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Adaptational Nice Guy / Live-Action Films

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Examples of Adaptational Nice Guy in live-action films.

  • In The Amazing Spider-Man, Flash is a much nicer guy than in the comics and the previous films. When Uncle Ben dies, Peter goes sullen and violent in his grief, and when he gets violent at Flash, Flash just takes it and then asks, "Feels good, doesn't it?", implying that he has gone through something similar.
  • Margaret's parents, in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. were not originally bad, but they're nicer in the film. Margaret's mother Barbara benefits from some Adaptational Expansion and is more doting, and her father is concerned about Barbara's well-being rather than being angry at her for sending a card to her parents. Margaret herself is also markedly kinder. In both book and film she takes after Nancy and treats Laura, a girl who's gone through precocious puberty, very poorly only to be called out on it and have a Heel Realization. Book Margaret soon realizes that Nancy tends to lie but remains in her clique. Film Margaret remains friendly with Nancy, but doesn't seem to be as close anymore, and actually makes an overture of friendship towards Laura.
  • Bad Moon: Pre-werewolf bite Ted. In the book, he made his girlfriend Marjorie abandon her career as a photojournalist after they got together, but in the film, they both maintain careers throughout their relationship.
  • Catwoman gets this in The Batman (2022). In the comics and previous films Selina is more a self-orientated Femme Fatale, while she does love Bruce that often doesn't stop her putting her (often selfish) agenda above him and is frequently depicted as a neutral character. In the 2022 film, Selina is more selfless right off the bat, as she just wants to look after her best friend Canon Foreigner Annika whom is the prime reason she steals money in the first place. Unlike in other Batman media she doesn't emotionally manipulate or betray Bruce in this version, only wanting him to leave Gotham with her, for the sake of his own health and sanity.
  • Zigzagged with the Beast in Beauty and the Beast (2017). On one hand, his animated portrayal imprisoned Maurice as soon as he found the old inventor at the fireplace, while this version of the Beast leaves the man alone until he tries to steal a rose. On the other hand, in this version it's the servants who give Belle a room, rather than the master.
  • Bram Stoker's Dracula: The titular Count receives a sympathetic backstory as a Fallen Hero that defended Christianity from Ottoman invaders and after his wife committed suicide following false news of his death, he became incensed that she was damned to Hell that he rose as a vampire to avenge her. Despite still being the Big Bad, he is given some positive qualities (like genuinely loving Mina Harker, his wife's reincarnation) whereas the original Dracula from the books never had any beyond his superficial polite veneer. In addition, his supposed plan to spread vampirism to England is completely omitted in the movie (though to be fair, this is never outright confirmed in the book).
  • Child's Play (2019): Instead of a serial killer who has his soul trapped in a doll and wanting a new human body, Chucky is an A.I. who genuinely wants to be friends with Andy. Unfortunately, a disgruntled factory worker shut off his safety protocol and Chucky becomes violently attached to the boy.
  • DC Extended Universe:
    • Suicide Squad (2016):
      • While he posed as an anti-hero early on, the comic book Deadshot's mostly motivated by nihilism and money. However, the film's Floyd Lawton, while still nihilistic, avoids hurting women and children, even going after other criminals.
      • While he enjoys conflict, Captain Boomerang isn't actively provoking people like he does in the comics. The film also downplays his racism, misogyny, and homophobia, which were frequent sources of tension in the original series — However, the racism and misogyny was meant to be included in the form of his Stalker with a Crush fixation on Katana, it just got cut from the movie.
    • Zack Snyder's Justice League:
      • Compared to the incarnation in Justice League (2017), Steppenwolf is doing what he's doing to be allowed to return home after going against Darkseid and doesn't go out of his way to kill people unlike the 2017 version, which seemed to be invading and killing people For the Evulz.
      • Aquaman is more sympathetic to Cyborg's suffering.
    • SHAZAM! (2019):
      • Though heavily inspired by the controversial Shazam! (2012) reboot of the character, this version of Billy Batson is far less of a jerk. He still has a chip on his shoulder and is quite sarcastic, but it's greatly toned down this time.
      • Likewise, Freddy isn't a lying con artist like he was in the New 52 comics.
    • Birds of Prey (2020):
    • The Suicide Squad:
      • Bloodsport in the comics is an unapologetic Psycho for Hire who’d happily use an innocent woman as a Human Shield against Superman. In the film, he’s an Anti-Hero who becomes a lot nicer thanks to Morality Pet Ratcatcher II’s influence and is even capable of outright heroism by the end of the movie.
      • Ratcatcher in the comics is a craven lunatic who tries to plague Gotham with his rodent horde. In the film he’s a loving father who taught his daughter/successor Cleo that every creature has a purpose, even the lowest and filthiest form of life.
      • Polka-Dot Man is usually presented as a Boisterous Weakling or ridiculous Smug Snake in the comics, certainly not The Woobie and unsung hero he is in the film.
      • Peacemaker, while still a psychotic Knight Templar vigilante like he is in the comics, is given humanising traits in the film. Case in point, when forced as The Mole to try and kill Ratcatcher II after having just killed Rick Flag to prevent him from revealing America’s involvement in Project Starfish, Peacemaker shows visible regret, reluctance and internal conflict especially when he’s about to shoot Cleo. Comic Peacemaker, in contrast, does not regret any of the atrocities he commits, as in his warped mind it is always 100 percent justified.
    • The title character of Black Adam (2022) is still a brutal, murderous Anti-Hero, but the film omits the part of his backstory where he murdered his own nephew to steal the power of Shazam, with the power having instead been willingly granted to him by his son.
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
    • In the books, the titular wimpy kid is a huge Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist. In the movies, many of his Kick the Dog moments are removed and others are made more justified by the circumstances. Because of this, Greg's rivals (Patty, Chirag) act worse in order to make Greg's actions more understandable.
    • Greg's older brother Rodrick was a Big Brother Bully in the books, in the movie, he still has shades of this, but after going through some Character Development in the later movies, their relationship became a lot more harmonic.
    • Holly Hills is a borderline example. In the books, she's only seen from afar, since Greg was never able to directly talk to her, but she generally seems like she preferred her own social circle, only seen interacting with Greg once and that backfired horribly. In the movies, she's a lot more social, bordering on All-Loving Hero, and actually returns Greg's affections.
  • The Door into Summer depicts Professor Junnosuke Toi as an eccentric but well-meaning scientist eagerly helping the protagonist Soichiro Takakura to return to his own time of 1995 in order to close a Stable Time Loop, whereas his literary counterpart Dr. Hubert Twitchell from the original Heinlein novel is a bitter drunk who needs to be goaded into sending Daniel Boone Davis back to 1970.
  • In Elektra, Stick is a nicer, more caring person than the cynical hustler who put Matt through Hell while training him.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's (2023): In the games, the ghost children possessing the animatronics are a massive irreversible case of He Who Fights Monsters who will (attempt to) kill any adult they encounter. Here they're far more Affably Evil and it's indicated that they only kill bad guys unless they're specifically being influenced by other villains.
  • Forrest Gump changes the crass, outspoken and overall abrasive protagonist (for example, in the novel Forrest repeatedly refers to The Vietnam War as "a bunch of shit", farts in public, and uses racial epithets toward both blacks and Asians) to a Kindhearted Simpleton who shows compassion to minorities well ahead of his time.
  • Gerald's Game has a few of these compared to the book.
    • Gerald himself gets a fair bit. Like the book he's still a useless husband with a creepy rapey bondage fetish who initially doesn't listen to his wife Jessie's pleas to unlock her cuffs, but unlike the book he doesn't pull an Attempted Rape on her and the heart attack is mainly a result of the viagra he took, rather than a combination of that and Jessie kicking him to defend herself like in the book. Gerald is also portrayed as a caring husband prior to the bondage while in the book from what Jessie reveals in her thoughts he was just a petty jerkass all round.
    • Jessie's mother Sally in the book was cold and neglectful to her daughter with Jessie remembering the only time she showed real care was when she was a teenager and her mother came into her room to throw a bra on the bed and leave. In the movie Sally is a tradional caring mother who was only concenred (rightly) about how much her husband was spoiling their daughter and isn't portrayed as cold or unloving.
    • Raymond Andrew Joubert aka Moonlight Man or Space Cowboy gets this to a degree. While still a depraved necrophilic and cannibalistc murderer, the film omits the details about him raping young boys and in the ending where Jessie confronts him in court is tweaked as rather than him mocking her sadistically he's instead played off as being legitimately happy to see her, indicating that he is just mentally ill and has a child-like personality, rather outright evil like in the novel.
    • Jessie herself is nicer and more altruistic in the film, while in the book she was too troubled herself to give heed to others. In the film Jessie takes pity on the wild dog Prince and feeds him with rich meat unike the book where she disliked the dog even before she realised she was trapped and in the ending Jessie becomes a therapist for kids who have suffered sexual abuse like her, which didn't happen in the book.
  • Harry Potter:
    • Our main character, Harry himself, is nicer — more of a Vanilla Protagonist — than his book counterpart. Harry is the quietest of his trio of friends. While he can be a judgy prat in his head, he's less likely to voice these thoughts. In the switch from book to film, his thoughts get cut. We're left with just Harry's more tempered, exterior self. The change is outlined by one analysis thusly:
      Quinn Curio: [A lot of it] has more to do with Harry's thoughts and opinions — a thing the movie does not narrate to us. These two characters make all the same decisions, and yet they come off as really different. [...] The way I would summarize the change between book Harry and movie Harry is the temperature has been lowered. This isn't spicy Harry; he's at most a little zesty. He is overall a smooth Harry. The removal of Harry's internal dialogue makes him seem less judgmental and angry. When how much he resents or is disgusted by other people is left to your imagination, his temptation to do bad things becomes a little more surprising. As a result, he's a character whose calmer, meeker, and has more of a sweetness about him.
    • Hermione can be condescending and stubborn towards other people in the books. Whenever one of her classmates disagrees with her, she treats them as ignorant. She also stubbornly holds on to her own opinions, even after being proved wrong. A good example is her devotion to free all the Hogwarts House Elves. No matter how many people (including several House Elves themselves) tell her they like working for others, she keeps trying to free them. These negative traits are largely absent from the films.
    • Severus Snape has far more humanising moments in the films, while in the books (at least until we hear his full story) he's largely a cartoonish Sadist Teacher. For example, in the book when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, he immediately leaps on it as an opportunity to persecute him. In the film he displays a much more reasonable and measured approach, taking no firm stance on the matter.
    • Downplayed with Uncle Vernon, who is still unpleasant, but is portrayed in a more humorous light, possibly due to Richard Griffiths' natural comedic approaches. The films suggest he gave Dudley's second bedroom to Harry out of goodwill (in the books it was to try and outwit Hogwarts as the letter they send Harry includes "the cupboard under the stairs" in the address) and also omit some of his more unpleasant moments, such as openly hoping that Harry will suffer the death penalty for his unauthorised use of the Patronus charm.
    • In the books Oliver Wood captains his Quidditch team like a Martinet, even at the expense of their safety and comfort. In the films he's simply a friendly and supportive Reasonable Authority Figure.
    • There are a few of these in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
      • In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Sr. has been described as a very stern and serious man, who, in his heyday as head of magical law enforcement, was known for his merciless approach towards Death Eaters and his ceaseless ambition. He would even sentence his own son to life imprisonment to further his career. In the film version, he comes over as a slightly socially awkward but amicable man, who even engages in a friendly conversation with Harry after the latter succeeds at the Second Triwizard Task. Film Barty is also shown to be emotionally devastated when his son is revealed to be a Death Eather, while his book counterpart shows nothing but contempt and hatred for him.
      • Amos Diggory, a boastful and impolite man in the books, portrayed as much more quiet and amicable; he does not boast about Cedric in any way and when he meets Harry, Amos is very pleased and shakes his hand happily, never once giving Harry a hard time.
      • A minor one for Draco and his Slytherin crew. In the book they talk disrespectfully throughout Dumbledore's eulogy for Cedric. In the filmnote , they're just as silent and solemn as everyone else.
    • Fleur's initial persona in the books is coming across as haughty and rude, before she Took a Level in Kindness when Harry tried to save her sister in the Second Task. And even when she stays at the Burrow before her wedding to Bill, she openly complains about how boring it is. In the film she just comes across as a bit aloof before thanking Harry, and the scenes at the Burrow are removed. Additionally the films cut out her being part Veela and using her powers to seduce a couple of the boys.
    • Similar to Snape, several of the more morally questionable acts of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour aren't shown in the films. In the books, it is frequently said Scrimgeour acts ruthlessly to give the populace the illusion the Ministry is successful in the fight against the Death Eaters. He also butts heads with Harry on several occasions, desiring him to become the Ministry's poster child, which Harry disagrees with. In the films, the above is never brought up and the only time he's seen interacting with Harry is when he hands over Dumbledore's will. This conversation also doesn't almost escalate into a fight, as it does in the books.
    • Cornelius Fudge's role in the films hasn't exactly changed, but he doesn't appear to be as harsh as in the books due to many scenes involving him being altered or removed. His role in the Goblet of Fire film merely boils down to him not wanting to cancel the Triwizard Tournament so people won't see him as a coward, and his conflict with Harry and Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix is toned down due to several interactions with them not being shown.
    • Sirius Black counts as this in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix where he shows Harry concern and even comforts him after seeing Voldemort's snake Nagini attack Arthur Weasley, while in the book there are a few times where he doesn't show Harry concern.
    • The centaurs in the film version of Order of the Phoenix leave Harry and Hermione alone after having captured Umbridge. In the book, they openly discuss killing them, because of their disdain of wizardkind.
    • Voldemort, believe it or not, actually gets a relative amount of this compared to his book version. While undoubtedly still a racist psychopathic Evil Sorcerer tyrant snake man, in the books Voldy was a textbook Bad Boss towards his loyal Death Eaters giving them the Cruciatus Curse whenever they failed or disappointed him. The films omit these abusive moments with Voldemort being far more amicable to his followers e.g the bit where he has a cruel Kick the Dog to Lucius while taking his wand is omitted. In the eighth movie Voldemort even gives Draco a hug (or at least something approximating a hug◊) when the latter comes back to his side after Harry "dies", far more compassion than his literary version is capable of.
  • Jurassic Park (1993) portrays John Hammond as a kind man who genuinely wants to create something amazing for the world, who tragically gets several people killed due to underestimating the danger posed by the dinosaurs and making some unwise decisions. Contrast this to the book, where he is portrayed in a much more negative light, being only in it for profit and willfully negligent to save money. Being so much nicer in the movie, he was also spared the grisly fate he had in the book.
  • In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Master Pakku is a sexist prick who initially refuses to teach Katara water bending and only warms up when it turns out Katara is his ex-fiancée's granddaughter. In The Last Airbender, Master Pakku immediately accepts both Aang and Katara as his students without any hesitation.
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen replaced the original Invisible Man — a serial rapist and murderer, which only differs from Wells' original novel character in that the first is confirmed rather than implied — with a burglar who'd stolen some of the first Invisible Man's potion, making this also a case of Decomposite Character.
  • The Lord of the Rings:
    • A significant case of this is given to Boromir in The Fellowship of the Ring. In the book Tolkien wrote Boromir to reflect the worser qualities of mankind compared to Aragon who represents the good qualities, so while noble and righteous Boromir is distinctly impatient, harsh, insular and thinks little of the cultures of other races with his Might Makes Right philosophy making him a easy target for the Ring. In the film conversely, Boromir is a gentler man who plays around with Pippin and Merry during the journey and is the one pleading with Aragon to give the fellowship a moment to grieve after losing Gandalf in Moria. His open criticisms of Galadriel reading his thoughts which earns him a chiding from Aragon, is changed to a more touching moment where Boromir shaken by Galadriel telepathically giving words of hope for Gondor, tells Aragon that it’s been long since he’s ever had any hope for his people. All of which makes the Ring corrupting his personality much more upsetting. This also plays into his relationship with his brother Faramir as seen in the Extended Edition of The Two Towers where a flashback reveals Boromir actively hated the neglect their father Denethor gave to his dear brother, wishing their father could give them “a moment’s peace”. In the books Boromir never commented on the Parental Favouritism nor is it clear if he opposed it or not.
    • Gandalf’s more irritable moments are toned down in both LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit, in the books he never misses an opportunity to chew out the Hobbit characters for their foolishness and generally has a short fuse. The movies thanks to being played by Ian Mckellen he’s a considerably sweeter wizard who only gets annoyed when it is truly serious e.g Pippin making a racket in Moria (although the film omits the moment where he makes it up to poor Pippin afterwards), literary Gandalf would scold Pippin even when they’re safe in Rivendell.
    • Legolas’ borderline racist reservations and initial low-opinion of the Dwarves is greatly downplayed or outright removed in the films, in the book of The Fellowship Of The Ring he was perfectly happy with Gimli getting blindfolded during the walk into Lothlórien and only put up a petty fuss when Aragon (who rightly felt it was unfair to Gimli) stated the whole party should be blindfolded. The films omit these moments and while Legolas still butts heads with Gimli it’s still clear they’ve become best buds while in the books it took them longer to fully become Heterosexual Life-Partners due to the strained relationship of their respective races.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Zigzagged with Thanos. In the films, he is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, believing that if he doesn't do something, the universe will suffer from overpopulation, environmental damage, and wars for resources. He also leaves half of the populations on the planets he targets alive, including Gamora's species. In the comics, he worshipped Death the entity, was a nihilist, killed half the universe to as an offering to Death and actually enjoyed reliving his crimes when subjected to Ghost Rider's Penance Stare. On the other hand, in the films, Gamora’s people were decimated by Thanos who abducts her from her mother, whilst in the comics, Thanos rescues Gamora from the genocide of her people at hands of zealots and adopts her. His past self in Avengers: Endgame is much Truer to the Text, and when he hears that the Avengers have used Time Travel to undo his purge, he decides it's the universe's fault for "being ungrateful", and decides to just destroy everything and remake it in his own image, proving Thanos is ultimately a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist with a god complex.
    • While Robert Downey Jr.'s take on Tony Stark / Iron Man is still a Jerk with a Heart of Gold like in the comics, there's much more emphasis on the "heart of gold" than the "jerk" part (in particular, he's surprisingly good with kids). For one thing, while comics Tony still initially remained an arms dealer even after becoming Iron Man, this version began shutting down that part of the business the moment he got back to America. This difference particularly comes through in Captain America: Civil War; in the original Civil War (2006) comic, Tony willingly adopts ever more extreme (to the point of downright villainous) methods in order to enforce the Superhero Registration Act, while in the film, he's visibly bothered by the more extreme means used by the government to enforce the Sokovia Accords.
    • Similar to Tony, Hank Pym is much nicer in the Ant-Man movie than in the comics, where he's a deranged Fallen Hero who has hurt everyone close to him. In the movie, while grouchy, Hank is a Cool Old Guy who loves his wife Janet and daughter Hope and will do anything for them. In the comics, Hank has an infamously troubled relationship with Janet, which led to a divorce, and he's never even met his daughter Nadia.
      • Hope is also much nicer than her comic version, where she’s the psychotic Red Queen who tried to kill the Avengers.
    • Loki in the comics was evil and did his best to bring about Ragnarok and also caused mayhem on Earth as well. In the films, while he’s still villainous for the most part, Loki genuinely loves his brother Thor, his mother Frigga and father Odin. In the comics he had no qualms trying to kill his Asgard family multiple times.
    • Nebula is unapologetically evil in the comics, commits several atrocities such as destroying Xandar and in The Infinity Gauntlet, she takes the gauntlet herself and tries to kill the rest of the survivors before Adam Warlock stops her. In the MCU, Nebula starts off as a nasty and tragic character in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), but by the time of the sequel, she mellows out somewhat thanks to Gamora and the Guardians’ influence. In Avengers: Infinity War, she’s more heroic and a bit nicer and in Avengers: Endgame, she’s become almost unrecognizably compassionate and patient even to complete strangers like Tony.
    • invoked Miek in Thor: Ragnarok is Plucky Comic Relief, which is a complete 180 from the despicable insect bastard from Planet Hulk who got Hulk’s wife Caiera killed. Similarly, the hilariously goofy Affably Evil Grandmaster of the film is used as a stand-in for the Red King from the same comic storyline, who was a Complete Monster.
    • In Black Panther (2018), T'Challa is a charming, friendly, and charismatic politician who gets along with most people he meets. This is in stark contrast with the comic book version, who is often smug, secretive, and standoffish towards non-Wakandans (especially Westerners).
    • Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture is a despicable old man in the comics who is always out for himself. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, though he’s still a dangerous criminal, Toomes only wants to support his family and actually has Villain Respect for Spider-Man to the extent where he doesn’t give Spidey’s identity away to the Scorpion when questioned.
    • Courtesy of Captain Marvel (2019):
      • Yon-Rogg is a sincere Affably Evil Kree nationalist who wants to protect his people and serve their interests, however ruthless and deceptive that requires him to be. His comic counterpart was a jealous backstabber who betrayed his subordinates for personal gain and was eventually outed as a traitor.
      • Talos is, in the comics like most Skrulls, a tyrannical Evil Colonist who later proves be a Smug Snake after he is branded a pathetic failure even by his own race. In the film, Talos, while ruthless when he needs to be, is conversely a compassionate Family Man who just wants his race to survive genocide at hands of the Kree. He's even willing to help SHIELD and Nick Fury against threats like Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home — something his comic counterpart would never do.
    • There's also some in Black Widow (2021), appropriately enough those that consist of the titular character's extended family:
      • Yelena Belova in the comics is a competitive, scheming asshole who was all business all the time outside of her very one-sided rivalry with Natasha. In the MCU, she's a polite Deadpan Snarker who loves her surrogate family (including her 'sister' Natasha) and wants a more normal life while possibly repenting for all the terrible things she's done under her mental conditioning. Even when she returns in a more antagonistic role in Hawkeye (2021), Yelena is at her worst an Affably Evil Tragic Villain.
      • Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian is a Bruiser with a Soft Center and Papa Wolf in the film, who regrets the choices he made working with the KGB and helps his surrogate daughter Natasha save the world to atone for his past actions. His comic counterpart is much less noble or nice, being an Evil Counterpart to Captain America who is ruthless and cruel, especially to Nat who is his ex-wife in the comics.
      • Melina Vostokoff is presented as The Atoner and Mama Bear to her pretend family of Alexei, Natasha and Yelena, whom she genuinely comes to love. In the comics, Melina is the craven assassin Iron Maiden who despises Natasha out of petty jealousy for her legendary status as Black Widow.
    • Bruce Banner's father Brian was an abusive monster who beat his mother to death in front of him, traumatizing Bruce for life before briefly being resurrected as the Devil Hulk. In the MCU, he was merely distant with his son, and Bruce regrets not attending his funeral.
    • While still a villain, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings depicts the Mandarin in a much more sympathetic and nuanced light, with him being more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist who genuinely loves his family. This is in sharp contrast to the comics, where the Mandarin is usually a Card-Carrying Villain with very few redeeming qualities. Doubly so when the fact that he was made into a Composite Character with Shang-Chi's original comic book father, Fu Manchu, is taken into account, as Fu was usually portrayed as an outright Abusive Parent who had no problem with trying to murder his children to prolong his own life.
    • There's multiple cases regarding the titular characters of Eternals:
    • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: America Chavez in the comics tends to be brutally honest and abrasive, though also fairly taciturn. While her MCU counterpart certainly keeps her snarky attitude, she is far less abrasive to others. She is also not as cocky given how she hasn't learned how to fully control her powers.
    • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Unsurprisingly Namor gets this. While he's still a ruthless antagonist who is completely willingly to kill to retain his kingdom's isolation and deal out of Disproportionate Retribution to foes exactly like the comics — personality-wise Namor is far nicer and more respectful than he is in the source comics. Rather than being a massive prideful douchebag who looks down his noses at other cultures (and Surface-dwellers in general besides Sue Storm, John Hammond or Emma Frost) and actively goes out of his way to be a Conflict Ball; MCU Namor is polite and courteous to Shuri and doesn’t indulge in any Kick the Dog. Though Namor does drown multiple Wakandians and is indirectly responsible for Romanda's death it was still a direct response to the death of one of his own people whom he has protected for centuries, in the comics Namor has far, far less for an excuse to kill his enemies being happy to kill innocent lives (even from his earliest appearances) on a whim or work for the likes of Doctor Doom and Green Goblin.
  • Matilda: Book Hortensia is a mean student who bullies Matilda and Lavender. Movie Hortensia is friendly and warns them not to anger the Trunchbull.
  • Mean Girls (2024):
    • Downplayed with Regina, who, for the most part, is the same Alpha Bitch she always was, and even gets a nasty new Kick the Dog moment in her and Janis' backstory, but here, she's less inclined to use homophobic, ableist, or body-shaming language (though this could be an unintended side-effect of the movie's Kinder and Cleaner approach). She also reconciles with Cady and even Janis at the Spring Fling after being hit by the bus (though she attributes this to being on a lot of painkillers).
      • She still says her mean commentary when being read the Burn Book, but she says that Dawn Schweitzer, who's labeled as a horny shrimp, is taller now.
    • Coach Carr is no less stupid or dislikable than he was in the original film, but here, he isn't preying on female students.
  • Muppet Classic Theater gives some well-known stories a Muppet twist, and some characters end up nicer than before as a result:
    • Kermit, as King Midas, doesn't actually care all that much about gold and would rather have wished for peace on Earth. To make the story work, his greed is instead given to Queen Midas, played by Miss Piggy, who forces him to wish for the Golden Touch.
    • In the original story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the titular boy is a pathological liar who intentionally deceives others for laughs. In this story, Gonzo is The Paranoiac and genuinely believes in all of the disasters he announces, it's just that he's overreacting to minor things.
    • In Rumpelstiltskin, Kermit (who is once again playing the king) genuinely loves the maiden (Miss Piggy) and doesn't really care about her ability to turn straw into gold. Once again, his greed is transferred to a different character to keep the story structure, this time a royal advisor who threatens to throw Miss Piggy in the dungeon if she doesn't turn all the straw into gold.
    • In The Emperor's New Clothes, Emperor Fozzie is portrayed less as a narcissist and more as naive and gullible. At the end, he even tells his people to think for themselves and not follow him blindly.
  • Of Mice and Men: The 1992 movie makes Curley's Wife more sympathetic by omitting scenes where she belittles Candy and Crooks and threatens to have the latter lynched. While still an antagonist of sorts she lacks the maneater vibes of her novel counterpart and comes off as awkward and lonely.
  • The Princess Bride:
    • Westley while still The Hero has some of his less-than-heroic moments from the novel taken out in the film. For instance in the book he does actually slap Buttercup (the love of his life) as the Man in Black in response to her speaking out of turn. In the film he just threatens to in order stay in character and it’s inferred Westley wouldn’t actually hurt her. Similarly Westley’s harsh impatience towards Buttercup being slow on the uptake in the climax (“woman do as you are told” in response to her confusion over why she’s the one who has to tie up Humperdink) is understandably removed.
    • Humperdink’s psychotic cruelty is while still present is toned down compared to the book where he relishes hunting and torturing animals as well as violence in general. The scene where Buttercup pushes his Berserk Button by giving "The Reason You Suck" Speech is altered from the book. In the film Humperdink just grabs her by the arm and locks her in her room, in the book he actually grabs her By the Hair while screaming, drags her down the corridor and throws her into the room before locking it.
    • Vizzini similarly has his cruelty taken down several degrees, he’s still a bully and Insufferable Genius like in the book but his moments of abusing Buttercup while she’s captured are omitted.
  • Punisher: War Zone:
    • The Bulats serve as normal Russian criminals types, and Cristu is also a smuggler in New York City, though Tiberiu is referred as being a Retired Monster. In the comics, they were former war criminals who became human traffickers. There's additionally the fact that Tiberiu goes after revenge on Jigsaw after he sets Cristu up to be arrested, whereas in the comics, Tiberiu and Cristu pissed each other off to the point they've tried to kill each other.
    • Pittsy and Ink are now father and son rather being those two henchmen and serve as Jigsaw's more sane teammates. In The Punisher MAX, they were equally as unhinged as their boss there, Nicolas Cavella.
    • Maginty is now the gang leader in a Urban Freeflow Gang who do their thing with Le Parkour. In the comics he was involved in a gang war where he kidnapped an elderly former "cleaner" for the Irish Mob and made him slowly slice up a living rival.
    • In the comics, Carlos Cruz and Castle were enemies due to Microchip turning on Castle and trying to have Cruz usurp the Punisher identity. Here, Cruz and Castle are reluctant allies due to Micro remaining loyal to Castle in the film.
  • Ready Player One (2018): Alice, Wade's aunt, abuses her nephew in the book, pawns his stuff to pay for the apartment, and is a heavy drug addict. She is in all-out unpleasant person. All of her negative traits are instead passed down to her boyfriend in the movie and any jerkass moments she has are almost justifed. This was most likely done on purpose in order to add drama when she’s killed by Sorrento’s bomb.
  • Connor Rooney in Road to Perdition is a sleazy, loathsome Psychopathic Manchild, but he's leagues better than his pedophilic counterpart in the comic book the film was based off of.
  • Seventh Son (2015): The hero's love interest Alice Deane does have some Adaptational Villainy going on in this film compared to the books (mainly in terms of serving the main villain more faithfully) but the degree to which she betrays Tom differs significantly in terms of film versus book. Because the film goes in a completely different direction than the book and ends as a franchise after one movie, Alice does not end up hurting Tom in arguably the worst possible way like she did in the books when she left Tom and began sleeping with the dark wizard Lukrasta to really drive the knife into his heart. When all is said and done, she and Tom end things on a good note in the film without the longer-lasting anguish that she would cause him in the books.
  • Spider-Man Trilogy:
    • Peter Parker himself. In the comic book Peter is shown to be a bit of a jerk just caring for himself and his loved ones before being bitten by the spider. That actually backfires when he doesn't feel the need to stop a robber who later goes on to kill his Uncle Ben which leads to Peter learning his lesson. However, in Spider-Man Peter is portrayed as being a very decent person even before being bitten by the spider and also this adaptation gave Peter a more understandable reason to not stop the robber.
    • Norman Osborn in the comics is a bad person with and without the Goblin serum. He's seen being a cruel and creedy Corrupt Corporate Executive before being the Goblin. Spider-Man however depicts it as Split Personality with Norman himself being a much nicer person in general. While still not having the best relationship with his son he doesn't seem to abuse Harry as he does in the comics. When this iteration Norman shows up again in Spider-Man: No Way Home it's even played more straight as Norman is very nice and supporting and while the first movie shows him slowly give in to his Goblin-persona, he activly opposes it in No Way Home and is outright horrified by the Goblin's actions.
    • Likewise with Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2. In the comics Otto was arrogant and amoral even before the accident turning him into Doc Ock and himself chose to become a criminal. In the movie, he is shown to be a very nice and Happily Married person before the accident and even after the accident his evil actions are caused by being controlled by his robotic arms.
    • Finally, Spider-Man 3 does that to Flint Marko/Sandman. While the comic character actually underwent a temporary Heel–Face Turn, he's usually depicted as being a criminal by choice. The movie shows him doing the robbery to help his sick daughter.
  • Stargirl:
    • Leo and Stargirl’s fallout and breakup is lessened in the movie with Leo realizing the errors of his way and makes up with Stargirl at the winter dance. But this doesn’t stop her from leaving. Leo realizes his error too late and they never do make up but the book ends on an ambiguous, but hopeful note.
    • Hillari Kimble was just Mica High's Alpha Bitch in the book. The movie gave her an understandable reason to dislike Stargirl and, at the very least, acknowledges Stargirl's apology.
  • In the film adaptation of Starter for 10, Rebecca retains something of her Deadpan Snarker personality but loses the harsher Tsundere-esque tendencies of her book counterpart.
  • Venom (2018): In the comics, Eddie Brock's fall from grace was a result of his dealing in morally dubious journalism by writing about a fake serial killer. His previous appearance in Spider-Man 3 was not much better, writing a hit piece on Spidey using doctored photographs. In this movie, however, Eddie is a genuinely dutiful and diligent man whose stubborn pride and disregard for the rules costs him his job and his relationship. Driven home further later in the movie, when the Venom symbiote reveals that Eddie's good nature convinced it to forego its original plan to wipe out humanity with Riot.
  • What Maisie Knew:
    • The biological parents are a lot more considerate of Maisie's needs and do try to look after her, compared to the book version where they only had Maisie around with them for a few months out of spite towards the other. It's still Downplayed, given how Beale and Susanna are prone to arguing with each other whenever they are together.
    • Margo and Lincoln (who are originally named Miss Overmore and Sir Claude) are not only given a larger role than the book but are a lot more active towards Maisie, given that Margo is her nanny and Lincoln begins to progressively take more responsibility for her than her biological parents do.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit: All three of the main characters (Roger, Jessica and Eddie) have been made much more heroic and genuinely likeable than their counterparts in the original book. Notably, the two sequels to the book softened them all up considerably to resemble their movie counterparts a lot more, particularly Jessica.
    • Roger in the book is very much a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing — he seems like a friendly, if somewhat overeager goof, but this persona is an act — in reality he's a bit of a Manipulative Bastard who thinks nothing of using people for his own gain. It even turns out that he actually is guilty of the crime he was being accused of, and was planning on framing Eddie for it all along. In the movie he's a genuinely Nice Guy who only wants to entertain people.
    • Jessica in the book is a true blue Femme Fatale and Gold Digger who never loved Roger and only married him because a genie made her. She dumps him for a richer man after the spell wears off. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, she's a subversion of a Femme Fatale. She has all the surface characteristics but is a genuinely nice woman who loves her husband.
    • The Eddie Valiant of the book is probably the closest to his movie counterpart when it comes to morality, though even he's notably more of a jerk, as well as more casually racist against Toons. The movie gives him a past as a bit of a defender and champion of Toons, and provides him with a Freudian Excuse for why he doesn't like them anymore. The Eddie of the movie also undergoes some Character Development that his book counterpart does not.
  • Wonder (2012): In the book, Julian Albans remained the jerk he was at the beginning and changed schools. He didn’t redeem until his spin-off book, where he changes his heart thanks to his grandmother telling him a story during the summer after the fifth grade. In the film adaptation, he's still a jerk at the beginning, but he becomes a nicer person at the end, attendance the graduation ceremony where he’s seen clapping for Auggie and (possibly) stayed at Beecher Prep.
  • X-Men Film Series:
    • Wolverine can often be a bloodthirsty anti-social jerk in the comics, the films keep the loner attitude but tone down his more unsavoury traits.
    • The movie version of Bobby Drake is much sweeter and more mature than his comic book counterpart's Jerk with a Heart of Gold/Manchild persona.
    • Emma Frost gets this in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in the comics, X-Men: First Class and in most media she’s a haughty Ice Queen who only begrudgingly cares for her teammates. In the movie she uses her diamond powers to stop bullets hitting her fellow prisoners, showing a great deal of self sacrifice.
    • In The Wolverine, Harada is far less of a Jerkass than his comic counterpart, who is a foreigner-hating bigot.
    • Mystique is a bitch queen femme fatale even when she’s on the good side in the comics. The Jennifer Lawrence version while somewhat mean at times, she’s still very compassionate to her loved ones and is Team Mom in X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
    • While Deadpool is still as crude and violent as ever, the movie version removes a lot of the selfish dickery comic Deadpool has in full. Movie Deadpool also doesn’t side with the villains like comic Deadpool often does.
    • Logan:
      • Its version of Zander Rice is nicer than his comics counterpart. They both see Laura as a weapon, but comics Rice also delighted in torturing her and went out of his way to make her life pure hell. (Now, movie Rice is utterly without mercy and a strong contender for the worst villain in the film franchise. However, comic Rice is known for a level of sadism-for-its-own-sake that isn't to be found in movie Rice's Pragmatic Villainy.)
      • Caliban in the comics and to greater extent X-Men: Apocalypse is a sketchy creep, in Logan he’s a Retired Monster who genuinely cares for Logan and Charles.
      • X-23 gets a bit of this like her dear o’l genetic template. In the comics being a Tyke Bomb she’s killed innocent people even as a little girl and remains stoic and aloof even with she’s with her loved ones as an adult. In the movie X-23 cares greatly for Charles, her fellow experiment children and her father Logan by the end and comes off as more innocent than her comic counterpart (several decapitated goons notwithstanding).
      • Donald Pierce is at willing to be civil to Wolverine and other mutants and even expressed respect for the former. The comics character is an egotistical Hate Sink who's hated even by other villains he works with.
    • Deadpool 2 does this with freaking The Juggernaut of all people. Sure he’s still a brutish unstoppable asshole, but this version of Juggs actually wants to help poor Rusty get revenge on those who abused him at the orphanage. Such compassion is usually non-existent for comic Juggernaut.
  • The Mask itself is adaptationally neutral in the film and animated series it inspired. In the adaptations, the mask magnifies the emotions of its wearer, IE a good person wearing the mask will remain good. In the comics, no matter what good intentions the wearer may have once had, the mask will always try to drag them into its own brand of Chaotic Evil.

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