[[quoteright:310:[[{{Satan}} http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fallen_hero.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:310: Dang, [[OlderThanDirt older than time...]]]]

->''"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."''\\
-- '''Harvey Dent''', a.k.a. [[spoiler:Two-Face]], ''[[DarkKnightTrilogy The Dark Knight]]''

->''Those who have tasted the light of goodness and justice and turned away make the foulest villains.''\\
-- '''Dungeons and Dragons''' Third Edition, ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', about fallen paladins who become Blackguards.

->''It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it.''\\
--'''Kreia to [[spoiler: Atris]], {{Knights of the Old Republic}} II'''

-> ''The road to hell is paved with good intentions.''

Not all {{Villain}}s are born. Some are made, and none are more [[{{Tragedy}} tragic]] than the FallenHero. As the name implies, the FallenHero used to be a [[{{Heroes}} hero]]. They may even have been TheMessiah or another equally optimistic [[ArchetypalCharacter archetype]], up until the moment when they suffered [[TraumaCongaLine something bad enough for them to lose all faith in good and idealism]], be it [[DeadLittleSister the loss of a loved one]], [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished too many good deeds coming back to bite them hard]], [[EtTuBrute betrayal by someone they trusted the most]], [[HangingSeparately too much distrust from those who should have been allies]], or some other faith-shattering event. It might even be a drawn out process of seduction to TheDarkSide or fall from grace.

What they choose to do about it determines what they become:
* If they [[TheStoic retreat into themselves]] and fight evil mercilessly to dull the pain, they become an AntiHero, though if this fight is motivated by vengeance, they may run the risk of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming like the very monsters they have sworn to destroy]].
* If the loss of faith with humanity and/or society and government makes them decide to do something drastic to "fix" it, they become an AntiVillain - most commonly a KnightTemplar or DarkMessiah.
* Alternately, if they just [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jump off the slippery slope]] and embrace chaos and the destruction of humanity as the only solution to their pain, they'll become a straight up [[EvilLaugh cackling]] CardCarryingVillain.

They'll use their not-inconsiderable powers and abilities to do it, too. Often they'll twist [[HealingHands healing powers]] into evil ends, or allow pain to fester by simply denying the use of their powers for good. Where once the BarrierMaiden wanted to heal the world, she'll spread misery to speed its destruction. TheMessiah who wanted to save the world now wants its damnation. TheGunslinger, once wanting to bring justice to the frontier, now wants nothing but vengeance and blood.

Usually revealed in a NotSoDifferent moment. Almost always gets a StartOfDarkness. Christopher Booker's [[TheSevenBasicPlots sixth basic plot]], Tragedy, uses this character arc, with the FallenHero as main character. Compare FaceHeelTurn, TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget. See also FallenAngel.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}'': Judai's HeroicBSOD causes him to become possessed by and transform into the villainous Supreme King Haou, complete with a literal gaggle of Fallen Heroes (evil versions of his normal Elemental Heroes).
** Juudai was not possessed. He *is* Haou. He just believed (wrongly) that only by being evil could he accomplish his goals. He had a minor split personality and it was stated quite clearly by Shou that Haou and Juudai are two sides of the same person, and they needed to become one. And did.
* Nina from ''{{Mai-Otome}}'' takes this to its literal extreme. At first, she was the top student in her class with a promising life ahead of her, and then [[LoveMakesYouEvil went crazy when she thought Arika was trying to steal the man she loved]]. From there, she [[spoiler:accidentally kills one of her best friends when she turns out to be TheMole, and purposefully kills tens of thousands more to prove her devotion]], ending with her reputation in tatters, [[spoiler:him on his deathbed and the memories of the two of them ever having met lost forever]], and a loss in a ([[strike: somewhat]] anticlimactic) [[WallBanger final battle]] that ends with her ''[[SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay falling from outer space]]''.
* Sensui from ''YuYuHakusho''. [[spoiler:Was a Spirit Detective, and a damn effective one, until he saw [[HumansAreBastards the Black Black Club torturing demons for their own amusement]], got his hands on [[PostHistoricalTrauma Chapter Black]], and went [[NietzscheWannabe insane with the desire to get rid of all humanity]].]]
* ''{{Pretear}}''. Along with [[spoiler: the revelation that the Princess of Disaster is the current form of the last Pretear, Takako]], the show also plays with the possibility that [[spoiler: ''anyone'' who becomes the Pretear could become the Princess of Disaster. Which naturally leads Himeno Awayuki, the current Pretear, straight into a HeroicBSOD while she sorts it out.]]
* In GGundam, Gentle Chapman was one of the most admired Fighters ever, but [[spoiler: after old age and an illness caught up with him, he resorted to traps and deceit to win. He paid for it by dying... and was revived as a zombie by the Devil Gundam]].
* There [[AllThereInTheManual are hints]] that {{Gundam 00}}'s BigBad [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark]] is this considering [[spoiler:he was [[strike:[[MythologyGag Amuro Ray in his past life]]]] a Gundam Meister who piloted the very first Gundam in the series]].
* Gale Raregroove, Pumpkin Drew, and Captain Hardner in ''RaveMaster''.
* [[spoiler: Lord Genome]] of TengenToppaGurrenLagann, who was basically Simon's predecessor. [[spoiler: One of them, anyway.]]
* [[spoiler: Griffith]] of ''{{Berserk}}'' pretty much embodies this trope.
* In ''[[PrettySammy Magical Project S]]'', [[spoiler:The third candidate, Romio]] was a former magical girl [[spoiler:from Earth]], but she was unable to maintain the Good-Evil Balance. Because of this, she becomes bent on destroying Earth.
* In ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', [[spoiler:Dios]] aka Akio shows what happens when TheWhitePrince turns into one of these.
* The WhenTheyCry series has [[spoiler:Bernkastel]]. When [[spoiler:Rika]] finally manages to achieve a happy ending in HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi, that's great for her - the one [[spoiler:Rika]] out of thousands of alternate [[spoiler:Rikas]] to survive. However, [[spoiler:all of the alternate Rikas who died didn't just stay dead. Instead, they came together to become Bernkastel, the Witch of Miracles, who appears to be becoming the BigBad of UminekoNoNakuKoroNi]].
* ''GaReiZero'': Yomi [[MemeticMutation ;_;]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* The Long Halloween, the series that inspired Nolan when he was writing the script for TheDarkKnight, has a Harvey Dent that worked alongside {{Batman}} and Commissioner Gordon. [[spoiler:We later find out that Harvey may not have even been responsible for some of the deaths, it may have been his wife trying to end all the terror that was happening and trying to get Harvey to come back. A closer inspection reveals plot holes with this revelation, and it's vague whether she did it or was just crazy.]] This is only one version of Two-Face's origin, but all the ones worth mentioning show him as working with Batman before turning into Two-Face.
* Both Sinestro, and later his {{Arch Enemy}} Hal Jordan are {{Green Lantern}} Corps members who turned evil. Sinestro wanted to enforce order, so became a KnightTemplar dictator of his home planet Korugar. Years later, after a seeing his home city nuked, among other things, led Hal to FreakOut and destroy the Green Lantern Corps and even try to remake the universe. Hal was later [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] into being possessed the the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}} of fear itself, and Sinestro was influenced by a demon telling Sinestro a propechy that Korugar would destroy itself if order wasn't enforced.
* ''AstroCity'' has El Hombre, an {{Expy}} {{Batman}} from Los Angeles. Though he became prominent in his super-hero career, he became upset at his lack of respect from the populace and his love interest's marriage to someone else. [[spoiler:He then hired a super-villain to build a robot to attack the city so he could stop it in a high-profile fight. He was betrayed by the villain, and when it was later revealed that El Hombre commissioned the attack, he became a wanted fugitive and disappeared into his civilian identity.]]
* ''{{Shakara}}'' - the BigBad responsible for most of the destruction has recently been revealed to be [[spoiler:Cinnibar Brenneka]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* [[StarWars Anakin Skywalker]], who got three whole movies of StartOfDarkness.
** Hell, Star Wars tends to use this one so frequently, it should get a award of some kind. Exar Kun, Ullic Qel-Droma, Revan and Malak, Vader, and even Luke fell down this rabbit hole more than once,and while he crawled out [[spoiler: his nephew sure didn't]]. And THOSE are just the ones making "Sith Lord" status!
* [[spoiler:Harvey Dent]] in ''TheDarkKnight'' definitely counts, after he [[spoiler:becomes Two-Face]]. Formerly idealistic, he grows steadily more cynical in the face of [[spoiler:the Joker's crimes, and after the Joker's HannibalLecture turns into a NietzscheWannabe who believes that Chance is the only fair law.]]
* Tai Lung of ''KungFuPanda'' fits this. [[spoiler:He only wanted to make his master proud, but because his master wasn't able to appreciate his hard work, he became enraged. Prior to betraying Shifu and Oogway, he was very much [[WellDoneSonGuy the loyal, dutiful, trustworthy student]], and if he exhibited darkness and seemed a little too focused on power, nowhere is it indicated he didn't intend to use the Dragon Scroll to become a hero (or AntiHero) and defend the Valley of Peace with it - at least [[EtTuBrute before his masters turned on him]].]]
* [[spoiler: Kirsty Cotton]] in the ''{{Hellraiser}}'' franchise.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Saruman in ''TheLordOfTheRings''.
** Almost every villain or tragic figure is this, Sauron is a fallen Maiar, his master Melkor/Morgoth was once the greatest of Valar. Arguably Fëanor and his sons, Túrin, the other three wizards, and a lot of other people. Tolkien used this trope a lot.
*** The other ''two'' wizards. Radagast didn't really ''fall,'' it was more a case of turning hippy and talking to trees. (And in some of Tolkien's unpublished notes, there are hints that healing damage to the natural environment ''was'' Radagast's mission all along.)
****[[GoodOmens Sauntered vaguely downwards, then?]]
*** Not even that, Radagast never turned, he was just duped into helping lure Gandalf into a trap because he trusted Saruman and thought he was still good, the Blue wizards it's never mentioned what happened to, just that they went to battle Sauron's forces in the East, after that no one knows what happened to them.
* [[{{Shakespeare}} Shakespeare's]] MacBeth.
* In the ''{{Belgariad}}'', Zedar, the {{Dragon}}, used to be Belzedar, one of Belgarath's sworn brothers and a servant of the god Aldur. When Torak, the BigBad of the series, struck Aldur and store the Orb, Zedar headed out to confront him... and found himself overwhelmed by Torak's power. Faced with TheDarkSide, he gave into his barely-suppressed lust for power and swore fealty to Torak.
* Berserker, [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep dubbed "Black Knight"]] in ''FateZero'', [[spoiler: revealed in the final battle (by KingArthur ''[[GenderBender herself]]'', no less) to be Lancelot]].
* Gerald Tarrant[[spoiler:/The Hunter]] in the ''Coldfire'' trilogy. Sorcerer, philosopher, and Prophet of the One God, until the religion he had created excommunicated him, at which point he killed his wife and children as part of a bargain with Dark Powers.
* In the ''Dilvish, the Damned'' stories by Roger Zelazny, it's stated that the BigBad Jelerak used to be good, many hundreds of years ago. But he is a CompleteMonster now, having long ago crossed the MoralEventHorizon.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Linderman on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' is a prime example. His low key evil approach is made all the more monstrous when viewers realize that, having the ability to heal most injuries, he chooses to have people killed, kidnapped, and crippled instead.
** A better example is Season 2's BigBad, Adam Monroe. He is introduced as Takezo Kensei, the ''literal'' hero of legend. Despite trouncing all the fantastic tales attributed to him in one fell swoop, Kensei proves himself a true hero many times over during his time with Hiro - only to do a FaceHeelTurn when Hiro steals away the woman he loves right out from under his nose. Four hundred years later, his heartbreak has driven him to seek a 'second chance' by [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds wiping out 93% the world's population.]]
* Willow of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' became the CardCarryingVillain version of this trope after witnessing [[spoiler:the death of her girlfriend]]. Luckily, the transition was temporary.
** Faith also took the CardCarryingVillain route after accidentally killing a human, also temporary-ish.
* Lex Luthor from ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' is a great example. He started off as nothing more than a good samaritan friend to Clark Kent. As time went on, he became nastier and more cynical at the world, and became possibly Clark's worst enemy. However---how long would the show actually last if Luthor was kept a good guy throughout the entire show?
*In the french fantasy dramedy Kameloth, the Knight Lancelot start out as the noble and charismatic heros we expect him to be but he has always be ideologically opposed to the libertarian policy of Arthur (who he consider a proof of weakness) and consider himself more worthy of the holy mission given to his king. after the spoofed-legend-opposed-got-away-with-Genievre-part he [[spoiler:openly rebel against Kameloth's order and became the tool of a dark sorcerer named Melangeant who present himself as the chessmastering ''answer of the gods'' to Arthur's failure in his mission]]
* Some of the best episodes of {{Scrubs}} deal with this happening to Dr. Cox. While the fall is temporary, the sight of the normally caustic and extremely confident physician in tears is very heartrending, to say the least.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mythology ]]

* Many depictions of {{Satan}} (originally God's torch-bearer "[[RevolutionaryGirlUtena The Morning Star]]" or ''Lucifer'') as evil show him as a fallen angel. This is OlderThanFeudalism, as the popular depiction has roots in the 2000+ year old source material.
** A very common misconception. In the Bible, Satan and Lucifer are never presented as being the same being. Satan is apparently on speaking terms with Yahweh, and the name "Lucifer" appears only twice in the text: once in Isaiah, in reference to a Babylonian king whom the passage was condemning, and once in Revelations, in reference to...Jesus!
** Yes they are! Lucifer and Satan are the same being. Lucifer was his first name before he decided to revolt and was thrown down from heaven with a third of the angels (Angels who went with him).
** Is this not an issue of interpretation? Since the source material has been translated and (possibly)altered hundred of times, the original meaning may very well has been lost in the annals of history, especially considering that the priests and monks who did the translating of the bible often interpreted the old translation in a way that they wanted to.
** Which is especially strange, since there are multiple references to "falling like lightning". Of course, that could be a reference to how fast God can topple an empire.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]

* Hulk Hogan's infamous FaceHeelTurn and transformation into Hollywood Hogan in {{WCW}}'s Bash at the Beach was born of the realization that he was "old news," and that the fans he had lived his whole life to please weren't really interested in him anymore. Which just couldn't stand, after all; he's Hulk Freaking Hogan, the biggest icon in wrestling! Maybe the fans didn't ''deserve'' to cheer for him! Maybe they deserved to have him and his buddies from [[{{WWE}} up north]] destroy everything about WCW that they enjoy instead!
* Similarly, Chris Jericho's recent {{WWE}} FaceHeelTurn was fueled by the fans' continued cheering for Shawn Michaels -- who was not only a lying, cheating hypocrite, but was unrepentant for having retired the great Ric Flair. In Jericho's mind, it's not him that turned heel; it's the fans.
** Subverted with Bret Hart in 1997, who turned only against the American wrestling fans, but was still considered a hero in the other territories.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has an entire race of these, the Chaos Space Marines. Dark Eldar would qualify, if they'd been remotely heroic ''before'' their fall.
** A clarification: The Dark Eldar survived the fall by being so virtuous and pure that they were immune to being eaten by daemons, but anybody who was raised in a pleasure-seeking cult that sacrifices sentient beings just for the thrill is pretty much automatically disqualified from heroism.
** The Dark Eldar actually have an army unit composed entirely of newly-minted Fallen Heroes, if the implications in 3rd edition are to be believed. This unit would be the Incubi: supposedly, they were once Eldar Striking Scorpions that have left their shrine for one reason or another. The first Phoenix lord of the Striking Scorpions, Arrha, was known to have abandoned his shrine in order to follow some being through a Webway portal while in Dark Eldar territory, potentially making him the first Incubi.
*** The Eldar book describes him as "burn[ing] with the dark light of Chaos", so if he isn't an Incubus, he's somethign ''worse''.
* Yu-Gi-Oh gives us the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Gigobyte Gigobyte]]/[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Gagagigo Gagagigo]]/[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Giga_Gagagigo Giga Gagagigo]]/[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Gogiga_Gagagigo Gogiga Gagagigo]] cards, which describe a young troublemaker who has a HeelFaceTurn upon having his [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/My_Body_as_a_Shield life saved]], and in trying to gain enough power to help repay his debt, he acquires [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Level_Conversion_Lab cybernetic upgrade]] which eventually eats at his soul and drive him mad. It's a suprisingly detailed story told out not only in the flavor text of his own cards, but in illustrations for other cards that otherwise have nothing to do with him. It's only natural that his story gets played out in one of the video games.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* {{Shakespeare}} is a fan of these-- both {{Macbeth}} and {{Othello}} get talked into a FaceHeelTurn.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* A major plot-point in [[SquareEnix Squaresoft's]] ''LiveALive''. A classic [[spoiler:KnightInShiningArmor ]]is rapidly [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] by being tricked into [[spoiler:slaying the king, finding out that his best friend has betrayed him, and finally realizing that the princess he's been trying to save is actually in love with said friend. ]] He becomes the "Demon King", Odio, who has been a recurring BigBad for the heroes of our world to fight, from the Stone Age to the far future. The [[AnAesop aesop]], which somehow manages to avoid being {{Anvilicious}}, is that anyone can be a BigBad - [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil as long as they hold enough hatred]]...
* In ''{{Overlord}}'', your enemies are seven {{Fallen Hero}}es who represent the SevenDeadlySins: Melvin Underbelly the halfing (gluttony), Oberon the elf (sloth), Goldo the dwarf (greed), Sir William the paladin (lust), Jewel the thief (envy), Kahn the warrior (wrath), and the Wizard (pride).
** A more literal example would be [[spoiler:the title character, who was originally a hero who fought alongside the other heroes, but fell from a great distance and left for dead by his companions. As part of a XanatosGambit by the old Overlord the main character was eventually revived by the minions and given the position of Overlord as well as command of the minions.]]
** In the sequel [[spoiler:Queen Fay]] becomes a FallenHero after her HeroicSacrifice. [[spoiler:Florian may also be one although it's unclear if he was ever truly a hero.]]
--->'''[[spoiler:Rose]]''': Power, it always corrupts.
--->'''Gnarl''': Hah, that's half the fun!
* Sargeras in ''{{Warcraft}}'' originally fought demons for millenia, but eventually [[HeroicBSOD fell into thinking it was no help and actually chaos was the only real solution to everything]]. Just to signify what this meant, [[EvilMakeover his bronze skin split apart, revealing a new body of fire and brimstone]].
** Similiarly, the human prince and Paladin Arthas eventually resorted to the cursed blade Frostmourne to slay the demon that was (apparently) behind the plague that turned people into the undead. As a result, it took his soul and turned him into a Deathknight loyal to the Lich King (who, of course, [[MagnificentBastard had all that planned from the start]]).
*** Then there's the Death Knights that followed him, which basically constitute entire Orders of [[FallenHero Fallen Heroes.]]. A force of them in ''Wrath of the Lich King'' are sent to wreak havoc in Norther Lordaeron... All of which seems to be little more than a [[spoiler:ploy to lure out Tirion Fordring, one the few living beings that could even be consider anything close to a threat to the Lich King. They were just a diversion, and as a result of a climactic battle in which Tirion reveals the truth of their betrayal and ultimate expendability]] pull a HeelFaceTurn. The player plays through this entire sequence, including all the irredeemable evil goodness inherent therein.
** And the night elf Illidan, trying to fight fire with fire (or demons with demon magic) eventually became a semi-demon himself.
** In fact, it would be easier to list the WarCraft series villains that ''didn't'' start this way.
*** It's a list consisting of all of two races: the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nathrezim]] and the [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]]. Both also played major roles in the corruption of some of the other villains of the franchise.
*** Also Gul'dan from ''Warcraft II'', who doesn't have any kind of excuse for being one of the biggest mortal douchebags in the franchise history.
** ''The Frozen Throne'' shows how the arrogant-but-decent high eleves turn into the evil, demon-following blood elves they are in ''WorldOfWarcraft''.
*** At least, the ones who stayed loyal to Kael'thas after his shift from WellIntentionedExtremist to Illidan's [[TheDragon Dragon]] to Kil'jaeden's [[TheRenfield Renfield]].
* And, of course [[spoiler:Sarah Kerrigan]] in ''StarCraft''. Though she didn't "fall" so much as "was thrown," and once she got her free will back, she decided she liked being evil.
* Ace Hardlight from the fourth RatchetAndClank game. Ace was once a great hero before being kidnapped and forced to participate in [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Gleeman Vox's]] deadly gameshow ''Dreadzone''. Ace eventually became seduced by the thrills and infamy of the tournament, and became the deadliest contestant on the show-and TheDragon to BigBad Vox.
--->'''Clank:''' I do not understand. What sort of hero would kill other heroes for money?
--->'''Hardlight: '''Not money, tin man. ''Fun.''
* Tons of these in ''FinalFantasy'' games.
** Wiegraf in ''FinalFantasyTactics''.
** Sephiroth in ''FinalFantasyVII''.
** Seymour in ''FinalFantasyX''. [[spoiler: Subverted in that it turns out he was never a "hero" in the first place.]]
** Jecht, also in ''FinalFantasyX.''
** Garland in the first one. He was the greatest of the king's knights, until Sara rejected him.
* Big Boss of ''MetalGearSolid'' was originally a quirky, cheerful, affectionate, paternal sort of man, who ends up going through a major BreakTheCutie routine in ''Snake Eater'' and ''Portable Ops.'' He [[spoiler:then ends up creating The Patriots with other "fallen heroes" Major Zero, Sigint (a.k.a. DARPA Chief Donald Anderson), and Para-Medic (aka, Dr Clark, the head of the Les Enfants Terribles project and the one who turned Grey Fox into the Cyborg Ninja), along with [[MagnificentBastard Ocelot]] and EVA]] and creating Outer Heaven and Zanzibarland to plunge the world into eternal war before meeting his end at the hands of his "son" Solid Snake, which was prophesized by The Sorrow and Elisa.
** Then ''MetalGearSolid 4'' turns everything on its head with the revelation that [[spoiler: Big Boss was ''always a good guy''.]] In fact, [=MGS3=] and Portable Ops were created specifically so that the big, final reveal of MGS4 wouldn't come completely out of left field.
* ''MassEffect's'' Saren Arterius serves as a FallenHero KnightTemplar, the cause of whose fall is a major plot point for the game.
** Who just happens to be a racist, with "lots of practice" in killing unarmed civilians
* [[spoiler:Thorndyke]] in ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'', a LawfulGood KnightInShiningArmor goes this route [[spoiler:in the Demon Path, initially submitting to The Main Character in order to save his son.]] As time goes on, he is forced to do worse and worse things until [[spoiler:he is tricked into believing he killed his own son, turning him into an AxCrazy [[TheBerserker Berserker]]. When he later sees that his son is alive, [[TheDragon Kanan]] later convinces him that he never went mad and killed because he truly enjoyed it, finally breaking him.]]
** Of course, [[spoiler:if we're talking Demon Path, Revya is possibly the biggest Fallen Hero of them all.]]
* [[spoiler:Mithos (second type), Kratos and Yuan (both first type, one in service of Mithos and the other one opposing him)]] from ''TalesOfSymphonia''.
* From the {{Lunar}} series, [[spoiler:Ghaleon qualifies quite well for this trope, having been known as one of the Four Heroes of legend, until the Goddess Althena (whom he was quite possibly in love with) sacrificed herself, along with Dragonmaster Dyne (his best friend) giving up all his power, so that Althena could be reborn as a human being (Luna). Being unable to understand why they had done such a thing, Ghaleon began formulating his plans, culminating in returning Luna to her Goddess state (albeit under his control) and giving him the means to become a God himself. Heck, his entire purpose in ''Lunar2'' turns out to be redemption for this, though the player doesn't learn this until right at the end of the game.]]
* Jon Irenicus from BaldursGate II counts. Prior to his exile from [[spoiler: Sulldanesselar]] he was an upstanding citizen and powerful mage. Pride was his downfall; he was exiled and [[spoiler: stripped of his soul]] for using his power to try and achieve godhood.
* SkiesOfArcadia features Ramirez, TheDragon to [[BigBad Lord Galcian]]. He's described as having once been pretty similar to Vyse - artistic, kind-hearted, loyal... unfortunately, he was [[RaisedByWolves raised in near-isolation by the most arrogant culture in the game]] and coming into contact with the meaner parts of Arcadia proved a little much for him.
* ''{{Disgaea 3}}'' has an example of its own [[spoiler:in Super Hero Aurum. He originally was a hero who fought some of the greatest villains his world has ever known, but the more he fought, the further he fell towards obscurity, which he feared more than anything else. He needed to relish in being known as a hero, so he began doing worse things over the years, up to and including killing a nice guy Overlord and raising his son to be a general asshole Overlord just so he could be a hero again. As Sapphire put it, he eventually "ignored being the hero".]]
* Archer in FateStayNight. He gets to have ''all'' of the above ways of breaking him. Technically, he still believes his ideal is correct, he just realizes it's way bloodier than he thought it would be and would rather not exist than be forced to continue with it. He pulls off a pretty impressive BatmanGambit to do so.
* Beldr from DevilSurvivor is Baldr, god of light and beauty from NorseMythology. After he was traped in underworld since a giantess refuse to weep for him, he determine to spread lament on Earth until everything cry.
**Er, might wanna check your tenses on that sentence, my friend...
* Malin Keshar from ''BattleForWesnoth'' attempted to use necromancy to defend his home village of Parthyn. However, after being rejected by his own people due to the bad reputation that necromancy has, he becomes the apprentice of Darken Volk, and begins to despise everyone more and more until he's a full-blown VillainProtagonist.
* Tempest Hawker from SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration was once member of TheFederation Agressor unit. After [[DeadLittleSister loss his wife and daughter]] in Hope incident, he will do anything to get revenge on Earth Federation.
* Boy, does ViewtifulJoe have these...
** In the first game [[spoiler: ''Captain Blue'' is the one masterminding to escape from Movieland to take over the real world, having lost his stride ''twice'', in the real world, he was hailed as revolutionary director, having created several good movies, but then [[{{FallenCreator}} he lost all that]], he just wanted to create more heroes, and he was then somehow sucked into one of his films, and he lived all the great adventures he wanted, but then he figured something out, the world was TooGoodTooLast, he started to want revenge against the people of the human world]]. Thankfully, he got some sense knocked into him.
** May not count, but the second game gives us [[spoiler: Jet Black, who wanted to become a film maker, to show his son what a true hero was, then he found the [[{{ArtifactOfDoom}} Black Film]], which started to eat at his desires, eventually twisting his desire to make a film about heroes, to ''[[{{BecomingTheMask}} actually wanting to be the hero]]'', and was going to take over the world]]. Again, he got some sense knocked into him.
*The World Corp storyline in TheNamelessMod allows you to be this.
* Mathias Cronqvist, friend to [[{{Castlevania}} Leon Belmont]], brilliant strategist, noble Crusader,[[spoiler: and genius alchemist]]. The death of his wife Elizabetha shattered his faith in God and he became obssessed with obtaining immortality so that he could curse God forever. And thus was [[spoiler: Dracula]] born.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Smilling Man from TheCrossoverlord. Once a greates hero of his universe, after death of his beloved wife he turned into CompleteMonster and MultiversalConqueror.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The Justice Lords from ''JusticeLeague'', following the death of their Flash, became {{Knight Templar}}s and transformed their earth into a metahuman-ruled {{dystopia}} where dissidents and supervillains were lobotomized. The Superman quote above from the episode "A Better World" is given just before he crosses the line and kills Luthor, who was responsible for Flash's death, with his heat-vision.
* Hector Sinestro in ''MonsterAllergy''.
* Morgana in ''WinxClub'' until her HeelFaceTurn.
* Nerissa in ''{{WITCH}}''.
* Blackarachnia of ''TransformersAnimated''. Getting abandoned on a hostile planet and suffering nasty TransformationTrauma involving a GiantSpider or twenty would make ''anyone'' a little bitter.
** Not to mention Wasp of the same series, who after being falsely accused of being a traitor, spends over fifty years in a prison and goes insane. [[TheWoobie Poor]] [[TheChewToy guy]].
***That's not to say he was a decent guy. As Bulkhead put it, "You may not have been a traitor, but you were never a good bot."
* DannyPhantom finds this as his [[BadFuture future]]. He did some pretty disturbing things in that future, too including murdering his ''human self'' along with probably hundreds of others and millions in property damages... at least. Quite shocking, given the otherwise childish, campy tone of the series. Danny, upon seeing this is [[FutureMeScaresMe extremely horrified by his actions]].
* Shego in ''KimPossible'' according to her backstory.

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