Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context HeelFaceRevolvingDoor / LiveActionTV

Go To

1%%%
2%%
3%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4%%
5%%%
6
7----
8* ''Series/The100'': As the situation becomes more desperate in later seasons, the characters react by allying with whoever they think might help their chosen faction survive, which often results in multiple innocent deaths. The presence of multiple cult leaders ''and'' mind control technology also exacerbates this.
9* ''Series/TwentyFour'': In the seventh season, [[spoiler:Tony Almeida]] made this trope into a true artform: [[spoiler:He joined a mercenary group while working with Bill and Chloe to expose a massive web of corruption while actually working for an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness in order to get to Alan Wilson the Ultimate [[TheManBehindTheMan Man Behind The Man]] in order to execute a RoaringRampageOfRevenge for the death of his pregnant wife Michelle.]] The ''Live Another Day'' epilogue ''Solitary'' continues to suggest the possibility of [[HeelFaceTurn a full turn when the time comes]]--and [[spoiler:his brief return in the spin-off show ''Legacy'' has him working in a Black Ops group acting on behalf of the US government]].
10** This trope extends to [[spoiler:Tony]]'s arc across the series as a whole. [[spoiler:He starts off as a bit of a {{Jerkass}} with an antagonistic relationship to the protagonist Jack, and was even suspected by many fans to be TheMole at CTU, but ultimately proves himself as a heroic character when he [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] and saves Jack's wife in the latter half of Season 1. Then he becomes one of the most major heroes on the show and one of Jack's most trusted friends from the end of Season 1 all the way until his death in Season 5. When he is revived and returns in Season 7, he has the morality shifts outlined above: at first seeming like an antagonist, but revealing he was a FakeDefector, only to then reveal he actually had become a villain on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to avenge his wife. After being arrested at the end of the Season 7, the Season 9 epilogue has him showing remorse, and then he returns in the SpinOff ''Legacy'' with an antagonistic relationship to the new protagonist Eric but is ultimately proven to be one of the heroes, [[BookEnds right back where he started]].]]
11** In Seasons 1-3, [[spoiler:Sherry Palmer is another example. She begins the series as a Face, happily married to the BigGood David Palmer. However, as the first season goes on, her paranoia about the Palmer family's reputation causes her to resort to increasingly unethical means to cover up the family's mistakes. Not to mention TheReveal that she helped cover up an accidental murder committed by Keith Palmer before the start of the series, which David Palmer was unaware of. David Palmer's strict adherence to HonorBeforeReason and determination to go public with the information puts a major wedge between them, and due to Sherry's increasing [[EvilIsPetty pettiness]] toward her husband, she ends up undergoing a FaceHeelTurn and becomes the main political BigBad by the end of the season. [[ManipulativeBitch This culminates in her attempting to manipulate him into having an affair to create legitimate dirt on him]] but David sees through it and the two divorce. [[FakeDefector She fakes a Face turn at the start of Season 2, but this is a ruse]]. However, she has a genuine HeelFaceTurn at the end of the season when [[EvenEvilHasStandards there is threat of]] WorldWarThree, and she selflessly puts her life at risk for the good of her husband and her country. She is still a Face as of the start of Season 3 but does another FaceHeelTurn once she [[TokenEvilTeammate murders David Palmer's rival]]. This obviously recreates the rift between them, and due to her death at the end of the season she ultimately ends her time on the show as a Heel]].
12** In Seasons 4-8, [[spoiler:Charles Logan is yet another example. He begins Season 4 as a Face, brought in as a PresidentBuffoon way in over his head during a nuclear crisis due to the actual president's incapacitation. [[TheMillstone Although he proves to be more of a hindrance than a help]], he is ultimately on the side of good throughout the season. At the start of Season 5, he appears to still be on the side of the heroes. However, he is revealed to have undergone a FaceHeelTurn between seasons, and ultimately turns out to be the BigBad of Season 5. [[MoralEventHorizon This is because of trying to cover up not only his involvement in selling incredibly dangerous weapons to terrorists but the completely unnecessary murder of two of Jack Bauer's best friends.]] At the end of this season, his treasonous actions are uncovered and he is put under house arrest. In Season 6, he genuinely attempts a HeelFaithTurn to atone for his actions during Season 5. Although he does help, he ultimately finds himself in a HeelFaceDoorSlam when his ex-wife, who he had previously abused, stabs him in a fit of rage. Although he is in a state of UncertainDoom at the end of that season, he ultimately has an UnexplainedRecovery and returns in Season 8. Unfortunately, he now no longer cares about his genuine HeelFaceTurn and decides to just focus on repairing his reputation by getting involved in another cover-up, so he undergoes another FaceHeelTurn and ends up as the BigBad a second time. Then he is DrivenToSuicide and once again left in a state of UncertainDoom. Logan's role certainly turned out very cyclical.]]
13* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': After being firmly on the bad guy's side in Season 1, [[spoiler: Grant Ward]] spends most of Season 2 bouncing back and forth between helping Coulson's team and hindering them. [[spoiler: However, the season finale seems to have cemented him as a villain, though a version of him in Season 4 ends up squarely on the side of good thus proving both his FreudianExcuse and the circumstances around it being the major contributing factor to his actions]].
14* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Arvin Sloane for four-and-a-half seasons of the show.
15** He's topped however by Sark, who describes himself as having "flexible loyalties" and in the finale outright states he doesn't care whose side he's on, as long as it's the winning side.
16* ''Series/AmericanGothic1995'': [[FemmeFatale Selena Coombs]] certainly seems to be riding one of these, or perhaps a seesaw. Aside from the moments when we see the weakening of her evil resolve and the good heart shining through (particularly the episode "Potato Boy"), the last several episodes of the series involve her repeatedly switching sides. It's hard to tell exactly who she's lying to at any given moment -- Buck, Dr. Peele, or Caleb.
17* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' / ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
18** Lampshaded, where the character of Lindsey switched sides often enough that Angel decided to take pre-emptive action. Near the end of the series finale, Lorne, on Angel's orders, [[spoiler: shoots him]] before he goes through the FaceHeelTurn phase again.
19*** Just to detail Lindsey’s allegiance switches, he [[spoiler:begins as the secondary villain in the very first episode, representing Wolfram & Hart (the BigBad organization of the series) as they assist the episode’s main villain, the MonsterOfTheWeek. Then, after a short absence, he returns as part of a trio of Angel’s recurring foes throughout Season 1, with Lilah and Lee. This is until Season 1’s penultimate episode, “Blind Date”, where he is asked to represent a villain in court who WouldHurtAChild (would kill three children, in fact), and he realizes that BeingEvilSucks when it comes to his conscience. So he pulls a HeelFaceTurn to help Angel stop the villain he was supposed to represent, even fighting alongside Angel as a BadassNormal in the episode’s ending battle. Unfortunately, between Angel still treating Lindsey poorly despite his turn to good, and his former boss Holland Manners offering him a pay raise to return to the villains, Lindsey ultimately pulls a FaceHeelTurn and returns to Wolfram & Hart in the following episode, this time powering up the MonsterOfTheWeek as Angel fights it. He then continues to be a recurring villain throughout Season 2, first assisting Holland and then competing with Lilah for Holland’s job after his death. This is until one of the last episodes of the season, “Dead End”, where Lindsey learns about the horrific experiments Wolfram & Hart has been doing, particularly to one of his old friends, and, because EvenEvilHasStandards, he once again pulls a HeelFaceTurn to help Angel take them down, fighting alongside him as a BadassNormal again as they raid the facility. After this, he is PutOnABus at the end of the episode. Quitting Wolfram & Hart for good but not wanting to work with Angel either, he simply leaves town to start a new life. But then he returns in Season 5, undergoing yet another FaceHeelTurn because, due to Angel’s takeover of Wolfram & Hart, his jealousy gets the better of him. After all, [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Lindsey had to work hard to make his way up their ranks while Angel was simply handed the CEO position,]] which he couldn’t ignore. This time their battle ends on a sword fight (because Lindsey got a PowerUp during his absence to put him on Angel’s combat level) to celebrate the show’s 100th episode, ending with Lindsey banished to a demon dimension by Wolfram & Hart’s Senior Partners. Then, because Angel needs his help in the series’ final battle, Angel’s group frees Lindsey and convinces him to join their side once again, causing him to pull a third HeelFaceTurn. It is at this point that Angel is GenreSavvy enough to have Lorne kill Lindsey before Lindsey could pull another FaceHeelTurn and oppose him again after their team-up. Lindsey’s dying words seem to confirm that he was in fact considering yet another FaceHeelTurn down the road since he claims [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou that Angel was the only one worthy of killing him]], but then again his lines shortly beforehand indicated that GoodFeelsGood and he seemed completely sincere about that, so who really knows.]]
20** Lilah Morgan, Lindsey’s main rival at the firm, dips into this trope as well, though to a much lesser extent than Lindsey did. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the difference between them when she rebukes [[TheHero Angel’s]] first attempt at an EnemyMine, with the line “I’m not Lindsey. I don’t switch sides whenever the going gets tough.” However, [[spoiler:in that same episode she does end up hating the MonsterOfTheWeek enough to kill him and save her enemy [[TheLancer Cordelia’s]] life, demonstrating her first act of good. She immediately returns to being purely evil for a while after that, but then things get complicated when she begins [[DatingCatwoman dating Wesley]]. While she goes into that relationship with the intent to turn him evil, it is heavily implied that she [[InLoveWithTheMark grew to actually love him]] and was influenced to start turning good. When [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains the Beast eventually shows up and destroys the Wolfram & Hart building]], leaving her as the SoleSurvivor, she joins Angel Investigations in an EnemyMine. She is still mostly selfish during their team-up and clearly values herself more than Angel and Co., but she is nonetheless a team player and does help them out in their own efforts to survive. She is [[HeelFaceDoorSlam killed shortly after]], and her ghost reappears to tempt the team with evil offers again, but she did begin showing signs of good at the end of her life beforehand.]]
21** Angel himself, the no-good Irish lad turned into a bloodsucking demon turned into a mourning atoner still in the demon's body. And that was before the series began properly. During the course of both Buffy and Angel, He went on to lose and regain his soul several more times, revolving between heel and face each time. At one point, during a complex sting operation, he pretended to have turned evil again and then had to pretend pretending to be charming Buffy's mother. That's ''five'' stacked layers simultaneously!
22** Also Darla (though that one tended to have more logical reasons -- whether she was a vampire or not, had a soul or not...)
23** Connor had more switches than anyone else in the series. He showed up in Season 3 as a WellIntentionedExtremist taught by Holtz (also an example of the WellIntentionedExtremist trope) to hate his father, Angel. He went from Heel to Face and back to Heel in Season 3, then switched sides (always thinking he was on the side of good) too many times to count in Season 4. In Season 5, given a normal life, he settled on Face.
24** Harmony. One of the best examples of HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, because she remained clearly the same person throughout and her switching sides fit into her conformist character. At the end, Angel tells her that he knew all along that she'd go back to Heel because she has no soul.
25** Faith went from thinking being a Slayer was awesome, to discovering she really enjoyed killing and hurting people, to wanting Buffy to kill her in order to bring Buffy down to her level, to being freaked over Buffy almost killing her and wanting revenge for killing her father figure, to a HeelRealization, undergoes a full HeelFaceTurn in the last part of Buffy Season 7, to TheResenter in the comics, to a kinda-sorta reformed Slayer, after attempting to kill Buffy [[RunningGag again]]. At last count, she's playing watchdog for Series/{{Angel}}.
26** Throughout the series, Spike would switch between attacking the Scoobies and reluctantly joining forces with them for his own needs, even after becoming a somewhat ally in Season 4. Heck, even when [[spoiler: he got his soul back]] the final season had him murdering people again, [[spoiler: though it turns out the First Evil was controlling him against his will]].
27* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Sara betrays Oliver on the Amazo out of fear of Ivo, then her loyalty wins out. Then she somehow ends up with the League of Assassins, but ultimately defects.
28** Malcolm Merlyn pretty much spends the entirety of Season 3 flip flopping.
29* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Londo Mollari takes a few spins through the door as the series progresses. At times it seems more like sides are picking him than the other way around.
30* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
31** Boomer: [[spoiler:First she's a Cylon sleeper agent, then she doesn't want to be one, then she fails to overcome her programming and shoots Admiral Adama. Then she tries to make peace between Cylons and humans and, failing that, she tries to kill her counterpart's daughter and betrays her model number, causing a civil war. Then she has a change of heart and escapes with the Final Cylon when the others want to surgically remove her brain. Then, faced with execution for causing the Cylon civil war, she knocks out another Cylon to take her place in the brig while abducting Athena's baby to use as a hostage in her escape plan which ultimately ''cripples the battlestar''. Then she starts having second thoughts after bonding with Hera. Make up your damn mind, woman! If you weren't so flaky maybe more people would like you. At least Athena [[RedemptionEqualsDeath killed her]] after she returned Hera before she had the chance to change her mind again.]] To be fair, though, her constant mind-changing isn't entirely unjustified. [[spoiler: if you flew all the way to some middle of ass nowhere planet to bond with the humans, only to have them start suicide bombing you, and then, on top of that, the man you love has married and is having a baby with the girl who shot you, then, well, you'd probably be a little peeved too.]] It's also worth noting that at least one set of those Heel Face Turns was faked ([[spoiler:rescuing Ellen was entirely a front so that she could kidnap Hera.]])
32** It's mentioned several times by other Cylon models that this is a characteristic of the Eights, in that they're easily swayed. Even Athena calls them on it. In fact, Athena's fanatical devotion to the Colonial cause may be an attempt to compensate for this perceived weakness in herself. That and the fact that the slightest indication of treachery would get her thrown out of an airlock.
33** Gaius Baltar was even worse. The plot kept jerking him around from TheAtoner to LesCollaborateurs. Not entirely his fault, since he had a phantom Cylon in his head for most of the series, but still, would it have killed him to show some backbone once in a while? Signaled by his recurrent BeardOfEvil: clean-shaven, he was TheAtoner, sometimes even TheWoobie. With stubble, he was a DirtyCoward, and usually a SmugSnake as well. On rare occasions when he actually ''groomed'' his beard, [[ManipulativeBastard watch out]].
34** And the tradition is carried on by Joseph Adama in ''Series/{{Caprica}}''. One week he's Daniel Greystone's best friend, the next he's sending his brother to [[RevengeByProxy kill Daniel's wife]]. One week he's recovering from Tamara's death, the next he's diving into a VR game to desperately try and find her. One week he's a stable, loving father, the next he's shooting up virtual drugs.
35* ''Series/BeingHumanUS'': While Aidan is currently TheAtoner, flashbacks reveal that he has gone through multiple bouts of being this and the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire before JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and becoming a remorseless bloodsucker again.
36* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
37** Cole Turner/Belthazor/The Source/The Avatar/The Ghost. There's a reason he has so many personas.
38** Phoebe jumped into the revolving door with him for a while before she finally got off on the Face side again.
39* Dr Dean Archer from ''Series/ChicagoMed''. He consistently works to heal his patients but he's prone to ethical breaches if he deems it necessary. Depending on the episode he serves as an ally or foil to the other doctors.
40* ''Series/ChouseiKantaiSazerX'': [[TheBrute Fire Shogun Blaird]] switches sides an unbelievable amount of times after the [[SpacePirates Descal]] are defeated. He's first forcibly brought into the [[ConquerorFromTheFuture Neo Descal]], but after he gets treated with disrespect by them he deserts and forms an EnemyMine with his old rival [[TheHero Takuto Ando]] to fight them. Then he gets recaptured by the Neo Descal, but escapes again and tries to settle things with Takuto, only to get captured by [[TheTeam Sazer-X]] and briefly form a friendship with the Ando family before he winds up back with Neo Descal after a prisoner exchange. Then he escapes ''again'' and throws his lot in with a fellow WildCard, [[EvilCounterpart Jackall]]. Alongside Jackall he fights Sazer-X some more until [[spoiler:Jackall dies pursuing his vendetta against Commander Shark, which leads him to decide his grudge against Takuto isn't worth it and make amends with him, from then on becoming a close ally of Sazer-X.]]
41* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
42** [[spoiler:Jill is discovered to be a Fulcrum agent but says she was forced to, Chuck then sees that she was going to kill Sarah and arrests her in another episode, but then Chuck finds out that Jill was telling the truth and lets her go.]]
43** An even better example now is [[spoiler:Chuck's mother]] in Season 4. We had 5 episodes ambiguously building her up to be possibly good and working undercover, or possibly working for the bad guys. The sixth episode of the season has her appear and swear her innocence, seeking help to stop a dangerous weapon from getting out, only for her to betray everyone. Except, it turns out all of this, including [[spoiler:shooting Chuck because she assumed he was wearing a bulletproof vest]], was part of her {{plan}} in order to fool the bad guys. Casey then tracks down evidence that her entire cover story is a lie and she really did join the villain years ago. In the seventh episode, she once again claims she can prove her innocence and sends Chuck on an episode-long mission to find the proof. [[spoiler:Except, this was all part of an even more brilliant gambit, as she was in fact tricking Chuck all along in order to bring herself and her boss to Orion's base and blow it up with Chuck and Sarah inside. ...AND THEN SHE SECRETLY HELPS THEM TO ESCAPE.]] That's at least six trips through the revolving door in two episodes, and nobody's entirely sure whose side she's on.
44** As it turns out [[spoiler:the good guy's side, she's taking Volkoff down from the inside]]
45* From season 3 onwards, ''Series/CobraKai'' becomes a series of quickly-changing allegiances as a number of the students bounce back and forth between Miyagi-Do and the titular dojo. This is further complicated by the creation of [[spoiler: Eagle Fang, Johnny's own dojo when he loses Cobra Kai, and the students loyal to Johnny leave after seeing how off the deep end Kreese and his students are. At the end of season 3, Daniel and Johnny seemingly put aside their differences and join forces, but their egos and differing ideals cause Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang to come to blows and eventually separate once more, causing fractures between the students working together against Cobra Kai and forcing them to pick which of the two dojos they will stand with.]]
46** Amongst all the characters, [[spoiler: Robby]] is the most blatant example. He goes from [[spoiler: seeing Daniel as a father figure and being his star pupil alongside Samantha, to joining with Kreese and Cobra Kai after feeling abandoned by both him and Johnny. Then, at the end of season 4, he realises through Kenny's descent into becoming a thug how corrupting Kreese's influence is, and finally reconciles with his father, seemingly ready to mend the bridge with him.]]
47** [[spoiler: Eli/Hawk]] is a very close second. [[spoiler: He starts off loyal to Cobra Kai, and stays loyal to Kreese after he ousts Johnny as owner, blaming Johnny for Miguel's injury. However, at the end of season 3, he realises how much of a thug he's become during the fight in the La Russo house, and decides to HeelFaceTurn in the middle of the fight to help the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students. Then after struggling to reconcile with his former friends for his actions, he is eventually forgiven by Daniel and decides to join Miyagi-Do in full, going on to become the All Valley male champion representing them.]]
48* ''Series/DarkOracle'': [[SmugSnake Omen]] suffered badly from this, due to a bad case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder combined with a desire for {{Revenge}} and an unfortunate tendency towards partnering with those who were stronger and more evil than him. He's a villain at first, manipulating Cally as part of a plot for revenge on Doyle. He then tries to help Cally get rid of the comic book (partly out of a crush on her and partly out of a desire to hurt her EvilTwin, Violet) and gets trapped in comic world for his trouble. He returns, and helps BigBadWannabe Vern trap Lance in the comic world, pretends to help Cally get him out while secretly working for Lance's EvilTwin Blaze whom he actually frees, and then ''finally'' pulls a HeelFaceTurn and [[spoiler:dies helping Cally free Lance and get rid of Blaze and Violet]]. Jeez, man.
49* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
50** The Master does this quite frequently, partly because the fans love him and partly to demonstrate that he's just like the Doctor, only evil. Simm acts like this in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], but Ainley does it most dizzyingly in [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], going from "help the Doctor" to "help the bad guys" a handful of times in one story. Also the Ainley Master seems rather hurt that the various versions of the Doctor all suspect his motives.
51*** The Master takes this trope to its absolute extreme at the end of Series 10 of the revival, to the extent that it even puts a unique spin on the trope itself. [[spoiler:The Saxon Master, ArchEnemy of the Tenth Doctor, crosses into the timeline of the Twelfth Doctor, at which point he has already regenerated into the Missy Master. This leads to the first-ever team-up of multiple incarnations of the Master. Both the Saxon and Missy Masters had their turns through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor already, making them both WildCard characters in terms of allegiance. It culminates with Missy settling on Face and Saxon settling on Heel, and then doing a MutualKill on each other! In other words, the Master pulled a double-suicide on him/herself specifically because of their confused morality. While the Saxon Master is guaranteed to survive by means of regenerating into Missy and is heavily implied to do exactly that immediately following the events of the episode, the Missy Master is stated to have been KilledOffForReal.]] In Series 12, [[spoiler:this did not stick. The Master turned up in a new incarnation and was firmly back in the Heel camp again, due to discovering that the Doctor was “the Timeless Child” and therefore [[GreenEyedMonster more special than he was.]] So, to recount between the three incarnations, the Master went from Heel to Face to Heel as Saxon, started as Heel then went through several HeelFaceRevolvingDoor turns as Missy before finally settling on Face, and then came back as a Heel again as the “O” Master. Quite the moral journey!]]
52*** The original “Delgado” Master from the Third Doctor’s tenure was actually like this most of the time as well. His modus operandi was typically to start a BigBadDuumvirate with the MonsterOfTheWeek, have him realize partway through the serial that this was going to hurt him in some way too, and then make an EnemyMine with the Doctor to stop the threat that he started. He also had a few moments of showing genuine concern over the Doctor’s well-being. He reveled in hurting him but also seemed to generally not want to go far enough to kill him. In fact, he was supposed to go through an actual HeelFaceTurn in his last serial if not for the death of his actor, Roger Delgado, preventing this incarnation from ever actually doing so.
53** The Doctor themself, while not taking this trope to the extent that the Master does, dips into it from time to time as well. The First Doctor started off with BlueAndOrangeMorality, making him not entirely Face or Heel by the standards of his human companions (or the audience for that matter), giving way to a few decidedly “Heel” moments such as almost committing an unnecessary murder in one of his first episodes. By the end of his tenure though, thanks to the good influence of his companions, he was very solidly a Face and has mostly stayed there from then on. However, between turning into such a JerkAss that he almost murdered his companion for no reason early on in his sixth incarnation, being a straight up ManipulativeBastard oftentimes during his seventh incarnation, [[AGodAmI going particularly reckless and insane to Heel levels during his “Timelord Victorious phase”]] as his tenth incarnation, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds going reckless and insane to “Heel” levels AGAIN]] during his twelfth incarnation, and possibly having [[FutureMeScaresMe the Valeyard]] as a truly evil incarnation in their future, the Heel aspect of the character is clearly not entirely gone and can always return at any time due to [[TheNthDoctor the nature of the show]].
54* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': [[spoiler:Michael goes from pretending to be a friend to the protagonists, to getting revealed as a demon torturing them, to realizing that he’s in trouble with his bosses if he doesn’t team up with the protagonists (forcing an EnemyMine), to reluctantly agreeing to get moral philosophy lessons from Chidi as a condition of the EnemyMine, to these moral lessons causing him to bounce back and forth a few times between genuinely improving and falling back into his old habits (causing a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech directed at him in one particularly bad case), to [[FakeDefector pretending to betray the protagonists except he really didn’t]], to reaching a sort of moral enlightenment and (non-lethally) sacrificing himself to help the protagonists escape from trouble, confirming he actually is good now. In other words, a very gradual HeelFaceTurn with several lapses and fake-outs.]]
55%%* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Jaime's morality has been a roller-coaster over the course of the series.
56%%* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
57%%** Puck and Santana do this to varying degrees.
58%%** Since the end of the first season, [[BigBad Sue]] seems to be doing it quite a bit too.
59%%** And as of the end of the second season, Jesse has it going for him as well.
60* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
61** Volume 3 ''[[spoiler:Sylar]]'', of all people. Just to show how crazy it's gotten: [[spoiler:First, he was standard "killer" Sylar. Then he joined Angela Petrelli and tried to reform. Then he joined Arthur Petrelli against Angela Petrelli and tried to reform in a different way. Then he betrayed Arthur Petrelli and skipped town with another character. Then they go BACK to Arthur Petrelli. And then he becomes a serial killer again and goes AFTER Arthur Petrelli. After that, he gets split into a friendly "empty slate" body (which occasionally [[MindRape thinks it's Nathan]]) and unwanted [[{{Pun}} dark passenger]] in Matt's head. When he finally manages to get body and mind back together, he is suddenly "impotent (sic)" at killing people and [[FanService gets really nice and cosy towards Claire]]. Because, as we are learning, he wants to become socially accepted again. After being rejected by Claire, he is then trapped in his worst nightmare by Matt only to be saved and brought out by Peter Petrelli (he had a dream that Sylar would save Emma), after they were both trapped in his head for what seemed like years (but was actually only hours). Because of his near-endless torture experience from his nightmare, he turns good AGAIN and teams up with Peter.]]
62** HRG fits this trope as well. He is constantly shifting, so we are never entirely sure which side he is on save his own. We know his agenda is to protect his family, particularly Claire, which would put him on the good guys' side, but the methods he uses have alienated his family. HRG also finds himself unable to satisfy himself with a settled, stable life, stating, "There are only so many crossword puzzles I can do," which provides another motivation.
63** Nathan Petrelli also fits this trope, as he is also constantly shifting sides. In Volume 4, [[spoiler:he went from being the BigBad before shifting back to the good side again.]] On one hand, Nathan cares deeply about his family and does his best to protect them, particularly his brother Peter and daughter Claire, but his methods and [[WellIntentionedExtremist ambitions]] often alienate them ... until he sees the light, becomes the TheAtoner once again, and does another HeelFaceTurn (frequently prompted by Peter and/or Claire).
64** Angela Petrelli. She loves her family, sure, but she's got a good poker face. Like Nathan and HRG, she can also be a WellIntentionedExtremist.
65* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
66** ''Series/KamenRider555'': Kiba Yuuji switches back and forth between helping and hating humankind several times during the story.
67** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Kouta's rival Kaito Kumon believes that having power is the only way to not get oppressed in this world so he doesn't care much for morality. During the story, Kaito would switch from being a power-seeking jerkass who is apathetic to the heroes' problems to a helpful ally who wants to destroy the powerful villains and vice versa as long as it suits his goal.
68** ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'':
69*** Ace's rival Michinaga Azuma starts off an abrasive player in the DGP, mellows out a little bit before getting eliminated and finding himself on the Jyamato side, only to wind up in an EnemyMine with Ace to take down the DGP, after which he goes on to become a player in Ace's DGP, albeit an extremely ruthless and only [[HeroWithAnFInGood nominally heroic one]].
70*** Ace's foil Keiwa Sakurai starts off as Ace's ally and FriendlyRival until the final game of the JGP -- when he learns of Mitsume's nature as the Goddess of Creation and the role she indirectly played in his parents' deaths, he believes they were unjustly sacrificed to give birth to Ace. This puts him and Ace at odds during the Desire Royale -- when Ace starts opposing the DGP to save Mitsume, Keiwa chooses to preserve it to grant his ideal world and make Mitsume pay for her sins. After the failed Grand End he ends up joining Ace's DGP, though he remains bitter about Mitsume; when Sara dies, Keiwa cooperates with the DGP management, Beroba, and Kekera to kidnap Tsumuri and turn her into a Goddess of Creation to exploit her powers and grant his wish of reviving his family. Ace gets through to Keiwa with one last battle between the two of them, which leads to Keiwa rejoining Ace's DGP and fighting alongside him to help create a world where everyone can be happy.
71* ''Series/Kingdom2019'': Beom-pal throughout Seasons 1 and 2, continually shifting allegiance to his clan, the prince, and himself, before finally settling on Prince Chang after realizing how monstrous his clan has actually become once told to execute innocent civilians.
72* ''Series/{{Krypton}}'': The Cythonnites have fairly heroic goals but sometimes ruthless methods and go back and forth from helping Seg and his allies to threatening or double crossing them multiple times, depending on whether they share a common goal at the time.
73* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Due to the aggressively gray morality of the show, somebody either does a full 180 or is set up to look like they have, in almost every episode. The worst offender is probably Ben, with Sawyer running a close second, especially in the first few seasons.
74* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
75** Rumplestiltskin starts out as a fully evil character, whose unresolved personal issues and guilt over his chronic cowardice, trying repeatedly to redeem himself with Belle, who becomes his MoralityPet. Over the course of the first season, he eventually ends up as more or less a [[SympatheticVillain Sympathetic]] AntiVillain. [[spoiler: After her memory is returned]] in the second series, his focus returns solely to [[spoiler: finding his son]]. After finding out that [[spoiler: Henry is his grandson, making a good majority of the main cast his family as well]], his motives and intentions become increasingly more ambiguous. In the first half of Season 3, he travels with Emma, Snow, Charming, Regina, and Hook to rescue Henry from [[spoiler: his father,]] Peter Pan, and later takes him down, [[spoiler: killing himself in the process]]. In the second half, he is brought back by Neal and is controlled with the dagger by Zelena, who uses him to do her bidding, before marrying Belle in the season finale. In Season 4, he puts on an act of being changed, while really conspiring to cleave himself from the dagger, which would cost several lives to do so. After his plan is discovered, Belle uses the dagger to force him to leave town, but he later returns and works with the queens of darkness to turn Emma, the savior, dark while trying to find the author of the book to write a new story in which villains get a happy ending. It turns out this was all to prevent the darkness from taking him over completely. The Apprentice removes it, but it leaves him in a coma, and the darkness breaks free, trying to take over Regina, before [[spoiler: Emma uses the dagger to force it to take herself as the new host, becoming the new dark one]].
76*** In Season 5, Gold spends the majority of the first half of the season trying to be a better man after becoming mortal and powerless, again, before [[spoiler: secretly enchanting Excalibur to transfer the darkness to back to himself upon Hook's death, becoming not just the Dark One (again), but the most powerful Dark One to have ever lived]].
77** [[spoiler: Regina]] enters the revolving door in Season 2, desperately trying anything to win back [[spoiler: her surrogate son]] only to constantly be met with obstacles and [[ReformedButRejected scorn]]. In the Season 2 finale, she firmly commits to the Heroes side but spends a good portion of Season 3 as the TokenEvilTeammate and TheFriendNobodyLikes. However, as of the Season 4 finale, she is undeniably a hero now, even if somewhat of an AntiHero.
78** Emma in Season 5. [[spoiler: After becoming the Dark One, she repeatedly bounces back and forth, making it a mystery even to the Storybrooke residents if she's good or bad, and what her end game is]].
79** [[spoiler:Zelena]] in Season 6 due to Regina blaming her for [[spoiler:Robin's death]], and she ends up living on her own and being propositioned by [[spoiler:the Evil Queen]] to form a new alliance. She then occasionally helps out with [[spoiler:the Queen]]'s plans while occasionally helping the good guys as well, before Rumple orders [[spoiler:the Queen]] to kill her. After being saved by [[spoiler:Regina]] she becomes a WildCard for the majority of the season before siding with good again permanently after [[spoiler:reconciling with Regina and destroying her magic.]]
80* ''Series/{{Oz}}'':
81** Chris Keller. Is he inherently evil? Is he trying to be good? Is he too psychologically damaged to know what he's doing? Is he loyal to Beecher? Is he working for Schillinger? Is he trying to get help from Sister Pete? Is he trying to screw with her mind? It alternates.
82** Tobias Beecher has a lesser case, but he can alternate startlingly quickly between being an AntiHero and an AntiVillain.
83* Sean, Tanya's boyfriend in ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' is like this. In his first episode, Tanya finds out that he stole the answers for an upcoming math test. But she is able to talk him out of cheating and it looks like they will make a good couple. That is until Sean's next episode, where Tanya joins him on the school baseball team, due to her having a great throwing arm, which makes Sean feel threatened and he starts giving Tanya negative feedback. Even after the team wins a game at the end of the episode, Sean is still negative towards Tanya, saying that she almost blew it for them and that they won the game by luck. It's here that Tanya decides that she's had enough and breaks up with Sean.
84* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'':
85** [[BlindSeer Jenna]]. Initially she's against the Liars due to them being part of the prank pulled by [[AlphaBitch Alison]] that led to her blindness, but later has a change of heart after Hanna [[FireForgedFriends saves her life]]. She assures the Liars that they can trust her, only for her to keep yet another secret from them: [[spoiler: she regained her eyesight.]] There's also the fact that she's still a suspect for being [[BigBad A]] (albeit a less suspicious one as of recent episodes).
86** As of Season 4, we have Mona: The reveal that [[spoiler: she's the BigBad of Seasons 1 and 2 at the end of the latter]] puts her on the Heel side, then she's sent to Radley where she [[BlatantLies "reforms"]] and is integrated back into society in the second half of Season 3. She tries to convince everyone that she's made a HeelFaceTurn now, and yet no one trusts her, still believing her to be evil. [[spoiler: They were right, she was working for the second A.]] However, after [[spoiler: almost being burnt to death]] in the Season 3 finale, she tells the Liars that they're "all in this together", and joins them to try and unmask A. We have yet to see how much this will last though...
87* ''Series/PrisonBreak'': John Abruzzi. Also Mahone whose loyalties remain murky up until the end of the series.
88* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Nate Walker [[spoiler: or Jason Neville]]. He saved Charlie's life in the episode [[Recap/RevolutionS1E1Pilot Pilot]]. In "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E2ChainedHeat Chained Heat]]", Charlie manages to get the drop on him. In "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E4ThePlagueDogs The Plague Dogs]]", Nate helps to save Charlie's life from Ray Kinsey. In "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E5SoulTrain Soul Train]]", Nate gets captured by Team Matheson and refuses to talk. He escaped and told Tom Neville what he knew, but he also helped Charlie to escape from Neville. In "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E6SexAndDrugs Sex and Drugs]]", he reported to Monroe that Aaron had one of the pendants in his possession, but he left out a number of details in his report. In "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand The Stand]]", he decides not to help Tom Neville in bringing an air strike on the rebels, gets thrown out, and warns Charlie about the air strike. The "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame The Song Remains the Same]]" has Nate officially join up with the rebels. Unfortunately, his past allegiances come back to haunt him in the episode "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E18Clue Clue]]" and nearly gets him killed when they think he's still working for Monroe. In the first season finale "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower The Dark Tower]]", [[spoiler: Jason Neville seems to join up with his father when Tom Neville successfully takes over the Monroe Republic. However, there are already signs that things will break down between them sooner rather than later]].
89* Gunther and Tinka on ''Series/{{Shake It Up}}''.
90* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
91** Lionel Luthor starts off ''moderately'' evil, becomes/[[RetCon is retconned to be]] completely evil, goes to prison, [[FreakyFriday temporarily switches bodies with Clark]] and thereby absorbs some of his strong moral fibre (making him into a good guy), is convinced to readopt his villainous ways by an EvilTwin of Lex Luthor, and then spends several seasons stumbling drunkenly along the line between good and evil out of lust for Martha before temporary possession by Jor-El converts him to the side of good [[spoiler: until Lex throws him off of a building and he dies]].
92** Tess Mercer wasn't much better in Seasons 8 and 9, going back and forth between hero worshipper, WellIntentionedExtremist, and TheBaroness. She finally settles on Face and ultimately [[spoiler: dies protecting Clark's secret from Lex]], [[InTheBlood just like her father]].
93* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
94** Teal'c was originally the most trusted [[TheDragon right-hand man]] of the series' BigBad, then he defected to the side of Earth, and then he was captured and his mind altered to make him think that his defection was part of a (very stupid) long term GambitRoulette to gain the trust of the heroes (bear in mind the heroes ''kill'' the BigBad many times over during this period, and [[BackFromTheDead less reversibly]] they destroy the vast majority of his military power). The heroes, under the guidance of [[BigBrotherMentor The Mentor]], then gave him a quick NearDeathExperience to fix him up again. ObstructiveBureaucrats see it as this trope instead of the much simpler truth (A pure HeelFaceTurn interrupted ''once'' by {{brainwashing}}.)
95** The next episode has a sinister suit conduct an [[SinisterSurveillance thorough]] investigation into the team, noting that ''"Teal'c changes sides more often than I change the oil in my car."''.
96* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Garak tends to do these at least twice per episode. He's a bastard, he has some really compelling characteristics, he's really amazingly... no wait, he's a bastard again. End credits. However, Garak rarely turned against the main cast -- [[WellIntentionedExtremist he usually just did things]] [[TokenEvilTeammate that they considered morally objectionable]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo on their behalf]].
97** The two main villains of the series, [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Gul Dukat]] and Kai Winn. One of the writers said that, especially in Dukat's case, this was intended to make them better villains, showing that they had the capacity to be good, decent people- they just consciously chose not to be.
98*** Dukat in particular was loyal mostly to himself and was willing to side with whoever offered him the most power. Occasionally he does the right thing, but ultimately his desire for power wins out every time.
99*** Kai Winn wavered between being a WellIntentionedExtremist and just being power-hungry. She was sometimes shown sympathetically and occasionally helped the main cast, but sometimes she openly opposed them, and other times her eagerness caused her to [[DidNotThinkThisThrough act too quickly]] and end up doing more harm than good.
100* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In-universe example. In the episode with the holonovel about the Maquis mutiny, when Tom Paris first plays the novel, he switches sides whenever it's convenient (after all, it's just a game). Holo-Chakotay wises up fast and sends him off to a position where he doesn't matter to the story.
101* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
102** Although Castiel is unarguably trying to be the good guy, he appears to have been trapped in this revolving door since his first appearance. He starts out as the angel that rescued Dean from Hell, but then it's revealed the angels have plans for Dean and expect him to do exactly as they say even when their plans are morally ambiguous to say the least. Castiel starts to have doubts and sympathize with Dean, eventually twisting the rules to help Dean. But then he gets dragged off to Heaven and forced back into line, betraying Anna and setting Sam free to go start the Apocalypse, before he betrays Heaven for good and sides with Dean a couple of episodes later. He spends most of the fifth season on the Face side of things, with the exception of his TemporarilyAVillain role in "I Believe The Children Are Our Future", but appears to have jumped back into the revolving door as of Season 6. [[spoiler:He makes a deal with Crowley, but he does so in order to fight Raphael and prevent the apocalypse from re-starting. In order to carry out his plan though, he is forced to lie to and manipulate the Winchesters while carrying out some pretty morally ambiguous schemes. He undoes some of the worst ones though rather than risk the Winchesters, but ultimately finishes the season on a Heel note, having absorbed millions of souls from Purgatory and declared himself the new God. He seemed to come back to himself within an episode or so of the seventh season and asked for forgiveness only to be taken over by Leviathans who then, a few episodes later, appeared to liquefy him. About halfway through the season, he turned up again with amnesia, living a peaceful life as a faith healer. He got his memory back and took the broken wall in Sam's mind onto himself, effectively bringing Sam back to normal, but landing himself with an incredibly messed up head. As of the end of Season 7, he seems to be on the Face side, having made a HeroicSacrifice. As of the middle of Season 8, he's apparently back to Heel, being BrainwashedAndCrazy for Naomi. In the episode "Goodbye, Stranger", he leaves both sides behind and goes off on his own. He stays mostly on the Face side after that, although he was tricked by Metatron into causing the angels to fall. Then, there was the time Rowena had him under a spell and tried to make him kill Dean. There are moments after that, such as when he sides with Kelly about allowing Jack to be born, when sides against the Winchesters but he's just as often portrayed as in the right during these moments.]]
103** Crowley is Castiel's opposite; he [[BigBadWannabe desperately wants]] to be the BigBad, but circumstances and greater threats keep forcing him into [[EnemyMine Enemy Mines]] with the heroes. When we first meet him in Season 5, he helps the heroes fight Lucifer because he [[spoiler: correctly]] believes that once humanity is destroyed, Lucifer will turn on the demons. Once Lucifer is dealt with, however, he declares himself the King of Hell and spends most of Season 6 as an antagonist. But once Season 7 rolls around the new threats of [[spoiler: Castiel]] and the Leviathans force him to reluctantly aid the heroes again for a return to the status quo. But of course, as soon as ''that's'' dealt with, he immediately betrays them and goes back to being a bad guy for Season 8. Season 8 ends with [[spoiler: Crowley's humanity being partially restored and Knight of Hell Abbadon announcing her plans to usurp Crowley's throne]], so it wouldn't be surprising to see him back on the side of good (or at least as close to the side of good as he ever gets) for Season 9.
104** In Season 9, Gadreel's allegiance is all over the place. He starts out as a guardian in Heaven, then he lets Lucifer inside the Garden of Eden and is punished for his crime. After his unexpected release, he tries to atone by [[spoiler:helping Dean save Sam]], only to be convinced by the conniving Metatron to join his new army. He joins the Winchesters again, but [[spoiler:the vengeful Dean is [[HeelFaceDoorSlam having none of it]]. Gadreel eventually helps Castiel infiltrate Heaven but fails and commits suicide, by creating an explosion that will break open the walls to Castiel's prison cell, in a final act of atonement.]]
105* ''Series/TeenWolf'': Viewers can look forward to seeing whether Derek is going to be a good guy or a bad guy in any given episode. He is never genuinely evil though.
106** His uncle, Peter, might qualify better. He's killed several of the [[BigBad Big Bads]], and has extensive knowledge of the supernatural that he will use to help the heroes, but only if it's to his benefit. The other characters are mostly aware of this, and never fully trust him.
107%%* ''Series/UglyBetty'': Wilhelmina Slater.
108* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'':
109** Damon pretty much lives inside the revolving door. Of late he has been ostensibly a good guy, at least in terms of larger motivations, but he still always seems to find time to relapse and kill people to keep things interesting.
110** Also Isobel. Really, you never know whose side that girl is on.
111* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': Downplayed trope. While not evil, [[ConMan Neal]] [[GentlemanThief Caffrey]] is still a criminal on work release who doesn't always know if he wants to go straight, and struggles with obeying the law even when he wants to. He starts out the series not wanting to run from the law anymore but not truly reformed, gradually decides he wants to go straight, becomes convinced that [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he isn't capable of being anything but a criminal]], and then [[spoiler: either ends up [[HeelFaceTurn consulting on museum security]] or [[RedemptionFailure becoming a thief again]], depending on your interpretation of the evidence Peter finds at the end of the series finale.]]
112* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'': Max did this in one episode, taking Justin's side, then Alex's side, then back, depending on who looked most likely to win the weekly conflict at that exact moment. He also announced to both siblings when he was doing this.
113* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'':
114** Callisto worked with Xena almost as often as she worked against her. Xena and Gabrielle, however, were ''never'' under the impression that Callisto wouldn't betray them. Xena was so sure of it, she once [[BatmanGambit based her entire plan to save Gabrielle's life on Callisto's imminent betrayal]].
115** Ares too. However, his were far more erratic and done over a much longer span of time.
116* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Krycek, probably why he was known as "Ratboy" among the Fandom.
117

Top