History Main / RedemptionRejection

* Babylon5 has Londo Mollari, who is told he'll have three opportunities to choose redemption, or suffer the consequences. [[spoiler: In a possible subversion, these moments are never directly revealed, and it's arguable whether he's saved his people or condemned them.]]

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' sees Rumplestiltskin ''almost'' de-powered by [[spoiler:Belle's TrueLovesKiss]]... but of course, he has a bit of a freak-out and rejects it. Quite possibly regrets that pretty hard.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' sees Rumplestiltskin ''almost'' de-powered by [[spoilers:a TrueLovesKiss from Belle]]... but of course, he has a bit of a freak-out and rejects it. Quite possibly regrets that pretty hard.

* "Try to make me go to [[AmyWinehouse rehab]], I say no, no, no."

-->'''Willow:''' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome It's way too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you. You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends in your life like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big selfish, worthless waste.]]

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* Lord Soth of ''{{Dragonlance}}'' could be the poster child of this trope. When the deity Mishakal offered Soth a chance at redemption by stopping the Kingpriest of Istar and preventing the Catacylsm, he initially accepted the request but then put aside his mission to confront his second wife about her infidelity. As a result, he was cursed to become a death knight. While in Ravenloft, Soth was given an opportunity by the Dark Powers to put his evil past behind him; he rejected their offer and was made into the Darklord of Sithicus.

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In "Reviewing the Situation," from the musical ''{{Oliver}}'', Fagin briefly considers the attractions (or lack of same) of a moral and upstanding life, but ends up deciding that a comfortable old age is much more important to him.
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At that point, that's the signal for the heroes to take the gloves off and give the villain he what he now most definitely has coming to him.

* In the original ''Ben10'' series, Ben originally offered his enemy Kevin 11 a chance to do good, but the latter refused the offer and attempted to take the Omnitrix. From the on, Kevin was treated as someone who's actions couldn't be redeemable. Still, that didn't stop Ben from making the offer again in the [[Ben10AlienForce second series]]. Apparently, after regaining his humanity and getting his head on straight, Kevin became wise enough to accept the offer. It wasn't until recently that it was shown why Ben felt Kevin deserved another chance.

In "Reviewing the Situation," from the musical {{Oliver!}}, Fagin briefly considers the attractions (or lack of same) of a moral and upstanding life, but ends up deciding that a comfortable old age is much more important to him.

* Though the drivers on CanadasWorstDriver and related shows aren't actually villains, there have been two contestants who fit the basic premise of this trope: Colin from Season Two and Scott from Season Six made a big joke of everything and refused to learn. Colin became the first to be expelled from any Driver Rehabilitation Center in the ''world'', while Scott became the first (at least on the Canadian show) to be effectively expelled by his own nominator (who cancelled Scott's insurance, meaning Scott was no longer a valid driver).

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* Happens a lot in ''{{Gargoyles}}'' with Demona, largely because she's the queen of the IgnoredEpiphany- she's several times offered a chance to change her ways, but ultimately never repents for more than about a minute. [[TheHero Goliath]] still seems to wish she'd find redemption, but no longer considers it a realistic possibility.

* [[ToyStory "Where's your kid now, Sheriff?!"]]

* Lucifer in''ParadiseLost'' - 'he would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven'

* Lucifer in "ParadiseLost" - 'he would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven'

* Lucifer in "Paradise Lost" - 'he would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven'

* Happens at the end of [[TheLionKing ''The Lion King II'']] where Kiara and Zira are both knocked over a ledge during a fight, and are now both dangling over the edge of a waterfall. Zira is gradually slipping off the ledge she is hanging onto, and as a result Kiara tells her to grabs onto her paw so she can pull Zira to safety. However, when Zira finally comes up to Kiara she tells her "NEVER!!!" and immediately lets go and falls to her doom in the river below.