Hated characters who've subsequently been Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. Examples shouldn't be added for 9 months. This is measured from the point when the character was introduced or became hated.
- Bumblebee: Prior to the movie, Bumblebee was beginning to be seen as a Creator's Pet by Transformers fans due to the heavy presence he's given in prior movies and Transformers media that's drawing inspiration from such. However, as the film avoided too much merchandise, and focused on Bumblebee's genuinely endearing qualities and his role as the human protector, not to mention portrayed him as The Woobie as he goes through an extremely vulnerable point in his life, its safe to say Bumblebee regained fan adoration. Bumblebee being simply a much better movie than the previous installments was also a factor.
- Cinderella (2015): The Prince: He was really just a glorified plot device in the original animated film. The adaptation gives him several significant improvements.
- He actually has a personality. And his relationship with his father here makes him even more of The Woobie than Cinderella for some audiences.
- He becomes attracted to Cinderella because of reasons other than her looks or apparent wealth.
- He doesn't spend three nights dancing with Cinderella then forgets her face and voice (in several versions of the fairy tale, the step sisters almost pass for Cinderella by cutting part of their foot off to wear the shoe).
- A rather complicated (and completely intentional) version occurred in The Chronicles of Narnia with Edmund Pevensie. In the beginning of the series he was...well...kinda detestable, but by the end of the first book he made a complete turn around and showed in later books that he had definitely changed for the better. A lot of people never read any further than the first book and so by the time Prince Caspian came out, their hatred for Edmund was pretty deep seated. Needless to say, many people were completely blown away by seeing "bratty" Edmund behaving so maturely. The many crowning moments of awesome he got probably didn't hurt, either.
- DC Extended Universe:
- Wonder Woman (2017): Steve Trevor has traditionally been the Trope Codifier of Useless Boyfriend who also needs to be saved by Wonder Woman and after William Moulton Marston died, several writers didn't know what to do with him, which led to his appearances after Crisis on Infinite Earths reduced and forgotten. The movie was able to rework his character, making him a badass spy who is able to stand on his own and be useful, rather like he was originally written in Sensation Comics and Wonder Woman (1942). The 2009 animated Wonder Woman version of Steve spent a good deal of the short running time trying to seduce Diana with snark and rogueish charm, taking attention away from the central conflict. This version of Steve is far more focused on completing his mission.
- Zack Snyder's Justice League did this to several characters, both from the overall DCEU and the theatrical cut of the film:
- Steppenwolf was widely disliked for not having any personality, a standard motivation, inconsistent CGI, and a design accused of ripping off Ares from the aforementioned Wonder Woman. In this cut of the film, he has more of a personality and motivation (desperately trying to get home to Apokolips by paying off his debt to Darkseid, only for Desaad to kick him when he's down every time), more consistent CGI, a unique design, and almost succeeding in setting off The Unity and finding The Anti-Life Equation for his master.
- The Joker found himself to be the most controversial take on the character thanks to his heavily tattooed design, a lack of screen time, and later falling into the shadow of Joaquin Phoenix and his acclaimed take on the character. This time, lacking the tattoos, Jared Leto is able to delve into the true roots of the character by appearing in a time After the End and getting to interact in a very memorably creepy scene with Ben Affleck's Batman, playing heavily into their usual dynamic.
- The Flash, though not outright hated, found himself as a Base-Breaking Character due to some considering him little more than comic relief, while others found his moments of humor as much needed levity. This film gave him more moments showing his struggles, putting his skills to great use, and actually saving the world by running back in time to undo the Unity and restore things to normal, creating a moment that's considered to be one of the highlights of the entire film. It also helps that he made a cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) the year before, which had already set him on the path to recovery.
- Lex Luthor proved to be the most divisive part of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with many panning Jessie Eisenberg's performance and most finding this maniacal version of the character to have little to do with the original. For his brief scene, he acts more in line with traditional versions of the character (claiming to Deathstroke that his time in Arkham helped calm him down), being a shrewd businessman with an agenda rather than a nutcase.
- Cyborg found himself hit hard with Replacement Scrappy status for taking the place of the Martian Manhunter on the team, combined with the lack of a firm character arc (much of which was due to Joss Whedon cutting out most of his scenes). This time, Vic emerged as a central character, not only giving Ray Fisher a chance to show off his acting chops, but establish Cyborg as a true hero down to this core.
- The version of Godzilla seen in Godzilla (1998) was so disliked that fans took to calling him GINO (Godzilla In Name Only). Toho even had him officially renamed "Zilla" for taking the "God" out of "Godzilla." But after Godzilla: Final Wars and subsequent Godzilla comics made him a canonically separate kaiju who fought the real King of the Monsters, fans have warmed up to him on these grounds. This is particularly true after Godzilla: Rulers of Earth turned him into a full-on Villainous Underdog, facing up to the vastly stronger Godzilla with nothing but his tunneling skills and strategic sense. Gareth Edwards, in an interview where he talks about making Godzilla (2014) more faithful to the spirit and aesthetic of the original series, admitted that he finds Zilla to be pretty cool looking on its own.
- Meg 2: The Trench: DJ Took a Level in Badass in between films, being fully prepared for the mercenaries invading Mana One and the Fun Island attack. DJ heroically ends up saving several lives. His "Oh, hell naw!" comments are also significantly less frequent or annoying, coming across more as valid lampshading of how dangerously absurd and repetitive the situation is.
- Erickson in Saw VI. In the standard year-long wait between Saw films, Erickson had become something of an in-joke with the fanbase for his ever-present bluetooth headset, as well as what was seen as his "unfortunate status" of being the last good guy still standing (and seeming to blindly play his role in The Chessmaster's latest plan, at that). Saw VI... changed that, and to say how without spoilers is impossible. The first scene Erickson appears in in the film's present timeline has him revealing that he had helped fake a fellow FBI agent's demise for the sake of effectively putting her out of harm's way, so the two of them would have the time and evidence necessary to convict Jigsaw's living apprentice. Granted, he kills both of them, but he has to take a level in badass to do so, and they make him sweat heavily in the process.
- In Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Rachel became one of the most hated characters among the fandom for her inexplicable hatred of Tom and for just being a nuisance in general. In the sequel, not only has she become much nicer, having a better relationship with both Tom and Maddie, she also Took a Level in Badass when helps the heroes defeat the GUN agents and tries to run over her deceitful fiance with a golf cart, earning her lots of fans in the process and making her be seen in a more favorable light.
- The scrapped design for Sonic himself becomes one in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
- Star Trek:
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: Sulu in command redeems the U.S.S. Excelsior, last seen as the obnoxious, slickly supermodern Enterprise substitute in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The appearance of the Excelsior class as a supporting workhorse ship in Star Trek: The Next Generation likely helped.
- Star Trek: Generations: Peter David made Captain Harriman, a.k.a. the indecisive idiot who got Kirk killed, a lot more tolerable in his tie-in novel The Captain's Daughter.
- A one shot comic did the same thing: after a talk from McCoy telling him to get his act together, Harriman, when the ship was caught in a Klingon ambush and had no chance of winning, pulls off the same con Kirk did in Star Trek III. Only his surrender involved beaming his ship's entire load of torpedo warheads on to the Klingon ship. He gains a great deal of self-confidence and the respect of his crew.
- Star Wars:
- A Fan Edit of Episode I titled Balance of the Force vastly improves Jar Jar by redubbing his dialogue in an alien language and subtitled to make him into a Deadpan Snarker Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- C-3PO became a Base-Breaking Character in The Empire Strikes Back for being a shrill worrywart that never shuts up and constantly rattles off unfavorable statistics, and had been a wasted presence since Revenge of the Sith. In The Rise of Skywalker however, he's not only more prominent to the plot but many reviewers and fans say he's funny and his Heroic Sacrifice is genuinely moving; some even say this is the best use of C-3PO in all the saga.
- X-Men Film Series:
- X-Men: Days of Future Past: Before the movie's release Evan Peters' portrayal of Quicksilver was already being highly criticized for a) not being the same as Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Avengers: Age of Ultron and b) his costume, which many called ridiculous. When the people got to see him in the actual film though, the public's opinion of him changed radically after the Kitchen Scene. If anything, opinions soured a lot more on the Age of Ultron version, who didn't make near as much of an impression.
- Azazel in the comics is one of the most hated X-villains of all time. His starring storyline featured multiple inexplicable plot twists, a convoluted plan, and bizarre Judeo-Christian imagery, and wrapped around the idea that Nightcrawler, a guy who suffered terrible persecution for looking like a demon, was actually a demon all along like his father. Because of this, Azazel's appearance in X-Men: First Class merrily dropped every single above aspect: he's still all but stated to be Nightcrawler's dad, but like his son, he's just a mutant with teleportation powers who looks vaguely demonic rather than a full-on demon, and instead of some ridiculous storyline involving demon blood or the Pope or a fake Rapture, he's a dangerous threat for the simple reason that he's an alarmingly skilled teleporter and a merciless Psycho Knife Nut.
