Basic Trope: A character is trying to redeem themselves but an antagonist is obsessed with keeping their hopes down. Comes in two forms - A: another villain is trying to pull him back in, or B: a victim demands vengeance for the crimes he committed.
- Straight:
- Ace is one of Drake's victims and is out to get Drake to punish him, after Drake's Heel–Face Turn, no matter the cost.
- Evulz tries to convince his former second in command, Drake, that his redemption means nothing.
- Exaggerated:
- Ace is so obsessed with revenge, he personally disrupts Drake's attempts at heroics, turns against the town for supporting him and kills the people Drake saves to negate his good deeds, goes on loud rants when someone even mentions the good in Drake.
- Ace is fully aware of the fact that Drake's evil-doing was a complete accident, but he still continues ruining Drake's life, specifically, he extends his revenge towards Drake's innocent younger sister by forcing her to watch him sabotaging Drake's image.
- Ace goes one step further and outright attacks Drake in front of the crowd, fully intending to kill him right on the spot.
- Downplayed:
- Ace believes that Drake is still secretly evil and keeps a close eye on him to look for evidence and minimize the harm.
- Evulz knows why Drake changed sides, knows that he could still return to the darkness, and makes sure Drake knows that he would be accepted back.
- Rejected Apology.
- Justified:
- Drake was one of the best on Evulz' team, and having him redeemed will make him lose a valuable teammate.
- Ace was hurt by Drake so bad, that unless he suffers the same pain, Drake is a Karma Houdini.
- Drake used to be a pathological liar, so when he really does repent Ace reasonably thinks it is just another lie.
- Ace believes that Drake's not putting in enough effort to make up for his past actions.
- Ace believes that Drake's attempts to make up for his past actions don't stem from genuine remorse and concern for his victims, but a selfish need to soothe his own conscience.
- Ace believes that Drake's attempts to make up for his past actions just serve to retraumatise his victims who, before Drake's Heel–Face Turn, had mostly managed to move on. In Ace's opinion, if Drake really regrets what he's done, he should just leave them alone.
- Drake helped Emperor Evulz commit genocide, or at least didn't object to it until after the fact, and Ace deems this to be unforgivable.
- Ace deems Drake's crimes to be unforgivable because his victims include children.
- Ace doesn't think it's fair that Drake should be able to do what he's done, then feel bad for a while and carry on as if nothing happened when there are people who haven't done anything wrong that are still suffering (especially if/when said suffering can be at least partly attributed to Drake).
- Inverted:
- Drake is ready to do a Face–Heel Turn and defect to Evulz's side, but Ace does his best to convince Drake that he doesn't belong with the bad guys.
- Ace is a Villain with Good Publicity who convinces the public that the various criminals he employs have "turned over a new leaf".
- Drake wants to rejoin Evulz's army of darkness, but the latter believes that Drake is not evil enough to be on his side anymore, so Evulz tries to kill him.
- Subverted: It is revealed that Drake was only pretending to feel remorse and is still the same Complete Monster he always was. All of Ace's friends apologize for not believing him sooner.
- Double Subverted: Drake really was trying to repent, but Ace's suspicion caused him to turn evil again.
- Parodied: Drake seeks redemption for his former habit of littering. Ace is constantly following him and rambling about how Drake can never truly make up for his misdeeds.
- Zig Zagged: At first it seems like Ace is senselessly pursuing revenge to even a level his companions can't condone, but at the violent climax of Ace's plan, when Drake reveals/proves that he really has changed, Ace stops his plotting to reveal that it was a Secret Test of Character, and he is ready to accept Drake as genuine. Except that this is a ploy done for the viewing of Ace's teammates, and Ace still plans to secretly revenge himself upon Drake.
- Averted:
- Drake confronts Ace over how Drake hurt him in the past, and Ace explains that he sees how serious the former villain is about reforming himself, and wants to help Drake turn over a new leaf.
- Ace doesn't forgive Drake for his past misdeeds against him, but doesn't hinder his road to redemption.
- Enforced: The writer wants to make Drake's redemption to be a hard journey.
- Lampshaded: "Damn, Ace is never going to let Drake live it down, is he?"
- Invoked: Drake hasn't really turned from evil, and purposefully makes himself look suspicious in order to keep Ace's attention on him while he does nothing, so that Ace doesn't notice that The Mole has infiltrated as well.
- Exploited: Drake knows that Ace is unwilling to trust him, so he frames Ace to look like Ace is falsely accusing him and refusing to let go of the past.
- Defied:
- Drake proves his sincerity by turning himself in and accepting a life sentence.
- Because Ace is a former villain who also pulled a Face–Heel Turn, he knows that suspicion of Drake could become a self-fulfilling prophecy and makes his support for Drake known.
- Discussed: "Bob, I need you to spy on Drake and see if he's on the level, because no one will believe me if I do it, since there's bad blood between us."
- Conversed:Bob: "Drake's good now! Just forgive him and move on already!"Ace: "Move on? Move on??? My daughter is dead because of that bastard, and you expect me to just make up and act like it never happened?!"
- Deconstructed:
- Evulz attempts to bring Drake back on his team comes off as wrong to his other minions who feel occasional guilt. Fearing that there is no way they can redeem themselves with Evulz around, they also abandon him.
- Ace is so obsessed with getting revenge on Drake, he teams up with Evulz and inadvertently replaces Drake as Evulz's Dragon. An attempt at convincing him to pull a Heel–Face Turn falls flat and they are forced to put down Ace.
- Ace's multiple attempts to kill Drake and his unforgiving manner eventually bites back when Drake decided to go back to his old path, Drake even mocks Ace afterward, thanking Ace for helping him to realize that siding with Evulz is the only way out. His comerades give him an earful over it when the realize what happened.
- Ace gets a scathing What the Hell, Hero? speech from none other than Drake himself, backed up by their comrades who were previously convinced of his sincerity. Giving a Hypocrisy Nod to his own behavior, he bluntly spells out to him that he's become just as bad as he was. After refusing to back down and making another blatant attempt at his life, Ace is (metaphorically and literally) kicked off the team.
- Reconstructed:
- Ace decides that as much as he wants to kill Drake, he won't do so at the cost of stooping to his level. Instead he continues to fight Evulz, but kills Drake after everything is said and done. His comerades, however, refuse to forgive him for it since Drake had earned their trust and acceptance by that point.
- Drake either makes a last-minute Heel–Face Turn from outside prompting or was actually working as the mole for the good guys by using Ace's blind hatred to his advantage. He's made a full-fledged hero in the eyes of the public while Ace is left to stew in his hatred.
- Played For Laughs: Ace refuses to forgive Drake for accidentally breaking his toy car.
- Played For Drama: Drake ends up saving Ace's friends, and family, or tries to. Stubborn by his hatred for Drake, Ace brutally murders his best friend for being saved by Drake. When confronted about it, Ace still insists he's in the right.
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