History Main / TheAtoner

* Director DavidFincher's first film was the critical and commercial failure {{Film/Alien3}}, which he has claimed that [[MyGreatestFailure no one hated more than he did]]. The rest of his filmography, beginning with the hugely successful {{Film/Se7en}} has largely been critically acclaimed, and eventually culminating into award-winning movies like Film/TheSocialNetwork and Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton.

* Director DavidFincher's first film was the critical and commercial failure Film/Alien3, which he has claimed that [[MyGreatestFailure no one hated more than he did]]. The rest of his filmography, beginning with the hugely successful {{Film/Se7en}} has largely been critically acclaimed, and eventually culminating into award-winning movies like Film/TheSocialNetwork and Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton.

Once, they were a major villain. They did every crime one could think of, and did it with a song in their heart and a skip in their step. Then something happened. The Atoner has [[HeelRealization realized the error of their ways]], possibly wants to [[MustMakeAmends make amends]], and have decided that they will do so via heroic deeds. [[GetOutOfJailFreeCard Simply going to jail won't do]], because this isn't always applicable to their "sin." Besides, they have all these amazing skills from being a villain that would be wasted, and they can do more good out there.

* D.W. Griffith was apparently too clueless and poorly informed to realize how incredibly racist ''BirthOfANation'' was, and was shocked when people were offended by it. He spent the rest of his career trying to apologize for it with anti-racist movies like ''{{Intolerance}}'' and ''Film/BrokenBlossoms'', the first film to portray an interracial relationship. It's worth noting, though, that neither of these films actually attack racism against ''black'' people (the former is split between Babylonian sects, Jewish sects, Catholics and Protestants, and American political factions, the latter focusing on a relationship between a Chinese man and a white woman).

* The tale of Gagagigo, one of the very few instances of continuity within the ''YuGiOhCardGame'', shows the tale of a lizard warrior who once hungered for power, and, after the Marauding Captain [[TakingTheBullet takes an attack for him]], becomes this. Unfortunately, [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul he would ultimately lose his morality after becoming a cyborg.]]

* Boromir in Creator/JRRTolkien's ''TheLordOfTheRings''.

* A subversion in the ''{{Fingerprints}}'' series with [[spoiler:Steve Mercsepher]]; the things he does to "atone" for his past evil are generally ''a lot worse'' than the the stuff he's trying to atone for. May count as a WellIntentionedExtremist.

* Dante from ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' spends the game as one of these [[ToHellandBack in Hell]] in order to redeem himself after [[ChurchMilitant slaughtering hundreds]] and commiting adultery in the Third Crusade. He frequently has animated flashbacks detailing his previous life.

** Zeta, star of the spinoff ''TheZetaProject'', has elements of this- a former assassin robot who gained free will and doesn't want to kill anymore. When he finds other robots of his type, he tries to stop them.

* A Comicbook/{{Batman}} story did a variant of this: Issue #127 of his self-titled book showed an alternative origin if his parents didn't get killed. In this version, Batman was a criminal called the Blue Bat, and the costume was worn by someone else. This all changed with an encounter with Bruce Wayne, who defeated the crook, took the costume for himself, and became Batman, noting, "This costume that was once a symbol of crime will now become a symbol of '''justice!'''"

* [[BadassGrandpa Yamamoto]] of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' regrets his actions when he first founded the Divisons and exterminated the Qunicy. At that time they were little more than killers, and Yamamoto was the worst of the bunch. In his eyes, he nearly destroyed Soul Society; he kept a portrait of his younger self to remind himself. Eventually this left him weakened, as he refused to depend on others for aid and so never regained his destroyed arm.
** An even better example would be Retsu [[spoiler:or actually Yachiru]] Unohana - the oldest captain after Yamamoto, who used to be the "most diabolical villain Soul Society has and will ever know" before her recruitment into the first generation of Gotei 13. Afterwards she became the 1st Kenpachi and founded the 11th division. In contemporary times, she is apparently trying to atone for her bloodthirsty past by becoming a healer, and seemingly one of the gentlest and most compassionate Shinigami seen.

* Alfred Nobel set up the Nobel Peace Prize because he felt guilty about making a fortune selling weapons and inventing dynamite. It's believed that after his death was falsely reported by a newspaper and he read his own obituary, which referred to him as "the merchant of death" (but in French), he decided to leave a better legacy.
** It's worth noting that Nobel had intended dynamite to be a mining tool when he designed it - he had a ''major'' case of MyGodWhatHaveIDone when people weaponised it instead.
** Many developers of [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear weapons]] ended up this way, with the most prominent examples being:

->''Oh, I know exactly what [[RetiredMonster you]] are. And I see this "reformation" for what it truly is. You committed an atrocity and chose this as your punishment. Don't get me wrong, good choice -- Civilized hours, lots of adulation, nice weather but, ''but'' it doesn't work like that!'' '''[[DefiedTrope You don't get to decide when and how your debt is paid!]]''' ([[spoiler:[[DoubleSubvertedTrope Uh... actually]], [[RedemptionEqualsDeath he can]].]])
-->-- '''The Doctor''', ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E03ATownCalledMercy A Town Called Mercy]]'', ''Series/DoctorWho''

** In a similar case to Banner, Clint Barton became one after being freed from Loki's BrainwashedAndCrazy mind control. In his case it's particularly noteworthy considering the only reason Loki enslaved him was due to his skill (making him a valuable pawn) and because he had 'heart', yet he still feels responsible despite having no control over himself. His first request upon being freed was to know exactly who and how many innocent people he killed while under Loki's thumb.

* ''Series/{{Matrix}}'' Steven Matrix.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Miles did some pretty brutal stuff and was probably more brutal than Monroe at first. He executes two men who he believed murdered some travelers despite Monroe's objections. He seems to regret some of his actions which led to his leaving the Republic and him assisting the rebels.

* ''DoctorWho'': 9th-11th Doctors. After genocidally ending the Time War, the Doctor becomes an intermittent pacifist who won't let anyone else commit genocide. The 9th Doctor arguably has it the most, since it was either him personally or his immediate predecessor who committed the double genocide.
** Rory, after apparently killing his own fiancee.
** River Song
** Dalek Caan. [[spoiler: Made much better because Daleks were designed specifically to be unable to repent and seek to atone.]]
** As the page quote indicates, this figures in the plotline of "A Town Called Mercy", as Jex, a scientist who turned members of his race into cyborg warriors, became a country doctor during the 1880s to make up for his crimes. The Doctor called him out on it. The Doctor is often cast as the Atoner as well, especially after it was revealed that he destroyed his own people to end the Time War after they had become genocidal. Oddly enough, in "A Town Called Mercy", his own Atoner tendencies came into question by Amy:
-->'''The Doctor''': No, today I honor the victims first. His, The Master's, the Daleks'. All the people that died because of ''my mercy!''\\
'''Amy''': See this is what happens when you travel alone for too long.
* ''XenaWarriorPrincess'': This trope is the show's premise. Xena spends the entire series atoning for her misdeeds, [[spoiler: and dies to achieve redemption]].
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': A few characters, including [[BadassNormal Bennet]] and Nathan in season 2. And now, as of volume 5, [[spoiler: Sylar.]] [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor But we're skeptical on how long that'll last.]] And now [[ScrewedByTheNetwork we'll never know.]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Spike throughout this show, since when The Initiative captures him. Aided in the process, at first by the fact that a chip in his head makes him [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain rather ineffective]] toward humans and later on with [[LoveRedeems deeper reasons]] adding to his motivation. He spends a lot of time undecided, going back and forth between good and evil, and the atoning results in [[IncrediblyLamePun the hell being beaten out of him]] fairly often. [[MoralEventHorizon At one point]] he decides he's [[AttemptedRape gone too far]] and after this [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone unsettling realization]] he just knows he wants to [[HeelFaceTurn change for real]]. [[JossWhedon As one should expect]], the package is complete with a [[TearJerker tear-jerking]] [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]], because [[spoiler: he's [[TooCoolToLive too cool for this Earth to stand]]]].
*** He doesn't really fall into this category until Season 7, as until then he didn't care at all about any suffering or death he caused. Even in Season 7, he doesn't make much of an effort to atone for his deeds.
** Angel too, particularly the season 3 episode "Amends."
** Andrew tries to become this in Season 7, after his attempt to play {{Goodfellas}} with Warren and Jonathan and take over Sunnydale [[{{Understatement}} went horribly, horribly wrong]] and [[spoiler: the first evil forces him to kill Jonathan]]. He means well, but has some trouble fitting in with the good guys due to his general social awkwardness.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Seeley Booth is looking to save around 50 lives to make up for the 50 he took as a Sniper.
* ''Series/ForeverKnight'': Nick Knight. And really, heroic vampires in general.
** But avoided in ''Moonlight'', where Mick St. John was never evil.
* ''MyNameIsEarl'': The eponymous character is atoning for a lifetime of petty crime, carelessness and {{Jerkass}}ery, though he's sometimes comically inept, or has unconventional means of going about it. He states that his goal is to become a better person- it's an interesting question whether he's just going it to get good {{Karma}}, or if he's truly changed.
* ''PrisonBreak'': Michael is a double example. He embarks on his quest to free Linc from Fox River to atone for not appreciating the sacrifices Linc made for him and for thinking he was guilty. Later in the series he attempts to atone for all the deaths his actions have indirectly caused.

* ''{{Grimm}}'': Eddie Monroe from this NBC series.
* ''{{Shark}}'': Sebastian Stark from this TV series was a ruthless defence attorney until a client killed his wife shortly after Stark got him acquitted of spousal abuse charges. He turned around and joined the District Attorney's office, using his underhanded legal tactics to put away the types of criminals he used to get off.
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In one episode, Lieutenant Columbo claims to have joined the police department as a way to atone for his rowdy past. Apparently, when he was younger he and his friends would stick potatoes in other people's exhaust vents so the cars wouldn't start.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': While never explicitly stated in the show, it is hinted that Shepherd Book is an Atoner.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Several characters. Subverted with Mr. Eko, who, as a former child soldier and later drug trafficker and ruthless killer, seems to be a clear-cut Atoner - until he is finally revealed to be utterly unrepentant, considering his past actions necessary first to save his brother and then to survive the bloody lifestyle he willingly took upon himself in doing so. [[spoiler:Then he gets killed by a giant black smoke-tentacle.]]
** Richard Alpert started as Atoner, which was his reason for gaining immortality [[spoiler:from Jacob. After he accidentally killed a doctor for not giving medicine to his dying wife, a priest told him during confession that he will never gain redemption for his sin. Upon meeting Jacob, Richard was offered a job and a gift: while Jacob could not resurrect his wife or absolve him from all his sins, he granted him immortality so that he atone for his actions.]]
** Ben finally became an Atoner by the end of the series, [[spoiler:experiencing a personal breakthrough, helping Hugo to watch over the island in life, and staying behind in the flash sideways feeling he was not yet ready to move on.]]
* ''{{Lexx}}'': "In the light universe, I have been darkness. Perhaps in the dark zone, I will be light."
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Teal'c wants very much to atone for his actions as the servant of the BigBad. This is especially true when he is put on trial for a killing he did as a {{Mook}}. Even though the trial is completely unfair, Teal'c refuses to escape and is determined to take the punishment as a way of making it up to one of his victims somehow. Fortunately, the Goa'uld attack the proceeding and Teal'c defends the innocents so wholeheartedly and that his accuser forgives him.
** Daniel Jackson, in defending Teal'c at the trial, practically has to pull teeth just to get Teal'c to admit ANYTHING in his own defense, such as why he chose an old crippled man when he was order to kill one of the crowd as an example (in later raids, that group of refugees would be able to move faster and escape into their safety tunnels like the others).
** Tomin gets like this in ''Film/TheArkOfTruth'', after realizing how the Priors are twisting the religion of Origin to excuse genocide. Teal'c gives him some advice on how to live with himself despite the things he's done in the past: he should concentrate on helping other people, fighting so that others can be saved. While he may never achieve personal redemption, "that is the least you can do".
* ''Series/{{Matrix}}'' Steven Matrix.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Eliot Spencer.
* ''HumanTarget'': Christopher Chance.
* ''TheMentalist'': Patrick Jane is a combination of this and CrusadingWidower.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Gul Darhe'el from the episode "Duet" was [[ANaziByAnyOtherName a commandant of a Bajoran labor camp during Cardassia's occupation of Bajor, who committed many atrocities]] and years later gets captured and gloats about his actions. [[spoiler: Turns out it was his file clerk who was impersonating him in order to be put on trial to force Cardassia into admitting its actions during the Occupation, and did it because he wanted to try and make up for his failure to do anything to stop these atrocities during said Occupation.]]
* ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'': Karone, formally known as [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]], takes up Kendrix's sword to replace her as the pink Galaxy Ranger and atone for her sins.
** In ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' [[SixthRanger Tommy]] has shades of this, drawn from his guilt over his actions under Rita's control.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' [[TheMentor Dr. K]] only wanted to go outside so she [[spoiler:released a computer virus that destroyed the world]], and spends the entire show making up for it.
* ''{{Smallville}}'': Lionel Luthor, the reprogrammed [[spoiler:Brainiac 5]], and especially Tess Mercer all of shades of this following their respective {{Heel Face Turn}}s.
* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'': Daniel Grayson.
* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'': Cole Turner. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sometimes.]]
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Mr. Finch. He created a software program that predicts grand terrorist incidents as well as "smaller" crimes (namely murder), but made it to where the program dumped all of the data on those "smaller" crimes every 24 hours. After a series of incidents where he was made cognizant of how bad an idea that was, he began to seek out someone who could help him prevent one of those "smaller" crimes from happening each day. When he found Reese, he knew he found his man.
** Reese is also trying to atone for his years spent as a government assassin. His work caused him to abandon his girlfriend and later prevented him from [[spoiler: saving her from her abusive husband.]]
* ''HaveGunWillTravel'': Paladin's backstory makes him this along with an interesting spin on RedeemingReplacement. He was hired to challenge a man named Smoke who he believed to be a villain terrorizing a town. Smoke [[AppropriatedAppellation sarcastically referred to him as a paladin]] during their gunfight, and the future Paladin fatally wounded him, learning too late that Smoke was defending the town and the villain was his employer. Thus, he decided to don Smoke's costume and do good in that guise (starting with killing his treacherous employer).
* ''DowntonAbbey'': There is Bates. Carson is also, slightly, but it's played for a laugh at his expense and own melodrama.
* ''{{Glee}}'': Sebastian Smythe, the main BigBad for the first half of the third season, shows signs of becoming this as of "On My Way," after [[spoiler: Karofsky's attempted suicide.]]

* ''{{Smallville}}'': Tess Mercer's character arc for the tenth season is basically this. After a HeelFaceTurn at the end of season nine, she spends the beginning of season ten mostly staying out of the way, and the rest of the season as the new [[MissionControl Watchtower]], helping the good guys while clearly hoping that she can at least try to make up for the things she'd done before. [[spoiler: By the end of the season it also seems at times like she's trying to atone for her [[LongLostRelative surprise Luthor bloodline]].]]

* ''TheVampireDiaries'': Stefan. He has been a Ripper on and off for his entire immortal life, but has always realized the errors of his ways and therefore, always tries to atone for his dark past.

* ''DoctorWho'', 9th-11th Doctors. After genocidally ending the Time War, the Doctor becomes an intermittent pacifist who won't let anyone else commit genocide. The 9th Doctor arguably has it the most, since it was either him personally or his immediate predecessor who committed the double genocide.

* ''XenaWarriorPrincess''
* A few characters in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', including [[BadassNormal Bennet]] and Nathan in season 2. And now, as of volume 5, [[spoiler: Sylar.]] [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor But we're skeptical on how long that'll last.]]
** And now [[ScrewedByTheNetwork we'll never know.]]
* Spike throughout ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', since when The Initiative captures him. Aided in the process, at first by the fact that a chip in his head makes him [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain rather ineffective]] toward humans and later on with [[LoveRedeems deeper reasons]] adding to his motivation. He spends a lot of time undecided, going back and forth between good and evil, and the atoning results in [[IncrediblyLamePun the hell being beaten out of him]] fairly often. [[MoralEventHorizon At one point]] he decides he's [[AttemptedRape gone too far]] and after this [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone unsettling realization]] he just knows he wants to [[HeelFaceTurn change for real]]. [[JossWhedon As one should expect]], the package is complete with a [[TearJerker tear-jerking]] [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]], because [[spoiler: he's [[TooCoolToLive too cool for this Earth to stand]]]].

* Seeley Booth of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' is looking to save around 50 lives to make up for the 50 he took as a Sniper.
* Nick Knight from ''Series/ForeverKnight''. And really, heroic vampires in general.

* The eponymous character on ''MyNameIsEarl'' is atoning for a lifetime of petty crime, carelessness and {{Jerkass}}ery, though he's sometimes comically inept, or has unconventional means of going about it. He states that his goal is to become a better person- it's an interesting question whether he's just going it to get good {{Karma}}, or if he's truly changed.
* Michael from ''PrisonBreak'' is a double example. He embarks on his quest to free Linc from Fox River to atone for not appreciating the sacrifices Linc made for him and for thinking he was guilty. Later in the series he attempts to atone for all the deaths his actions have indirectly caused.
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Delenn is the Minbari ambassador to the humans and completely devoted to improving the relationship between the two races and always the first to defend humans against criticism. In one episode it is revealed that [[spoiler:when the first contact resulted in a misunderstanding that made the humans open fire and got the Minbari Supreme Leader killed, she was the one who gave the order to KillAllHumans in response.]]

* Eddie Monroe from the NBC series ''{{Grimm}}''
* Sebastian Stark from the TV series ''{{Shark}}'' was a ruthless defence attorney until a client killed his wife shortly after Stark got him acquitted of spousal abuse charges. He turned around and joined the District Attorney's office, using his underhanded legal tactics to put away the types of criminals he used to get off.
* In one episode, Lieutenant Series/{{Columbo}} claims to have joined the police department as a way to atone for his rowdy past. Apparently, when he was younger he and his friends would stick potatoes in other people's exhaust vents so the cars wouldn't start.
* While never explicitly stated in the show, it is hinted that Shepherd Book in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' is an Atoner.
* Caprica Six of the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' fits this trope to a T: after seducing Gaius Baltar and conducting the bit of cybernetic sabotage required to render the Colonial Fleet so much space junk and led to the deaths of ''all but 50,000 of 50 billion people'', her [[MindScrew visions of Baltar]] (whom she decides [[LoveRedeems she had loved]]) make her want to make up for the crap she had done to the humans. Her success is... variable.

* [[{{Lexx}} "In the light universe, I have been darkness. Perhaps in the dark zone, I will be light."]]
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', Teal'c wants very much to atone for his actions as the servant of the BigBad. This is especially true when he is put on trial for a killing he did as a {{Mook}}. Even though the trial is completely unfair, Teal'c refuses to escape and is determined to take the punishment as a way of making it up to one of his victims somehow. Fortunately, the Goa'uld attack the proceeding and Teal'c defends the innocents so wholeheartedly and that his accuser forgives him.

* [[Series/{{Matrix}} Steven Matrix]] in the series ''Matrix''.
* Eliot Spencer from ''Series/{{Leverage}}''.
** Quite similarly, Christopher Chance, from ''HumanTarget''.
* Patrick Jane in ''TheMentalist'' is a combination of this and CrusadingWidower.
* Gul Darhe'el from the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Duet" was [[ANaziByAnyOtherName a commandant of a Bajoran labor camp during Cardassia's occupation of Bajor, who committed many atrocities]] and years later gets captured and gloats about his actions. [[spoiler: Turns out it was his file clerk who was impersonating him in order to be put on trial to force Cardassia into admitting its actions during the Occupation, and did it because he wanted to try and make up for his failure to do anything to stop these atrocities during said Occupation.]]

* Lionel Luthor, the reprogrammed [[spoiler:Brainiac 5]], and especially Tess Mercer all of shades of this on ''{{Smallville}}'' following their respective {{Heel Face Turn}}s.
* Daniel Grayson from ''Series/{{Revenge}}''.
* Cole Turner from ''Series/{{Charmed}}''. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sometimes.]]
* Mr. Finch from ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. He created a software program that predicts grand terrorist incidents as well as "smaller" crimes (namely murder), but made it to where the program dumped all of the data on those "smaller" crimes every 24 hours. After a series of incidents where he was made cognizant of how bad an idea that was, he began to seek out someone who could help him prevent one of those "smaller" crimes from happening each day. When he found Reese, he knew he found his man.

* In ''HaveGunWillTravel'', Paladin's backstory makes him this along with an interesting spin on RedeemingReplacement. He was hired to challenge a man named Smoke who he believed to be a villain terrorizing a town. Smoke [[AppropriatedAppellation sarcastically referred to him as a paladin]] during their gunfight, and the future Paladin fatally wounded him, learning too late that Smoke was defending the town and the villain was his employer. Thus, he decided to don Smoke's costume and do good in that guise (starting with killing his treacherous employer).
* On ''DowntonAbbey'' there is Bates. Carson is also, slightly, but it's played for a laugh at his expense and own melodrama.
* Sebastian Smythe, the main BigBad for the first half of ''{{Glee}}'''s third season, shows signs of becoming this as of "On My Way," after [[spoiler: Karofsky's attempted suicide.]]
* Deconstructed with [[FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire Mitchell]] from ''BeingHuman''. He ended up slipping too much due to his HorrorHunger, resulting in [[spoiler: murdering 20 people on a tube carriage]]. After trying to atone during the most of the next season, he realises he never will be able to overcome his blood addiction and [[spoiler: his best friend George stakes him to prevent him being used as an "attack dog" by the [[BigBad Old Ones]] in an extremely tearjerking moment]]

* Tess Mercer's character arc for the tenth season of ''{{Smallville}}'' is basically this. After a HeelFaceTurn at the end of season nine, she spends the beginning of season ten mostly staying out of the way, and the rest of the season as the new [[MissionControl Watchtower]], helping the good guys while clearly hoping that she can at least try to make up for the things she'd done before. [[spoiler: By the end of the season it also seems at times like she's trying to atone for her [[LongLostRelative surprise Luthor bloodline]].]]
* Eliot Spencer on ''{{Series/Leverage}}''. The other team members were all non-violent [[ConMan Con Artists]], {{Playful Hacker}}s, and {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s and seem to view their previous careers as hobbies, but Eliot was a ruthless mercenary and deeply regrets the things he did.

* Stefan from ''TheVampireDiaries''. He has been a Ripper on and off for his entire immortal life, but has always realized the errors of his ways and therefore, always tries to atone for his dark past.

* Gambit is another Marvel Universe example of this trope. He joined the X-Men due to the whole [[spoiler:unwittingly helping some major baddies commit genocide thing]]. Admittedly Gambit never [[spoiler:intentionally took part in said genocide]] and continues to be a much loved thief with a heart of gold to fans, but still.

** Also Kevin in ''Ben10AlienForce'', and Charmcaster toward the end of ''Ben10UltimateAlien''.

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Mr. Burns, after losing his fortune and learning about ecology from Lisa, is determined to turn his life around and rebuild his fortune doing good works. Unfortunately, Mr. Burn's idea of "[[KnightTemplar doing good]]" involves raping and pillaging the environment in an even ''worse'' way than he had as the CEO of a Pollution-causing Nuclear Power Plant. (Lisa then is forced to admit that Mr. Burns is just naturally evil--and when he tries to be good, his twisted sense of morality makes him even ''more'' evil.)

* This happens to Jean Valjean over the course of ''Literature/LesMiserables''. Although Valjean's 'horrible acts' themselves comprised stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, trying to escape his prison sentence and then a couple of petty thefts from a bishop and a young boy upon release, he is less focussed on these than what his prison stay turned him into. While in prison he lost all faith in God, society and human nature, vowing to take his revenge upon society at large once released, and it is this state of mind that he feels he has to atone for. One of his first acts upon release is to contemplate cold-blooded murder of an innocent man who had sheltered and fed him, and it is this mindset that horrifies him after his redemption. He is often a bit excessive about how much he punishes himself, however.

* Vegeta from ''Manga/DragonBall'' in the Buu saga. He thought if he killed himself it would make up for the loss of Gohan, [[spoiler:Who actually wasn't dead.]] And all the people at the stadium he'd killed earlier.

* The ''DragonballZ'' FanFic ''FanFic/HonorTrip'' has Perfect Cell as TheAtoner in an alternate universe where Gohan doesn't kill him at the Cell Games, but instead scrambles his programming with a blow to the head.

* Doctor Who, 9th-11th Doctors. After genocidally ending the Time War, the Doctor becomes an intermittent pacifist who won't let anyone else commit genocide.

* While he was always on the heroic side, [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] presumably has some of The Atoner in his Ninth and Tenth incarnations, since during the Time War he was directly responsible for the genocide of his entire species and the Dalek race.
** Eleven has elements of this too, as does River Song
** Dalek Caan. [[spoiler: Made much better because Daleks were designed specifically to be unable to repent and seek to atone.]]

* As the page quote indicates, this figures in the plotline of ''DoctorWho'': "A Town Called Mercy", as Jex, a scientist who turned members of his race into cyborg warriors, became a country doctor during the 1880s to make up for his crimes. The Doctor called him out on it. The Doctor is often cast as the Atoner as well, especially after it was revealed that he destroyed his own people to end the Time War after they had become genocidal. Oddly enough, in "A Town Called Mercy", his own Atoner tendencies came into question by Amy:
-->'''The Doctor''': No, today I honor the victims first. His, The Master's, the Daleks'. All the people that died because of ''my mercy!''\\
'''Amy''': See this is what happens when you travel alone for too long.