->''"There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides."''
-->-- '''Patrician Havelock Vetinari''', ''Literature/GuardsGuards''

In a series with more than one AntiHero and AntiVillain, it can be hard to tell who's good and who's bad. Things can become even more mucked up when someone clearly switches sides.

If this is the case, it's a Hazy Feel Turn.

This is when someone doesn't waver from [[FaceHeelTurn black]] to [[HeelFaceTurn white]] and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor back]], but from [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray to grey]]. We know the position's changed, but how so? Is he good or evil? Gone from good to a different kind of good? It's hard to tell because ''everyone'' in the piece wavers.

To be clear, the characters and readers know which side the turner is on (or at least which party he joined). It's about the readers not knowing if his turn was towards good or towards bad because they don't know if the party he joined is good or bad. The other characters in the show will usually describe it as a HeelFaceTurn if he joined their group and as a FaceHeelTurn if he joined their enemies because most people will consider their own group the good side and the other side(s) as bad. In such cases, a character's true moral compass alignment is generally revealed more by the motive and means of their defection than by the act of defecting itself.

Keep in mind that this trope is about a change of sides, not about characters. It's not enough for a character to have an ambiguous alignment, he must also actively change sides from one ambiguous group to another (or from one good/bad group to another, as long as you can't tell which one of the two is better).

Often revealed to be a FaceHeelTurn or a HeelFaceTurn as people's motivations become better revealed. Often done by an EnigmaticMinion, EnsembleDarkHorse, or a WildCard.

Not to be confused with HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, where a character frequently switches sides in a BlackAndWhiteMorality setting.

'''Unmarked Spoilers Ahead''', for obvious reasons.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
%%%* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'' you have the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Black Knights]] vs [[ArmiesAreEvil the Britannia Military]] and both do some ugly things. So when a character leaves one for the other, it is not entirely clear if they're changing alignments instead of sides.

* The [[MoralityKitchenSink nature]] of ''Manga/OnePiece'' allows this trope to occur aplenty:
** X. Drake was formerly a rear-admiral of the Marines before he turned pirate. While there is no doubt that pirates are generally considered menaces by most of the populace, the corrupted World Government and the Marines have been shown to be just as cruel, making the nature of this change quite hazy indeed. [[spoiler: And things get even more hazy when it turns out that he's actually still working for the Marines since he is part of a secret spy unit and the whole 'becoming a pirate' thing is just a deep cover for him to be able to infiltrate a dangerous pirate crew.]]
** Pirate Jango went from pirate to marine. Unlike the X. Drake example, this is probably closer to a HeelFaceTurn considering it was ThePowerOfFriendship (and that pretty marine lady he saw, who was later on revealed to be [[ActionGirl Captain Hina]]) that motivated this choice. Both of these characters are still antagonists to the Straw Hat Crew, no matter what side of the law they're on.
** [[AxCrazy Head Jailer Shiryu]] was one of the more ruthless arms of the Government, then they locked him away for his treatment of prisoners. He was then freed and joined the Blackbeard Pirate crew.
%%%* In ''Manga/NabariNoOu'', Miharu runs away from Banten and joins [[WellIntentionedExtremist Kairoushuu]].
* Airu Inuzuka is one of the first serious antagonists in ''Manga/BoardingSchoolJuliet'', Romio's BigBrotherBully and vehemently opposed to his SecretRelationship with Juliet (or the idea of a Westian and Touwan getting together in general). After Romio beats him in a fistfight and tells Airu that he doesn't have to shoulder the responsibilities of being their family's head alone anymore, he loosens up and doesn't antagonize the couple from that point onward. However, that doesn't mean Airu has accepted their relationship just yet.
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': While it eventually morphed into a full blown HeelFaceTurn after the course of many years, Vegeta "joining" the Z-Fighters was initially this trope more than anything else for the duration of ''Dragonball Z'' before ''Super''. He initially sided with them in an EnemyMine against Frieza, and was undeniably still his evil, ruthless self throughout that battle. Once Frieza was dead he remained on Earth essentially because he had nowhere else to ''go'' at that point; then the Android threat arrived and he decided that was as good a way to sate his BloodKnight tendencies as any, and even then it was extremely charitable to say he and the heroes were "allies." At no point during either of these did he have the slightest interest in ''saving'' anyone. This changed into a full HeelFaceTurn in the Buu saga, more than a decade after he initially "joined" the side of good and it wouldn't be until the Moro Arc of ''Super'' that he would finally show remorse for his past ruthless actions on Namek and other worlds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheRift'': With the war over, the elite Fire Nation squad, the Rough Rhinos, have become mercenaries and now guard a joint Earth Kingdom/Fire Nation-run factory, but they're still hostile towards the main characters and their employer Loban is revealed as corrupt. After the conclusion, it's unknown what happened to them but Vachir at least was seen marching in the Spirits' Friendship Festival with the reformed Loban.
* ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSmokeAndShadow'': [[spoiler: Azula's entire EvilPlan amounts to destroying the New Ozai Society that wishes to overthrow Zuko from the inside, and while she claims that she wants to make him a more ruthless Fire Lord who rules through fear, this makes him go the opposite route and she is shown looking ''pleased'' about this in the end, making one wonder if she was playing a reverse psychology ploy. Thus, it is unknown if she wants to help him in her own twisted way or if she is still his evil little sister. All that is known for sure is that: a) She doesn't wish him dead anymore and b) She has developed a degree of [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]] for her new half-sister.]]
** This is taken even further in ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAzulaInTheSpiritTemple'', as [[spoiler: Azula ends up going through a twisted spiritual experience that makes her confront the fact that she herself isn't actually sure what she wants or what will make her happy. Reconciliation with her family, the people whom she perceives wronged her apologizing to her, ''revenge'' on those people, Zuko being a better Fire Lord, ''her'' being Fire Lord, having others around to control so that she doesn't have to be alone with the guilt of what she has done...all of them are cycled through as possibilities and no definitive answer is reached. In the end, Azula [[PetTheDog does one noble thing]] by letting her hapless group of followers go to live peaceful lives together, but still insists that she'll find some other place and other people "to rule".]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' has many characters whose past histories range from morally ambiguous to outright villainous, and while they are the good guys now many don't express any regret for their past crimes, and have simply switched their loyalties (often out of self-interest) to their new community, which was formed more out of pragmatism and self-preservation than a desire for any sort of atonement.
** Possibly the most pronounced example of this is [[TheBigBadWolf Bigby Wolf]] who has simply taken the wolfish instincts of protecting family, pack, and his territory and transferred them to Fabletown rather than solely himself, and is totally unrepentant for the ''thousands'' of sentient creatures he devoured for sport in his previous life.
** Another example is Frau Totenkinder (if there's a mysterious unnamed witch in any fairy tale, it was her,) whose magic is explicitly drawn from murdering children, and undertakes Fabletown's protection with the same amorality she's always had.
* ''Comicbook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': Most villains-as-heroes in the book's run either [[BecomingTheMask become the mask]] or don't, but Baron Zemo is more complicated, going from a Nazi WellDoneSonGuy to a WellIntentionedExtremist who thinks his father was a racist lunatic ... but ''still'' wants to TakeOverTheWorld.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': After Diana shows Ares the true final outcome of his plans he swears off trying to destroy and subjugate humanity and becomes more in line with the rest of the Olympians,... who are a bunch of backstabbing adulterous incestuous self-righteous jerks even if some of them are generally working towards good goals they at the very least are proponents of WellIntentionedExtremist. The only one who is unequivocally and constantly painted as a good guy is Aphrodite, and she cheats on her husband and other significant others constantly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Game Theory|LyricalNanoha}}'', ''Nanoha joins Precia'' -- in canon, this would have been an unambiguous FaceHeelTurn, but the premise of this particular fic is that Precia is an AdaptationalNiceGuy and her goal of reviving Alicia is portrayed more sympathetically, making it a GoodVersusGood story.
* In ''FanFic/AGunToLovesHead'' [[AntiHero L and Light]] don't really change that much after they've become allied with each other. They work together, they solve cases together, and sometimes they write in the notebook and kill together.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13701065/33/Metagaming Metagaming?]]'': Exposure to [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry's]] mind has caused [[Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft Xal'Atath]] to turn against the suffering and chaos that the Void Gods preach and instead become invested in the absolute "silence" the Void can bring, that is, she becomes an OmnicidalManiac. When she's sent to [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Commoragh]], she starts spreading her precious silence as much as possible. While she does kill billions and consume their souls, doing so saves them from both a life of torture followed by an afterlife of even worse.
* ''Fanfic/TheVioletDemon'': Zim isn't helping out Earth and working towards uplifting humanity because of a HeelRealization or other change of heart, he's just trying to spite the Tallest by creating a GalacticSuperpower to rival the Irkens.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* [[CoolHorse Maximus]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' turned from chasing Flynn Rider for stealing the crown to helping him escape the guards. However, neither Flynn nor the guards are the villains of the story.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In the film of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', Dr. Manhattan does this at the end, defecting to [[WellIntentionedExtremist Ozymandias]]' side from [[SociopathicHero Rorschach]]'s. The latter two had unreconcilable heroic ideals so he came down on one side.
* By the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' everybody drops all and any pretense of decency and contracts ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. In other words, they basically become pirates. The one character who makes an unambiguously moral choice is stabbed through the chest for it.
* ''Film/TheLegendOfFrenchieKing'': [[{{Outlaw}} Louise]] and [[{{Sadist}} Maria]] are the {{Villain Protagonist}}s, and they fight each other for a ranch with oil. At the end, Maria and her brothers become part of Louise's gang because the two come to respect and befriend each other after a CatFight, and also because her brothers have married Louise's sisters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/WarchildSeries'', the main character changes his allegiance three, arguably four times. Each time is subtle and we're not quite sure if he's sided with the "good guys" (if there are any) or not. He's not even sure, half the time.
* ''Literature/TheChathrandVoyages'' features a ton of this. It's set on a ship populated by a full MoralityKitchenSink, with a mind-boggling GambitPileup between many characters. This means the three MainCharacters are constantly switching allegiances depending on who's the most likely to help them stop whatever EvilPlan is the most pressing at the moment.
* [[VillainProtagonist Alex]] of ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' pulls [[WildCard a few of these]], but his most notable was at the very end when, furious at the revolutionaries' manipulation of his condition (intentionally driving him to a suicide attempt, hoping to garner public fervor against the government), he accepts the help of the government that brainwashed him in the first place. Of course, this is more EvilVersusEvil than GreyAndGrayMorality but the haziness is still present.
* ''Literature/{{Archvillain}}'': Kyle joins forces with Mike after he learns that [[spoiler: Mike is actually a LivingWeapon created by Kyle's future self.]] The morality of the turn is unclear since both sides were more-or-less [[GrayAndGrayMorality gray]] to begin with.
* ''Literature/TheWitchlands'': By the end of the second book, Aeduen is no longer Iseult's enemy and has apparently decided to abandon Corlant's orders, but whose side he's on now -- and whether he's even on ''any'' side -- is hard to pinpoint.
* ''Literature/LorienLegacies'': In the sequel series, Lorien Legacies Reborn, Isabela Silva becomes a Hazy Feel Turn example in the second book, The Fugitive Six. Choosing to leave the so-called Fugitive Six (a {{Shrouded In Myth}} group), she joins Five ({{The Creon}} and {{Sidekick Ex Machina}}) and Ein ({{Well Intentioned Extremist}} and {{Utopia Justifies the Means}}) implying a shift from {{Neutral Good}} to {{True Neutral}}. This seems to not even be a shift as Isabela was likely a True Neutral all along but was working with Neutral Goods out of convenience and is willing to act for those people and also implies Utopia Justifies the Means.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Jack Bauer crosses the line of FaceHeelTurn sometime late in the final season of ''Series/TwentyFour'' when he goes on his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, but it's a little unclear whether he does it the second he initially goes rogue or originally had the more noble purposes he claimed he was carrying out and only went over it [[MoralEventHorizon after executing]] [[WhamEpisode Dana Walsh]]. In other words, it's unclear if she's become a darker AntiHero with a new target or if he's become an outright VillainProtagonist.
* ''{{Series/Angel}}'': Wesley stealing Angel's baby, then going solo for a while.
* ''{{Series/Barry}}'': Monroe Fuches is TheHandler, who roped the title character into being an assassin after he was released from the Marines. He is a DirtyCoward who is happy to arrange murders carried out by Barry (and keep a disproportionate amount of the money Barry makes for those murders), but refuses to get his own hands dirty. [[spoiler: After going to prison and being released in the final season, he emerges as a fearsome gang leader nicknamed The Raven. Although this version of Fuches is actually ''more'' violent on an individual basis, he is also much more true to himself. It's implied Fuches early in the series was ObliviouslyEvil, and came to accept his true nature while behind bars. He calls out Noho Hank's hypocrisy in masquerading as a legitimate businessman when his empire was built on dirty money and the murder of his own lover. His relationship with his new gang members seems much less parasitic than his one with Barry. And his final act is to shield Barry's young son during a gunfight and return him safely to his parents, as something of a payback for ruining Barry's life in the first place.]]
* The second season of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' has the Commodore, Eli, and Jimmy conspiring against Nucky. All of these characters used to be on the same side, but Jimmy and Nucky are portrayed as sympathetic [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]] before and after the sides changed. The only hint that the conspirators are supposed to be the "bad guys" is that the Commodore and Eli have gotten much less sympathetic treatment lately.
%%%* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.
* At the end of the fourth season of ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', Morland Holmes [[spoiler: becomes the new leader of Moriarty's organization, which means he'll now be involved in outright villainy, but he says that his motive for doing so is to ultimately destroy the group from within since it's impenetrable from the outside.]]
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
** After the first season, when Crais, who is driven out of the Peacekeepers and takes command of [[LivingShip Moya's]] LivingWeapon offspring, Talyn. Moya's crew is never sure if they can trust him, despite his insistence that he's a changed man.
** After Grayza takes over as the BigBad in Season 4, Scorpius pleads with Moya's crew for asylum. While his ambitions haven't changed, he shows that he's not actively trying to harm the others [[spoiler:until he arranges for Aeryn's kidnapping to coerce Crichton into helping him]]. The finale miniseries places them [[TeethClenchedTeamwork in a similar situation]].
* After a tenure as ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'s'' second nemesis, Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (as well as his partner-in-crime Mick Rory/Heatwave) get {{Transplant}}ed to be part of the cast of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''. Throughout the first season, although Snart may still have criminal ambitions in mind, he also grows more and more heroic [[spoiler:and even dies a hero.]] As for Rory, he's an AxCrazy {{Pyromaniac}} but he eventually displays loyalty to his team and has even helped save the world several times by now; frankly, he has spent more time as a "Legend" (longer than even Snart himself) than as an enemy of the Flash. Regarding [[spoiler:his brief FaceHeelTurn near the end of Season 2]], that was a result of him being a victim of MistreatmentInducedBetrayal from his fellow Legends, and Mick immediately tried to set things right after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizing his mistake]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The Tyrells join with the Lannisters to defeat Stannis Baratheon and keep King Joffrey on the throne, but also work on ways to undermine the Lannisters and [[spoiler: kill Joffrey.]]
%%%* Several characters in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'',
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Several characters pull this in Season 4, with the heroes having divided loyalties between Jack, who wants to get off the Island, and Locke, who wants to hole up at the Barracks and prepare for a war with Widmore's men. Most notably, Hurley, Sawyer, Claire, and Kate switch from Jack's team to Locke's near the start of the season but have all abandoned him by the finale.
* ''Series/MonarchLegacyOfMonsters'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseMonarch Michelle Duvall]] works for the Titan-hunting organization Monarch, which is genuinely concerned with protecting the world, but generally prioritizes secrecy and supporting [[AdaptationalHeroism Godzilla]] over being proactive in derailing city-destroying monster clashes before they happen, especially under the authority of Deputy Director Verdugo. Roughly midway through the series, Duvall betrays Verdugo's regime over Monarch, [[spoiler:siding with Lee Shaw's plan to commit insurgency against Monarch's outposts and forcibly seal all the HollowEarth tunnels on Earth's surface which the Titans emerge from (a plan which, unbeknownst to them, ultimately threatens to makes things even worse instead of stopping future Titan invasions)]].
* ''Series/StrangerThings'': [[spoiler:In Season 4, Brenner starts working with Dr. Owens to reawaken Eleven's powers as a means to prepare her for a climactic battle with Vecna. However, he still uses unethical methods and made no real effort to better himself as a person since he is convinced [[NeverMyFault he isn't to blame for anything.]]]]
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' has Stefan in the third season. Made so much murkier because vampires can turn their conscience on and off. For much of the season, he goes off the rails and it's hard to tell what his actual motives are.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** Assistant Director Skinner. In the early seasons, you weren't sure if you could trust him or not. Later on, when private scenes with Skinner revealed him to be an unwilling patsy for bigger forces, the adversarial relationship with his agents became somewhat redundant.
--->'''[[http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-x-files-season-five.html Doc Oho]]:''' It's very nice to have Skinner involved in a regular investigation for once rather than having the light of suspicion thrown on him in the mythology episodes. Sometimes I wonder what he gets up to when he isn't having guns pointed at him by Mulder and Scully in their annual vendetta against him.
** Alex Krycek makes even less sense. He has a terrible case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, but it can be hard to tell just ''who'' he's backstabbing at any given time. Starts out as TheMole, until his bosses try to blow him up, and winds up in a few EnemyMine situations with Mulder. He'll also try to play all his enemies off one another at the same time until it's impossible to tell if he's working for anyone but himself. This tends to lead to him being TheChewToy whenever he gets caught.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Humans in the universe of TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 who recede from the Imperium in favour of the Tau Empire are this due to both factions being one shade of grey or another. Although one could probably make an argument that Tau are so much better than the imperials that it constitutes a genuine HeelFaceTurn. Heck, the Imperium had so many KickTheDog moments that it wouldn't be much of a stretch to consider turning to [[ReligionOfEvil Chaos]] as a form of Hazy Feel Turn.
** The Tau, to note, are even more authoritarian than the Imperium and leave even fewer personal liberties, but otherwise offer generally higher living standards. When they "convert" planets, there is some level of social mobility, but it is entirely phased out by the end of the process, leaving everyone who didn't join up as permanent and hereditary members of an untouchable-like class. Chaos is also often described in terms of being quite hazy, where a common theme among those that turn to chaos is that they did so for sympathetic and well-meant reasons, but will often end up falling deeper into the worse vices of Chaos as time wears on until you become a monster of the kind that the Imperium sees as a [[GodzillaThreshold perfectly valid justification]] of its horrific actions on non-compliant humans and almost all aliens.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* The comic packaged with the ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' figure Modulok tells that he formerly worked for Skeletor, but tired of him, joined Hordak to destroy his former master.
** Modulok's time as one of Skeletor's warriors was shown in more detail in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''. Then suddenly he hopped a portal to Etheria and started working for Hordak in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower''.
* Vezon of ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' firmly starts out as a baddie, being [[SixthRangerTraitor a splinter of the Piraka]] and the chosen guardian of [[ArtifactOfDoom the Mask of Life]], effectively the FinalBoss of the Voya Nui story arc. Once he's defeated by the heroes, [[VillainousBreakdown separated from the Mask of Life, and stripped of his position]], he ends up suddenly arrested by [[HeroSecretService the Order of Mata Nui]], who on two separate occasions [[BoxedCrook recruit him for suicide missions in service of said heroes]], exploiting his combination of [[GeniusDitz highly questionable sanity]] and [[ButtMonkey expendability]]. He ends up in several other odd adventures [[WildCard where it's hard to tell where he stands morally]] -- he occasionally fulfills his orders without question, but then lets a major crucial detail slide and putting people in jeopardy for no other reason than [[ItAmusedMe it amuses him]], and has in one instance [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain attempted to pass himself off as a heroic "Toa of Anarchy"]]. Evidently, his code is limited to [[ChaoticStupid "whatever he feels like doing", for better and for worse]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Revolver Ocelot from ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' switches sides so often in a [[GreyAndGrayMorality confusing world]] that it's impossible to tell if he's on the right side. [[spoiler: He's never on ''your'' side, even in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'' when he's one of your most trusted advisors. But eventually, you end up on ''his'' side. Once you figure out what that side is, you'll be glad for it.]]
* The Praetorian Morality missions in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' are like this. It basically amounts to picking which side you like more.
** Ms. Liberty launched a plan to try to redeem her great-uncle, [[BigBad Lord Recluse]] by reviving his lost love/MoralityPet, Red Widow as a Valentines Day even. Amazingly it actually works, in a way -- Red Widow reminds Lord Recluse of his original mindset, it is not about fighting the forces of good or killing his enemies, it’s about WORLD DOMINATION! And in all following story arcs Lord Recluse is up for a lot more [[EnemyMine Enemy Mines]]. He still is a CardCarryingVillain but he has forsaken sadism for solid pragmatism.
** Marauder of Praetoria is recruited by the player for the end game story arc to try to rebuild Praetoria without the shades of grey. Marauder was always the TokenGoodTeammate in the extremist government. He always placed the safety of the people of Praetoria first. With his recruiting in the reconstruction he firmly shifts from good guy on the bad guys’ team to good guy with other good guys there to help him at long last.
* Unlike in the original ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', where the player was forced-allied with the conditionally good Illuminati against the unconditionally evil Majestic-12, in the sequel ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' everybody is a different kind of asshole and the player is free to switch allegiances like gloves.
* ''VideoGame/DyztopiaPostHumanRPG'':
** In the ending, Sho supports Chase's reign as the new Prime Minister of Vulcanite, but it's unknown if he truly turned over a new leaf or if he's just pragmatically trying to regain clout.
** Capricorn asks Akira to take care of Akari, since she only turned evil because of her abusive father. If Akira agrees, Akari will be put through the same rehab process as Twelve, though progress is slow.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' allows you to switch it up as you want, and while say the Legion is evil, they also made peace out of the chaos of Arizona. It's up to the player to make a heavy choice between the Good-but-ineffective-and-corrupt NCR, the Limited-freedom-but-still-free Dictator, or the Evil-but-keeps-shit-in-order Legion. Alternatively, you can [[TakeAThirdOption seize power for yourself]], which turns into Objectivist Anarchy.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': The SoleSurvivor can pull this off too, by going full-on raider overboss in the Nuka World DLC, then switching sides to the Institute or the Brotherhood, or even being allied with the Children of Atom in Far Harbor. Becoming raider overboss means the Minutemen become hostile to you, while progressing too far along the Brotherhood or Institute quest line turns the Railroad against you. On the other hand, the Minutemen and Railroad are the only factions that cooperate, so you can remain allied with both those factions till the end, without having to switch any sides.
** The Far Harbor DLC gives us Grand Zealot Richter, who was previously Lt Brian Richter of the Enclave. While the Enclave are evil, the Children of Atom in this game are far from good.
** Dr. Madison Li is one of the Institute’s top scientists in Fallout 4. She can be convinced to leave them for the Brotherhood of Steel, but [[EvilVsEvil it’s hard to tell which faction between the two has the moral high ground.]]
* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheSeasons'': If any variation of the Cameo Nightmare challenge is cleared, [[spoiler:Gobi will make peace with Utania Village, but he's still loyal to Lord Ciceri, whose agenda is unknown. Gobi is also recruited by the equally mysterious Time Deity, who claims to side with neither Vyena or Matria]].
* The Arcade Ladder endings for [[TheHero Liu Kang]] and [[EvilSorceror Shang Tsung]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'': Liu Kang replaces Raiden as the Thunder God and Protector of Earthrealm, and becomes DrunkWithPower. Bo'Rai Cho takes on Shang Tsung as a student and teaches him techniques that will allow him to defeat the power-mad Liu Kang.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ingress}}'' features the Resistance and Enlightened factions, both of which are chock full of GrayAndGreyMorality and one of which the player decides on when starting the game. If the player changes their mind, they may request a faction change, but it can be done once ''[[PermanentlyMissableContent and only once]]'', and comes with the penalty of losing all claimed portals and resetting to Level 1.
* In ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'', after Crash allies himself with Cortex to save the world, Nitrus Brio, formerly Cortex's NumberTwo, assigns minions old and new to stop Crash from delivering the crystals to Cortex. [[spoiler: When the plot turns out to be a trick by Cortex to obtain the world's power crystals, Brio gladly allies with Crash to dispose of him]]. While Ripper Roo and the Komodo Brothers' alignment remains ambiguous throughout the series after (they attack both sides on different occasions but never officially join Crash or Cortex), N Brio and Tiny Tiger revert to bad guys, even allying with Cortex again later on. This is particularly odd for Tiny, who despite first appearing as one of Brio's cohorts, is retooled as Cortex's [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] creation.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has a bit of this, as while the party are always the clear-cut heroes, they face multiple villainous factions caught up in a giant GambitPileup, and most factions' goals aren't clearly known until later in the series. And many antagonists switch between factions as the saga goes on.
** Xeno and Leonidas switch from the Noble Alliance/Ouroboros to Chancellor Osborne's faction between ''Cold Steel II'' and ''Cold Steel III'', due to [[spoiler: their boss coming BackFromTheDead and joining Osborne's side]]. In either case, they oppose the heroes, including their surrogate sister Fie. Justified in that they're mercenaries, [[PunchClockVillain so they work for whoever pays them.]] [[spoiler: They later pull a real HeelFaceTurn at the end of the 4th game.]]
** Come the third game, [[EvilChancellor Osborne]] "hijacks" [[AncientConspiracy Ouroboros]]' Phantasmal Blaze Plan, and its Enforcers are split between those continuing the plan under him and those trying to take the plan back. [[spoiler: Vita]] and Bleublanc's alignments are even harder to place, as they are so opposed to Osborne, they assist the heroes... but remain aligned with Ouroboros and fully intend to return after Osborne's defeat. Bleublanc even helps save [[spoiler: Olivert]]'s life, but more out of BlueAndOrangeMorality and TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou than genuine goodness.
* A pretty noticeable trope in the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series. Whether the brooding [[AntiHero Meta Knight]] and [[AntiVillain troublemaking King Dedede]] are Kirby's allies or adversaries often changes at the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor drop of a hat]]. And just as confusing as their alignment in regards to Kirby is how their position changes within each game.
** King Dedede proved to have good intentions for breaking the Star Rod in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', only to intentionally cause trouble in ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' and ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. Then the two [[RivalsTeamUp teamed up]] as part of a rag-tag squad to help a fairy reassemble a Crystal in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. This seemingly put them on better terms, but it hasn't stopped them from butting heads from time whether King Dedede was of his own [[DemonicPossession free will or not]]. Play Nintendo has even labeled King Dedede as a "frenemy" for Kirby implying that [[FriendlyRivalry they no longer hate each other but still seem to be rivals]].
** Meta Knight's relationship with Kirby started off ambiguous. He sent Meta Knights to attack Kirby, but at the same time, gave Kirby a [[WorthyOpponent sword before dueling]] and even [[StealthMentor gave him power-ups]] in certain levels. Since then, his actions in each game seem to mostly have him shifting up and down the good guy spectrum. He goes from a NeutralGood knight, like in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' where he went off alone to quell the threat facing Dream Land, and a ChaoticGood WellIntentionedExtremist willing to use a battleship to take over Dream Land and put it under better management. His position towards Kirby will often change throughout the game as well, often starting out as a full-on HeroAntagonist before becoming TheLancer towards Kirby as [[RivalsTeamUp they set aside their differences to quell a bigger threat]].
** As of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Ultra'', King Dedede apparently ended the grudge between the two with a final face-off. ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' might be the result of this, which had him join Kirby, Bandana Waddle Dee, and Meta Knight in an adventure to help an alien named Magolor repair his spaceship, which ultimately ended with them saving the universe. What effect this had on their alignment and how this speaks for their relationship with Kirby remains to be seen. Although Dedede did have to [[RivalsTeamUp team up]] with Kirby again in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'', the plot never really called upon Dedede to come to any decisive resolve with Kirby, and it's not exactly made clear what their relationship is beyond this point.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'''s story is very much centered around GrayAndGrayMorality in regards to the second act conflict. This, combined with the recruitment system, means the game is absolutely full of Hazy Feel Turns;
** If Ferdinand, Linhardt, Caspar, Bernadetta, Dorothea, and/or Petra are poached to the Blue Lions or Golden Deer, [[spoiler: or the player chooses the Black Eagles but sides with the Church of Seiros after the Holy Tomb incident,]] they fall under this, as while the Empire is the most grey faction, the Kingdom, Alliance, and [[spoiler:Church]] all have flaws.
** If Felix, Ashe, Sylvain, Mercedes, Annette, Ingrid, Lorenz, Raphael, Ignatz, Lysithea, Marianne, Leonie, Yuri, Balthus, Constance, and/or Hapi are poached to the Black Eagles [[spoiler: and the player sides with Edelgard after the Holy Tomb incident,]] they also fall under this, as while the [[spoiler: Empire]] launches a war of aggression, [[spoiler: Edelgard is at her best on this route and seeks to abolish the Crest system.]]
* At the start of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', Craft had pledged allegiance to [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] because he saw this as the LesserOfTwoEvils in a post-apocalyptic world where civilization struggled to survive. After Neige gave him a little [[LivingIsMoreThanSurviving pep-talk]], he tried to kill Weil in the most over-the-top manner imaginable: [[spoiler: by firing a KillSat straight at Neo Arcadia, killing 20 million Reploids and Humans as collateral damage.]] His [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters contempt and disregard towards humans]] during the whole ordeal helped cement the grayness of his moral compass.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Black Mage leaves the Light Warriors to join the Dark Warriors. Drizz'l, the leader of the Dark Warriors, is voted out with Black Mage being the new leader. Drizz'l joins the Light Warriors. Then the other group of adventurers shows up and is confused about who they should and should not be fighting, due to Black Mage switching sides. Then they hold another election. Then things get complicated, and Black Mage starts stabbing people.
* ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': [[invoked]] [[HeroicComedicSociopath Belkar Bitterleaf]] is ''still'' ChaoticEvil beyond any shred of doubt along with being the TokenEvilTeammate of the titular Order, but his VisionQuest during the ''Don't Split The Party'' arc inspires him to start engaging more in PragmaticVillainy and CruelMercy in lieu of StupidEvil. Complicating matters is how he's ''also'' actually starting to develop his own sense of empathy for his fellow sapients.
* Pretty much any time someone changes sides in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}''. Especially [[TheChessmaster Charlie]], a mercenary who's officially in the business of solving problems for clients, but has no problem letting clients get in deeper trouble so he can get paid more in the long run.
--> '''Charlie's Rules''': 3: We are in the business of solving problems for our clients.\\
''Corollary'': Creating problems for our clients creates business.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' has a lot of shades of gray in its characters, which can lead to a lot of this going on.
** Tarvek switching from the Storm King Conspiracy to Agatha's side and his own plan (which still ends with him as the Storm King) is a good example.
** Brother Ulm of the Corbettites seems to suddenly turn on Agatha, but he's not a bad guy, he honestly thinks (and given her family's history has ''every reason'' to think) that she is a danger to his fellow monks and will unleash some monster they have chained up. He becomes agreeable again when someone else unleashes the beast and Agatha insists on helping stop it.
* ''Webcomic/VeganArtbook'' contains a seemingly accidental example: The comic being [[AuthorTract what it is]], Dolly going vegan is framed as a [[HeelFaceTurn grand moral epiphany]]. But considering how UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Yerdian's vegan [[DesignatedHero mouthpieces]] (and how UnintentionallySympathetic her {{straw|Loser}}-[[DesignatedVillain omnivore]] {{chew toy}}s) are, it reads as a Hazy Feel Turn (at best) to anyone who doesn't already agree with her [[InsaneTrollLogic premise]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ItWebOriginal/DinaMarino claims that her friend Siria Ashen began her studies at the SNU in order to abandon her life of crime, but given how she behaves it's rather ambigous how good she truly is.
* In the ''Literature/{{Prolecto}}'' series, a few of the succubi end up undergoing this. They decide to change things because the world sucks... [[http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721353 but then behave with remarkable control.]]
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** [[VillainProtagonist Skitter]] does this by joining the [[SuperTeam Protectorate]]...''after'' it's been exposed as essentially a front for [[NebulousEvilOrganization Cauldron]] and the leaders have been exposed as being guilty of crimes against humanity.
** Similarly, Flechette leaves the Protectorate to become Parian's lieutenant [[spoiler: and lover]] at about the same time.
* ''Podcast/GaysInCapes'': Lia went from working with thugs, to working with some shady figures for 10 years, to working with the party trying to save the world, to marrying [[spoiler:or rather, scamming, a rich noble from Quarmar]] before performing an apparent final Heel-Face Turn and [[spoiler:running off with Jojo.]] Needless to say, nobody's quite sure whose side she's on anymore.
* ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' can have this happen due to the {{MMORPG}} in which it's set eventually having three mutually hostile factions, but all the main characters at least starting out as a member of the same one, which is the Empire. A webseries-only arc had Master Zen using his Empire avatar, but otherwise playing KnightOfCerebus to the protagonists before switching to the Order after it gets introduced in the game. The introduction of the Order also pushed Spectre, the Coalition's former top player, out of his retirement to join the new faction.
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Nappa, [[BackFromTheDead post-revival]], is no longer genocidal and killing people...but he ''is'' now a Hollywood producer, so it's more a wash. He's also not still above doing evil things, like screwing Krillin out of royalties he's entitled to or pitting Hercule against someone who ''completely'' outclasses him...but at least it's not murder. [[spoiler:{{Freeze Frame Bonus}}es in ''WebAnimation/{{HFIL}}'' suggests the ogres' attempts to reform the villains may have had an effect on Nappa, but since he was wished back before his reformation was complete, it's only this instead of a full HeelFaceTurn.]]
* {{WebVideo/Jreg}}, Libertarian decides he’s {{neutral no longer}} by joining [[spoiler:the Centrists]] but the Centrists aren’t that much nicer than the extremists are and [[spoiler:Radical Centrist murdered Dead Centrist and started the war in the first place]] and when Libertarian joins Ancap to start his {{privately owned society}} in Ancapistan it’s clear he’s changed sides but not clear if it were from good to evil, evil to good or neither. Likewise, Ancap leaves the extremists and doesn’t have a {{heel face turn}} any more than Ancom does. And after [[spoiler:Nazi]] leaves the extremists to join the Nationalists, it’s still not obviously a {{heel face turn}}. In fact every defection in Centricide can count as this.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
** Sister initially ends up on the Red Team due to screwing up her orders, then later switches to the Blue Team when the other characters figure the matter out. Considering [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist both teams are pretty much the same]] as the other, and the [[FriendlyWar apathetic nature of the teams' conflict]] by that point, it doesn't really matter all that much.
** ProfessionalButtKisser Simmons makes a similar change, and nobody but [[AxCrazy Sarge]] takes it seriously, and even then, Sarge is only upset because Simmons painted himself Blue.
** In a more serious example, [[spoiler:Aiden Price, former counselor of Project Freelancer]] joins [[spoiler:Charon Industries, the organisation behind the Insurrection]] ([[spoiler:the Freelancers']] greatest enemies), in Season 13 when offered the chance to escape from imprisonment. However, it's not quite a FaceHeelTurn, as [[spoiler:Project Freelancer]] [[EvilVersusEvil wasn't exactly great either]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' the Dai Li are supposed to be working for the good-hearted Earth King, but in practice are clearly serving only themselves; they gladly help EvilChancellor Long Feng undermine their ruler, and then willingly start serving the Fire Nation invaders after Ba Sing Se's fall. By the time of SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', they've finally been reformed to be unquestionably loyal to the Earth Queen... who happens to be an evil tyrant.
* ''Franchise/Ben10'':
** Charmcaster at the end of both ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' ends up not really being on the side of good but no longer up to anything evil either, as in both cases she is left [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife undecided as to what it is she even truly wants in life.]]
** Argit flip-flops between friend and foe often, with the only consistency being that he does whatever is best for his own selfish interests.
* At the end of the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', David Xanatos lets the clan move back into their castle. He never actually repented for his misdeeds; he was just appreciative when the clan saved his son and [[PragmaticVillainy figured screwing with them was no longer worth the trouble]]. Giving them the right to live in their castle didn't really require any sacrifice on his part anyways. The short-lived comic confirms that Xanatos is still plotting, he just tries to keep the Gargoyles out of it and he still has backup plans in case they interfere.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': For three of these villains who "turn good" ([[spoiler:Double Trouble, Shadow Weaver, and Hordak]]), it's left more ambiguous whether they had an actual change in morality or if their abandonment of the villains was purely out of convenience.
** [[spoiler: [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerDoubleTrouble Double Trouble]] joined the villains in the first place because they were OnlyInItForTheMoney, and it's the same reason they leave the villains later. Seeing as they later tried to join Horde Prime and only left because it wasn't entertaining enough, it's pretty obvious that they will still jump on opportunities to side with evil if the money and the thrills are there. Despite this, they did look concerned for Scorpia later on when she put her life in danger and did contribute to the fight against Horde Prime. So they may have developed a little more empathy, but this is unconfirmed.]]
** [[spoiler: [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerShadowWeaver Shadow Weaver]] continues to be manipulative and power-hungry even after deserting the villains, and she only left in the first place because they kicked her out. Even her HeroicSacrifice can be interpreted as her forcing Catra and Adora to forgive her in the easiest way possible, sparing her from going through the work to actually become a better person the way that characters like Catra, Glimmer, and Entrapta had to do it. Still, her making the sacrifice at all and definitely mellowing out to some degree after losing her position indicate she may have truly developed some positive qualities, but also demonstrates she's not without honor and bravery]].
** [[spoiler: [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerHordak Hordak]] may have turned on Horde Prime in the finale, but his turn was much more motivated by a fight for his own independence than actually caring about other people. That is, excluding [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Entrapta]], who he did clearly grow to care for, considering his first act of outright defiance was to save her. Still, he and Adora seem to forgive each other once the finale is over, and with both his FreudianExcuse of trying to impress his brother being gone as well as having Entrapta as a true MoralityPet going forward, he probably did grow into a better person.]]
** [[spoiler:Similarly, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio leaving the Horde isn't really about them wanting to be good so much as just wanting to survive. Yet, they don't seem to be bad people either. They've seen the deteriorating state of both the Horde as a whole and the stability of its command structure, and they're getting out while they still have their skins and sanity intact.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': [[Characters/StarWarsAsajjVentress Asajj Ventress]] is TheDragon to Count Dooku in the first few seasons; then Dooku tries to have her killed as a loyalty test to Sidious, and (after a brief stint of EvilVsEvil where she tries to kill him in revenge) she eventually becomes a bounty hunter. From then on, she's something like WildCard and even helps the main heroes on a few occasions, saving Obi-Wan and Ahsoka at various points. She ''does'' become a kinder person, but still, it'd be a stretch to say she ever really makes a full HeelFaceTurn in the series, partly due to it being CutShort. The novel ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' finishes her story arc [[spoiler: but without a HappyEnding]].
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] has absolutely no remorse for the Gem Homeworld experiments she participated in that are going to destroy Earth, neither does she have any remorse for trying to kill the protagonists... but the moment she realizes she's ''trapped'' on the soon-to-be-destroyed Earth, she immediately reverses course and starts trying to help save it, mission be damned, even reluctantly accepting help from those she was until recently trying to kill. [[spoiler:And when she [[YouCantGoHomeAgain completely burns her bridges back to Homeworld]], the Crystal Gems effectively become her only allies. Over time, however, it becomes a true HeelFaceTurn as she does end up genuinely accepting Earth as her new home and wanting to make up for her past sins.]]
** [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority The Diamonds]] are the same. They do agree in the end to [[spoiler:heal the Corrupted Gems]], but [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] and [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] were going to do that in the first place. Also, their main reason for fighting alongside the heroes is that Steven is [[spoiler:Pink Diamond's son]], and while they were talked into confronting [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] and are implied to grow as people, it's hazy as to just how they grew and how they didn't, especially since they're okay people around each other and [[spoiler:Steven]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** [[Characters/TotalDramaHeather Heather]]. She was the BigBad of Island, and was considered a hero because she was up against the new BigBad Alejandro during ''World Tour''. She goes right back to her old ways during ''All-Stars'' and doesn't achieve her previous success.
** [[Characters/TotalDramaCourtney Courtney]] was never a BigBad again after ''Action'', but she’s also never exactly a hero again. Where she falls when it comes to morality leans more to the villainous side like Heather, but the degree of villainy clearly changes.
[[/folder]]
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