http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NWO_Hogan.jpg
[[caption-width:200:What Hulk Hogan Looks like after a FaceHeelTurn]]

->'''Mal Reynolds:''' How come you didn't turn on me?\\
'''Jayne Cobb:''' Money wasn't good enough.\\
'''Mal Reynolds:''' What happens when it is?\\
'''Jayne Cobb:''' Well... that'll be an interesting day.
-->-- ''{{Firefly}}'' episode 1, "Serenity"

->''Goodbye, "friends"!''
-->-- '''Elyon Brown''', ''{{WITCH}}''

In ProfessionalWrestling, a "good" wrestler (a {{face}}) is occasionally tempted by TheDarkSide, or just gets fed up, and becomes a {{heel}}. Magazines and other promotional material from the various wrestling "leagues" frequently comment on various wrestlers' changes in "alignment" (in wrestling's fictional plotline known as {{kayfabe}}) nearly as frequently as they actually cover events in the ring themselves. (They even actually use phrases like "Face Heel Turn.")

In other genres, it means "good guy turns bad," the opposite of the HeelFaceTurn. Perhaps the former hero(ine) has become a RivalTurnedEvil. Perhaps he or she has lost perspective, and became a WellIntentionedExtremist, or worse, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumped Off The Slippery Slope]] into true villainy. Perhaps something horrible has happened that [[DespairEventHorizon shattered his or her faith in good]], and he or she has become a FallenHero. [[LoveMakesYouEvil Maybe his or her love for someone turned into a dangerous obsession that went out of control]]. The hero may have bravely declared "{{You shall not pass}}!" or his companions may have found it impossible to ensure that NoOneGetsLeftBehind, but he proved to be NotQuiteDead and, [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil deranged by his suffering]], blames his companions for abandoning him. Perhaps he or she has [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished had too many of their good deeds come back to bite them]] and decided that [[BeingGoodSucks being a hero is no longer worth it]]. Maybe he or she has [[WhosLaughingNow had enough of being pushed around, laughed at and put through hell]], or maybe he or she has [[BewareTheNiceOnes snapped]] after one too many rounds of BreakTheCutie. Perhaps his (alleged) allies have [[HangingSeparately made his life too difficult]], or maybe she's just gone DrunkWithPower. Perhaps there is a WriterOnBoard committing CharacterDerailment.

The many reasons and the probability for a turn are listed in the SortingAlgorithmOfFaceHeelTurning.

Contrast TheMole: TheMole was always working for the BigBad from the beginning, whereas a character making a Face Heel Turn was a genuine good guy until their change of heart.

In a world full of {{Brainwashed}} victims, they may be the one who appears to be but really is NotBrainwashed.

See also HeelFaceTurn, HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, NeutralNoLonger, DealWithTheDevil and StartOfDarkness.

''SPOILERS AHOY''
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]
* Char Aznable in ''Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack'', goes from a father figure to fucking insane.
* Yui in ''FushigiYuugi'', and most other instances of RivalTurnedEvil.
* Kaiser Ryo following a textbook FreakOut in ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}''. The dub even has Judai/Jaden compare this to, "when a pro-wrestler suddenly starts dressing in black and throwing chairs in the ring." Judai, like his predecessor in ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'', also temporarily turns to TheDarkSide (hey, {{Superpowered Evil Side}}s take some getting used to).
* Vegeta in ''DragonballZ'' who was admittedly already a HeelFaceTurn and technically, just returning to his original alignment only to go through yet another HeelFaceTurn after the showdown of rivals although not before sucker punching TheHero, Goku. This whole arc also has the bonus of being a mid-life crisis as well as being a NotBrainwashed moment. Come to think of it, he is probably the one character in that entire series to do as many alignment changes as a pro wrestler.
* We know that Griffith from ''{{Berserk}}'' is a bad guy at the start of the anime, but most of us wouldn't know this from the idealistic mercenary leader that we meet in flashback during the second episode, who is about as close to TheMessiah as one can get in a series like ''Berserk''. The anime, which follows the Golden Age manga arc of the series, is about Guts's time with Griffith's Band of the Hawks, and the events that lead up to Griffith's betrayal, his [[spoiler: ascension as the fifth member of the Godhand]], and Guts's circumstances in the very first episode. And when Griffith finally ''does'' go bad in the final episodes, [[BewareTheNiceOnes he]] [[DealWithTheDevil goes]] [[MoralEventHorizon very]], [[DarkMessiah very]] [[DownerEnding bad]].
*CodeGeass has enough FaceHeelTurn and HeelFaceTurn to drive one mad. By the end of the series everyone has switched to someplace at least once and some have done it two or three times do really screw your list over.
**What's really infuriating is that you can't even tell which side is good and which is bad. They're both morally ambiguous [[TheChessmaster chessmasters]] with [[spoiler: roughly the same plan for world peace.]]
** It's not really fair to say that everyone's changed sides. [[spoiler: Lelouch switched to become the Emperor of Brittania, and that caused some people to create a third faction which teamed up with the Black Knights. Allegiances remain the same, it's just who controls them that changes.]]
* Walter C. Dornez, loyal aide to Integra Hellsing in ''{{Hellsing}}'' first seems to do a FaceHeelTurn against his will after been brainwashed by the villains but is later to be revealed to have been a willing traitor since WWII.
* In ''Salsa Blaze'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Zentero]] has had a screwed up life because of the [[ManBehindTheMan Sentori]]. In his life, he has gone from [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Face, to Heel, to Face, to Heel, to Face, to X, to Face, to Heel, and to Face again, where X is when he was Face, Face, Face, Heel, Heel, and Heel]] [[BeyondTheImpossible AT THE SAME TIME.]] Also he died like 12 times in there.]] {{So Yeah}}.
** Because of this, [[spoiler: Torence and Natragen pulled one, and Verin's alignment went from mid-torso to Heel.]]
** [[spoiler: Grif]] might be toying with this.
** Another one caused by [[spoiler: the [[MagnificentBastard Sentori]].]] The mostly likely victim of course being [[spoiler: [[CursedWithAwesome Kirono]], the Sentori's original vessel.]]
* The Uchiha Bros. (tm) from ''{{Naruto}}'' might be taken into account, though their Heel turns were not really a alignment change. Maybe except for Sasuke's latest.
* Julia and Collins from ''{{Blood Plus}}'', though the former does return to the side of good after a while. The other gets a bullet to the brain.
* ''{{Bleach}}'' has the infamous revelation of the main villains [[spoiler:Aizen, Gin, & Tousen]] which I won't go into, but the 2nd filler arc also has 3rd seat Kifune of Third Squad. He even get a ''literal'' FaceHeelTurn animation in the intro starting in episode 179.
** Also, when [[spoiler:Orihime]] was forced to go with the Arrancars in exchange of her friends and hometown's safety, the Shinigamis ''thought'' she had gone through a Face Heel Turn. Ichigo refused to believe it and decided to go rescue her, triggering the beginning of the Arrancar arc.
* Lord Genome from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', as shown in ''Parallel Works Eight''. When he snaps, he snaps hard.
** [[spoiler:Post-Time Skip Rossiu, previously a good guy, sets up Simon as a scapegoat for the problems caused by the anti-Spirals and takes over the government - and his plan to survive the anti-Spiral attacks involves leaving a large portion of the world's population to die.]]
*** [[spoiler:Simon]] wasn't really set up, they just charged him for destroying a Mugan, which caused a lot of collateral damage, and [[spoiler:Rossiu]] only did what he thought was best for the people, placing him in WellIntentionedExtremist territory. [[spoiler:Rossiu]] did show regret over his actions, going as far as to [[spoiler:attempt suicide]].
* Folken from the ''VisionOfEscaflowne'' does this to begin with, followed by another HeelFaceTurn near the end of the story, leading to his [[spoiler: extremely bizarre [[RedemptionEqualsDeath "fated" death.]]]]
* [[spoiler:Chikane]] pulls this in ''Kannazuki No Miko'''s [[WhamEpisode Wham Episode]]. [[spoiler:Well, she's got her [[HeroicSacrifice reasons]]... but it's still rather [[RapeIsLove horrifying]].]]
* Sasame in ''{{Pretear}}'' later joins the BigBad to become her servant because he was in love with her and couldn't bear to fight her. The BigBad herself also face heel turned due to love. Later they both undo this with a HeelFaceTurn to once again join the heroes.
[[/folder]]
* In ''Soul Eater'', Kim and Jackie do an unwilling Face Heel Turn under the influence of Arachnaphobia's insanity manipulation machine. The actions of [[spoiler: Justin Law, however, appear for the time being to be genuine: killing BJ and framing Stein for the murder (though Medusa almost certainly had a hand in it), trying to kill Maka Albarn as her soul perception might uncover Asura for Shinigami. He also seems to enjoy taunting the imprisoned Death the Kid, and listens in when Gopher is beating the boy up.]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Hal Jordan, ''GreenLantern'' poster child, underwent a psychotic turn into a being that wanted to reshape all of existence. Later explained and retconned, but still heavily controversial.
* Cassandra Cain, the latest Batgirl, to [[WallBanger unanimous disapproval]]. After spending 76 issues delving into her extraordinary psychology and fleshing her out into a complex character with high moral standards, DC savagely tore her down and made her into a cheap, drugstore-variety DragonLady who started killing people like roaches. Now, they've very cleverly revealed it she was actually {{brainwashed}}. Her? [[WallBanger Really DC? Drug control?]]
* Mary Marvel provided an interesting contrast as a Golden Age teen amidst modern comics characters. Unfortunately DC decided to make her turn evil in notably WallBanger ways. Her clothes [[PaintItBlack even turned black]].
** And her skirt was just as short as [[FanNickname Supertorso's]] "Belt with a trim" microskirt after the switch! Bad move all around... then the next outfit made it look good.
* In a particularly bad example of ExecutiveMeddling, DC planned to turn Captain Atom into supervillain "Monarch." At the last minute they changed their minds and made the character "Hawk" murder his partner "Dove" and don Monarch's armor. Then they changed their minds again, giving Hawk the new handle of "Extant", putting Captain Atom into Monarch's armor and creating a new Hawk and Dove team.
* Two Face, in the Batman comics (and later, TheDarkKnight) is a good-guy district attorney who turns into an evil criminal.
* [[XMen Colossus]], after his sister, Illeanna, dies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Anakin Skywalker of the ''StarWars'' saga, who turned his back on the Jedi to become the ruthless Darth Vader.
** A lesser known occurrence is when Count Dooku left the Jedi Order and became a Sith. Also many Jedi in the Expanded Universe.
* [[spoiler: Rooster]] in ''RighteousKill''.
* In ''UndercoverBrother'' the title character turns his back on the Brotherhood after he falls in [[strike:love]] lust with Penelope Snow. Luckily Sista Girl brings him back to his senses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* An even more "they shoulda seen it coming" example: Raistlin Majere in the original ''{{Dragonlance}}'' books.
* Subverted in ''Red Seas Under Red Skies'', where the first chapter has Jean betraying Locke to a pair of assassins, then it flashes back to the start of the story. When it arrives back at the betrayal scene, we find that Jean was tricking the assassins and Locke just missed the hand signal for "lying."
* A certain Imperial general in one of the later ''{{Warhammer 40000}}: [[GauntsGhosts Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' is eventually corrupted by Chaos. Surprisingly, he's shown to actually be a decent man when hit by amnesia-even his jailer notes that the general becomes ever more an unlikable bastard as he regains his memory.
* Dybbuk from ''ChildrenOfTheLamp'', though it was sort-of foreshadowed in that his father just happened to be Iblis, the most evil djinn of the most evil djinn tribe, meaning he was half AlwaysChaoticEvil. It wouldn't be surprising if he eventually had a change of heart, though.
* [[TheBible Judas Iscariot]], which makes this trope OlderThanDirt.
* Brutus in the ''Emperor'' series. And indeed any other series ever written about Ancient Rome. Because, well, he's one of the best examples of it in real life.
* Saruman in ''TheLordOfTheRings''.
* Aramis, in the "[[TheThreeMusketeers Musketeers]]" saga by Dumas. In "The Three Musketeers" he's unequivocally [[{{Nakama}} One Of The Good Guys]], alongside Athos, Porthos and D'Artagnan - although even then, when short of money, we see him accepting expensive gifts from his mistress(es). In "Twenty Years After", all motives are less certain, Athos and Aramis find themselves (for different reasons) on the opposite side to Porthos and D'Artagnan, it is far less clear which side is In The Right, and it takes much more intricate politics to have them all on the same side again with their disparate interests in agreement: and, in the end, Aramis becomes the true, shadowy [[TheChessmaster villain]] of "The Man in the Iron Mask", as the person who wants King Louis replaced by his [[ManInTheIronMask secret twin brother]] Philippe, not in pursuit of justice but in pursuit of his personal ambition to be Pope (and those of the [[CorruptChurch Jesuits]], to establish further control over Europe's rulers): and, knowing that he could not suborn Athos or D'Artagnan to this scheme, he tricks Porthos into assisting it instead. And yes, here, Aramis is a true villain even when presented in a good light, and the Musketeers' accord is blown apart: because for all King Louis's inadequacies, he is the rightful king, [[spoiler:and in the book D'Artagnan recognises this and sides with Louis, conducting the ill-fated Philippe back to jail (though he later refuses to actually open fire on the fort containing his friends, D'Artagnan holds to their compact to stand together even though Aramis has broken it: as a result of which Aramis escapes [[LoadBearingHero at the cost of Porthos's life]].) It is Louis who remains on the throne and leads France to greatness]]. It's also amazing how many films of "The Man in the Iron Mask" reverse the ENTIRE point, and have Louis be unequivocally bad, and the Musketeers all on the same side and succeeding in pulling off the replacement...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* [[spoiler: Londo Mollari ]]begins the ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' MythArc as the human commander's closest ally, but becomes TheDragon (or at least ThePatsy for the BigBad) as the series progresses. In fact, he vacillates between good and evil repeatedly as the series goes on.
** Also on ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', Talia Winters, once her "sleeper" personality was unlocked.
** [[spoiler:...and Lennier, too.]]
** [[spoiler:...and Garibaldi in season 4, ]]due to a bad case of MoreThanMindControl.
** [[spoiler:...and Lyta Alexander]]
** [[spoiler: ...and Anna Sheridan, ]]who could be assumed to be a good person prior to getting Shadowed.
** [[spoiler:...and the Vorlons. ]]
* The third season of ''DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' revolves entirely around Manny and Sean turning {{heel}}, then slowly turning back to {{face}}.
* Half the cast of ''{{Alias}}''.
* On ''{{Lost}}'', Michael was of the WellIntentionedExtremist variety, as he just wanted to save Walt, his son. He felt really bad about it, but there's varying opinion over whether or not we should feel sorry for him.
** Locke also tagged along with the Others for a while, but he didn't really switch sides (though he certainly came close to being an out and out villain during a portion of Season 4, where his leadership was borderline tyrannical.)
** [[spoiler:Jack in season 5]] to some.
* Gul Dukat of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' starts off as a recurring annoyance, but [[HeelFaceTurn gradually warms up to the crew]] and looks like he's on the road to {{BadassDecay}}... then he realizes GoodIsDumb and stabs everyone in the back.
** Eddington is a more straightforward example from ''Deep Space 9''.
* Angel, Willow and Faith of ''{{Buffy}}'' (all three get subsequent [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turns]]).
** Angel's FaceHeelTurn happened due to having what is later described as a "moment of perfect happiness" which was his night with Buffy. This activated the CurseEscapeClause which brought back his original self, the incredibly evil [[CompleteMonster Angelus]].
** Willow's FaceHeelTurn came about due to her going crazy after Warren accidentally killed Tara while trying to gun down Buffy. She corners and kills Warren in [[CruelAndUnusualDeath exceedingly cruel fashion]] and then goes after the others, until she eventually [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumps Off The Slippery Slope]] and tries to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]].
* Jake Straka, for some reason, near the end of ''The Guardian''
* Tyr on ''{{Andromeda}}'' -- though we all knew it would happen sooner or later, as Tyr was always [[MagnificentBastard playing his own game]].
* Every character on ''{{Charmed}}'', at some point or other.
* Agent Lee on ''{{NCIS}}'' appears to be TheMole, faking a relationship to gain access to a private area (of the complex you pervs) and even killing another agent to protect herself. [[spoiler: She's actually being forced to do it by her niece's kidnappers. Naturally, Redemption Equals Death for Agent Lee.]]
* Undersheriff [=McKeen=] on ''{{CSI}}''.
* Dr. Zack Addy, who turned out to be the serial killer's apprentice on ''{{Bones}}''. [[spoiler: He didn't actually kill anyone and it's more of a case of a weak will being overpowered by a strong one, but only Sweets knows that Zack prefers to be thought of as insane since he wouldn't survive prison. Regardless, his friends still love him (to the confusion of his replacements)]]
* Sweet-natured Kes returns to [[{{StarTrekVoyager}} Voyager]] to crumple bulkheads and anonymous ensigns in "Fury". It turns out she's angry at her former friends because…well it's never really explained. But don't worry as [[ResetButton everything's back to normal by the end]].
* ''StElsewhere'''s Dr. Peter White winds up being a serial rapist.
* In the reimagined BattlestarGalactica, [[spoiler:Felix Gaeta leads a failed mutiny against Admiral Adama, resulting in his and Zarek's deaths]].
** Earlier on in the series, [[spoiler: Boomer [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor appears]] to have joined Cavil's side in the Cylon civil war, later helps the final final Cylon escape from exploratory brain surgery and gives her lover a literal Imagine/Hope Spot then steals her "twin's" daughter only to [[PetTheDog bond]] with her "niece" and give her back and is finally killed by her "sister"]].
* Shane Vandrell in TheShield, more than once.
* ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'' embodies this trope. Most seasons have at least one of {{The Mole}} at some point. Sometimes this turns out to be misleading, with a few [[{{FakeDefector}} Fake Defectors]], but there are several infamous true face heel turns. Going back to the first season was [[spoiler:Nina Myers, who turns into a recurring villain for two more seasons]]. Most recently was the even more drastic [[spoiler:Tony Almeida, whose {{Heel Face Revolving Door}} led the audience to be surprised by the (second) revelation that he was a villain, despite the fact that this was technically common knowledge months before the season even began]].
* [[spoiler: Allan]] in season 2 of the new Robin Hood, at least until [[spoiler: his HeelFaceTurn]] later on in the season.
* Professional IdiotBall handler [[spoiler: Stuckey]] in the 2009 season finale of ''LawAndOrderSVU'' [[spoiler: subverting Narrowed It Down To The Guy I Recognize. After That Yellow Bastard and Simka Graves I, for one, didn't suspect ''the guy who'd been there since the beginning of the season'']]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]

* And, of course, countless "competitors" in ProfessionalWrestling. Often, a heel turn will stem from a face feeling as though he doesn't have the respect of the fans or his fellow faces; this is sometimes set up by having the face lose for several weeks in a row, finally lose his temper and blame the fans or other faces. Usually, the new heel will prove his heelishness with a sneak attack on a former face ally, often aided by his new heel allies. Heel turns by wrestlers who constantly switch between heel and face (Lex Luger and Paul Wight are two examples who spring to mind) don't have all that much impact on the fans, but when a long-term face goes heel it's a big deal. The biggest example of this would be babyface Hulk Hogan's heel turn at WCW event Bash at the Beach in 1996 after over a decade of superheroics, which shocked fans and generated mainstream attention. A wrestler who turns often enough eventually settles into [[WildCard "tweener"]] mode, where they're basically a face or a heel as the storyline demands.
* The heel turn is also a popular way to split up a face tag team, especially when one member of the team is thought to have more potential as a singles wrestler. One of the most famous of these was when the Rockers, a pair of high-flying pretty-boy faces, appeared on Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's talk show "The Barbershop" to air out their tensions of preceding weeks. After seeming to reconcile with a hug, Shawn Michaels proceeded to kick Marty Jannetty in the face and toss him through the (fake) glass window of the set, setting up his new persona of The Heartbreak Kid and a lifetime of superstardom.
* Another famous tag team split occurred in the late 80's in the Jim Crockett NWA, when Lex Luger and Barry Windham were the top faces, feuding with Ric Flair's devious Four Horsemen stable. In the weeks prior to a huge tag team title match, the Horsemen constantly told Windham that Luger (who had recently ''left'' the Horsemen in a HeelFaceTurn) was only out for himself and would abandon Windham when he needed him most, teasing that Luger would turn on him and join the Horsemen. In the match itself, a badly beaten Windham tried to tag his partner, but Luger had just been knocked off the ring apron by Horsemen associates, thereby "proving" that he wasn't there when he needed him, and prompting Windham to turn on Luger and join the Horsemen himself.
* There seems to be a distressing tendency for a wrestler's FaceHeelTurn to coincide with his winning a championship title. Supposedly, this is to maintain the "underdog" status of the face wrestler, and let the fans root for him against the JerkAss with the title. Sometimes the turn happens in the title match itself, if the 'underdog' wins the title through a particularly cheap method (use of foreign object, another wrestler interfering with the match, and so on).
** Chris Jericho is a shining example of this. Jericho has never...EVER, won a World Championship as a face. However, when he was a face he played the perfect underdog - being screwed over by anyone with a shiny waist.
** One prominent example of this would be Steve Austin's turn on The Rock at [=WrestleMania=] X-Seven, where he teamed up with his hated nemsesis Vince [=McMahon=] due to desperation to become WWE Champ. Somewhat [[{{Narm}} narmed]] by the Texas crowd acting as if it was a HeelFaceTurn for Vince, as Stone Cold is a local hero there.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Crovax and Ertai of the Weatherlight crew in ''Magic: the Gathering''. Tevesh Szat comes close, but he was ChaoticNeutral from the beginning.
* ''BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' has this as its main mechanic: the players start out exploring the haunted mansion together, but once the Haunt is triggered, one of them turns Traitor and tries to complete their evil mission before the others can stop them or escape.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theater ]]

* Arguably Elphaba from ''{{Wicked}}'' fits this trope, after having everything she tries spectacularly backfire on her, and having everyone she loves die all around her, she snaps during the song 'No Good Deed' dedicating herself to a lifetime of evil. Almost immediately subverted when she is shown to be just very, very pissed off, but not actually evil a mere song later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Videogames ]]

*EVERYONE in ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne.''
* The supposed FaceHeelTurn of Ralgha "Hobbes" nar Hhallas in ''WingCommander III'' was considered a definite WallBanger for many fans of that series who have only played the PC version (the console versions used bigger [=CDs=] than computers of the time, and could thus fit the explanation cutscene into the game; the {{novelization}} also covers the explanation). In this case, he was an (unwitting) [[TheMole mole]].
* Sorbet in ''Magical Starsign'' fakes one as part of an elaborate plan to trick the Big Bad, and it's so convincing that even your party falls for it...unfortunately, you waltz in just as her plan is about to come to fruition.
** Fortunately, it wasn't the best thought out plan anyway...
* Ghaleon in ''{{Lunar}}: The Silver Star''.
* Sephiroth in ''FinalFantasyVII'' goes through a particularly malignant FaceHeelTurn in the main character Cloud's [[StartOfDarkness flashback]]...the awesomeness of which also made him the ultimate DracoInLeatherPants character.
** The PSP game ''CrisisCore'' (where you play as Zack, the guy Cloud absorbed the personality of) portrays this moment at the end. You even get to see Sephiroth before he went batshit. Not to mention there's quite a few other HeelFaceTurns (you are working for the villains after all).
* Seifer in ''FinalFantasyVIII'' goes through a much more low-key version of this as well.
* Kain from ''FinalFantasyIV'', partly because of brainwashing, but also partly because of his envy for his best friends Cecil, who was the boyfriend of the girl he had a crush on.
* Hardain and his cronies from ''FireEmblem: Mystery of the Emblem''.
** Alvis from ''FireEmblem: Genealogy of Holy War'' though he never was part of your party.
*** Orson from ''FireEmblem: Path of Radiance''.
* Captain Lee in ''SuperRobotWars: OriginalGeneration 2'' pulls one of these, after spending his entire time [[KickTheDog kicking dogs]]. Even a DeadLittleSister, or in this case family, doesn't protect him.
* Jerry Ying from the JohnWoo game ''Stranglehold'', who starts out as Tequila's partner and ally inside Wong's Dragon Claw syndicate, only to [[spoiler:[[GoingNative go native during the Chicago History Museum stage]] and carry out Wong's orders to kill Tequila and [[OffingTheOffspring Billie, Wong's own daughter]]. Tequila survives, but Billie isn't so lucky, setting up a furious showdown between partners as Tequila seeks vengeance for Billie]].
* Arthas in ''{{Warcraft}} III''.
* Beat in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'' does a Face Heel Turn ''and'' the opposite.
** Technically, Joshua also had a Face Heel Turn, but he was that way from the beginning; he was just acting.
* ''BatenKaitos'' has a fantastic example in the first game, where [[spoiler:''the main character'', Kalas]] is the one who betrays the party. He does rejoin later.
* Sialeeds in ''SuikodenV''.
* The Boss in ''MetalGearSolid 3: Snake Eater'', who switches from United States allegiances to the Soviet Union. [[spoiler: It turns out that The Boss was really doing this to help the United States regain The Philosopher's Legacy. ''Naked Snake'' kills her, taking her position as Big Boss, only afterwards learning the truth.]]
** It's more of a FakeDefector really.
* Riku from KingdomHearts was, unknown to his best friend Sora, gradually making the FaceHeelTurn, desperate to [[IDidWhatIHadToDo save Kairi through whatever means possible]]. He ends up going a similar way as Kain from FinalFantasy IV, complete with a return to the good side and a MyGodWhatHaveIDone .
* Mario plays the antagonist in ''Donkey Kong Junior''.
* The player character and his FiveManBand in ''Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance'' becomes the FiveBadBand in the ''Black Knight'' expansion.
* At the end of ''PaperMario: The Thousand-Year Door'', the BigBad asks you to do this. You can actually say yes - it gives you a NonstandardGameOver.
* Sigma from ''MegaManX'' was originally the leader of the Maverick Hunters before he caught (and soon after became) TheVirus from Zero and decided to go evil and declare war against mankind. Zero, in turn, does a HeelFaceTurn, caused by said virus transfer via a punch to the forehead.
** And in a turnaround, [[spoiler:the title character]] of ''MegaManX'' was supposed to make a FaceHeelTurn into the BigBad of the ''MegaManZero'' series. [[{{Fauxshadow}} Emphasis on]] ''[[{{FauxShadow}} supposed]]'', thanks to a ContinuitySnarl.
* Colonel from ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' was previously the Navi of the leader of a team that aimed to purge Nebula from the Net before doing a FaceHeelTurn.

* In HeroSenki [[spoiler: Gilliam Yeager, the Ally with the most powerful unit at the start of the game is the final boss, he becomes TheAtoner after he jumps universes though]]
* It's stated that [[spoiler: Gol and Maia]] from the original JakAndDaxter were good once, but exposure to [[GreenRocks Dark]] [[BadPeopleBadPowers Eco]] caused a faceheel before the beginning of the game.
* [[spoiler: Bastila]] in ''Knights of the Old Republic''. Can also happen to anyone you have a high influence with in the sequel, if you're [[KarmaMeter going]] [[VideogameCrueltyPotential dark]].
** Are we not forgetting Revan and Malek?
* Arguably, both [[spoiler: Kreia]] and [[spoiler: Atris]] in ''Knights of the Old Republic II''. Yes, both were already Grade-A Bitchy, but neither was definitively evil until the end of the game.
** The Jedi Masters could easily be interpreted as this.
* In ''[=~Star Ocean: The Last Hope~=]'', [[spoiler: Faize pulls a big one. He doesn't just become a villain, he becomes ''the final boss''.]]
* ''{{Gradius}} [=ReBirth=]'' retcons Venom into an example of this--he starts off as James's CO, but becomes a heel after you complete the game's third loop. He goes on to become the BigBad of ''[[GaidenGame Nemesis 2]]'' and ''[[GaidenGame 3]]'', two lesser-known installments released on the MSX over 20 years before.
* Kazuya from {{Tekken}}. He was originally a Ryu-esque cookie-cutter hero [[spoiler: but eventually let the devil consume him and became (arguable) one of the bad guys]]. By the beginning of the sixth game, he had plans for world domination.
** And there's also Jin, TheHero for about three games, then at the beginning of the sixth game, takes over the mega corporation and uses it to start WorldWarIII and try to TakeOverTheWorld, which prompts Kazuya to speed up his plan for world domination.
*** To be fair though, it's heavilly implied that Jin is doing this just so that he can kill off his own bloodline by any means necessary, bringing both Kazuya and Heihachi out for him to fight up front. Though [[spoiler:no one is aware of Lars, Heihachi's illegitimate son.]] Though quite villainous and menacing still, this does make Jin more of an AntiHero.
* In NeverwinterNights2, [[spoiler: Neeshka, Sand and Qara will betray you at the end of the game if their influence is too low.]]
* In the backstory for ''[[StarFox Star Fox 64]]'', Pigma Dengar betrayed James [=McCloud=] to Andross. Later in the series, Andross's grandson Dash Bowman undergoes one of these in two alternate endings for ''Star Fox: Command''.
* In a rare example of the ''player'' doing this, the original ''StreetsOfRage'' has, near the end of Round 8, Mr. X asking you if you want to join him. In a 2-player game, if one player answers "yes" while the other answers "no," they will fight to the death, with the winner being asked again if they want to join. If the winner says no, and defeats Mr. X, the winner gets an alternate ending in which he or she becomes the new syndicate leader.
* BatenKaitos had a brilliant and shocking one of these with none other than [[spoiler: Kalas, the MAIN CHARACTER]]. Too bad it [[spoiler: lacked the guts to actually have him STAY bad]]...
* Common in the {{Grand Theft Auto}} series
** Catalina in the opening sequence of GTA III.
** [[spoiler:Salvatore Leone in the mission Last Requests]] of GTA III.
** [[spoiler:Lance]] in Vice City
** [[spoiler:Big Smoke and Ryder]] in San Andreas
** [[spoiler:Dmitri Rascalov]] and [[spoiler:Michelle]] in GTA IV.
*** [[spoiler:Darko Brevic]] in the backstory of GTA IV.
* SoulCalibur: someone is doing one of these every five minutes. We have Siegfried, who did a Face to Heel (before the series even started) to Face to Heel to Face to WellIntentionedExtremist Heel. Then there's Yun-Seong, who isn't all the way there yet, but he's getting there. Raphael, who did a Face Heel turn from 2 to 3, and did a Heel/Worse Heel turn from 3 to 4. Sophitia has done this in 4: arguably she has a good reason, but as she has been infused with the power of Soul Edge, there's nothing saying that she might not like this state of affairs later on.
* At the end of the ''{{Fallout}} 3'' dlc ''Operation: Anchorage'', [[spoiler:an Outcast defender named Sibley gets disgusted that his superior is sharing the spoils with a "local" (you) and attempts to kill him unless you stop him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* White Mage from ''[[EightBitTheatre 8-bit Theater]]''. It didn't take.
** Black Mage attempted to sell out to Chaos right away to save his own hide. Chaos instead stated out loud his intended torture of all things mortal - the Light Warriors included.
--> '''Black Mage''': Does that include me?
--> '''Chaos''': ''Big'' time.
* [[spoiler:Dr. Schlock]] from ''SluggyFreelance'', though he'd been straddling the fence for quite some time, anyway.
* [[spoiler: Otra]] appears to be doing this in {{Girly}}, shown [[http://girlyyy.com/go/698 here]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* [[spoiler:Corey]] from ''ThreeInTheAfternoon'' does this not once, but ''twice'', taking full advantage of his more idealistic friends the second time around.
* [[spoiler:Julia van Helden]] does this in ''{{KateModern}}'' in response all the traumatic experiences she suffers while helping the K-Team, and out of misplaced [[LoveMakesYouEvil love for a villain]]
* In [[AssociatedSpace Associated Space]], [[spoiler:Nazar]] actually defeats Fatebane, captures him, and brings him to the villain. However, when he doesn't get paid, he decides to break the hero out, inadvertently joining Fatebane's side.
* [[spoiler:Reynold]], of ''HomestarRunner'''s ShowWithinAShow ''The Cheat Commandos'', recently went over to work for the evil forces of Blue Laser. All things considered, it was surprisingly plausible.
*Any time a previous non-player starts to actively participate in the 'game' in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest''. As you might imagine, this tends to happen a lot.
* [[spoiler:Agent Washington]] of ''RedvsBlue''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''KidsNextDoor'' had an agent, Numbuh 274, who had appeared in a couple Season 1 and Season 2 episodes become a villain from Season 3 onwards after turning 13. However, it turned out that [[spoiler: he'd been working for [[ReverseMole the good side all along]]]] in the penultimate episode of the show.
** The 4th grade class president also began as a heroic character but, after the KND works to ensure his safe election, it's revealed that he's [[NiceJobBreakingItHero actually their enemy]]. The exact nature of his FaceHeelTurn is something of a mystery: while his blank eyes, CreepyMonotone and Father's {{evil laughter}} during his FaceHeelTurn implies that he'd been brainwashed, later episodes establish him as not only a [[NotBrainwashed perfectly willing]] heel, but one whose agenda has little connection to Father.
* Raimundo in the season one finale of ''XiaolinShowdown''. Shortly into season two, he does a HeelFaceTurn and returns to his friends, but not without suffering some consequences and trust issues.
* Elyon Brown in ''{{WITCH}}''.
* Dinobot, in the ''{{Transformers}}: BeastWars'' episode "Maximal No More". He does a HeelFaceTurn back at the end, though, upon realizing that just because everything's going according to Megatron's plans doesn't mean that Megatron isn't a dangerous madman.
** Blackarachnia, in ''TransformersAnimated'' pulls her FaceHeelTurn during the (mainly)flashback episode "Along Came A Spider." We discover that when they were in the Autobot Academy, Elita-1, Sentinel, and Optimus went to an organic planet, even though it was forbidden, and they encountered giant spiders. Escaping from the spiders, Elita used her download power to borrow Optimus's grapplers, but ran out of time, falling into a pit full of the spiders when Optimus failed to catch her with his other grappler. She attempted to use her download power on the spiders, but, the spiders being organic, it turned her into a mutated part-organic, part-mechanical Transformer with one of the spiders as her alt-mode. The new signal type made her impossible for Optimus to pick up on his radar, and led him and Sentinel to believe Elita was dead, and Blackarachnia to believe they abandoned her, and she joined the Decepticons.
* Tai Lung of ''KungFuPanda''.
* In ''KimPossible'' TheDragon Shego used to be a Superhero before becoming a villain. Various other characters have short, often for a single episode Heel Turns, including Ron at least twice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* F1 racing driver Kimi Raikkonen seems to have pulled one of these, at least in the eyes of UK fans. Until 2006 he was a charismatic underdog in a badly malfunctioning car, and one of the few serious rivals to Michael Schumacher. In 2007 he moved to Ferrari, won the title, and thus immediately lost the sympathy vote. Needless to say, it didn't help that his move coincided with Lewis Hamilton's arrival at [=McLaren=].
** Exactly what did he did do, except win the championship in a perfectly legitmate manner (albeit thanks to Hamilton making so many crucial mistakes in the final two races)? I.e., Raikkonen did not, and I must give emphasis to this, use any dirty trick, cheat... to win. Putting him as a FaceHeelTurn seems to be more of the case of pure jealousy and / or misunderstading what it means to be a villain. You could even blame FIA for eventual problems Hamilton may have had regarding punishments and the like, but not him.
*** Well, he won the first two races with an illegal car, and the last under team orders. He wasn't a proper villain, true, but (in the eyes of the British public at least) played the role of antagonist for most of the season, whereas previously he'd been a fan favourite.
** Fernando Alonso is a better example, who turned from the magnificent World Champion to a jealous angry kid envying Hamilton's driving skills expressing a "You might be the better driver, but I'm the World Champion, damn you!" attitude.
** ThisTroper feels that the closest NASCAR equivalent is Kyle Busch. That he won the first ever Cup race with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_of_tomorrow "Car of Tomorrow"]] bodystyle and proceeded to rip it a new one was bad. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Winning races in the Great American Motorsport in a Toyota]] is borderline unforgivable. But wrecking Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond was what crossed the line into SmugSnake territory. You just want to punch the jerk in the face.
*** Then again, since NASCAR [[CompletelyMissingThePoint became so horribly sanitized over the years]], maybe Shrub is what we need...
**** Kyle's an antihero.
* Cats. They go from [[EverythingsCuterWithKittens this]] to [[CatsAreMean this]].
** Sometimes they're only playing. When lion cubs bite each other, for example, the bite isn't a real bite.
** Likewise, if your housecat bites or scratches you, and you aren't bleeding all over the place, it didn't mean to actually hurt you.
* In AmericanRevolutionaryWar, Benedict Arnold's name became synonymous with the word "traitor" after switching sides from the American Continental Army to the British Empire, apparently out of anger that he (Arnold) had won a major victory for which Washington took the credit. And they say Shonen is unrealistic...
** He was RewardedAsATraitorDeserves, to a degree (he wasn't outright betrayed). He left another British defector behind to get lynched and was somewhat unpopular when he got to Britain.
** It was Horatio Gates, who sat in his tent, who took credit for winning the Battle of Saratoga, while Arnold rallied the troops and won the battle. Gates' incompetence was shown several years later, when, his troops were soundly defeated by the British -- and Gates not only fled the field almost immediately, but fled 170 miles (on horseback) in three days. I'm drifting.
* France pulled one of these in WW2 when it was Vichy France.
** Of course, a lot of people attribute this to them being pussies. [[TooDumbToLive A lot of people are stupid]].
**Joe Stalin did this after the war, though he [[{{Understatement}} wasn't really too much of a Face to begin with]]...
* Country star Toby Keith pulled the musical equivalent a few years back. His music used to be clean and family-friendly, but for the last several years he's taken on a "bad boy" image and run with it, starting with low-level GettingCrapPastTheRadar and gradually progressing to the point where today, just about any new song from him will either sound like pure [[StrawmanPolitical Straw Conservative propaganda]], be a blatant exercise in RefugeInAudacity, or both.
* There is, of course, Marcus Brutus, whose turn has a [[EtTuBrute Trope]] all it's own.
* Brett Favre, famed Green Bay Packers quarterback, went to their rival team, the Minnesota Vikings after saying he was retired. He lost a lot of respect.
** Likewise, Johnny Damon's signing with the Yankees after helping the Red Sox win a World Series.
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