History Main / RedemptionRejection

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry, after seeing [[spoiler:[[AndIMustScream Voldemort's ultimate fate]]]], urges Voldemort to feel remorse for his crimes in order to make his soul whole again. Seeing as feeling remorse had a high probability of killing Voldemort, the Dark Lord refuses and unknowingly damns himself in the process.

* A recurring theme in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Frequently, a prisoner will waste an opportunity at redemption because they simply don't care about doing so.

Not to be confused with ReformedButRejected. Compare with IgnoredEpiphany, where the villain has a moment of self-realization but dismisses it; IveComeTooFar, where the villain feels that they've already gone too far down the path of evil to turn around; and BeyondRedemption, where a hero decides that a villain isn't worth trying to reform anymore.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Colossus is prepared to sacrifice everything to save the soul of his sister ComicBook/{{Illyana|Rasputin}}, whom he still remembers as his "little Snowflake", even taking on the demonic power of the Juggernaut (losing his humanity and the love of ComicBook/KittyPryde in the process). By the end of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', Illyana makes it abundantly clear that [[ThatManIsDead "There are no snowflakes in Hell,"]] and that she has embraced her insanity. He appears to finally get the message; he vows that he would kill her if he ever saw her again. A few years in real life would go by before Illyana would come around and Colossus would happily reunite with his dear sister.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[TakeMyHand Thanks...]] [[DeathGlare but no thanks.]]]]

* After [[Wrestling/VonErichFamily Kevin Von Erich]] defeated "Gentleman" Chris Adams, [[WeUsedToBeFriends who recently betrayed him]] with a Superkick after aligning with Gary Hart, in a match, the former stated to the latter that he was willing wipe the slate clean on the condition that Adams dumped his [[ToxicFriendInfluence new manager]]. Adams responded with a vicous assult with a chair from behind.

** Wily threw away many of his chances to come back to the side of the good. Doctor Right even lampshades this.
** When he is offered [[HeelFaceTurn purpose for the greater good of the world]], Quick Man pulls this. His reasoning is that changing his programming will kill off what characterises him. He then presents a solution: [[DyingAsYourself decommission him]], resulting in Mega Man believing that the mission to make sure Quick Man didn't die ended up being a ShootTheShaggyDog moment.

That's the signal for the heroes to take the gloves off and give the villain what he now most definitely has coming to him.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza 2}}: [[spoiler: At the climax of the game, with both men wounded and a bomb set to go off, Kaoru begs [[TheHero Kiryu]] and [[NobleDemon Ryuji]] (her LoveInterest and long lost brother, respectively) to come with her and drop their conflict. Instead, they lock themselves in with the bomb and have one final brawl to determine who's the real Dragon. After he's defeated and as he bleeds out, Ryuji confesses to Kaoru that while the idea of living a life of peace sounds nice, he's ultimately got too much Jingweon blood in him and his thirst for violence is too great, choosing instead to GoOutWithASmile and die at peace.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Adora gives Catra chance after chance to leave the Horde, but Catra refuses to join the Rebellion because that would mean [[GreenEyedMonster returning to Adora's shadow]]. [[spoiler:After Catra nearly destroys the world out of spite, [[BeyondRedemption Adora concludes that she's been wasting her efforts]].]]

*** Loki makes a habit of this, up until his [[spoiler:actual redemption and subsequent death]]. In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Loki is given a chance to help Thor avenge their mother by stopping the Dark Elves, and Loki, after much bickering, sincirely helps save Thor's love Jane and kills the monster that killed their mother. It appears to be a RedemptionEqualsDeath moment...except Loki instead uses this as an opportunity to ''fake'' his death, return to Asgard in disguise, kidnap Odin, and assume his place as king. In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', after this was exposed and the two ended up on Sakaar, Loki is captured by Valkyrie before he can turn Thor over to the Grandmaster, and offers Thor a means to escape back to Asgard. During this plan, however, Loki attempts to betray Thor just as they seem to have an understanding, only for Thor to see this coming and incapacitate Loki with the control disk previously used on Thor, allowing Thor to give him a speech where he points out that Loki is always squandering his potential with betrayals when he could be something more. [[spoiler:Loki takes this to heart and arrives later to help evacuate the Asgardians, after which he sincirely redeems himself and rejoins his brother, [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar later dying while trying to protect him from Thanos.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/AncientSins'': Dante is given multiple chances to stop his villainous ways and rejects each of them. [[spoiler: However, it's not because he didn't want the chance, but because he saw no other way to complete his goal]]. The same chacnce is given to The Shadow, [[spoiler: who takes it after seeing the beauty of existance]].

* Superboy-Prime: In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' - Legion of 3 Worlds, Superman tries to redeem Superboy-Prime by reminding him of his loved ones, like his girlfriend and parents. By then he has accepted they are gone and is trying to be a villain, so he rejects Superman's words.

* ''Film/TheIrishman'': Nearing the end of his life, Frank is visited by two FBI agents who once again ask him what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Everybody who had anything to do with the murder besides Frank himself is already dead, most of his family has disowned him, and even the mafia has basically forgotten he exists. Nevertheless, he still refuses to tell them anything rather than come clean.

* ComicBook/SuperboyPrime: In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' - Legion of 3 Worlds, Superman tries to redeem Superboy-Prime by reminding him of his loved ones, like his girlfriend and parents. By then he has accepted they are gone and is trying to be a villain, so he rejects Superman's words.

* Lord Soth of ''Literature/{{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 Cataclysm, 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 [[TheUndead 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. [[spoiler:After spending a long time with a magic mirror showing him all of the mistakes in his life, Soth finally accepts that all of his misery was ultimately his own fault. The Dark Powers send him back to Krynn since nothing they can do to him could be worse than his own guilt and apathy. When Takhisis comes calling again, Soth rejects her. She then restores his mortality and brings his castle down upon him.]]
* In the Gehenna sourcebook for [[TabletopGame/OldWorldofDarkness Vampire: The Masquerade]], one ending has the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Antediluvians]] forcing open a gate into Heaven so they can devour God and become the rulers of the universe. An angel appears and pleads with them one last time to accept their Creator's forgiveness. [[TooDumbToLive They refuse and exultantly jeer that God MUST fear them, or he wouldn't be giving them a chance to surrender.]] They demand to face God. Their wish is granted, and they are wiped from existence in a heartbeat.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In "The Enemy of Trust", Ironwood has [[SanitySlippage gone mad]], [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope decided to declare martial law over Atlas]] raise the floating city higher into the sky and abandon Mantle to the Grimm and cold. Oscar goes to confront Ironwood over this, hoping to talk him out of it. Oscar warns that if Ironwood goes through with his plans he will not only leave Remnant more divided than ever, but will only be saving a single city while allowing the millions left on the planet to suffer under Salem's wrath. Ironwood refuses to budge, insisting that he's not going to let anyone get in the way of "what's right". When Oscar points out that Ironwood's stance makes him [[NotSoDifferent no different from Salem]], [[KickTheMoralityPet Ironwood unflinchingly shoots him.]]