"And what happened then?
Well, in Whoville, they say,
The Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day."
When a bad guy turns good. This usually makes for a good plot, for three reasons:
Well, in Whoville, they say,
The Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day."
- It lets them reintroduce the villain as a "darker, edgier" hero.
- It reinforces a desired notion of the inherent goodness within people.
- It prevents the Worthy Opponent from falling victim to What a Senseless Waste of Human Life.
- An encounter with an All-Loving Hero or gaining a Morality Pet.
- Discovering that Being Evil Sucks or possibly that Good Feels Good.
- An Enemy Mine situation leading to Fire Forged Friendship or The Power of Love in the form of Deliver Us from Evil or Love Redeems changing their priorities. Conversely Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal makes them rethink their loyalties.
- Realizing that they are a Noble Demon.
- A Heel Realization, if he had never considered his actions evil or wrong in the first place.
- He becomes friends with a hero after fighting him
Example subpages:
- Anime and Manga
- Comic Books
- Fan Works
- Animated Films
- Live-Action Films
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Professional Wrestling
- Video Games
- Web Comics
- Web Original
- Western Animation
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Advertising
- A meta example: the apple mascot from Apple Jacks commercials, once the "Bad Apple" who tried to prevent Cinna-Mon from reaching the bowl, now merely racing him there in a Friendly Rivalry. This was apparently caused by Executive Meddling from the self-regulating arm of the advertising industry, who objected to the negative portrayal of a "healthy" food.
Card Games
- In the artwork of "Advance Zone" in the Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, it is suggested that "Steelswarm Roach" was purified by the Vylons. This can be further proven by his idle and laid-back appearance in "Breath of the Valient"'s artwork as the "Divine Serpent" passes by. Later on, "Steelswarm Roach" becomes "Evilswarm Exciton Knight"
Newspaper Comics
- Dick Tracy's allies B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie used to be crooks. (Who later married and had a gorgeous daughter named Sparkle.)
- It would almost be easier to list how many of Flash Gordon's friends didn't start out as his enemies. Even Zarkov was pretty scary in the very beginning. To his considerable credit, Thun is one of the few people on Mongo who treated Flash decently from the word go. Thun's a cool dude.
Religion
- Christianity features a few canonical examples, possibly the most significant being Matthew the Apostle who used to be a tax collector before his conversion. Also, Saul, before he was renamed Paul the Apostle, was a Pharisee, a member of a very zealous Jewish sect, and he was on his way to Damascus to murder members of the early church when the Lord Jesus Christ came to him in a vision. (Acts ch. 9)
- The German version of This Very Wiki has Saul as the Trope Namer: Vom Saulus Zum Paulus, or "From Saul to Paul."
- Orthodox Christianity states before we die, we are not Face, as we sin for entire life, either by though, word, or deed. Everything can change, and only death solidifies Heel-Face Turn or damnation... and in the latter case, not completely until the Last Judgement.
Theatre
- In the stage version of Anastasia, Gleb, knowing now that this is truly the Grand Duchess Anastasia, chooses to not kill her and instead makes a deal to return to Russia and say she was nothing more than a rumor.
- Edmund in King Lear goes from helping to plot the death of the play's most sympathetic characters to (ineffectually) attempting to save them: "I pant for life; some good I mean to do/Despite of mine own nature."
- In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock, partly because he wants to get out of his predicament alive and partly because Antonio suggested the order to convert to Christianity out of a desire to redeem his soul, agrees to become a Christian, departs from the court in poor physical health from what he had just gone through in his unsuccessful attempt to get the pound of flesh from Antonio, and signs the deed offscreen when the court delivers it to him.
- While their movie couterpart didn't, Heathers Mcnamara and Duke in Heathers both reform in the finale Seventeen, Mcnamara after Veronica offered her to and Duke after seeing how happy everybody else as they stop being mean to each other.
- Javert in Les Misérables has a brief one after his Heel Realization upon being freed by Valjean when the latter could have easily taken revenge. Conflicted, he makes to arrest Valjean when he emerges from the sewers, but when he sees Marius's body on his back, he lets him go instead. He's so shaken by his own Turn that he kills himself shortly thereafter.
Toys
- Krika in BIONICLE would have had one, if Gorast hadn't killed him.
- Vezon, after he lost the Mask of Life.
Visual Novels
- In the science fiction visual novel Bionic Heart, the Corrupt Corporate Executive's brand new android henchwoman turns on him when the psychic human brain he placed in her head allows her to have visions showing the destruction that will result from his future plans.
- In Fate/stay night, Ilya is the main threat for the first half of the series, but she becomes an ally when her monstrous Servant Berserker is killed in Fate scenario (she couldn't keep fighting at that point, but that didn't mean she had to join the True Companions). In the Heaven's Feel scenario, she goes so far as to sacrifice herself for Shirou in the Good End.
- In Umineko: When They Cry Episode 8, Lambdadelta manages to do an awesome one, going up against Bernkastel .