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Heel–Face Turn

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heel-face-turn_htgsc2_3933.png
The Grinch before and after a wondrous change of heart.

"And what happened then?
Well, in Whoville, they say,
The Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day."
— How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

When a bad guy turns good. This usually makes for a good plot, for three reasons:
  1. It lets them reintroduce the villain as a "darker, edgier" hero.
  2. It reinforces a desired notion of the inherent goodness within people.
  3. It prevents the Worthy Opponent from falling victim to What a Senseless Waste of Human Life.

There are even more reasons for the turning:
  1. An encounter with an All-Loving Hero or gaining a Morality Pet.
  2. Discovering that Being Evil Sucks or possibly that Good Feels Good.
  3. 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 loyalities.
  4. Realizing that they are a Noble Demon.
  5. A Heel Realization, if he had never considered his actions evil or wrong in the first place.
  6. He becomes friends with a hero after fighting him

Sadly, it sometimes leads to Redemption Equals Death, and when it doesn't, someone still needs to draw their "Get out of Jail Free" Card. Otherwise they may find the good guys unwilling to believe them; their conversion met with a Heel–Face Door-Slam (or they may "merely" find themselves Reformed, but Rejected). On the other hand, the bad guy may reject their chance at turning over a new leaf altogether, in which case it's Redemption Rejection.

The many reasons and the probability for a turn are listed in the Sorting Algorithm of Face Heel Turning. A very common act for the lone female character in any evil group, sometimes through a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal. Beware, some authors know the stereotypes of Heel Face Turning and will play with it accordingly.

The term "Heel Face Turn" comes from Professional Wrestling, in which an evil wrestler (a "heel") sometimes has a change of heart and becomes good, thereby becoming a "babyface". Magazines and other promotional material from the various wrestling leagues comment on various wrestlers' changes in alignment nearly as frequently as they cover events in the ring themselves.

Compare the Reverse Mole, who is secretly working for the good guys all along. May be the result of a person that was Good All Along. When someone who doesn't care one way or the other is forced to fight they become Neutral No Longer.

This is the opposite of a Face–Heel Turn and is generally found in stories with Black and White Morality. It has two subtropes: Heel–Face Brainwashing, more or less the opposite of Brainwashed and Crazy, and High-Heel–Face Turn (usually the redefining moment for a Dark Chick). See also Mook–Face Turn when the bad guy doing it is a Mook, and Heel–Race Turn when an entire faction does it. If a character keeps switching from one side to the other and back, he's in a Heel–Face Revolving Door. If he turns face, but still acts like a heel, he's Reformed, but Not Tamed. If a characters pretends to reform, only to be revealed as Evil All Along, he's a Heel–Face Mole.

In real-life the nature of Heel–Face Turn and Face–Heel Turn is subjective (one person's "seeing the light" is another person's "heartless betrayal" depending on what group the individual is going to or leaving). No Real Life Examples, Please!

Example subpages:

    open/close all folders 

     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 
  • 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.
  • Dick Tracy's allies B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie used to be crooks. (Who later married and had a gorgeous daughter named Sparkle.)

    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 
  • 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.
  • 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.

     Visual Novels 
  • 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 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 Umineko: When They Cry Episode 8, Lambdadelta manages to do an awesome one, going up against Bernkastel .

Alternative Title(s): Face Turn, Turn To The Light Side, Evil Turns Good, Bad Guy Turns Good

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