nature of the series, is a direct reference to a certain famous HeroicSacrifice in ''Literature/TheBible''.
* ''Literature/AlexisCarew: Into the Dark'': Alan sexually assaults Alexis while drunk, but she fights him off, then, not wanting to see him hanged, lies to the bosun and the captain that his injuries were [[CutHimselfShaving sustained in a fall]]. Alan stops drinking altogether, then way later, he fakes going over to SpacePirates to keep them from killing her and the other members of the prize crew on a captured pinnace, and is fatally shot helping them retake the ship.
* Discussed in ''Literature/TheDaggerAndTheCoin''. [[VillainProtagonist Geder]] ends up sacrificing himself to destroy the PathOfInspiration he helped bring to power after realizing how the cult had been using him. The heroes explicitly discuss whether or not he achieved any measure of redemption for his crimes as Lord Regent by doing so; [[KnightInSourArmor Marcus]] doesn't buy it, while [[GuileHero Cithrin]] is more ambivalent.
* ''{{Literature/Reunion}}'': The Jewish protagonist Hans escapes Nazi Germany before the purges begin, leaving behind his classmate and only friend Conrad von Hohenfels, a minor aristocrat who buys into most of their rhetoric. Years later, Hans returns to Germany to see his town has been leveled. The school asks for funds to build a memorial to former students, including a list of their names along with their fates. Hans understandably has some difficulty in getting himself to read the H page...
--> Conrad von Hohenfels. Participated in the plot against Hitler. Executed.
* In Dmitry Drimov's ''Journey to the Country of Dreams'', the SmugSnake Glung who had never once lifted a finger to help someone else realizes [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness the villain doesn't need him at all and all his plots and treacheries were for nothing]], and pierces his own heart so that his blood would save his dying brother.
* In ''Literature/OlliesOdyssey'' [[spoiler:Zozo]] dies after his HeelFaceTurn by [[spoiler:holding up the ceiling of the collapsing tunnel of love with his SpiderTank long enough for everyone else to escape]].

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Depending on which version of the story you believe, the Chaos gods possessing Horus abandon him as soon as the tables turn during his final battle with the Emperor. Realising what he has done, Horus begs the Emperor to forgive him for his betrayal. The Emperor does so, then kills Horus to prevent him from being possessed again.
** Quite commonly accepted in-universe. The Ecclesiarchy alone gives us Arco-Flagellants ("repentant" heretics implanted with cyber weaponry and pumped full of combat drugs), Penitent Engines (not quite HumongousMecha piloted by arch-heretics tied to the front of the thing), Sisters Repentia ([[AmazonBrigade Sisters Of Battle]] with a death-wish because of some personal failure armed with an [[ChainsawGood Eviscerator]]) and with the RPG the newly-created Sisters Oblatia (Sisters Of Battle with a death-wish because of ''someone else's'' personal failure--according to their creed, they can redeem another person, group or even planet if their death is heroic enough. Taking the vow associated with this is considered a high honour that is not granted lightly...)
** The Penal legions are criminals on death row who are sent on [[WeHaveReserves suicide missions]]. If they live or (far more likely) die, their sins are forgiven.
** The Tau apparently have an equivalent to sepukku that leaves onlookers splattered in blood and quite shaken, and whoever was at fault restored in the Ethereals' eyes.
* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': Eventually, Gishki Noelia was purified of her corruption, leading her to sacrifice herself to revive her daughter, Gishki Emilia.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/TheGentlemanRanker'', the disgraced Lieutenant Graylen rejoins the army as Private Smith. He finds himself under the command of his father, Colonel Graylen, who tells him IHaveNoSon. Smith volunteers to push through enemy lines to make contact with reinforcements. He makes it through, but dies of his wounds. Colonel Graylen acknowledges his son again, posthumously.
* ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'':
** Implied to be the case with the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, as Malcolm notes to the King that "nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it."
** This foreshadows Macbeth himself getting a partial redemption in his last moments, being killed by Macduff in honourable combat after first attempting to dissuade his opponent from attacking rather than killing by proxy.
* A clearer Shakespearean example would be ''Theatre/KingLear'', a rare Shakespearean protagonist who actually sees the errors of his ways and becomes a genuinely good person by the end. Unfortunately, his transformation came too late to prevent him from losing his kingdom, his sanity, his daughters, and finally his life.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* A major part of the plot in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. The reason the protagonist is immortal is that he felt he needed immortality to have enough time to redeem himself of his evil deeds far prior to the game. Turns out that immortality comes with amnesia. By the end of the game, he finally undoes his immortality and dies, never having had the chance to redeem himself. He ends up either going to hell, or erasing himself from existence.
* If you are able to successfully convince him that he's being controlled by [[spoiler: [[BigBad Sovereign]]]], then [[spoiler: [[TheDragon Saren]]]] of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' [[DrivenToSuicide fits under this trope]]. Though, you still have to fight what's left of him as a final boss due to the robotic implants he got while under Sovereign's control.
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' if Wrex and Eve have both survived, Mordin will choose to sacrifice himself to spread the Genophage cure no matter your choice. He believes he made a mistake all those years ago and that Eve is the force the Krogan need to correct it.
* Depending on the player's choices, [[spoiler:Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir]] of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' might get a "chance" at this, complete with a very much [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]].
* ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict''. The glory-seeking, cowardly insubordinate Captain Charles Bannon is a considerable annoyance throughout the game. He whines continually, exhibits defeatism, and in his rush to grab glory for himself causes the deaths of both a French ally and a group of Russian civilians. Nonetheless, he manages to redeem himself - in the last-ditch battle to stop a Soviet army group reaching the Strategic Defence Initiative headquarters, he and his men willingly sacrifice themselves to fix the Soviet attackers in place so they can be finally stopped with a tactical nuclear weapon. It's heavily implied that he's purposely doing this to redeem himself for all his previous failures. Colonel Sawyer, who despises him, and whose approval he has constantly sought, forgives him in their final radio conversation, telling him he's humbled to have served with him.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'', at least the remake version. After he betrayed the party, and they kicked his ass, Leon Magnus goes to help them escape the soon-to-be-flooded battlefield, while staying behind and letting himself drown, instantly clearing him of any sins he's done in the past. This never happened in the original version, though. He was a sadistic {{Jerkass}} there.
** His redemption on that version comes in the sequel ''Tales of Destiny 2'', as Judas. He's helping out the good guys there, but that comes with a price. After his redemption is fulfilled by beating the crap outta the final boss, he went back in time and died again. This guy never takes a break...
** Probably due to the fact that he was originally meant to die as a jerkass but, due to his [[EnsembleDarkhorse surprising popularity]], that was changed in later games.
* In ''VideoGame/MystIVRevelation'' Achenar has mended his ways, and [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] himself to save Yeesha and restore the lifestone to the memory chamber.
* In ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', if you handle a quest a certain way, you can get the best result and redeem [[spoiler:Yuthura Ban]] to the light side. Since she doesn't reappear in the sequel, she presumably died with everyone else when [[spoiler:Darth Malak destroyed the Jedi Enclave]]. ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', however, suggests she survived, as one of her descendants is fought by imperial characters early on in their careers.
** It is possible to complete that quest ''after'' [[spoiler:Darth Malak destroys the Jedi Enclave]]. And it doesn't seem like there were no survivors, if Vandar and Vrook made it, who else could have?
** Ajunta Pall is an interesting variation on the trope. He's a (very, ''very'') long dead Dark Lord of the Sith, actually said to be the ''first'' human Dark Lord. He lived and died long before the lightsaber was invented. You can talk to his spirit, and find that he has regrets after all this time. You can then attack him or try and coax him to redemption. He disappears after being fought; fail at your Persuade roll and he tells you that it's too late, tells you, "Be at peace", and also vanishes. Succeed in your Persuade roll, and his last lines are a [[Heartwarming/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming]]. But it ''does'' seem like this is the one route in which he finally [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence leaves this world]].
--> "If... if I could return. Oh, my Master... it has been... so long... and I regret so much..."
** Judging from what (little) has been said from the MMORPG's site this is what happened to Revan. S/He simply "never returns," meaning s/he died out in the middle of nowhere trying to forestall the True Sith and failing.
*** Depends what you mean by "failing". The novel "Revan" reveals that he was able to resist TheEmperor's attempts to break him for 300 years, subtly influencing him to hold off on invading the Republic. Had the True Sith attacked then, while the Republic was still recovering, it would have been a CurbStompBattle. Revan's main goal was to make sure that neither his wife nor their son had to live through another war. In that he succeeded.
** A cut ending would have given a female player the option to kill Bastila, turn back to the light, and die on the Star Forge with Carth.
** From the second game, a piece of deleted content where Atton dies after losing his fight against Darth Sion can be interpreted as this, considering his backstory [[spoiler:as a former Sith assassin]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', set inbetween trilogies, Galen Marek has been raised by Darth Vader, doing his bidding. He decides to be a Jedi rather than a Sith, founds the Rebel Alliance, and then dies to save the lives of the other founders. His family crest goes on to become the symbol of the Rebellion, and later the New Republic.
** The sequel partly subverts this. While Starkiller is back, it's never made clear if he's the original somehow revived or just another clone. Given that takes down Vader (for however long that lasts) and earns the Rebellion a major victory, nobody cares, not even his {{Love Interest|s}}.
* Apparently Nod's Redeemer in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath]]'' applies this trope literally. It occasionally yells "Redemption is yours!" when issued an attack order.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': [[spoiler: Axel]] falls victim to this trope, deliberately sacrificing his own life to help out Sora to make up for his earlier actions. Whether or not it was [[DroppedABridgeOnHim actually necessary for him to do so]] is a hotbutton topic among the fans.
** [[spoiler: Ansem the Wise]] might fit this, too. His research started most of the problems in the storyline and in trying to [[TheAtoner atone for this]], he committed many [[KickTheDog questionable deeds]]. In the end, he realizes the error of his ways and [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to set everything right. Except it turns out he's [[spoiler:not actually dead]]...
* At the end of ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'', Harlan Wade, overcome by guilt at what happened during Project Origin, chooses to [[spoiler:release his daughter, Alma, who then subsequently kills him]]. His dialogue as he goes into this indicates he was fully aware that this was what was going to happen.
* [[TheRival Kurtis]] of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}'' [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to break the VillainOverride on [[HypercompetentSidekick Jennifer]] (that he installed in her). However, this being Disgaea, He gets better in time to pull a BigDamnHeroes in the last chapter (though considering HOW he Got Better, this may in fact be a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion). Given that Prinnies are Prinnies so they can pay off their sins from life, it probably is a subversion. He didn't redeem himself just with self-sacrifice.
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', the X are trying to kill Samus the entire game because she is part Metroid. However, Samus becomes powerful enough to beat every X including one that's a mutation of her own suit, SA-X. She then sets the station to crash into the planet and wipe all X from existence. She is then attacked by an Omega Metroid, which promptly beats her because she doesn't have the Ice beam (Ice missiles don't work because they can't pierce the Metroid's hide). At that point, SA-X returns and saves Samus from certain doom, and allows itself to be absorbed into her, giving her the ability to defeat the Metroid. At first it may seem like it just wants to kill Metroids, but [[FridgeBrilliance if you think about it]] there's no point to killing the already-doomed-to-blow-up Metroid unless it wanted Samus to escape.
* Elpizo, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 2'' spent half of the game [[spoiler:trying to unleash the DarkMessiah Dark Elf, which has the power to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy the world]]]]. Zero defeats him, naturally, and Elpizo was regretful for his actions. The Dark Elf, however, [[spoiler:[[FateWorseThanDeath turns him into a cyber-elf]], actually saving his life]].
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has [[spoiler:Faldio]]. His [[IDidWhatIHadToDo decision]] to [[spoiler:shoot Alicia and awaken her invincible Valkyria powers so she'd save the army]] gets him instantly [[DesignatedEvil arrested and vilified by the rest of the cast]]. He spends the rest of the game stewing in prison, and comes out at the end just long enough to [[spoiler:take the villain down with him in a suicide grapple, despite said villain being defeated and surrounded by a whole bunch of people with guns]]. Notably, no one even ''attempts'' to stop him from killing himself as an apology.
* In the ending scene of ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', Green announces his intent to atone for his misdeeds just before ramming his Seven Force into Golden Silver, catching both in the ensuing explosion.
* A semi-example in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. Master Hand has just been freed from [[spoiler: Tabuu]]'s control, and he attempts to fight him, only to be beaten and presumably killed. (Although, he's died several times when a player beats Classic.)
* The Masked Man aka [[spoiler:Claus]] at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''. It's implied that The Masked Man killed himself after finally remembering who he was before. However, the ending is [[GainaxEnding ambiguous]] and there are a couple different ways to interpret the text in the final battle.
* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'':
** [[spoiler:Giacomo]], who dies right after telling Ayme and Folon to help Kalas and Co. stop Melodia in the Celestial Alps.
** If you choose not to kill them when given the opportunity, [[spoiler:Heughes and Nasca]] in ''Baten Kaitos Origins'' do something similar, when they sacrifice themselves to help Sagi and Milly escape Tarazed.
* [[spoiler:Byrne]] in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' eventually succumbs to this after his HeelFaceTurn, using the last of his power to keep Malladus away from Zelda's body and let Zelda get her physical form back in the final battle.
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', though Luis Sera decided to redeem himself before Leon ever met him, still suffers [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice a gruesome death]] at the hands of his former boss, creepy cult leader Saddler.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' epitomizes this trope in name alone, but for added value there is also the fact that John Marston's hard work and seemingly happy ending is [[PlayerPunch interrupted]] with a DyingMomentOfAwesome after the army counters his ImprobableAimingSkills with MoreDakka, leaving behind a TragicKeepsake for his ReplacementScrappy.
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' features this at the ending, with Cole sacrificing himself in a flooding sewer tunnel to save Elsa and Jack.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''. Kratos ultimately wants to drive Lloyd to kill him in a duel, but Lloyd refuses and flat out chews him out for believing that killing himself would make up for the things he did.
* Also subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' with [[spoiler:Raven]], who manages to survive his HeelFaceTurn. [[DeathSeeker Though not for lack of trying]].
* This is actually a major part of [[spoiler: [[TheAtoner Luke's]]]] character arc in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss,'' and as is tradition for the franchise it has a little fun [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructing]] the idea. When the character Does a Bad Thing and [[spoiler:sinks Akzeriuth, killing ten thousand people,]] when he says that he'd die to rectify his mistake. Later on he almost gets the chance, and plans to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]] to destroy the miasma. The death part doesn't seem to take, and when he realizes his death ultimately won't fix anything he declares that he would rather live for himself for as long as possible. [[spoiler: Which won't be very long, because the botched HeroicSacrifice has left him with the terminal condition of ''slowly dissolving on a molecular level.'']] But in the end, perhaps it was all worth it:
-->'''[[spoiler: Lorelei:]]''' You have done ''admirably.''
* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' King [[AFatherToHisMen Volechek]] unknowingly triggers the [[WhamEpisode Grave Eclipse]] in the [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone center of his city]]. The party next sees him when he [[HeroicSacrifice gives his life]] to end the Eclipse.
* In ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeraclesIII'', [[spoiler:the Protagonist]]'s reward for undoing the wrongs of [[spoiler:their past self Lord Baor]] is...to be told that they'll still be sentenced to Tartarus for their sins. [[spoiler:Though after his penance, he does get to be reincarnated as a human.]]
* Depending on the party makeup at the time, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' can wind up with Golbez dying at the hands of Cecil's dark side.
* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'', Yuri, one of the main characters, was a former member of Makarov's inner circle and turned against him during the events of the "No Russian" mission in the previous game, which nearly cost him his life. He survives and turns against Makarov, trying to stop his insanity. At the end of the game's final mission, he manages to save Price from Makarov, but dies in the process. His actions gave Price just enough time to finish the lunatic off.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX'', [[Manga/{{Heroman}} Skrugg Nick]] survives to the finale of the Heroman storyline and Joey and everybody tries to convince him there's still a chance he can return back to normal which is why he was doing things as a Skrugg; thinking he can't return back to normal, but he is still killed by Gogorr who just resurrected. So he only survived enough long to still die.
* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', Sagacious Zu chooses to perform a HeroicSacrifice by collapsing the chamber on himself and Death's Hand, his former master. However, considering that he stopped being a Lotus Assassin when he [[spoiler:chose to save Dawn Star as a baby]], it can be argued that he had already earned his redemption.
* WordOfGod states that this was ''originally'' [[spoiler:Shadow]]'s fate in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', but there was [[NeverFoundTheBody enough ambiguity]] in the way he died that when he became a BreakoutCharacter, Sega decided to {{Retcon}} his death.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} 3'', at the end of the orc campaign, Grom Hellscream kills the demon who corrupted the orcs into AlwaysChaoticEvil berserkers originally at the cost of his life, freeing the orcs from the MindControl said demon put them under.
** Despite this, many of the older orcs from the First War still regret what they did under the curse's influence, to the point it is hinted some of them were DrivenToSuicide after the full impact of their actions hit them.
* Played with in several ways in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''.
** Subverted with [[KillerRobot Mettaton EX]]. After his HeelFaceTurn he is left with almost no power and no way to recharge. He gives player a tearful goodbye... however, he makes it clear that once Alphys finds him, he will be saved and does show up again during the finale of the game.
** Enforced and somewhat downplayed with [[spoiler:[[TragicVillain Asriel Dreemurr]]. In order to maintain physical form and ability to feel, he needs soul - however he lost his own and has to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild use souls he stole from other monsters.]] Once HeelRealisation kicks in, he finds himself in situation where he must either doom them all to a FateWorseThanDeath, or give back their souls - thus himself losing his body and once again turning into [[FoulFlower Flowey]]. ]]
** Somewhat inverted during the [[KillThemAll Genocide Run]]. Final boss, [[spoiler:Sans]], offers to spare player midway through [[spoiler:his]] fight. If player accepts, [[ISurrenderSuckers they'll get attacked with an unblockable insta-kill]]. However, considering how boss [[spoiler:knows about player's ability to control time and actually asks them to go back and do everything again right way]], it's less "redemption equals death" and more "resurrection equals redemption".
** [[spoiler:Played straight at the end of the Genocide Run. At the very end, you are presented with two buttons; one to erase reality and the other to refuse to do so. If, for whatever reason, you refuse to do it, [[OmnicidalManiac The Fallen Child]] will instantly kill you and erase reality for you. Once more, there is a subtle, meta way to pull off your redemption. Simply put, exit the game and delete your file. This must be done before pressing any of the buttons, or else the consequences of your actions will forever haunt your playthroughs.]]
* The initial end goal of why Rachel seeks to die in ''VideoGame/AngelsOfDeath'' is this [[spoiler:for she discovered that the murders of her own parents and her own screwed personality to be sinful and unacceptable to 'God']]. She still wishes to die after she has come to terms with it, but by then, she wants to be killed by Zack out of her own desire rather than as some form of forgiveness.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', the Phantom Thieves offer [[spoiler: Goro Akechi]] a chance to join them [[spoiler: for real and help take down the BigBad]]. However, [[spoiler: the {{Big Bad}}'s cognitive version of Akechi shows up with a horde of [[TheHeartless Shadows]] to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness dispose of the real Akechi for his failure]]. The real Akechi defiantly traps himself with his cognitive fake behind a bulkhead, entrusting the Thieves with the task of taking down the BigBad in his stead]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Videogame/Portal2''. The conveyor belt carrying broken turrets to the incinerator is called the Turret Redemption Line.
* In ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'', [[spoiler: [[TheUnfettered Kokichi]] convinces everyone he is the mastermind]] in order to lure the true mastermind out. When this fails, [[spoiler: he comes up with a plan to be murdered by Kaito in order to create a trial where [[ThePerfectCrime nether the victim or cause of death can be determined]] and ruin the killing game. It's only when [[DroppingTheBombshell Kaito explains Kokichi's motives]] does everyone find out he was [[CrueltoBeKind manipulating them]] to [[GoodAllAlong try and save their lives.]]]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'':
** Dex Garritt seems to have gotten a ''retroactive'' version of this. When we first met him, Dex was the only decent guy in a team of JerkJock slaughterball players, and subsequent adventures have shown him to be an all-around nice and upstanding guy. Then, in the most recent story arc, we learn that in his younger days, Dex was an alcoholic and a druggie, and once beat his wife (although he did state that he regretted it, which was a major reason he became a decent, upstanding person to begin with). Almost ''immediately'' afterward, Dex gets his intestines ripped out by The Infernomancer, and since he's [[BlessedWithSuck resistant to all forms of magic]], there's no way to save his life with magical healing. Karma's a ''bitch''. Turns out he's [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow not quite ready to give up yet though]], as his ex-wife is still not ready to forgive him. Dex basically invokes the reverse of this trope: If there's not going to be any Redemption, he refuses the Death. One could argue that he had already redeemed himself by starting a fistfight with an EldritchAbomination to give the civilians, his wife among them, a chance to escape.
** Taken almost literally when dealing with Bulgak and his adventures in Hell. Turns out when a soul in Hell admits to how [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-12-01 wicked and horrible]] they were in life with genuine regret, [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-12-03 their soul explodes]].
* [[spoiler:Nega-Ki]] in ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'' attempts to surprise Nega-Nick when he is about to use Nick's [=MUTeX=] device to escape. She is mortally wounded when Nega-Nick shoots her with a laser welder, but her actions give Nick an opportunity to try to get the welder away from his counterpart, before Nega-Nick tries to teleport away, but Nick was CrazyPrepared and the lack of a critical part causes him to be warped to an unknown location, and possibly disintegrated.
** Similarly, [[spoiler:Chuck]], who [[spoiler: testified against and got his best friend Fooker convicted of murder, and was responsible for hitting Ki's father with a car]] while under Trudy's control, finally rebels after Ki gets him to come to his senses. He saves Fooker, but Trudy activates a device that causes him pain, turns it to its maximum setting and causes his death.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' plays with this here and there, but thoroughly averted with [[spoiler:Miko Miyazaki]], though. Burlew even says in the graphic novel that [[spoiler:Miko]]'s death was meant to show that not everyone gets a chance to redeem themselves after fucking up royally in the real world, and we should all be mindful of our actions.
** Whether intentional or not, [[spoiler:Miko]] does redeem [[spoiler:her]] character to some extent. She does, after all, finally accept a compromise (seeing Windstriker again, even if she couldn't become a paladin again). Also, [[spoiler:Miko]] was widely hated by the fanbase but still gets redeemed enough in the fans eyes to get a tear jerker ending.
** [[spoiler:Therkla]] from the Kubota arc. [[spoiler:Originally an assassin hired by Kubota to kill Elan and Hinjo so Kubota could take the throne of Azure City, Therkla instead ends up falling in love with Elan, causing her to turn against Kubota, who promptly poisons her to death.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Shadowgirls}}'' Robert Olmstead and several other Deep Ones turn on Mother Hydra when she goes all-out OmnicidalManiac and sends her own people to senseless death as CannonFodder. Robert chooses to be sacrificed, while his allies die in battle.
* The theme of the ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' story "That Which Redeems" is that seeking redemption is [[DeathSeeker a death wish]]. Mosp falls victim but Torg eventually decides that "redemption is overrated."
** This seems to be the case with [[spoiler: Sasha, the utterly amoral mole and infiltrator]] who ends up at the wrong end of [[spoiler:Oasis's knives]] following [[spoiler: her claim that she really does love Riff and wants to make amends]]. But then [[spoiler: it turns out that she deliberately sacrificed herself for Hereticorp, planting nanotech trackers on Riff and Oasis by coming in physical contact with them]].
* [[spoiler:Vriska]] from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. After crossing her MoralEventHorizon by brutally murdering one of her friends in cold blood, she then starts talking to [[spoiler:John]] about how [[PetTheDog she regrets all the murders she's committed, announces her intention to take him on a date]] [[spoiler:and decides to challenge the BigBad to a duel she'll almost certainly lose]]. And then [[spoiler:Terezi]] kills her in order to stop her from compromising the rest of the {{Troll}}s.
** A case could be made for [[spoiler: Equius]] as well. He's a JerkJock, a BluenoseBowdlerizer and a [[FantasticRacism racist]], but he's genuinely sweet to [[spoiler:his moirail, Nepeta]]. The exchange between the two of them before he's brutally murdered by [[spoiler: Gamzee]] verges on being a TearJerker moment, especially since he makes peace with [[spoiler: his romantic feelings for Aradia, despite her being the lowest troll on the hemospectrum]] right before he dies.
* The FanWebcomic ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' gave us this lampshade-tastic [[http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=168#/d12p906 conversation]] about the trope itself. [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jamie]] knows what he is talking about "been there and done that"... and this is a comic where NobodyCanDie.
* [[spoiler:Mako]], a mind-clone of a government wet-worker, gets this in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' after exposure to Sorlie's far more morally upright approach to government service during an EnemyMine. Eventually, [[spoiler:Mako]] serves as spotter for a weapon that can pass through matter, being vaporised in the blast but taking out an army of suborned security officers trying to sabotage the Dom Atlantis central reactor, and leaves a note begging Sorlie not to go down the same dark path...and if she could kindly kill the original wet-worker that'd be peachy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', minor character [[spoiler: Anna Grout]] [[DrivenToSuicide kills herself]] out of guilt after accidentally slicing off [[spoiler: Dane Zygmunt's arm]] and causing his subsequent death by blood loss. One of the reasons mentioned is offering his family some sort of redemption.
* [[spoiler:Dr. Griffin]] of ''WebVideo/KateModern'' is strangled by the Shadow after providing the heroes with the information they need to defeat his former associates in the Order.
* [[spoiler: Link]] in the final episode of ''WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl''. It could actually count as a DoubleSubversion, since he had an apparent HeelFaceDoorSlam in the previous episode, thanks to Zelda's (quite literal) backstabbing. However, he gets better just long enough to face down Ganondorf one final time as a true hero.
* [[spoiler: Inverted in]] ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', when Penny's death causes Dr Horrible's [[spoiler:final damnation]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Tarrlok of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is a classic SmugSnake who, at one time, kidnapped the Avatar and set the benders and non-benders of Republic City against each other. After he gets {{Depower}}ed by his brother, Amon, Tarrlok has a moment of MyGodWhatHaveIDone as he comes to terms with the fact that their [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], Yakone, manipulated them both into becoming exactly what he wanted them to be. Yakone, having been {{Depower}}ed by the previous Avatar, Aang, [[CycleOfRevenge manipulated his kids into fulfilling his quest for revenge against Aang and Republic City, leading Tarrlok becoming a tyrannical councilman and Amon becoming a Bender loathing]] KnightTemplar as his own revenge for mistreatment. Later on, while Tarrlok and Amon are fleeing Republic City by boat, Tarrlok notices the boat is full of Equalist weapons. While Amon's intentions aren't made known, Tarrlok decides to take one of the shock gloves and use it to ignite the boat's gas tank, [[MurderSuicide killing them both]] and end both Yakone's legacy and the CycleOfRevenge he started. A single tear from Amon right before Tarrlok blows the boat up suggests Amon knew that Tarrlok was going to kill them both, [[TearJerker but chose to let him do it, or perhaps actually wanted a life of peace with his brother, but would now never realize it. ]]
** Fast forward to Book 4: Hiroshi Sato is still paying for his crimes in Book 1 in prison, but he's genuinely remorseful that he ruined his relationship with his daughter, the only family he had left. Come the series finale, Lin frees him from prison to help Asami and Varrick finish the [[MiniMecha Hummingbirds]] [[DavidVersusGoliath to attack]] [[HumongousMecha the Colossus]], and in the process gets an opportunity to reconcile with his daughter. When the time comes to assault the Colossus, while Korra attempts to freeze it in place so the Hummingbirds can cut through the armor, Kuvira manages to free one of the arms. But the cutting isn't finished, so [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Hiroshi whispers "I love you" to Asami and fires her ejector seat]] [[HeroicSacrifice just as the giant metal hand comes down and crushes the suit.]]
* [[spoiler:Anti-Pops/Malum-Kranus]] from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', [[spoiler:during his last seconds of life]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** Terra, TheMole for BigBad Slade during season two, ended up turning on him in the season finale. In the ensuing battle between her and Slade, Terra triggered a volcanic eruption, and ended up having to sacrifice herself to save the city and her friends. She exhausted all of her powers and was [[TakenForGranite turned into a statue]]. However, in the series finale "Things Change", Beast Boy encounters a schoolgirl who looks mysteriously like Terra, and after noticing that [[BackFromTheDead her stone statue is gone]], begs the girl to return to the team. Despite repeated insistence that she doesn't know him, the girl finallly tells him that [[IJustWantToBeNormal "Things were never the way you remember...'']], ending the series on a [[BittersweetEnding sweetly sad note]].
** It's interesting to note that in the comics, Terra is merely a PsychoForHire, and dies as she lived... trying to kill the heroes. Years later, a new, heroic Terra appears in [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the comics]], with the body of the old Terra disappearing, and eventually it's strongly hinted that she's actually the original with amnesia. A central aspect of this character is that she's aware of the possibility and terrified that it could be true. Then she {{d|roppedABridgeOnHim}}ies [[DyingToBeReplaced pointlessly]] in a later storyline [[LegacyCharacter to make way for yet another Terra]].
* Dinobot of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was a Predacon who defected to the Maximals in the first season. In the second season, he betrayed the Maximals and gave Megatron the golden discs. Though Dinobot would return to the Maximals after realizing Megatron's evil, the Maximals had little reason to trust him from that point on. Redemption finally came in the episode Code of Hero where Dinobot battled against all the Predacons to save the early protohumans and won, but at the cost of his own life. Resulting in a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
--> Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, [[BeAllMySinsRemembered the ill deeds along with the good]], and let me be judged accordingly. [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare The rest... is silence]].
* [[spoiler:Franz Hopper]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' could be argued to have done this, having sacrificed himself to allow Aelita and Jérémie to destroy the malevolent program that he himself created years ago. The argument comes from the fact that this is played as a HeroicSacrifice, but considering his track record of creating [[spoiler:XANA]] and working intently as a WellIntentionedExtremist to stop [[spoiler:Project Carthage]], one could come to the conclusion that he wasn't looked too well upon by the Lyoko Warriors, even if they were trying to save him.
* ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'': Titanian Man allies himself with Dark Aegis out of the belief that the new tech Aegis has promised him will allow him to rid Russia of the economic and political corruption it'd been suffering from since the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, he undergoes a HeelRealization upon learning that Dark Aegis is a CompleteMonster who annihilated an inhabited alien planet, and decides to help Iron Man and Comicbook/WarMachine stop his former master. After saying that he has "The sins of a lifetime" to atone for, Titanium Man ultimately sacrifices himself to destroy Dark Aegis once and for all.
* In ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'', The Living Laser, who spent most of the series searching for his purpose in life, ends up sacrificing himself to help stop M.O.D.O.C. and save Iron Man's life after Tony Stark had shown him kindness when no one else in his life had. However, the second season later inverts this when Mr. Fix brings him back to life.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' The Sandman apparently dies after helping the people on the oil tanker he wrecked escape and using his body as a shield to stop its explosion from killing everyone near. Of course, his character has come back from things like that before.
* Mr Freeze in most of his most well known DCAU appearances (even though he doesn't really die in most of them).
** In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Mr Freeze is coaxed into helping an aging industrialist named Grant Walker into achieving immortality (by giving Walker the same icy biology that he has) and to use his freezing weaponry to initiate a new ice age, from which a new utopia will emerge led by Walker, all in exchange for the chance to cure his cryogenically frozen wife. After Batman arrives and convinces Freeze that destroying the world just for her would be wrong (and that she would think so as well) he helps destroy Walker's island, with himself still on it. It is revealed at the end of the episode that he survived with his wife's stasis tube frozen in a block of ice.
** In the animated movie ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubZero'', he attempts to save his dying wife by capturing Barbara Gordon and attempting to use her as a live organ transplant donor with assistance from one of his lying, scheming money-grabbing former friends (in actuality it turns out that his wife would not have needed the operation to survive and the dude was just lying to get the 'kaching'). Which, of course, would kill her. After Batman and Robin show up, Freeze is injured after being betrayed by his friend, yet he helps them escape with Barbara, his unconscious wife and an Inuit boy he had earlier adopted, urging them to leave without him. When Batman returns to save him, he seemingly falls to his death.\\
\\
He is later revealed to be alive and well in the Arctic (although with a broken leg) with his two pet Polar Bears and listens in to a television report in cabin outpost that Bruce Wayne had used his medical facilities to cure his wife and that she was now awake and stable. This causes a very happy tear to fall from his eye as he limps back into the cold wilderness.
** In his appearance in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', he is given a new body in an attempt to experiment for creating a new body for [[BigBad Derek Powers]]. After it is revealed the experiment was faulty, Powers tries to have him killed and biopsied. Freeze survives and comes for revenge in a new armoured suit and attempts to blow up a reactor plant, with the reason being once it goes up, it will take him with it, ending the suffering he has caused and the suffering caused to him. After Batman is attacked by Blight (Powers' irradiated super-villain form), a critically injured Freeze saves Batman from his finishing blow (by shooting Blight halfway across the city) and forces Batman to leave him to die, stating that 'you're the only one who cares'.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', after Captain Marcus leads a mutiny and takes the unprepared Exofleet into battle, resulting in the Neosapiens slaughtering them, he refuses to evacuate the heavily damaged ''Resolute'', instead using it to ram the Neo flagship, giving the rest of the fleet the chance to retreat.
** Earlier, during the "Veil of Doom" story-arc, Diana, [[TheMole Shiva's spy]] in the Resistance attempted to make up for her treachery by capturing Prof. Algernon. Her attempt fails and she is herself captured by Draconis, who promises her a painful death.
* Van Rook from ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'' had been a good guy for all of the show's final season, but seemed only in it because Doyle owed him money. He finally cements his good guy credentials rather sadly, by [[TakingTheBullet taking an energy blast]] intended for Drew. The show ends with the characters mourning his loss at a graveyard, and Doyle giving the shows final line. "Two's plenty."
* [[spoiler:Nebula]] in the season 4 finale of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' [[spoiler:tries [[DrivenToSuicide to die]] [[TakingYouWithMe with the Fairy Hunters]] after having joined with the titular team in fighting them]]. Just thank [[spoiler:Bloom]] for averting this.
* Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Aduckyphobia" when a character goes to fix the problems caused, expecting to die. It doesn't fallout the way expected. Pun intended.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' episode "[[Recap/ScoobyDooMysteryIncS2E11TheMidnightZone The Midnight Zone]]", the gang forms an uneasy alliance with Angel Dynamite, the radio DJ who is actually original Mystery Inc. member Cassidy Williams who along with the other original members sought the hidden treasure of Crystal Cove. She had since disassociated herself from the others, and in this episode joins the gang underwater to a trench where Germanic robots are being assembled (the same robots that destroyed Cassidy's radio station and tried to kill her). They are joined by Tom, Tubb and their pet seal Scooby (from the 1967 Moby Dick cartoon--Moby here is a whale-shaped submarine), and as the episode's villain, Professor Pericles (the original team mascot) sets off explosives to destroy the city, everyone boards the sub but it cannot move due to a claw holding its tail. Cassidy stays behind to release the sub's tail as the robots converge on her and the explosions draw near. Everyone presumes Cassidy did not survive, to their heartbreak. ([[WordOfGod Exective producer Tony Cervone]] confirms that Cassidy did not survive.)
-->'''Scooby:''' (''sadly'') She saved us...
** Also in the finale [[spoiler:Mr. E. But he and Cassidy are alive and well in the new timeline]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Hereafter", Vandal Savage spends 30,000 years alone after [[ApocalypseHow destroying the world]] in one of his attempts to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer it]]. When Superman is accidentally sent forward to his time, he gladly helps him get back home in order to prevent this from happening, knowing that it will [[RetGone erase this version of himself from existence]]. He gets a brief moment to see that the plan works, as a timeline full of people fades in and he fades out of existence.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
** In "Crossing Over", Nikolai Jakov, head of the KGB, gets a lot of CharacterDevelopment, defects to ISIS, and even apologizes to Archer for his previous actions before being brutally murdered by his replacement, [[spoiler:Barry Dylan]].
** In "Sea Tunt: Part II", Captain Murphy gives up on even pretending to be a real threat, admits to the main characters that [[spoiler:he had neither the means nor the intent to actually carry out his threat to bomb the East Coast]], and uses his last words to tell Archer, Lana, Cyril, and Ray how to save themselves.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' has Uli, who after unexpectedly feeling bad about betraying his friends to summon an AncientEvil, and after said evil decides he's going to [[EvilIsNotAToy destroy Uli along with everything else]], ultimately decides to steal TheChosenOne's amulet and use it to seal himself and the evil away forever.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', [[spoiler: Ashi ends up gaining Aku's powers and activating a time portal to take herself and Jack to the past, knowing that she will be erased from existence after Jack defeats Aku. It comes off as "Redemption Equals RetGone," but it still counts]].
%%* [[spoiler: Honerva]] in the end of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Subverted in the [[DuelingMovies dueling animated films]], ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', where the main plot is about a supposedly irredeemable villain finding himself turning a new leaf completely and gaining a new, happy and fulfilling life as a result.

** At the climax of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', [[spoiler: Skurge stays behind and fights off Hela's minions in order to allow the surviving Asgardians to escape, and ultimately ends up being [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled]] by Hela after she realizes what he's doing]].

* {{Subverted}} in ''Literature/AnnaKarenina''--the title character has gotten pregnant from her adulterous lover, Vronsky, and seems fated for DeathByChildbirth, so she calls back her husband in order to obtain his forgiveness before she dies. He grants it, Vronsky leaves...and Anna survives. Given the choice of staying with her husband and resuming her old life, she instead runs off with Vronsky, [[IgnoredEpiphany apparently having learned nothing]], and more tragedy comes to follow from this decision.

** In the animated movie ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubzero'', he attempts to save his dying wife by capturing Barbara Gordon and attempting to use her as a live organ transplant donor with assistance from one of his lying, scheming money-grabbing former friends (in actuality it turns out that his wife would not have needed the operation to survive and the dude was just lying to get the 'kaching'). Which, of course, would kill her. After Batman and Robin show up, Freeze is injured after being betrayed by his friend, yet he helps them escape with Barbara, his unconscious wife and an Inuit boy he had earlier adopted, urging them to leave without him. When Batman returns to save him, he seemingly falls to his death.\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', after Captain Marcus leads a mutiny and takes the unprepared Exofleet into battle, resulting in the Neosapiens slaughtering them, he refuses to evacuate the heavily damged ''Resolute'', instead using it to ram the Neo flagship, giving the rest of the fleet the chance to retreat.

* Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Aduckyphobia" when a character goes to fix the problems caused, expecting to die. It doesn't fallout the way expected. pun intended.

* [[spoiler: Honerva]] in the end of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''.

** Perhaps the ultimate example comes in ''Literature/Curtain'', when [[spoiler:Poirot]] kills [[spoiler:Norton, the orchestrator of all the previous murderers]], he then [[spoiler:casts aside his nitroglycerin pills for his heart, leaving his physical and eternal fate to God]].

* In the Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons'' [[spoiler:one of the murderers]] redeems herself by taking a bullet to stop her best friend being killed and thus atoning for her own murder.
* Another Creator/AgathaChristie example is [[spoiler:Mrs Lorrimer]] from ''Literature/CardsOnTheTable'', who, the night before being murdered, attempts to turn [[spoiler:herself]] in for the murder of Mr Shaitana, both to protect another suspect and to atone for having gotten away with murdering [[spoiler:her husband]] years earlier.

* In the novel ''Literature/DeathStar'', the Imperial chief gunner for the station, Tenn Graneet, feels [[WhatHaveIDone utterly sickened with himself for destroying Alderaan]] since he was the one in charge of the superlaser. He can't get over the guilt of being the man that pulled the trigger and killed two billion people. So when Luke is racing for the exhaust port and he is ordered to destroy Yavin IV, Tenn has his hand on the lever and is ready to pull it- but, praying for a miracle, he holds off executing the order for as long as he can get away with it. And his prayer is answered as Luke fires the torpedo that destroys the Death Star, not only saving Yavin IV but unknowingly granting Tenn death and redemption.

* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'': In the end, [[The Bluebeard Sir Thomas Sharpe]] tries to convince his {{ax crazy}} sister not to kill [[TheHero his wife, Edith,]] even though he spent the first part of the movie helping Lucille plot against her and poison her. Unfortunately, when Lucile realizes that he [[BecomingTheMask really developed feelings for her]], she [[EyeScream stabs him in the eye with a knife]] in a [[BrotherSisterIncest jealous rage.]]

* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'': In the end, [[BlueBeard Sir Thomas Sharpe]] tries to convince his {{ax crazy}} sister not to kill [[TheHero his wife, Edith,]] even though he spent the first part of the movie helping Lucille plot against her and poison her. Unfortunately, when Lucile realizes that he [[BecomingTheMask really developed feelings for her]], she [[EyeScream stabs him in the eye with a knife]] in a [[BrotherSisterIncest jealous rage.]]

* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'': In the end, [[BlueBeard Sir Thomas Sharpe]] tries to convince his {{ax crazy}} sister not to kill [[TheHero his wife, Edith,}} even though he spent the first part of the movie helping Lucille plot against her and poison her. Unfortunately, when Lucile realizes that he [[BecomingTheMask really developed feelings for her]], she [[EyeScream stabs him in the eye with a knife]] in a [[BrotherSisterIncest jealous rage.]]

* [[spoiler: Honerva in the end of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''.]]

* Subverted in the Film/StarTrek fanfic ''Fanfic/FlightOfTheCondor''. The fugitive Richard Beckwith is killed saving [[spoiler: Edith Keeler's life]]. However, [[spoiler: Keeler]] later becomes involved in [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, changing who lives and who dies, causing Earth to be populated by different people for the next three hundred years, preventing the existence of the Federation and the ''Enterprise'']].

* In Peter David's Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier novel ''Treason'', [[spoiler: Dr. Selar]] dies in an explosion that saves other characters' lives--making up for the rest of the novel, in which she goes temporarily insane, contemplates murdering one of her patients, continues destroying her relationship with Burgoyne 172, kidnaps a former crewmate's newborn son, and various other things of like ilk.

* Mostly averted in ''Manga/FairyTail'', except for [[spoiler: Jellal]], who supposedly gives his life to keep Erza from giving up hers to save her friends, and she mourns for him. Later, when it turns out he didn't die (how this is possible [[HandWave isn't even questioned]]). He tries to pull this a ''second time'' and is told he has no right to end his life. Still, at least he tried.

* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', [[spoiler:Gemini Saga kills himself after his good side regains control of his body, believing the only way of redeeming himself after what he's done to Athena and his fellow Saints is death.]]

* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', it happens to [[spoiler:just about every first season villain. Gakuto (Gaito, if you're watching the anime) is doomed to be crushed by or sealed inside [[NoOntologicalInertia his own castle]], and the Dark Lovers stay by his side; Sara, seeing the damage she's done, goes voluntarily with him.]] (Strangely enough, the actual dying only happens in the anime, which is generally the more child-friendly version.) [[spoiler:Then there are Mimi and Sheshe, who were actually redeemed in the anime -- in the manga, it's debatable. They get offed by Michel.]]

* Many times in ''Manga/DragonBall Z'', but most would fall under HeroicSacrifice, with the notable exception of Piccolo's death at the turning point of the climactic battle of the Saiyan Saga. This is a case of RedemptionEqualsDeath as he had been training his ex-archenemy's son for the previous year, and showed more kindness to him than anyone before.

** In fact, in what may be a subversion of this trope, nearly dying makes him ''worse''. Near the end, [[spoiler:his sister comes to believe that if she had forgiven him at that juncture instead of shooting him in the head, Johan may have stopped killing at that point. It's debatable whether his second near death experience, his sister's later forgiveness, and (above all) Tenma's saving him again (despite knowing what a monster he was this time) had any effect on him, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism but we can always hope]].]]
* Variation: In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Suzaku ''[[DeathSeeker thinks]]'' that RedemptionEqualsDeath; having never been punished for the [[spoiler: murder of his father at the age of 10]], he throws himself into battles with the hope of being killed and redeeming himself, which has the side effect of making him look like a brave, heroic KnightInShiningArmor. [[spoiler:The loving irony of this is that Lelouch eventually puts a "Live" Geass on Suzaku, so as to save himself when Suzaku tries to throw away both their lives under orders. This makes it impossible for Suzaku to willingly sacrifice himself for any reason, as he is now supernaturally hardwired to survive at any cost despite his emotional torture. It gets even worse for him when he learns about the command.]]
** Played straight, however, with [[spoiler:Rolo, who died saving Lelouch's life. Also overlaps with AlasPoorScrappy because some ''really'' bad screw ups made him one of the most hated characters in the series, but lots of people cried for him after his HeroicSacrifice. The sad music and speech really helped.]]
** Invoked with [[spoiler:Lelouch, who incorporates his own death into his plan to bring peace to the world to atone for all the terrible things he's had to do to get to that point.]] The [[AllThereInTheManual Official Guide Book]] points out that [[spoiler:Suzaku is punished by having to continue living instead of dying per his wish, while Lelouch's death forever separates him from Nunnally.]] Lelouch had other options on the table, such as remaining around to help with the reconstruction of the world, but a combination of the painful experiences he went through [[spoiler:(which most recently included Nunnally's apparent demise plus the Black Knights betrayal and barely saving Kallen from going down with him by lying to her)]] led to a ThanatosGambit that simultaneously culminated in the rearrangement of the global status quo and [[spoiler:his own SuicideByCop.]] That said, there was also an odd double subversion of the trope since Lelouch's plan was fairly comparable to Schneizel's because it involved [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans causing additional death and destruction for the sake of peace, to the point of exceeding what he was purportedly atoning for]] - albeit without intending to hold the world hostage or in fear forever and ever - which damned him in the eyes of history but grudgingly rehabilitated him from the perspectives of Nunnally and Kallen, among others.

** It's also one possible interpretation for [[spoiler:Scar's death]] in the TV series, and [[spoiler:Wrath, and Hohenheim]]'s in the movie, for that matter. Although [[spoiler:Scar has just killed thousands of soldiers to create the Philosopher's Stone, and Hohenheim's HeroicSacrifice (?) is a dubious way of apologizing to his son for abandoning him, not to mention the thousands of victims if not more that he created indirectly by making Envy and not killing him before four centuries had elapsed.]] At least, [[spoiler:he seems to feel sufficiently punished for surviving his first son.]]
* At the end of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[spoiler:Wolfwood's death in both the manga and anime]] qualifies too. Confetti and churches, WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic

** Then again, [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll it's not so much she died because she was redeemed, it's more because all but two people on earth die within twenty pages of her death]].]]
* Any single villain in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' that feels ANY amount of sorrow for their heartless deeds after Kenshiro beats some sense into them WILL die. The most certain of them would be [[spoiler:Raoh, Kaioh and Raiga and Fuuga, though it takes a few episodes for this to kick into effect for the latter two.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:Zabuza]] fits this. [[spoiler:Chiyo]] also consider her HeroicSacrifice as a form of redemption, as it was for [[spoiler:Gaara, who she sealed the One-Tails into, which is why he was killed by Akatsuki.]]

** Probably the biggest one in the series, [[spoiler:Obito. After returning to his old-self, Obito is at death's door, but manages to keep on fighting it off in order to help the heroes against Madara and later on Kaguya. He finally dies TakingTheBullet for Naruto and Kakashi, his final words thanking Naruto for making him realize the error of his ways, and saying that he knows Naruto will become Hokage.]]

* In the Virtual World arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', [[spoiler:Noah bites it after he is about to escape the Virtual World, leaving the characters inside to die, but instead decides to return and rescue them, at the cost of his own life.]]

* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', [[spoiler:at the end, Yukio Oikawa apologizes to the Digidestined for creating Arukenimon and Mummymon and ripping a hole between the real world. Then he dies/turns himself into butterflies to save the Digital World.]]

** Averted in ''[[Anime/DigimonTamers Tamers]]'' by [[spoiler:Beelzemon, who almost died from an attack from the D-Reaper but was rescued by Grani and recovered while spending time with his Tamers.]]
* Subverted somewhat in ''Manga/{{Bleach}} 354'' when [[spoiler:Ulquiorra finally learns what the heart is ''as'' he is literally disintegrating.]]

** Lampshaded and mixed with DyingAsYourself in 387 where [[spoiler:Tousen finally see's that his path was wrong and that he has those who care for him the same way he cared for his friend only to explode into a mass of blood seconds later.]]
* Mostly averted in ''Manga/FairyTail'', except for [[spoiler: Jellal]], who supposedly gives his life to keep Erza from giving up hers to save her friends, and she mourns for him. Later, when it turns out he didn't die (how this is possible [[HandWaved isn't even questioned]]). He tries to pull this a ''second time'' and is told he has no right to end his life. Still, at least he tried.

* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' has a number of examples, but some of the most notable are [[spoiler:Yamane, Masao and Sadakiyo.]] A major theme in the final arc of the series is that of the people who help put Friend in power and, by extension, put the world in the [[CrapsackWorld sorry state its in]], realising the error of their ways and seeking redemption. This leads to a number of deaths and HeroicSacrifices on their part, leading to this trope.

* In ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'', [[spoiler:Sasame defects from the Leafe Knights to be by [[DarkMagicalGirl Takako]]'s side because he fell in love with her--even though he knew she didn't love him in return.]] On her side, [[spoiler: he attempts to kill his former teammates and turns Mawata into the Puppet of Darkness by breaking her heart]], but [[spoiler: when Takako has a VillainousBreakdown and is nearly attacked by the dark tree she summoned, Sasame [[HeroicSacrifice throws himself in front of an attack]] meant for her. The dark energy possessing the two disintegrates, and (after admitting "[[{{Lampshading}} Not even my death will redeem me]]", he dies in the redeemed Takako's arms [[GoOutWithASmile with a smile]]. His soul is even seen flying away into a bright white nothingness by his former teammates.]] However, this is one example where the redeemed ''DOES'' come back to life-- [[spoiler: Himeno revives him (and others) through her powers during the final battle with the Great Tree. ]]

* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', Ulic Qel-Droma had an arc solely dedicated to his redemption. In the end he was able to make peace with himself and and the people he hurt before getting shot. This was still enough to reestablish his connection to the force and let him become one with it when he died.

** Subverts the algorithm of deadness; he comes back, because it's Marvel, and gods can come back a thousand time.

* Subverted in the Film/StarTrek fanfic ''Fanfic/FlightOfTheCondor''. The fugitive Richard Beckwith is killed saving [[spoiler: Edith Keeler's life]]. However, [[spoiler: Keeler]] later becomes involved in [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, changing who lives and who dies, causing Earth to be populated by different people for the next three hundred years, preventing the existence of the Federation and the ''Enterprise''.]]
* [[spoiler: Kiba]] in the crossover fic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10527530/1/Ninja-of-Santoryu Ninja of Santoryu]] acts like an asshole for the first part of the story, only to mellow out once Naruto saves his life from the Akatsuki, even gaining a love interest. [[spoiler: He's then unceremoniously killed off by [[Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist Shou Tucker]] in battle]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', also directed by Don Bluth, Jenner's henchman Sullivan ([[NominalImportance only named in the credits]]) refuses to do the deed in Jenner's evil plan and is slashed to death by him, [[spoiler:but before he dies, he throws his knife into Jenner's back, killing him, too.]]

* ''Film/ManOnFire's'' [[spoiler:main character]] (in the 1987 version starring Scott Glen) follows a path of redemption that culminates in this trope when he [[spoiler:trades his life for the life of a child.]]
* In ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'', Frankie Dalton spends most of the film hunting the remaining humans as part of the U.S. Army to feed the world's [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] population. He finally has a change of heart after witnessing the execution of the daughter of the BigBad who refused to drink human blood. After receiving the cure for vampirism, Frankie saves his brother Edward and his LoveInterest Audrey from a group of bloodthirsty vampire soldiers by throwing himself at them and allowing himself to be ripped apart.

** This almost happened to [[spoiler: Riddick. In the original script, Riddick was supposed to die instead of Fry]]. Executive Meddling put a stop to that, since [[spoiler:''The Chronicles of Carolyn Fry'' would not have made for a decent sequel.]]

** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}}, a foe to the Avengers through the early goings of the film, give his life to protect Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} and a child he had gone back to rescue when Ultron shoots up the joint in the Quinjet he hijacked.

** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': [[spoiler:After also redeeming himself and siding with his brother in ''Thor: Ragnarok'', Loki ultimately meets his end, having his neck snapped by Thanos after he attempted to kill the Mad Titan.]]

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', [[spoiler: Nux, who was previously ones of [[BigBad Immortan Joe's]] [[{{Mook}} mooks]], [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to allow Max, Furiosa, and the Wives escape while crashing the Rig to [[TakingYouWithMe take Rictus with him]] and block the canyon pass to prevent the rest of the War Boys from pursuing the group.]]
** Furiosa, who believes that certain things she's done in her past require redemption, attempts this when she goes to kill [[BigBad Joe]], [[spoiler:believing that she's already going to die from the severe stab wound she took, to make sure the Wives are free of his oppression. Even what she thinks are her last words to Max ask him to get them home. However, Max manages to save her life with a blood transfusion just in time.]]

* In ''Film/BloodDiamond'', [[spoiler:Danny Archer]] spends most of the movie being a violent, cynical, unrepenant asshole. At the very end, though, [[spoiler:he gives up his place on the plane for Solomon and his son, and holds the mercenary army off long enough for them to escape.]] PlayedWith in that he had already been shot in the chest and was probably going to die anyway.

** [[spoiler: Severus Snape]]. He spent his entire life [[spoiler:trying to make up for unknowingly betraying Lily Potter, the love of his life, to Voldemort. He ends up giving Literature/HarryPotter just the information the boy needs to finally take down Voldemort.]] And then dies.

* Renfield from {{Literature/Dracula}}

* In Gav Thorpe's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} [[Literature/TheLastChancers Last Chancer]] novel ''Annihilation Squad'', at the very end, Kage [[spoiler:is freed from a daemon's control, manages, with great effort, to remember what had happened while he was controlled, and realizes the value of sacrifice. He immediately drags the man they had come to assassinate over the cliff.]]

* In ''[[Literature/KushielsLegacy Kushiel's Dart]]'', [[spoiler:Isidore d'Aiglemort]] goes on a suicide mission to avoid being remembered as a traitor (and foil the plans of ChessMaster, [[spoiler:Melisande]]).

* In ''[[Literature/TheBlackCompany Annals of the Black Company]]'', may or may not be averted by [[spoiler:The Lady]]. Knowing what the outcome will be, she chooses to accept the loss of her powers rather than allow an even bigger evil than herself to be unleashed on the world. On the other hand, her powers had allowed her to maintain her [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty youth and beauty]] indefinitely; it is strongly hinted that without them she ''will'' die eventually. So this could be seen as a very delayed form of RedemptionEqualsDeath.

* Literature/InDeath series: Poor Mick Connolley from ''Betrayal in Death''. He helped to distract Roarke long enough for a group of criminals to pull off a heist at a big auction. Roarke did figure it out beforehand, and got his old friend Connolley to explain everything. Mick didn't feel bad about what he did...until he found out from Roarke that the criminals tried to distract Roarke by having a hitman kill off two employees, and try to kill off Summerset. Mick doesn't have a problem with stealing, but he does have a problem with being a party to murder. He did attempt to make amends, and it costed him his life.

* Zigzagged in ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm The Painter Knight]]'' when a child sovereign declines to condemn the repentant traitor and orders him to return for sentencing after she's of age, knowing [[spoiler:he's mortally ill and won't live that long.]]

* ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'': [[spoiler:After betraying the other Gatekeepers to the Old Ones, Scott regrets his actions and sacrifices himself to open the portal at Antarctica after it was sealed by the Old Ones, allowing Pedro and Jaime to reach the other Gatekeepers and put a stop to the Old Ones.]]

* Discussed in ''Literature/TheDaggerAndTheCoin''. [[VillainProtagonist Geder]] ends up sacrificing himself to destroy the PathOfInspiration be helped bring to power after realizing how the cult had been using him. The heroes explicitly discuss whether or not he achieved any measure of redemption for his crimes as Lord Regent by doing so; [[KnightInSourArmor Marcus]] doesn't buy it, while [[GuileHero Cithrin]] is more ambivalent.

* In ''Literature/OlliesOdyssey'' [[spoiler:Zozo]] dies after his HeelFaceTurn by [[spoiler:holding up the ceiling of the collapsing tunnel of love with his SpiderTank long enough for everyone else to escape.]]

* In ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', if you handle a quest a certain way, you can get the best result and redeem [[spoiler:Yuthura Ban]] to the light side. Since she doesn't reappear in the sequel, she presumably died with everyone else when [[spoiler:Darth Malak destroyed the Jedi Enclave.]] ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', however, suggests she survived, as one of her descendants is fought by imperial characters early on in their careers.
** It is possible to complete that quest ''after'' [[spoiler:Darth Malak destroys the Jedi Enclave.]] And it doesn't seem like there were no survivors, if Vandar and Vrook made it, who else could have?

** The sequel partly subverts this. While Starkiller is back, it's never made clear if he's the original somehow revived or just another clone. Given that takes down Vader (for however long that lasts) and earns the Rebellion a major victory, nobody cares, not even his LoveInterest.

* At the end of ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'', Harlan Wade, overcome by guilt at what happened during Project Origin, chooses to [[spoiler:release his daughter, Alma, who then subsequently kills him.]] His dialogue as he goes into this indicates he was fully aware that this was what was going to happen.

* A semi-example in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. Master Hand has just been freed from [[spoiler: Tabuu]]'s control, and he attempts to fight him, only to be beaten and presumably killed. (Although, he's died several times when a player beats Classic.)

* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos''

* The initial end goal of why Rachel seeks to die in ''VideoGame/AngelsOfDeath'' is this [[spoiler:for she discovered that the murders of her own parents and her own screwed personality to be sinful and unacceptable to 'God'.]] She still wishes to die after she has come to terms with it, but by then, she wants to be killed by Zack out of her own desire rather than as some form of forgiveness.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', the Phantom Thieves offer [[spoiler: Goro Akechi]] a chance to join them [[spoiler: for real and help take down the BigBad.]] However, [[spoiler: the {{Big Bad}}'s cognitive version of Akechi shows up with a horde of [[TheHeartless Shadows]] to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness dispose of the real Akechi for his failure]]. The real Akechi defiantly traps himself with his cognitive fake behind a bulkhead, entrusting the Thieves with the task of taking down the BigBad in his stead.]]

* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan''

** [[spoiler:Therkla]] from the Kubota arc. [[spoiler:Originally an assassin hired by Kubota to kill Elan and Hinjo so Kubota could take the throne of Azure City, Therkla instead ends up falling in love with Elan, causing her to turn against Kubota, who promptly poisons her to death]].

** This seems to be the case with [[spoiler: Sasha, the utterly amoral mole and infiltrator]] who ends up at the wrong end of [[spoiler:Oasis's knives]] following [[spoiler: her claim that she really does love Riff and wants to make amends.]] But then [[spoiler: it turns out that she deliberately sacrificed herself for Hereticorp, planting nanotech trackers on Riff and Oasis by coming in physical contact with them.]]
* [[spoiler:Vriska]] from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. After crossing her MoralEventHorizon by brutally murdering one of her friends in cold blood, she then starts talking to [[spoiler:John]] about how [[PetTheDog she regrets all the murders she's committed, announces her intention to take him on a date]] [[spoiler:and decides to challenge the BigBad to a duel she'll almost certainly lose.]] And then [[spoiler:Terezi]] kills her in order to stop her from compromising the rest of the {{Troll}}s.
** A case could be made for [[spoiler: Equius]] as well. He's a JerkJock, a BluenoseBowdlerizer and a [[FantasticRacism racist]], but he's genuinely sweet to [[spoiler:his moirail, Nepeta.]] The exchange between the two of them before he's brutally murdered by [[spoiler: Gamzee]] verges on being a TearJerker moment, especially since he makes peace with [[spoiler: his romantic feelings for Aradia, despite her being the lowest troll on the hemospectrum]] right before he dies.

* [[spoiler: Inverted in]] ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', when Penny's death causes Dr Horrible's [[spoiler:final damnation.]]

* [[spoiler:Anti-Pops/Malum-Kranus]] from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', [[spoiler:during his last seconds of life.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''

** In "Crossing Over", Nikolai Jakov, head of the KGB, gets a lot of CharacterDevelopment, defects to ISIS, and even apologizes to Archer for his previous actions before being brutally murdered by his replacement, [[spoiler:Barry Dylan.]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Orson's ex-wife Alma in ''Series/DesperateHousewives''. When she finally realizes that Orson will never love her, Orson's mother locks her up. She escapes through a window and climbs on the roof, but falls to her death while trying to warn Danielle that Orson's mother plans to kill Bree. Orson never learns about this.
* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** In the episode "Evolution of the Daleks", Dalek Sec fuses with the human building contractor Mr Diagoras, instilling him with a human sense of creativity and a rudimentary morality. The three other Daleks in the episode then turn upon him, and exterminate him when he shields the Doctor. This is also a HeroicSacrifice because he jumped in front of the beam headed for the Doctor.
** In "The Poison Sky", Luke Rattigan had allied himself with the Sontarans and later saw the error of his ways (after the Sontarans used the device he built to nearly destroy the Earth). The Doctor plans to transport himself to the Sontaran ship with a device that will destroy it, but at the last minute Luke takes his place and makes the sacrifice instead.
** This was a favourite trope in the old days. A guest character would do something terrible, then redeem themselves by sacrificing their life. Examples include Sara Kingdom (executed her brother under orders, then gives her life to save the galaxy from the Daleks' Master Plan), Fewsham (a DirtyCoward who aided the Ice Warriors in their plan, then when he realized [[WhatHaveIDone what he had done]] arranged to alert Earth to the Ice Warrior fleet and how to stop them; he gets shot when the Ice Warriors get suspicious at his recapitulation of everything and then notice recording in progress), and Galloway in "Death to the Daleks" who blows himself up along with their spacecraft.
** In "The End of Time": The Master. "YOU. DID. THIS. TO. ME. ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR." Considering his track record, though, it's unlikely that either the death or the redemption will stick. If anything, his redemption in this case was heavily motivated by a desire for revenge. And sure enough [[GenderBender she]] returns in [[spoiler: Series 8]] as the BigBad.
*** Also in "The End of Time", The Tenth Doctor could be an example of this, having [[AGodAmI gone too far]] in "The Waters of Mars" and [[WhatTheHellHero generally acting up]] until the return of the Master and Time Lords, after which he is forced to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]] to save an ordinary human, Wilf, bringing him (and his ego) back down to earth.
** In "Journey's End", it's revealed that Dalek Caan manipulated events in order to bring about the destruction of his own race, after finally seeing the evil in what they were. He's last seen inside The Crucible as it exploded, making no effort to save himself.
** In "The Doctor Falls", [[spoiler: Missy]] dies in a MutualKill after shooting [[spoiler: [[IHatePastMe her former self]]]]. [[TearJerker No one will ever find out,]] though.
* ''Series/TheSecretCircle'': Charles in the season finale, though he may still be alive — we see him in a catatonic state at the end of the episode, with his mother doing something to his body.
** This is likely to be the same binding spell that Cassie's mother had placed on the demon host in the show previously. So he's still alive, just catatonic.
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'':
** [[spoiler: Xena]]'s death is an example of this. After spending some six seasons trying to redeem herself through actions such as helping people and saving the world, the final episode "A Friend in Need" quite clearly shows that only death will do. This bit of writing is quite possibly the most universally ''despised'' plot piece in all the Xenaverse. Somewhat different from regular examples of this trope in that the great mistake is shown as a flashback, from before even her earliest appearance on Hercules.
** It almost became the case earlier, in her previous appearances in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''. The only thing that allowed her to survive the episode she was originally supposed to die in was her popularity with fans, and the decision to give her her own spin-off show.
** {{Deconstructed}} with one of Xena's [[DisposableLoveInterest Disposable Love Interests]]. After a lifetime of crime, Marcus protects an innocent young girl at the cost of his own life - only to end up punished for all his misdeeds by being sent to Tartarus. Later he reappears to Xena as a ghost and is temporarily given his mortality back again to help stop a serial killer. Though he is given an opportunity to cheat death for a second time, he choses to go ahead and die - but this time, Xena has bargained for a place for him in the Elysian Fields.
* Walter White in ''Series/BreakingBad'' is a partial example. He dies in the SeriesFinale after apologizing and making amends with everyone he has hurt one way or another. He also finally admits the real reason he kept cooking meth: because he was good at it. On the other hand, he is more apologetic about the consequences of his actions, but is completely unapologetic about the actions themselves, and makes it quite clear he would do it all again in a heartbeat if given the chance. The ending also shows that to his final breath, his true love was, not his family, but his precious blue meth.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** Sebastian Blood realizes Slade has no interest in Starling City other than outright destroying it, so he decides to betray him by giving the Mirakuru cure to The Arrow and pays the ultimate price because of it.
** In "Suicidal Tendencies," Deadshot sacrifices himself to save Diggle and Lila so that they can see their daughter, Sara, again. He does this because he screwed things up with his own family and wants things to turn out differently for someone else.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Spike saves the whole world... and dies (also HeroicSacrifice). Though he gets better later.
** Also Anya, and Jenny Calendar (who didn't have all that much to redeem anyway).
** Played with in Andrew's case: when it looks like Buffy will have to sacrifice him to stop the First Evil's current plan, he starts babbling about it being his 'redemption at last'. She tells him to stop [[ThisIsReality acting like he's living in a story]], and asks him if him dying will [[spoiler:make up for him killing Jonathan.]] He admits that it won't and properly owns up to his actions for the first time - which is just what Buffy needed to happen (they didn't need his blood for the ritual, but ''tears of remorse''). At the end of the episode, he concludes that while he's probably going to die in the upcoming fight, and that's probably what he deserves, it won't change anything. [[spoiler:When he makes it to the end of the series alive, he's more surprised than anyone else.]]
** Jonathan is a much straighter example. Pretty much everything he has done in the series, all of his acts of near-villainy, have been in response to being bullied and picked on in high school. Then in Season 7 he returns to Sunnydale with a genuine desire to prevent the town and its inhabitants from being destroyed in the Apocalypse and makes a stirring speech about how he's worked through the pain and now only has fond memories of high school and a desire to do good left...and then [[HeelFaceDoorSlam Andrew stabs him to death at the behest of the First Evil]].
---> '''Andrew''': You do realize that none of the people who picked on you in high school are worried about you now, right? Not one of them is sitting there thinking, "Oh yeah, Jonathan, I wonder what he's up to these days?" They do not. Care. About you!
---> '''Jonathan:''' I know. But I care about them.
** Buffy Season 8 has Giles and Faith working together to be the {{poisonous friend}}s for the entire Slayer Organization, redeeming or killing evil Slayers. [[spoiler:Giles dies near the end of Season 8.]]
** Ethan in Season 8. His final act in life is helping Buffy.
** Angel. Just as he casts off the Angelus persona, Buffy runs him through with a sword and he gets pulled into {{Hell}} by Acathla. He gets better.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Cordelia comes back, redeems herself after the mess Jasmine left, then dies. Well, okay, order might be a little off.
** In an aversion of the standard permanent death, Spike from ''Buffy'' returns in this series after a large amount of effort.
*** Spike's return is in fact used to reveal a subversion of this trope. Angel admits to Spike that, no matter what good they do, no matter how hard they try, their sins are too heavy; when they finally die, they will go to hell anyway. There is no final redemption for them.
*** Of course, whether that's gospel: Wesley sees it as evidence that Angel has given up hope and tries to persuade him otherwise. Either way, the show's BolivianArmyEnding means they may have found out pretty soon...
** Similar to the Spike example, Faith ''tries'' to pull a RedemptionEqualsDeath when she returns to the show, but Angel refuses to let her since it would be too easy.
-->'''Angel:''' Our time is never up, Faith. We pay for everything.
-->'''Faith:''' It hurts.
-->'''Angel:''' I know. I know.
** Darla stakes herself in order to allow Connor, the "only good thing" she and Angel ever did together, to be born.
** Doyle sacrifices himself to stop the Scourge's weapon and atone for his MyGreatestFailure tragedy.
** AmoralAttorney Lindsey gets a case of WouldntHurtAChild when he is tasked by his law firm to prepare a defense for a contract killer set to kill some innocent children. He runs to Angel Investigations in an attempt at a HeelFaceTurn but balks at the idea of returning to the highly secured law firm to help Angel stop the assassination since it could mean his death. Angel then accuses Lindsey of being more worried about self preservation than changing for the better and tries to invoke this trope.
-->'''Lindsey:''' I can't go back there, they'll kill me!
-->'''Angel:''' That's what we call an acceptable risk. You're panicking right now, you can't believe how bad you've let things get. That's not change. See, you have to make a decision to change, that's something you do by yourself. Most people they never do.
-->'''Lindsey:''' I get myself killed that'll convince you I've changed?
-->'''Angel:''' It's a start.
* ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'': Bennett reconciles with her past (sort of) and agrees to repair Caroline's wedge, makes out with Topher, and then gets shot in the head by [[spoiler:Whiskey, who has been reprogrammed by Rossum.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:Topher himself.]] He invented the tech that nearly brought about the end of civilization, and in the series finale, having arguably already redeemed himself by inventing a way to reverse it, he dies to set off the signal that will restore everybody who's been wiped or imprinted to their original personalities.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
** Unlikable ObstructiveBureaucrat Ryan Chappelle gets some sympathetic character development and starts being useful right before he gets horrifically killed.
** Flipped around with George Mason, who, aware of his impending death, decides to try to make up with the people who dislike him, and dies in a HeroicSacrifice while at the same time convincing Jack he has reason to live on. While he is going to die anyway, his means of redeeming himself costs him his life.
** And then we have another JerkAss ObstructiveBureaucrat who sacrifices himself: Lynn [=McGill=]. His death would have been more impressive if it wasn't his fault things were this bad in the first place though.
** Subverted in Season 8, when Terin Faroush is shot after helping Kayla escape from the terrorists. [[spoiler:His death is actually faked, and Kayla gets tricked into bringing an EMP bomb to CTU.]]
** Zig-zagged in the case of [[spoiler:Jack]]. After his HeelFaceTurn in Day 8, he sacrifices himself by letting the antagonists catch him so Chloe can expose the real masterminds of the season, but is saved just seconds before he's executed. In Day 9 however, after earning back the trust of the public [[spoiler: he's taken in by the Russians in retaliation for murdering one of their corrupt officials, and is either going to be held in prison for life or executed.]]
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' is famous for this. Many characters "get over" whatever big issue they have, then get killed. Though this may just be a case of wanting to complete the character's story before killing them, some people see this as important.
** Sayid, a man who committed some borderline unforgiveable actions in life, eventually even joining the "dark side" in Season 6 of Lost, redeems himself by sacrificing his life inside a submarine, running away with a ticking bomb and in turn saving four of his friends lives.
** Likewise, Jack redeems himself in Season 6 of Lost, by sacrificing himself to save his friends and the island, making up for his bad decisions of the past.
** Notably subverted with Eko, whose big redemption is...rejecting the idea that he needs to be redeemed and admitting that he's not sorry for anything he did. In fact, he's ''proud'' of his (many, many) sins, or at least his first one, killing a man in cold blood, because in doing so he saved his brother from going down the same path he did.
** Anna-Lucia: Interesting in that her redemption happens just prior to her death in screen-time, but not in chronological time. We are shown a flash-back where she apologizes to her mother for killing a man, then we return to the present where she is killed. Part of her redemption also takes place in the present, in that she finds she can't bring herself to kill Henry Gale anymore.
** Michael betrayed his friends to save his son Walt, but ends up sacrificing his life to save Sun, Jin, and several others from a bomb.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' uses this a lot:
** The show lost one of its most awesome antagonists, Agent Henriksen, just after he decided that he and the Winchesters should be total [=BFFs=]. Poor bastard should have known better. Although he didn't have anything to redeem himself for - the evidence that the Winchesters were psycho-killers was convincing and he didn't go to any dark depths in his pursuit of them.
** This could also apply to their father, John, in the Season Two premiere. After being a bit of a bastard for the whole first season, completely unavailable emotionally throughout his boys' lives, and realising what a crappy Dad he's been (The BigBad even says "If only your boys knew how much their Daddy loved them."), he makes a HeroicSacrifice to save Dean's life. The show's [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the trope means that his apparent redemption leaves his boys with even more issues with him than they had started out with, and him telling Dean the (big, sucky, useless) secret about his brother nearly drove Dean to suicide. So, like with everything on this show, he actually only got worse.
** The Trickster/[[spoiler:Gabriel]] could definitely fall under this. He spent millennia walking the Earth enacting sadistic and often lethal DisproportionateRetribution on the arrogant, killed Dean repeatedly, didn't tell them that they were [[spoiler: the vessels of Michael and Lucifer]] until he was trapped by holy fire and had no other option, but came through in the end by attempting to kill Lucifer, even though he still loved his brother. It didn't work and he was killed, but left a porn DVD (yes, really) telling the Winchesters how to put Lucifer back in his cage.
** In the Season 9 finale, Gadreel, who had been serving as [[spoiler: Metatron]]'s [[TheDragon Dragon]], is finally made to see the error of his ways, when confronted with undeniable proof that his master is a megalomaniacal narcissist that doesn't give a damn about the angels he's leading, lying to and willing to slaughter them all as part of his plan to [[AGodAmI make himself the new God]]. Gadreel helps sneak Castiel into Heaven in order to destroy the tablet giving [[spoiler: Metatron]] all his power, only for them to be caught and imprisoned. He ultimately performs a HeroicSacrifice, performing a suicide attack to free Castiel and proving to Cas's former followers that he's telling the truth about [[spoiler: Metatron]], thus setting the stage for the latter's downfall. Cas even says he truly redeemed himself.
** While not so much evil as just a massive {{Jerkass}}, Balthazar also qualifies. Near the end of Season 6, he allies with the Winchesters after deciding that [[spoiler:Castiel's]] endgame is too risky. [[spoiler:Castiel]] murders him for this.
** The series' first recurring villain, the demon Meg, forms an EnemyMine with Team Free Will against the Leviathans in Season 7 and Crowley in Season 8, and was in the midst of a HeelFaceTurn due to LoveRedeems in "Goodbye Stranger", only to be killed by Crowley in the same episode.
** In the Season 8 finale, Naomi, who had been part of a BigBadEnsemble with Crowley throughout the season, has a HeelRealization, saying that she had forgotten her true mission, and that of all angels, to protect humanity, and informs the boys and Castiel of [[spoiler:Metatron]]'s true intentions. She is subsequently killed by Season 9's BigBad, [[spoiler:Metatron.]]
** It's implied in "Monster Movie" that the unnamed [[spoiler:shapeshifter]] repented on his deathbed, as his last words are "perhaps this is how a [[TitleDrop monster movie]] ''should'' end". [[note]]He had earlier told Dean in a MotiveRant that he was making his life into a monster movie, one where TheBadGuyWins and TheHeroDies.[[/note]]
** "Hello, Cruel World": [[spoiler:Castiel]] had finished his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain in the previous two episodes by [[spoiler:absorbing the souls of Purgatory]], becoming a PhysicalGod, getting DrunkWithPower and using his newfound powers to go on a killing spree getting rid of anyone he disagreed with. In this episode, he has a HeelRealization and [[AintTooProudToBeg begs the Winchesters for help]] in [[spoiler:returning the souls to Purgatory]], robbing himself of his power in the process. He succeeds, but the [[spoiler:soul]]-less Leviathans, which he also absorbed, stayed behind, and once he was reduced to [[spoiler:a regular angel]], they tore through him like a knife through butter. It initially appeared that this death was permanent (unlike the earlier times when [[spoiler: Castiel]] died as a good guy), but "The Born-Again Identity" reveals that God resurrected him as a punishment so that he'd have to see the consequences of his actions (at least, [[spoiler: Castiel]] believes this to be what happened).
** [[spoiler: Metatron]], the BigBad of Season 9, is reduced to a recurring nuisance in Season 10, and by Season 11 is a thoroughly [[BreakTheHaughty broken shell]] of a man. It's at this point that God reveals Himself and his lack of intention to fight [[TheAntiGod Amara]] and her plans to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy Creation]], seeing it as a failed experiment. [[spoiler: Metatron]] is so [[BrokenPedestal enraged]] by this that he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls God out]], along the way seeming to have a HeelRealization over his own actions. Later, he [[EnemyMine helps]] the Winchesters save [[spoiler: Lucifer-[[DemonicPossession in]]-Castiel]] from Amara, and ends up [[HoldTheLine holding the line]] against her to buy them time, [[HeroicSacrifice dooming himself]]. His last moments before Amara obliterates him are spent begging her to not destroy reality as RevengeByProxy on God.
** Season 12 gives us Mick Davies, who spearheads the British Men of Letters' attempts to assimilate the Winchesters and other American hunters into their cause. While Mick's not a villain per say, like all the other Men of Letters, he's a KnightTemplar, and as thus works with Arthur Ketch (the Men of Letters' resident PsychoForHire) to pursue a [[FantasticRacism zero tolerance policy for nonhumans]], killing even the ones who keep to themselves and don't hurt anyone, as well as any [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade non-hunters who learn of their existence]]. However, Mick's time with the Winchesters has him start to doubt the rigid nature of the Men of Letters' BlackAndWhiteMorality, enough that when his superiors decide the American hunters [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness aren't worth keeping around anymore]], Mick stands up for them. Sadly, all this gets him is [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head]] by Ketch moments later.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', after spending a season and a half being a sleazy, obnoxious, almost completely unlikeable asshole, Ralph Cifaretto finally begins to show signs of wanting to redeem himself as a human being after one of his sons is seriously injured. He is then promptly killed in the very same episode, as Tony accuses him of killing the racehorse they purchased for the insurance money and the two get into a fight resulting in Ralph's death. It is never made explicitly clear whether Ralph actually committed the crime or not.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''
** Rio and Mele in ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'', after finally turning to the side of good, meet their deaths in a battle against the season's BigBad. Mele is ''crunched'' between his teeth with a horrifying sound, which provides Rio with enough HeroicResolve to make a HeroicSacrifice for her. They get to have one last scene as a {{Spirit Advisor}}s, though.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
** Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the 2nd pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". She spends the whole episode campaigning for Gary Mitchell, despite his [[AGodAmI god complex]], and later turns out to have his powers as well. At the end, she turns on Mitchell to save Captain Kirk's life and is mortally wounded by Mitchell's retaliation.
** "Bread and Circuses". In the BackStory Captain Merick saved his life by calling his ship's crew down to the surface so they could be captured by the "Romans" and sentenced to death in the arena. During the episode he steals one of the Enterprise communicators from the "Romans". At the end he uses the communicator to call the Enterprise and allows the landing party to be rescued, but he's stabbed by one of the "Romans" and dies.
** "Patterns of Force". John Gill's attempts to improve the HumanAlien society on Ekos result in a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]-like regime obsessed with destroying the peaceful people on the neighboring planet Zeon. Kirk, Gill's student at the Starfleet Academy, finds out that Gill's NumberTwo Melakon has subverted Gill's teachings to his own ends and keeps Gill (the Führer of Ekos) perpetually drugged, so he can rule in Gill's name. [=McCoy=] detoxes Gill, who is horrified to learn the awful truth. Gill goes on the air and declares Melakon traitor as well as cancelling the war with Zeon. Before anyone can react, Melakon grabs a sub-machinengun and fatally wounds Gill before being shot himself.
** In "The Conscience of the King", a man named Kodos the Executioner is living a quiet life under an assumed identity, trying to forget that he, as governor of a colony, ordered 4,000 people executed because there wasn't enough food for everyone. He was horrified to discover that his daughter, the one thing he had that he thought was untouched by his crimes, had murdered witnesses who could identify him. He subsequently jumps in front of a phaser beam meant for Kirk.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** Damar leads the Cardassians in a war against the Federation alongside the Dominion and, perhaps more pertinently, murders Tora Ziyal. Eventually though, he realizes the Cardassians' warlike ways are leading them to ruin, and so launches a rebellion, eventually allying himself with the Federation. Unfortunately, his wife and son pay the price; the Dominion finds and executes them. The realization that his past actions make him NotSoDifferent from the people who just murdered his family is instrumental in his character development. He dies leading an assault on the Dominion's headquarters, becoming a martyr to his fellow Cardassians, who succeeding in killing Weyoun and taking the female Changling prisoner.
** Chancellor Gowron becomes increasingly corrupt during the war, to the point of attempting a UriahGambit against the popular and far more badass General Martok out of paranoia that Martok himself will attempt a KlingonPromotion. (Nothing could be farther from the truth, as Martok's UndyingLoyalty demonstrates.) Eventually, Worf is forced to challenge Gowron to a DuelToTheDeath, and wins -- and because Gowron died in honorable combat, Worf performs the traditional DeathWail to show that Gowron is on his way to [[WarriorHeaven Sto-Vo-Kor]].
** Also Kai Winn. After seven seasons of being a thorn in Sisko's side and siding with Dukat to free the Pah-Wraiths from the Fire Caves, she finally sees the light in the last minutes of the last episode and sides with Sisko. A few seconds later, she is immolated by the Pah-Wraiths.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Lon Suder, a convicted murderer who was driven to insane violence by his out-of-control temper, regains his mental health thanks to Tuvok mindmelding with him, and subsequently lives with enormous guilt for his actions. He is the only crew member left onboard the ship when aliens take over. In a [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome stunning display of badassery]], he storms Engineering and kills all 11 intruders before he sabatoges the ship, allowing it to be retaken. However, he is shot in the back during his attack, and dies immediately after completing the sabotage.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** Agent Michelle Lee in the Episode "Dagger" was revealed as a mole, working for a criminal who kidnapped her daughter. In the process of helping to catch him, she is held and used as a human shield. She nods to Gibbs to signify that he should shoot through her, which he does.
** Jenny Shepard dies in a shootout while trying to protect Gibbs from a woman she was supposed to have killed years before. She was apparently dying of ''something'' anyway. Fandom was just happy to see Paris flashbacks die with her.
* Of all the characters in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' to be redeemed in death, psychic cop Matt Parkman's deadbeat dad Maury is weirdly given this type of death in Season 3.
** Later on in volume 4, [[spoiler: Tracy Strauss]] escapes from building 26 but is found by Noah. He promises to let her go if she helps him capture Rebel, who has been helping the other heroes escape the Hunter's team. She agrees but when she discovers that Rebel is [[spoiler: Micah]], she allows him to escape by freezing the entire room and everyone in it, including herself. She is then shot to pieces by the Hunter while Micah escapes. She's [[spoiler: NotQuiteDead]], and now seems to have [[spoiler: got a new power out of it]].
** In that same episode, reformed villain Daphne Millbrook [[TearJerker dies]] as the result of a gunshot wound she sustained while attempting to rescue the specials who had been rounded up by Homeland Security. Daphne might have survived had Emile Danko not removed her from the medical facility.
** In the volume 4 finale, Nathan Petrelli tries to atone for his spearheading of the Government's plan to capture all evolved humans by [[WhatAnIdiot taking on Sylar alone]]. Sylar [[DroppedABridgeOnHim finishes him off with a finger flick]]. Then Peter (unaware of his brother's death) [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome manages to completely and utterly pwn Sylar]], and Noah Bennet, Angela Petrelli and Matt Parkman decide to [[ReplacementGoldfish brainwash him into believing he's Nathan.]] [[IdiotPlot The Volume 5 preview shows that it did NOT end as well as they thought.]]
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** Neroon is not fully redeemed until he commits ritual suicide to end the Minbari civil war, sacrificing himself in place of Delenn. It's not just the sacrifice, though, as only that would have given victory to the Warrior Caste. In his last moments, he announces that he is now a member of the Spiritual Caste, thus giving victory to Delenn's side.
** Londo Mollari, as seen in "War Without End, Part 2", sacrifices himself in order to [[spoiler:save the Centauri Republic from the Drakh, freeing Sheridan and Delenn in the process. As {{foreshadow|ing}}ed before, G'Kar does the deed, choking Londo to death as Londo is forced by his Keeper to do the same to G'Kar]].
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':
** [[spoiler:Boomer.]] After being the poster child of the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor thanks to a number of [[BreakTheCutie traumatizing experiences]], her actions culminate in the kidnapping of Cylon/human hybrid Hera Agathon so she could be studied. Soon enough, after bonding with her "niece," Boomer faces second thoughts and rescues Hera before anything serious can happen. She is reunited with the crew of Galactica, and upon returning Hera to them, Athena, Boomer's genetic twin and Hera's mother, guns Boomer down in a hail of bullets, finally allowing Boomer to achieve total redemption.
** Felix Gaeta. After the revelation of Earth being a big nuked out wasteland and the fact that the rebel cylons were going to be granted amnesty by the fleet, Gaeta, with the help of TheStarscream Tom Zarek, leads a mutiny against Adama. After pulling many horrible decisions, including ordering the craft carrying Roslin be destroyed, throwing a joke of a trial for Adama, and imprisoning Helo, Athena, Hera and Sam, Gaeta loses a lot of sympathy, both from in and out of the show. After the mutiny fails and he is sentenced to death, Gaeta's amputated leg stops hurting and he wins some sympathy back.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Lionel Luthor. At one point he seems to be ready to sacrifice anyone and everyone involving his own son for the sake of power, survival or even just getting his own way. But being inhabited by Clark's spirit seems to affect him and becoming the vessel for Jor-El definitely affects him, turning him into a not-entirely-trusted ally. In the end, he dies protecting Clark, getting pushed to his death by Lex after refusing to divulge information.
** His AlternateUniverse counterpart gets a villainous inversion version of sorts, when he [[DealWithTheDevil gives up his body and soul to]] {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} in order to bring Lex back to life - the only person he actually cared about. Of course, he wasn't truly redeemed by that one act, and bringing [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Lex]] back could be considered a ''bad'' thing...
** Played straight in the series finale with [[spoiler:Tess Mercer]] and [[spoiler:she]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome took something with her]].
*** Technically, [[spoiler:Tess]] managed this ''twice'': her decision in "Salvation" to turn on Zod in favor of Clark led to her death, too. She just [[BackFromTheDead came back]].
* ''Series/PrisonBreak'':
** Bellick begins as a complete asshole and cowardly bully, but after significant CharacterDevelopment, joins Michael Scofield's search for Scylla. In "Greatness Achieved", he [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to allow the others to carry on, [[spoiler:by climbing into a pipe to lift a cross-pipe into place, knowing the pipe he's in will flood]].
** This would have applied to Kellerman, who was initially an asshole desperately trying to please an IceQueen. He frames Lincoln for murder, kills a judge, shoots his partner for having a change of heart, and brutally tortures Sara. Later, he realizes he's been played for a fool and decides to help the heroes. At the end of season 2, he testifies in court on behalf of Sara, incriminating himself and naming his superiors. During transport to prison, his van is intercepted by a group of armed masked men. The camera angle is then switched to outside the van, and gunshots are heard. [[spoiler:Since he gets better, this trope is subverted in this case]].
* Gerak in ''Series/StargateSG1'', in a HeroicSacrifice to help Earth heal the Ori plague -- despite having been made a full Prior earlier in the episode.
* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' Lauren pulls a BigDamnHeroes, stakes Seth, allowing our cornered heroes to escape, then has Mitchell stake her because she can't take the stress between her conscience and her hunger.
** By the end of series 3, we have another example in [[spoiler:Mitchell]] who spent the entire series lying and manipulating his friends into dangerous situations, trying to weasel his way out of retribution, and generally trying to pull a KarmaHoudini. He finally realizes that the only way he can protect his friends (and the rest of the world) is a [[spoiler:stake to the chest delivered by George.]]
* Several characters in ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', including [[spoiler:Michael Cypher]] and [[spoiler:Panis Rahl]], the latter of which makes a HeroicSacrifice to save [[spoiler:Thaddicus and Zedd, whose father he killed years prior]].
** Also [[spoiler:Denna]] appears to have been convinced by Zedd to let him go and change [[spoiler:her]] ways... then Cara's arrow sends [[spoiler:her]] off a cliff.
* Played straight and averted in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''. [[spoiler:Ashley Magnus]] is reprogrammed by the Cabal to lead an invincible team of [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Abnormals]] to take down the Sanctuary network. They nearly succeed, leaving death and destruction in their wake. However, [[spoiler:Helen Magnus]] manages to reach [[spoiler:her daughter]] who then teleports with an evil Abnormal knowing the scrambled field is on, killing both.
** Also played straight with [[spoiler:Jimmy]] and [[spoiler:Edward Forsythe]], although the latter case is debatable, as he was already dying.
** Averted with [[spoiler:John Druitt]], whose homicidal insanity was revealed to have been caused by an EldritchAbomination.
* Guy of Gisbourne in the 2000s ''Series/RobinHood'' series. After falling out of favour and being made an outlaw himself, he agrees to help Robin protect their mutual half-brother and shows surprisingly loyalty to the gang despite killing their family and friends in the past. Not long after, he dies fighting alongside Robin. Not that it did much good, since Robin is fatally wounded in the same battle and as an indirect result of Guy's actions to boot. Some redemption, huh?
* In a ''Series/LieToMe'' episode, Lightman manages to convince an American spy in the Middle East who has switched sides to cover their escape from the advancing terrorist forces. He does this until the bunker blows.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' had an example of this with a very odd twist: the AntiVillain of the episode was a woman who was unable to die [[DeathSeeker yet wished to in order to join her family who were murdered when she should've been as well]]. She sought out people likely to commit suicide hoping that she could be with them and follow them to the afterlife. After many repeated failures she got on train knowing there was a bomb aboard hoping the mass loss of life would finally be enough. The Fringe team managed to talk her out of it and take the bomb off the train...only to have her be blown up by it and receive the death she wanted.
* Omen of ''Series/DarkOracle'', a former BigBad, makes a turn around in the GrandFinale, helps them save Lance from the [[BigBad Puppet-Master]], and then dies TakingTheBullet for Cally.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]] Britta makes up for her attempt to double-cross Jeff by sacrificing herself to defeat Chang. Parodied in that she just gets hit with a paintball and doesn't actually die, but the other characters act as though it's this trope anyway.
* In the third season finale of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:Captain Montgomery]] is the [[CorruptCop Third Cop]] who was involved in the organization that killed Beckett's mother. Although he got out of it before Johanna was murdered, it was the accidental discharge of his gun that killed her client and turned her onto the case. He dies defending Beckett and Castle from an assassin, and they agree to cover up his past crimes and give him the honorable death he deserved.
* In ''Series/UltramanNexus'', Riko Saida in the form of Dark Faust sacrifices herself to save Komon. Later in the series, Shunya Mizorogi/Dark Mephisto sacrifices himself to help Ultraman defeat Misawa who had become the new Dark Mephisto.
* The miniseries adaptation of ''Series/TheShining'' changed the ending from the book, which had Jack briefly overcoming the hotel's influence to tell Danny he loved him, then being completely taken over by the hotel's ghosts, who try to stop the hotel's boiler from exploding, but failing. The adaptation has Jack managing to overcome the hotel's influence, and deliberately setting off the boiler himself, not only defeating the hotel and the ghosts, but [[DyingAsYourself finally overcoming his personal demons]].
* During the original ''Series/{{V 1983}}'' miniseries, Kristine Walsh served as the Visitors' main spokesperson, until she realized the [[LaResistance Resistance]] was right about them, and tried to expose them on air. [[TheDragon Diana]] promptly shot her.
* In Series/TheWalkingDead TV series, Merle Dixon. Up until his death he was a racist asshole who even kidnapped Michonne to bring her to be tortured and/or killed in the episode he died. His redemption came when he freed her and drove off to kill The Governor on his own. And he would've done it too if not for a walker jumping him just before he took the shot, allowing The Governor and his men to grab him and kill him (kind of, he becomes a walker and his brother needs to finish him).
* In ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', the villain Walter Sykes was turned bad by Carlo Collodi's Bracelet that allowed the paraplegic boy to walk again. After [[spoiler:Pete's mom]] had Artie and [=McPherson=] confiscate the bracelet, Sykes became obsessed with it. It's heavily implied that they got to the bracelet too late and that it had already "planted a dark seed" in the boy. Decades later, Sykes is a wealthy man who has managed to recover a number of Artifacts and learn much about the Warehouse. He manages to infiltrate the Warehouse, takes back the bracelet, and leaves an Artifact-enhanced bomb (fueled by his own hate) to destroy the building. After Artie [[spoiler:rewinds time to before the bomb goes off]], Gandhi's shroud is used to take away Sykes's hate, stopping the countdown. Sykes apologizes and dies, implying that there was nothing left in him but hate.
** Helena also manages to redeem herself by [[spoiler:saving Artie, Pete, and Myka and letting herself be killed by Sykes's bomb]]. Since [[spoiler:time has been rewound the bomb stopped]], Artie convinces the Regents to pardon her.
* ''Series/TheFollowing'': In the penultimate season 1 episode, Jacob -- who has spent the whole season [[TokenGoodTeammate struggling with his identity as part of the cult]] -- decides he can't follow [[BigBad Carroll]] anymore and decides to leave. However, when he tries to get [[PsychoSupporter Emma]] to leave with him, she slits his throat.
* ''Series/TwelveMonkeys'': Cole seems to believe this, which is his motivation for agreeing to participate in the time-travel missions. If he succeeds, he (or at least, this particular version of him) will be [[{{RetGone}} erased from existence]], along with all the violent actions he committed as a 'Scavenger' in order to survive in the harsh post-apocalyptic world.
* In ''Series/{{Stalker}}'' this turns out to be the ultimate fate of the Season 1 recurring antagonist Perry Whitley. For his last couple of episodes he teams up with Beth's old stalker Ray and comes to realize that he is far to extreme for his tastes. As Perry doesn't want to hurt or kill anybody, whilst Ray wants to. Ray eventually kidnaps Beth's friend Tracy to use as a hostage to draw her out. Perry ultimately retaliates and attacks Ray in an attempt to give Tracy the chance to escape. The ensuing fighting and chase ends with Ray ultimately killing Perry.
* In the ''Series/DeathInParadise'' episode "A Personal Murder", the victim of the week [[spoiler:was fully prepared to come clean about his role in the death of a local youth 45 years before when he is killed in his sleep]].
* Series/OnceUponATime
** Ingrid, the Snow Queen activates a curse that can only be stopped with her death. After learning of her sister's remorse at what she did to Ingrid, she pulls a HeelFaceTurn and kills herself to stop the curse, despite the heroes attempt to save her.
** [[spoiler: Arthur]] is an interesting example. He is murdered by Hades while still a villain but ends up in the Underworld where he proves vital to getting the information necessary to killing Hades permanently. Then he sticks around to restore the Underworld to it's former glory. So death gave him a chance at redemption.
** Subverted by Regina in the season 2 finale who is ready to sacrifice herself to buy everyone enough time to flee from Storybrooke as it is destroyed by a magical trigger. This action is what proves to the heroes that she can be permanently redeemed and proceed to help her slow the trigger and succeed in shutting it off, letting her live.
** Rumplestilskin ends the winter finale of Season 3 by killing the ArcVillain, sacrificing his life in the process noting that [[ArcWords "Villains don't get a happy ending"]]. [[spoiler: Subverted when he gets revived in the next arc and stays a villain.]]
*** [[spoiler:Played straight in the GrandFinale, except that he ''does'' get a happy ending by being reunited with Belle forever.]]
* Discussed on Series/{{Lucifer}} by Amenadiel (a fallen angel) and Charlotte Richards (an evil lawyer who spent several months in Hell while her body was possessed by God's wife, and is therefore trying to be a good person in order to avoid going back there). They realise that, unless his wings grow back, neither of them has any way of knowing whether their efforts to reform have worked -- until they die. [[spoiler:Shortly thereafter, Charlotte throws herself in front of Amenadiel to protect him from a gunman. As she lies dying in his arms, his wings spontaneously grow back and he flies her straight up...]]
* In ''Series/TheGoodDoctor'', a convicted hitman tries to donate part of his liver to a young boy in need of a transplant, but he is allergic to anaesthetic which makes surgery impossible. [[HeroicSacrifice So, he shoots himself in the head.]] The boy, who didn't want the liver of a "bad man", changes his mind when he hears about what happened.
* Series/{{Farscape}}. "Talyn - starburst!"
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* In ''VideoGame/NewDanganRonpaV3'', [[spoiler: [[TheUnfettered Kokichi]] convinces everyone he is the mastermind]] in order to lure the true mastermind out. When this fails, [[spoiler: he comes up with a plan to be murdered by Kaito in order to create a trial where [[ThePerfectCrime nether the victim or cause of death can be determined]] and ruin the killing game. It's only when [[DroppingTheBombshell Kaito explains Kokichi's motives]] does everyone find out he was [[CrueltoBeKind manipulating them]] to [[GoodAllAlong try and save their lives.]]]]

** Spike saves the whole world... and dies (also HeroicSacrifice).

* [[spoiler:Nathan/Repo Man]] in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. His scene with [[IllGirl Shilo]] as he lays dying also pulls double duty as the movie's biggest TearJerker and CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

** Fast forward to Book 4: Hiroshi Sato is still paying for his crimes in Book 1 in prison, but he's genuinely remorseful that he ruined his relationship with his daughter, the only family he had left. Come the series finale, Lin frees him from prison to help Asami and Varrick finish the [[MiniMecha Hummingbirds]] [[DavidVersusGoliath to attack]] [[HumongousMecha the Colossus]], and in the process gets an opportunity to reconcile with his daughter. When the time comes to assault the Colossus, while Korra attempts to freeze it in place so the Hummingbirds can cut through the armor, Kuvira manages to free one of the arms. But the cutting isn't finished, so [[HeartwarmingMoment Hiroshi whispers "I love you" to Asami and fires her ejector seat]] [[HeroicSacrifice just as the giant metal hand comes down and crushes the suit.]]

* Dinobot of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was a Predacon who defected to the Maximals in the first season. In the second season, he betrayed the Maximals and gave Megatron the golden discs. Though Dinobot would return to the Maximals after realizing Megatron's evil, the Maximals had little reason to trust him from that point on. Redemption finally came in the episode Code of Hero where Dinobot battled against all the Predacons to save the early protohumans and won, but at the cost of his own life. Resulting in a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.