Using the scientifically Infallible power of the Sorting Algorithm of Face-Heel Turning, who do you think is the next in line for changing sides?
To use the Algorithm, take each column’s “Score”, divide it by the number of applicable rows in the column, repeat for every column, and add the results together!
Algorithm of Villains Turning Good
Algorithm of Heroes Turning Evil
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Ace Attorney
How about Miles Edgeworth? How likely was his Heel–Face Turn in the first place?
- Species: Irrelevant in the Ace Attorney universe.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Could be considered Phoenix’s Rival Turned Evil (though he is definitely an Anti-Villain at worst) 5.
- Aesthetics: Definitely attractive. 5.
- Motivation: Pratically screams Well-Intentioned Extremist! 4.
- Characterization: Very honorable and worthy opponent. 4.
- Contentness: Hard to say. Seems to be doing well, but deep down is haunted by his past and possibly his actions as a prosecutor. I’ll go with 4.
- Morality of the story: This is a difficult one. I’ll leave this out for now.
- Idealism of the story: Er... again, hard to say. Everything seems to pretty much work out in the end, though, so I will go with 4.
- Average: 32/8 = 4. So, Edgeworth was just itching for redemption all along...
Avatar the Last Airbender
Azula. Can a hug and a glass of milk from Mommy really redeem this broken-down villain, or is she evil now and forever?
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: She WAS a Creepy Child, but she’s a teenager now, so 5.
- Role: The Dragon. 4.
- Asthetics: Sexy. 4.
- Motivation: Though she COULD be classified as a “Well Done, Daughter” Girl, all but the most sympathetic interpretations of her character have her in it for power, or even just For the Evulz. 2 for now, but your mileage may vary BIG TIME.
- Characterization: Once cold, calm, and collected, but now totally bats*** crazy. 2.
- Contentness: Hard to say. Used to be enjoying every minutenote , but started angsting HEAVILY in the finale, which is one of the reasons a lot of fans started to sympathize with her toward the end. 1 OR 5, depending on your interpretation.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, especially toward the end of season two. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Very idealistic, again especially toward the end. 5.
- 31/9 = 3.4444444444 OR 35/9 = 3.8888888889 (maybe even higher if people decide she deserves a higher score for Motivation). Despite some admittedly unrepentantly evil moments, even a somewhat unsympathetic interpretation of Azula’s character gives a rather optimistic number, owing to her age and sex, and the series’ idealistic mindset in general. Had there been a post-finale special or fourth season instead of a Sequel Series with an all-new cast set decades later, chances ranged from just above 50/50 to actually pretty good that Azula would eventually have seen the light.
Jet. Should the Gaang have listened to Sokka?
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Teenager. 4.
- Role: Freelancer. 4.
- Asthetics: Attractive. 1.
- Motivation: It seemed to be just because it was the right thing to do, so 1 (in reality, it was 3).
- Characterization: He seemed to come off as an Anti-Hero at first, so 2 (in reality, it was 4).
- Contentness: He seemed to be doing all right, so 2 (in reality, it was 4).
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality at the time, so 2.
- Cynicism of the story: Very idealistic. 1.
- 21/9 = 2.3333333333 (In reality, it was 27/9 = 3). They never saw it coming. Sokka was just paying extra attention.
And to follow up, just how likely is it that he saw the error of his ways?
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: Still a Freelancer, so 5.
- Asthetics: Attractive. 5.
- Motivation: Well-Intentioned Extremist. 4.
- Characterization: I would say he has some sense of honor. 4.
- Contentedness: Calmer and less emotionally troubled, but still unwell, so 3.
- Morality of the Story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, especially toward the end of season two. 4.
- Idealism of the Story: Very idealistic, again, especially toward the end. 5.
- 37/9 = 4.1111111111. He really did realize he was wrong, and was honestly trying to do better.
Let's do Ozai’s angels and compare them with Zuko.
Ty Lee:
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: Quirky Miniboss Squad. 3.
- Asthetics: Cute. 5.
- Motivation: Because Azula is her friend. 5.
- Characterization: Plain nuts. 2.
- Contentness: Enjoying every minute. Well, this one shouldn’t count; Ty Lee doesn’t like doing the evil, she’s mostly playing a game. 1.
- Morality of the Story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, especially toward the end of season two. 4.
- Idealism of the Story: Very idealistic, again, especially toward the end. 5.
- 34/9 = 3.7777777778. More than Azula, except in the most favorable interpretation for the princess. Unless of course, you decide not to count her score for contentness, leaving 33/8 = 4.125.
Mai:
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: Quirky Miniboss Squad. 3.
- Asthetics: Attractive. 5.
- Motivation: Her country. 5.
- Characterization:
Lawful Evil, 3. - Contentness: Neutral. Bored, off course. 3.
- Morality of the Story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, especially toward the end of season two. 4.
- Idealism of the Story: Very idealistic, again, especially toward the end. 5.
- 37/9 = 4.1111111111. So if you were surprised when the bored Mai acted on her own for the first time to save Zuko, you shouldn’t have been.
And at last… Zuko:
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy. 5.
- Asthetics: Fangirls will scream, but if you ask him, Red Right Hand, so 2.
- Motivation: OK, this one is too easy. You could be the trope namer for this, Zuko. 5.
- Characterization: Not only does he have some Evil Virtues, he is completely lost. 4.5.
- Contentness: Angst, angst, angst... Sometimes he would deserve 10, but the highest is 5.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, especially toward the end of season two. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Very idealistic, again, especially toward the end. 5.
- 37.5/9 = 4.1666666667. OK, so at first I thought the show subverted the algorithm because Zuko is a boy with a deforming scar and Azula is an attractive girl. But even taking that into account, Zuko was the more likely to have a Heel–Face Turn.
Just for the lulz, let’s see how likely it is that Ozai’s time in prison will help him see the light:
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Middle Aged. 3.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Asthetics: Sexy. 4.
- Motivation: He’s a Complete Monster, but he has shades of being The Social Darwinist. Let’s call it 1.5.
- Characterization: Obviously Evil. 1.
- Contentness: Enjoying every minute. 1.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Idealistic. 5.
- 22.5/9 = 2.5. So there’s not quite a 50/50 chance that he will, and that entirely because of the tone of the story and his good looks, rather than anything to do with his character. It’s unlikely he’s learning anything.
Ben 10
Charmcaster:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Freelancer, The Only One Allowed to Defeat You. 5.
- Asthetics: Sexy. 4.
- Motivation: Somewhere between ambitious and The Rival. 2.5.
- Characterization: Somewhat cold-blooded. 3.
- Contentness: Neutral, for now. 3.
- Morality of the story: Shades of gray, what with Kevin and all. 3.
- Idealism: Really idealistic, actually. 5.
- 36.5/10 = 3.65. There’s a decent chance she may turn once more of her character background is revealed (which, according to Word of God, will happen in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.) She’s definitely not as evil as Kevin was, and he turned face (of course, a lot of the reasoning behind his turn ignores his previous characterization altogether.)
- Update: It happened, then later it was undone, then the undoing was undone and she’s moved back toward turning to the good side. Yeah, it’s one of those cases.
Berserk
We know that Griffith went bad in a big way at the end of the anime, but what can the numbers tell us about whether or not we (and the Hawks) should have seen that big Face–Heel Turn coming?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Young Adult, much like Guts. 5.
- Role: Griffith is the leader of the Hawks, and though Guts is the protagonist of the series in general, the Hero role in the Five-Man Band is most definitely Griffith. 1.
- Aesthetics: White Hair, Black Heart. 5.
- Motivation: He wants to rule a kingdom of his own, so I would chalk it up to glory. 5.
- Characterization: He’s rather arrogant, though not in a hot-headed way, and the “playing with dangerous stuff” definitely qualifies if you take that Crimson Behelit into consideration. 4.
- Contentness: And here’s where things get tricky. When we first meet Griffith, he’s doing well, which would net him about a 2 result. Then Guts leaves him, he has sex with the princess and gets put to the torture for a year, and he gets pushed past the Despair Event Horizon when he finds out about Guts and Casca’s relationship, which brings him to about the 5 mark near the end.
- Morality of the story: Black and Gray all the way. 5.
- Cynicism of the story: And pretty far on the cynical end of the Sliding Scale to boot. 5.
- Griffith at the start of the Hawks arc: 39/10 = 3.9, while Griffith near the end: 42/10 = 4.2. In either case, Guts and company definitely should have seen that big Face–Heel Turn from Griffith coming.
Now, can he ever redeem himself:
- Species: He’s now a member of the God Hand, which are pretty much the Demon Lords and Archdevils. 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: The Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: Griffith looks incredibly beautiful but said beauty just screams that there is something completely wrong about him. 2.
- Motivation: He’s a Complete Monster. 1.
- Characterization: Griffith essentially epitomizes Despotism Justifies the Means. 2.
- Contentness: He’s doing well. 2.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality. 1.
- Idealism of the story: Fucking 1.
- 17/10 = 1.7. Nope, Griffith isn’t going to be redeemed at all. He’s frozen his heart in favor of his own selfish desires.
Now let’s see how close Guts himself was to becoming just like those he fights...
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Young Adult. 5.
- Role: The Hero, as he is the protagonist of the series in general. 1.
- Aesthetics: Overall, he’s pretty handsome. 1.
- Motivation: At his worst, he was driven purely by revenge, and really didn’t give a damn about others. 5.
- Characterization: He could be the poster boy for Byronic Hero . 2.
- Contentness: Life was pretty damn hard for him. 4.
- Morality of the story: Black and Grey 5.
- Cynicism of the story: It would be hard to find something much more cynical than this series. 5.
- 35/10 = 3.5. So he wasn’t quite as bad as Griffith, but it’s still good that he woke up when he did...
And to update, how is Guts now that he has a good gang with him? Will he succumb to the Inner Beast?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Still a young adult. 5.
- Role: The Hero. 1.
- Aesthetics: Attractive. 1.
- Motivation: I think his main priority now is really to take care of his companions (especially Casca). 2.
- Characterization: Still quite a Byronic Hero. 2.
- Contentness: Doing better, but still has troubles. 3.
- Morality of the story: 5.
- Cynicism of the story: 5.
- 31/10 = 3.1. OK. So it’s an improvement, but things are still tense. The battle with the Inner Beast could really go either way at this point...
The Bible
Let’s take a look at just how predictable the fall of Satan was. We’ll only count The Bible for this.
- Species: Angels are definitely a Superior Species from a human perspective, but going by Biblical descriptions they also fall very much under “inhuman and creepy-looking”. Averages out at a 2.5.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Unknown.
- Role: He was an Archangel, so second-in-command. 5.
- Aesthetics: Biblical angels are definitely otherworldly. 5.
- Motivation: Actually, why? 5.
- Characterization: Who knows?
- Contentedness: Neutral as far as we know. 3.
- Morality of the story: Earthly conflicts gravitate towards Black-and-Gray Morality, but things in Heaven are very much black and white. Let’s go with a 3.
- Idealism: Varies, but generally tends towards idealism. 2.
- 29.5/8 = 3.6875. Pretty high, but still quite low for the most notorious Face–Heel Turn ever.
Now, can he redeem himself?
- Species: Eldritch Abomination. 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Much, much older. 1.
- Role: Leader. 1.
- Aesthetics: Monstrous. 1.
- Motivation: Considering himself above God. Is that power or hubris? Average out at 2.5.
- Characterization: Pretty much the epitome of Obviously Evil. 1.
- Contentedness: Pretty much neutral. 3.
- Morality of the story: See above. Averages out to 3.5 this time.
- Idealism: See above, 4.
- 20/10 = 2. Not likely, but again, still pretty high for the villain.
Blaz Blue
Due to the events of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, let’s see how are the chances of Litchi Faye-Ling once again turning good and calling it quits being with NOL. If she is low, then even Tsubaki is doomed.
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Female - 4
- Age: She doesn’t seem over 30 years old, so Young Adult - 4
- Role: She’s the Sixth Ranger or Sixth Ranger Traitor of NOL who was not their starting members, so it's more like Freelancer - 5
- Aesthetics: She’s Ms. Fanservice. - 5
- Motivation: Love. Out there to save Arakune and self preservation. Therefore - 5.
- Characterization: VERY LOST AND CONFUSED (as far as the consensus goes) - 5
- Contentness: Unknown thus far. She looks more like a Punch-Clock Villain, but she doesn’t have high opinions on NOL, especially after she refused Hazama on the first go, thus making it like she doesn’t enjoy being with NOL. But she never shows it. Buuut, if we’re to go with what is shown thus far, as in complaining towards Rachel on how this is the only chance she got, needing to be persuaded thoroughly by Hazama before agreeing, and her dislike to Relius’ actions for Carl... let’s just say she’s not content. She just didn’t show time to angst, so 4.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. Unlike what most people say, BlazBlue isn’t very much Black-and-Gray Morality, even if the “good” is pretty gray. The Good: Anyone opposing NOL, The Bad: NOL, The Evil: Izanami, Yuuki Terumi and Relius. Therefore - 4 (if you feel insistent on it being Black And Gray... then it's 1)
- Idealism: Even with the villains finally defeated, it took until Central Fiction to finally change things for the better. - 1.5
For fun, let’s see what was her chance of turning Heel, as proven in CS. Was it a low chance at first, but the impossible happened, or it was high all along?
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: Freelancer - 4
- Aesthetics: She’s Ms. Fanservice. - 1
- Motivation: Love - 2.
- Characterization: She played with the Boundary - 4
- Contentness: Even if she could be happy with the people of Orient Town, she never seems to be content unless Arakune is cured. Therefore - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
Now let us try doing Tsubaki Yayoi, whether she’ll see the light or not.
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Female - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 4
- Role: Dark Action Girl of the team. She’s nowhere near The Dragon of Imperator in position compared to Hazama or Relius - 3
- Aesthetics: She’s human, she’s attractive for a teenager, and she’s a redhead. Even if it’s less fanservicey compared to Makoto, it’s still pretty. - 5
- Motivation: Thus far, she’s in Knight Templar territory. - 4
- Characterization: While she is lost and confused, her code as a Yayoi family, plus “support” and sight from the Imperator makes her less confused and more focused compared to Litchi. - 4
- Contentness: Neutral. It’s an order, and she has no time to angst, as much as she wants to. - 3
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 4
- Idealism: - 1.5
So with, Carl starting to turn to the dark side, let’s see how likely he was.
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Child - 1
- Role: Freelancer - 4
- Aesthetics: Cute-looking - 1
- Characterization: Carl is starting to play with some dangerous stuff - 4
- Contentness: Well, what happens when you have a very evil abusive father - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil - 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
On that note, how likely was it Tsubaki was going to find herself on the wrong side of the tracks? Let's find out.
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: Kinda as Jin’s Lancer amongst the Academy groups before everyone went away... - 5
- Aesthetics: As before, attractive redheaded human. - 1
- Motivation: More than likely, it’s for the love of Jin as well as familial duties. - 2
- Characterization: She’s slightly corruptible, but she certainly wouldn’t want to be Anti-Hero-ic - 2
- Contentness: Why else do you think she gets hammy when it comes to justice? - 2
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil - 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
For fun, let us try calculating who’s the bigger bad between Hazama or Relius. Whoever gets the higher score might get a Death Equals Redemption. (A Heel–Face Turn is already impossible for these guys.)
Yuuki Terumi
- Species: His true form is actually a ghost, looking quite like an Eldritch Abomination - 1
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Existing since ages long. He’s quite old - 1
- Role: He’s part of the Big Bad Duumvirate - 1
- Aesthetics: Sexy, fellas! Smooth Criminal, anyone? - 4
- Motivation: He’s a Complete Monster who does evil things for the lulz - 1
- Characterization: Obviously Evil - 1
- Contentness: He’s enjoying every minute of it - 1
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 4
- Idealism: - 1.5
Relius Clover
- Species: Looks human enough, but rumors say that he existed long ago and became like Terumi - 1.5
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: He even looks old, fathering Carl and all. Look at those jaws. - 1
- Role: He’s part of the Big Bad Duumvirate - 1
- Aesthetics: Evil Is Rugged. That mask ain’t foolin’ anyone, plus he’s got the voice of someone who makes his characters a Sex God - 4
- Motivation: While he looks like a Complete Monster, and he is one actually, he doesn’t do things For the Evulz and seems to be looking for some kind of goal from the shadows - 2
- Characterization: Less characterized than Hazama, but he puts up a Lawful Evil facade in front of the Imperator and is pretty much all-around coldblooded. - 3
- Contentness: He’s content, but doesn’t make it a frigging enjoyment like Hazama - 2
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 4
- Idealism: - 1.5
With Relius still around by the end of Central Fiction, it’s only a matter of time before he reappears again. Perhaps a Death Equals Redemption could be the best outcome for him. Terumi, on the other hand, is completely dead.
And now, last time in Calamity Trigger, Litchi appears in Tao’s Gag Reel as a villain... then she pulls a Face–Heel Turn in Continuum Shift. Who’s the villain in Tao’s Gag Reel in Continuum Shift? Rachel Alucard. Therefore, let us see if she would really turn against the heroes once NOL and Hazama are taken care of.
- Species: Snarky, but deep down a Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire - 2
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: Looks young, but more Older and Wiser - 2
- Aesthetics: She’s got red eyes. - 5
- Motivation: Not known. She’s not there for good sources, and she wonders why sometimes... - 5
- Characterization: Very arrogant for a little girl - 4
- Contentness: Pretty neutral in between doing good or evil - 3
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
Let’s now try to calculate if Kokonoe would really go over the edge and possibly become a villain worse than Hazama, if those nukes are any indication:
- Species: Between being born between the world’s most powerful creature and greatest mage, I'd say that’s... a Superior Species - 1.
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: She probably has been alive for long since she’s probably born after Nine died. However... she’s probably younger than Rachel, but older than Litchi, therefore, probably Middle Aged - 3
- Aesthetics: Yellow eyes. - 4
- Motivation: Actually, why? Kokonoe’s sole interest is just for her own glory, or to kill Terumi. She really gave no shit for “good” so long as she’s satisfied - 5
- Characterization: She has zero social skills, orders people around like trash, and holes herself up in her lab. Though she is pretty hotheaded and arrogant. Worst case 5, best case 4.
- Contentness: Life does suck when your opposition is a Troll who reads your movement, taunts you like hell and back and you seem to want to claim his head but other people tried to do the same. - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
Because Tsubaki has already performed a Face–Heel Turn, what about the other two members of the Three NOL Stooges, Noel and Makoto? What about their chances? First, Noel:
- Species: Humanoid. She’s a Murakumo Unit after all. 3.
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: She’s chronologically a child. 1.
- Role: She’s more the Love Interest through and through for our hero Ragna... so probably 3.
- Aesthetics: Moe. 1.
- Motivation: She’s trying to do good for her family and for the moment... friends, like the rest of the Stooges (except Tsubaki). 2
- Characterization: While she is a Messianic Archetype, the fact that Hazama CAN turn her into Mu-12 hampers her incorruptibility, even if the mode was shut down by Ragna, but she really won’t even touch Anti-Hero-ism. 1.5.
- Contentness: Seems to be OK. 2.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Idealism/Cynicism: 4.5.
Next, Makoto:
- Species: A squirrel beastkin Cute Monster Girl. 2.
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Young Adult. 5.
- Role: Always the True Companion of Noel. 3
- Aesthetics: Attractive, almost ridiculously so. 1.
- Motivation: Spouts goodness and “fighting for justice” or something like that, very much like a female Bang. Of course, mainly loyalty and friendship, but with those extra tidbits... 1.
- Characterization: Always protecting friends is nice on paper, but when the practice is “brutally kill anyone who ever tries to look at her friends (Noel and Tsubaki) funny”... that’s Anti Heroic. Still, she won’t get lower than that. 2.
- Contentness: Dude, did you see how she constantly spout about doing good? She must be having a hell of a time being Good. 1.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Idealism/Cynicism: 4.5.
Okay, so let's see if Arakune enjoys being a monster more than turning back into Lotte Carmine and making a good life as a normal man?
- Species: That’s a frickin’ Eldritch Abomination. 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: He can’t be that much older than Litchi. Young adult. 4.
- Role: A Freelancer (if you can call that anyway). Arrogant Science Guy. 5.
- Aesthetics: Hello? Monstrous Eldritch Abomination here! 1.
- Motivation: “Just Think of the Potential!” is what he said to Kokonoe all the time and look at how he ended up. 2.
- Characterization: Admittedly, combining his aspects as Arakune and Lotte, he’s pretty rounded. 5.
- Contentness: I don’t think he likes being a monster that can make no advances on his ambition against Kokonoe. 5.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism/Cynicism: 1.5.
- 30.5/10. Very good, above average chance. But still, it all depends if Litchi succeeds or not... AND whether he can finally do something on that inferiority complex of his.
Now let's try Ragna, Jin and Hakumen to see how likely they are to go Heel:
Ragna the Bloodedge
- Species: Given how the series repeats in a time loop and Ragna’s species could vary (human and Humanoid Abomination, which would give a respective score of 3 and 4), I’ll leave this out.
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: The Hero - 1
- Aesthetics: Mystical White Hair plus a heterochromic red eye - 5
- Motivation: At his worst, he was driven purely by revenge, and really didn’t give a damn about others - 5
- Characterization: He could be the new poster-boy for Anti-Hero - 2
- Contentness: You know that if you have a guy who’s killing NOL people without hesitation, you know that life in the series sucks horrible - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Idealism: 4.5
Jin Kisaragi
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: The Lancer - 5
- Aesthetics: Bishōnen - 1
- Motivation: He defected from NOL - 3
- Characterization: His behavior can verge into being sociopathic - 3
- Contentness: Ditto with Ragna - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
Hakumen
- Species: Living Armor - 5
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: He spent 90 years in the boundary - 2
- Role: The Hero - 1
- Aesthetics: White Hair - 5
- Motivation: Has a Single-Target Sexuality to Tsubaki - 2
- Characterization: Can somewhat verge into Anti-Hero territory - 2
- Contentness: Why else do you think he gets hammy when it comes to justice? - 2
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Idealism: - 4.5
Some new developments came for Nu-13 in the events of BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War, in it that she has discarded her old name and personality and is now Juusan/XIII. Let's see how possible it was.
Nu-13
- Species: Humanoid. She’s a Murakumo Unit after all. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: She’s chronologically an infant. 2.
- Role: She’s more like a freelancer so 5.
- Aesthetics: Similar-looking to Noel. 5.
- Motivation: She basically wanted Ragna for herself since really he was more or less the one thing that could inspire her. 3
- Characterization: She's actually rather nuts. 2.
- Contentness: Face it, life ain't kind for her, whether it be made into a minion or getting the shit wrecked out of her in the end. 5
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Idealism/Cynicism: 1.5.
Bleach
How about fan-favorites Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer? Assuming Grimmjow’s Long Bus Trip ends and Ulquiorra comes Back from the Dead, that is.
Grimmjow:
- Species: Arrancar. Since they’re pretty human-like and since the released form varies, let's go with 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Real age is unknown, but physically he’s a young adult. 4.
- Role: One of the Espada and a recurring antagonist. 4.
- Aesthetics: Evil is very sexy. 4.
- Motivation: It's all about power to him. 2.
- Characterization: A Blood Knight Psycho for Hire. 3.
- Contentness: Loves what he does. 1.
- Morality of the story: A very Black-and-Gray Morality. 1.
- Idealism of the story: He seems to be more of a realist than anything. 3.
- 26.0/10 = 2.6.
Ulquiorra:
- Species: Arrancar. 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: His backstory implies he’s decades, possibly centuries old, but physically he looks to be in his late teens or early twenties. 4.
- Role: High-ranked member of the Espada, recurring antagonist. 4.
- Aesthetics: Bishōnen. 4.
- Motivation: Nietzsche Wannabe, but his backstory has the possible implication that he’s Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life. So 3 or 4, depending on your interpretation.
- Characterization: Noble Demon. 4.
- Contentness: Doesn’t really seem to care, though he leans a little towards “life is hopeless and empty.” 3.5.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality. 1.
- Idealism of the story: Cynical through and through. 1.
- 28.5/10 or 29.5/10 = 2.85 or 2.95.
So if they ever come back, they both have about a 55% chance of Heel Face Turning, with Ulquiorra having slightly higher odds that would likely change depending on Orihime’s reaction to his return. With the way the manga’s going, however, they’ll probably switch sides anyway for a better chance at survival.
Just for laughs, let’s do Ulquiorra and Grimmjow's boss, Aizen, shall we?
Aizen:
- Species: Shinigami, which is pretty much a deceased human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: At least 150, physically looks to be in his late twenties. 3.
- Role: The Big Bad for a long stretch. 1.
- Aesthetics: Sexy. 4.
- Motivation: He says he’s doing this for a better future, but he really just has a god complex, so 1.
- Characterization: Villain Sue who loves screwing with people’s heads and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. 1.
- Contentness: Up until his Villainous Breakdown, he was happy as a clam. 1.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality. 1.
- Idealism of the story: Actually turned out to be rather bitter and cynical, though not as much as Ulquiorra. 2.
- 19/10 = 1.9, and it would be lower were he not so pretty. That said, he might help the heroes, but it would almost certainly be for his benefit and not a true Heel–Face Turn.
Bloodstained
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2: Sooo... Dominique is confirmed as a playable character, but she was the Big Bad of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and was considered a Complete Monster. So what's the chance that this being an Alternate Universe thing, Curse's Dominique becomes a case of Adaptational Heroism? Let's find out.
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: She's quite the young adult, definitely older than Miriam. 4.
- Role: She's the Big Bad and was apparently nefarious enough to count as a Complete Monster. Even if Curse is an Alternate Universe, that doesn't guarantee a 180 in morality stance. 1
- Aesthetics: She's definitely beautiful. 4.
- Motivation: While she certainly had a Freudian Excuse, she's too far into the Complete Monster-dom. But since this takes place in an alternate universe... we'll just give her 2, taking account on her Freudian Excuse, maybe she won't take it too far this time. (If this was Ritual Dominique, it's definitely 1)
- Contentness: She's doing well on it, because she's not a cackling villain or enjoying every minute. 2.
- Morality of the Story: Bloodstained, on both continuities, were quite clear on who's the bad guy and the good guy, even Curse Zangetsu can be chalked off as 'being grumpy'. 2.
- Idealism of the Story: It's quite as idealistic as its predecessor series, but not by much... 4.
- Average: 26/9 -> 2.89. Just slightly below average. Players may want to be careful that Dominique being playable just means that it's another phase of Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
- And finally we have a result! The Adaptational Heroism is genuine, there were hints that she might be Evil All Along as usual, but she turns out to be a Sheep in Sheep's Clothing this time.
Brave 10
Okay, the last episode is nearly out and let’s see if Anastasia will find her way to eventually become Face once more after whammy Heel turn in episode 9. Bring it on!
- Species: In a world where everyone is human... well this doesn’t count.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Young Adult. Definitely younger than Yukimura who’s more Middle-Aged. 4.
- Role: Dark Action Girl. 4.
- Aesthetics: Uh, she’s the Ms. Fanservice and has the sexy voice of Yuu Asakawa. 5.
- Motivation: At this point, she claims to be The Social Darwinist in believing only the strong survive. 3.
- Characterization: For the moment, she seems to take up the mantle of Lawful Evil very much. 3.
- Contentness: Life’s hard, yeah, but she certainly doesn’t come off as the angsty type, but if the Jinpachi encounter is to be taken note of, she could be secretly angsting. Fine, 4.5.
- Morality of the story: Hmm... hard to peg. Black-and-Gray Morality seems to be in her mindset and seems to hold true (Black = Hanzo’s group, Grey = Everyone else). 1.
- Idealism: 3. It’s pretty balanced though.
- 31.5/9 = 3.5. Well I guess like it or not, she’s going to have to turn Face again and help out fulfill Yukimura’s prediction.
- Update: Yes she did stop being a Heel, but she just doesn’t feel like returning after betraying the team, but is definitely hanging around with another good free spirit Jinpachi. So... success?
Breaking Bad
Time to see where some Breaking Bad characters will go or could have gone:
Let’s start with Walter White. Can he redeem himself?
- Species: Irrelevant.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Middle. 3.
- Role: Right now... definitely the Big Bad!. 1.
- Aesthetics: I’d say average looking. 3.
- Motivation: Oh boy, this is gonna get some flames going. It is a mixture of feeling powerful, his pride, money... it all depends on whether you still believe he is also trying to provide for his family or is a Woobie Destroyer of Worlds. I’ll go with 3.
- Characterization: PRIDE!!! 2.
- Contentness: It’s difficult to say. Sometimes he seems to enjoy himself a lot, but a lot of other times he is clearly not doing well at all. I’ll go with 4.
- Morality of the story: Breaking Bad has a variety of characters, ranging from very evil people like Tuco and the Cousins, to fairly bad people like Walt, to decent people like Jesse, to truly good people like Hank and Walter Junior. I think it is safe to go with The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of tye story: VERY cynical. 1.
- 23/9 = 2.5555555556. So Walt isn’t completely doomed to get even worse and become a Complete Monster, but he does lean slightly more towards that path...
- Update: Or is he? Despite his low score, “Gliding Over All” seems to hint at him trying to do better...
Before we move on to other characters, how bad was he to start with? Was he rotten all along, or is he just a really bad case of getting corrupted by the drug world?
- Gender: Male 4.
- Age: Still in middle age. 3.
- Role: The Hero. 1.
- Aesthetics: Was pretty handsome when younger, but then then became pretty plain-looking. 3.
- Motivation: Was a good person who loved his family. 2.
- Characterization: Outwardly meek, but deep down bitter about his lack of career achievements. 3.
- Contentness: Before he got cancer, he seemed to be happy with his kids and Skyler, even if he didn't earn a whole lot of money. By the time he has cancer... life is pretty hard. I'll go with 3.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Cynicism of the story: Still very cynical. 5.
- 27/9 = 3. So how far Walter White fell can be considered quite shocking, though not completely unexpected. He was Mr. Chips... and then he became Scarface.
Now for Jesse Pinkman. Will his Heel Realization make him see the light?
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Technically, he is the Deuteragonist, but he mostly functions as Walt’s right-hand man, and he is definitely much less of a villain than Walt. However, some might disagree and say that he and Walt are together the Villain Protagonists. Either 1 or 4.
- Aesthetics: YMMV, but I’d say he is attractive, especially with hair. Plus, he’s gotten a number of girls. 5.
- Motivation: Seems he became a criminal and junkie mostly out of general unhappiness and resentment towards a crappy upbringing. He definitely means well though. I’d go with 4.
- Characterization: Deep down, he’s a good person. He is also definitely lost and confused to some extent. 5.
- Contentness: More often than not, life has pretty much sucked for him. 5.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: 1.
- 31/9 = 3.4444444444 OR 34/9 = 3.7777777778. Either way, things look very hopeful for Jesse. Of course, given how cynical Breaking Bad is, the high redemption score might be the set-up for something really awful...
Finally, let's look at Mike. He did do a lot of awful things and was a professional killer, but it seems like there is at least some chance he might have been on his way to a new life before Walt killed him. Would he have tried to do better?
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Word of God says he is in his late fifties. Older than Walt, but still middle aged - 3
- Role: Formerly the Dragon, then he became a freelancer - 5.
- Aesthetics: Average - 3
- Motivation: It seems that he really did a lot of what he did so that he could provide for his granddaughter. - 4.
- Characterization: His job required that he be a stone-cold killer, but he seemed to have some standards. - 4
- Contentness: Seemed neutral at first, but then life got A LOT more difficult for him as numerous things went wrong. - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil - 4
- Idealism: 1
Average: 30/9 = 3.3
So things could have gone either way, but he had slightly better chances and hope for becoming a better person. Too bad Walt let his anger get the better of him...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Spike. Was his Heel–Face Turn predictable?:
- Species: Vampire. 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Way older than any living human, so 1.
- Role: Leader, back when the atoning began. 1.
- Aesthetics: Well, evil is sexy, after all. 4.
- Motivation for doing evil: he is unscrupulous and has precise goals, so 2.
- Characterization: As the story proceeds, Spike gets his own characterization in the round, so it’s a 5.
- Contentness: Being evil is wonderful and being badass is even better, especially with a fitting coat. Except that removed traumas and low social appreciation are heavy burdens to carry. Lots of denial about it do not help. Being unable to do what you exist for doing also doesn’t help. Life sucks. Angst ensues. That’s a straight 5.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality, as summed up at the end of “Lie To Me”. 3.
- Idealism of the story: Oh, that warm energy pervading your heart! And the power of a nice “Take That!” to society, when in the end you prove to be better than all those nice people that spit on you! And the disarming force of heart-felt redemption! 5!
- 30/10 = 3. It was an exact 50/50 chance, and Spike’s luck just happened to favor the side of good.
Now let’s take a gander at Faith’s original Face–Heel Turn, shall we?
- Species: Human, essentially. 3.
- Gender: Female. 3.
- Age: This troper isn’t exactly sure, but I’d put it at sixteen/seventeen: teenager. 4.
- Role: She’s not exactly a freelancer, so I’d put her as second-in-command (everybody considers her Slayer Number Two). 5.
- Aesthetics: Sexy and seductive, minus all the freaky eye and hair stuff. 5.
- Motivation: Because it’s her duty as the Slayer to kill only the evil and not the innocent. I’d put it under “habit”; it’s what she was trained to do, after all. 4.
- Characterization: Faith is the DEFINITION of “Bordering on hubris: Hotheaded, arrogant, likes to play with dangerous stuff.” 4.
- Contentness: She really does enjoy every minute of slaying, but slaying is still killing, and that’s the part she likes. Also the stealing. And she lives in a dank old motel. 2.
- Morality of the story: As the troper above stated, “Lie to Me” basically shouted that BTVS is Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4.
- Cynicism of the story: Personally I feel that it’s more cynical than idealistic, although there are elements of both. Is a 3 allowed? 3.
- 38/10: 3.8. High enough that Joss Whedon, with his endless love for inconsistent moralities, would definitely have Face–Heel Turn-ed her. The Scoobies were screwed.
The Daevabad Trilogy
The question we were all asking: should Manizheh have seen it coming? (Probably.) Let's try this for Dara.
- Species: The daeva go with Superior Species, I guess. 4.
- Gender: Definitely male. 2.
- Age: Really 700 Years Old comes into play here, but he's pretty old for a djinn. I'll say 1.
- Role: Manizheh's Dragon by this point. 4.
- Aesthetics: Unsettlingly pretty, there's a curse, it's a whole thing. 4.
- Motivation: When it comes to Manizheh? Oh, My Master, Right or Wrong in spades. 5.
- Characterisation: Noble Demon, I'd say. Though the Fantastic Racism (and all the war crimes) isn't helping. 4, maybe 3.5. Round it to 4.
- Contentedness: Pretty fucking miserable. I'll say 4.
- Morality of the story: Grey and gray and grey and gray and grey. 3.
- Idealism of the story: Oh, cynical. 2.
- 33/10, or 3.3. A 50/50 chance is a 2.5, so yeah, Manizheh missed a step there. Oops.
Death Note
Likelihood of Turning Face for Light Yagami:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Teenager, though he does become a young adult following a timeskip - 4
- Role: The one Big Bad - 1
- Aesthetics: Unnaturally Handsome - 4
- Motivation: Ambition Is Evil - 2
- Characterization: Complete Monster - 1
- Contentedness: Enjoying every minute - 1
- Morality of the story: Blackand Gray Morality - 1
- Idealism of the story: Cynical - 1
Average: 20/10 = 2. In the end, Light’s own conviction that he's already good diminishes his chances.
Now let’s see if L would ever cross over to the dark side!
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: Freelancer - 4
- Aesthetics: Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette - 4
- Motivation: Force of Habit - 4
- Characterization: Arrogant - 4
- Contentedness: Neutral - 3
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality - 5
- Idealism of the story: Cynical - 5
Average: 41/10 = 4.1 If L got into a position where he’d have to join the side of evil, you’d better believe he’d do it.
While on that note, let’s see if Mello and Near would truly be L’s protégés. Would Mello totally lose it? Will Near be able to hold out after the end?
Mello:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Teenager - 4
- Role: I’ll go with freelancer, especially as how he’s a mob boss - 4
- Aesthetics: Definitely attractive - 1
- Motivation: It’s very questionable, mostly just to compete with Near - 5
- Characterization: He is very much a Byronic Hero - 2
- Contentness: Life is quite hard for him - 4
- Morality of the story: Black and Grey - 5
- Idealism: Cynical - 5
- 37/10 = 3.7
Near:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Teenager - 4
- Role: He’s a lot like L - 4
- Aesthetics: White-haired pretty boy - 5
- Motivation: Mostly out of habit, and he openly questions the concept of good and evil - 4
- Characterization: Quite arrogant - 4
- Contentness: I’ll go with neutral - 3
- Morality of the story: Black and Grey - 5
- Idealism: Cynical - 5
- 41/10 = 4.1
Woah, they’re both just itching to go to the dark side! And Near scores exactly the same as L, with Mello a little below them both. No wonder Word of God states Near is the “more evil” between him and Mello. Now we can say for certain that Light’s main opponents are really no better than he!
D.Gray-Man
Let’s see if evilly charming Road from D.Gray-Man will have to go the way of villains:
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: About 12 or so, let’s say child. 2.
- Role: Quirky miniboss. 3.
- Aesthetics: Cute in a loli way, let’s say 4.5.
- Motivation: Roady really likes to play rough but also likes the Earl and her fellow Noah, make it 3.
- Characterization: Unpredictable and nuts. 2.
- Contentness: Road is having a lot of fun. 1.
- Morality of the story: The main characters are mostly good, the Earl and the Noah are evil. The Black Order is very gray: 3.
- Idealism of the story: Pretty idealistic, the hero of the story is a messiah. 4.
- 26.5/9 = 2.9444444444. Cuteness and Allen might yet save her but the Moral Event Horizon is looming not far away.
- Given that Road has been revealed to be considerably older than she looks and she’s been over the Moral Event Horizon for the entire series, her chances don’t look good.
Doctor Who
OK, spoilers incoming.I can’t help but wonder whether the Doctor himself would have gone through with a Face–Heel Turn if Adelaide Brooke hadn’t disrupted his frankly terrifying flirtation with A God Am I. So here goes:
- Species: Time Lord, definite Superior Species - 1
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Very, very old - 2
- Role: The Hero, or near enough - 1
- Aesthetics: YMMV on this one. I’d give him a 1, but there are others who would give him a 3. So, as a compromise, 2.
- Motivation: Worldview - 3
- Characterization: Normally 2, but at this point he's going nuts - 4
- Contentness: Not happy, and the lack of a companion isn’t helping - 4
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality, I’d say - 4
- Idealism: A general feeling of hopelessness, for the most part - 5
- 30/10 = 3. Could have gone either way. Oh dear. Adelaide, I once again salute you.
And, since I’m having fun with this, let’s see if the Master’s final act in “The End Of Time” would have actually led to a Heel–Face Turn, if, y’know, there were any way in hell the writers would even vaguely consider that.
- Species: Somewhere between Human Aliens and Eldritch Abomination, since he Came Back Wrong - 2
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: About the same age as the Doctor - 1
- Role: The Dragon, albeit unwittingly - 4
- Aesthetics: YMMV again, but I’d give him a 5.
- Motivation: Somewhere between Complete Monster and completely out of his tree - 1
- Characterization: An utter nutter (sorry) - 2
- Contentness: He’s fine with evil, but not a happy bunny - 3
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil - 4
- Idealism: Rather cynical, with the exception of Wilfred - 2
- 22/10 = 2.2. Still more likely than normal.
One more: how close to turning Valeyard was the Sixth Doctor after The Reveal of the Valeyard’s origins during his trial?
- Species: Time Lord - 1
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Seen a few centuries - 2
- Role: The Hero, or near enough - 1
- Aesthetics: Would qualify as “dignified” if he didn’t insist on wearing a coat that probably counts as visual torture in some countries - 3
- Motivation: Worldview - 3
- Characterization: Would get a 4 if he weren’t so determined to eradicate evil - 2
- Contentness: Genuinely frightened by the Valeyard, and still recovering from the loss of Peri - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, given the Master’s presence - 3
- Idealism: Corruption among the Time Lords, a Shadow Archetype and the Master? Baaaad times. The one shining beacon of idealism is the Doctor himself. - 4
- 27/10 = 2.7. I think we're OK.
Let’s try River Song for Face–Heel Turn (to see if she could really have been the one in the space suit in “The Impossible Astronaut”.):
- Species: Half-Human, Half-Time Lord. Let’s put her in the middle with 2.
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Unclear at the time of the Doctor’s death. We’ll put her between Children Are Innocent and Middle-Aged. 2
- Role: True Companions. 3
- Aesthetics: Dignified. 2
- Characterisation: Somewhat arrogant. 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- 19/7 = 2.71. The Doctor may want to watch out.
Just for the hell of it, let’s do the Daleks for Heel–Face Turn:
- Species: Fairly inhuman. 1
- Gender: Don’t have gender, and are definitely not outgoing. 3
- Age: Let’s go with old. 1.
- Role: Both Big Bad and Faceless Mooks, so 1.
- Aesthetics: 1
- Motivation: Always Chaotic Evil, 1
- Characterisation: Just evil, really. 1
- Contentness: Shit, contentness? Let’s go with doing well. 2
- Morality of the Story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, 4
- Idealism: Often depends. 3.
Dollhouse
Now, Topher. A tough one. Joss Whedon loves to play with morality on the series. Topher has been stated, in-show, to have no morals, yet given the events of “Belonging” it’s clear something’s going to give.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Adult but extremely immature; we’ll split the difference and say young adult. 3.
- Role: Key player, but also an independent contractor. 5.
- Asthetics: Sort of geeky-cute. 3 or 4. We’ll go with 4.
- Motivation: For Science!! with a god-complex. 2.
- Characterization: At the start, 2, but showed a need for people to like and accept his work. As of “Belonging”, he’s realising the implications of his work, pushing him right over into “lost and confused”. 5.
- Contentness: At the start, he was lost in the science and in his cool toys, so 1. Now that he’s been faced with the amorality of some of the upper echelon, he’s thought seriously for the first time about what he actually does. 4.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality, shading into Grey-and-Gray Morality at times. It’s a Whedon show; it might change at any time. Right now we’re at 3.
- Idealism of the story: It exists, but it usually comes up short against reality. 2.
- 30/9 = 3.3333333333. This is where it breaks down. He could change at any time during the series, but he’s very definitely on DeWitt’s side, and that particular loyalty is not in question. The only question is if she decides to go against her bosses.
- Update: It happened.
Adelle DeWitt
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Older. 1.
- Role: High-ranking. 4.
- Asthetics: Sexy. 4.
- Motivation: No idea what her motivation is. 3.
- Characterisation: Even Evil Has Standards. 4.
- Contendness: Life is hard. 4.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 3.
- Idealism of the story: 2.
- 29/9 = 3.2222222222. She might be further from turning than we think, but we can probably count on it by the end of the season.
- Update: It happened.
Dragon Age
First: Loghain, who makes a Face–Heel Turn and has the potential to make a Heel–Face Turn right back.
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4 as hero, 2 as villain.
- Age: Early fifties, probably. 3.
- Role: As an ally of the heroes, the king’s commander. 5-ish. As a villain, he’s the Big Bad of his arc but there’s no way he can compete with a corrupted dragon god. 2?
- Aesthetics: Plain craggy middle-aged fellow, if distinctive-looking. 3.
- Motivation: As a hero: love of country - 2. As a villain: misguided, paranoid and slightly delusional love of country, means well - 4.
- Characterization: As a hero: Hotheaded and arrogant, 4. As a villain: Even Evil Has Standards, 4.
- Contentness: As a hero: convinced his king’s about to sell out his country to the former enemy he hates, aware that said married king is schtupping the empress of said former enemy nation - 5. As a villain: the more he tightens his grasp, the more the situation slips out of his control - 4.
- Morality of the story: Black and gray. 5 for the hero side, 1 for the villain side.
- Cynicism of the story: Fairly cynical. 4 for the hero side, 2 for the villain side.
Then a couple of slightly less clear-cut examples, being party members who do...rather shocking things...while still potentially remaining your allies. Morrigan at bat:
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Female. 3.
- Age: Young adult. 5.
- Role: Something of a Lancer; more or less shares the second-in-command role with her rival Alistair. 5.
- Aesthetics: Gorgeous seductress with questionable taste in clothes...but she’s both a bit gothic AND has yellow eyes, so definitely a 4.
- Motivation for doing good: Sure, she doesn’t want lots of big ugly monsters to kill the world, but other than that she's not too concerned about doing good for anyone. 5-a-licious.
- Characterization: Arrogant, power-hungry loner who definitely likes to play with dangerous stuff; also obviously an Anti-Hero from the get-go. Let’s settle this one at a 4.
- Contentness: She seems fairly happy, though she complains a good deal about being Surrounded by Idiots. 2.
- Morality of the story: Black and gray and proud of it. 5.
- Cynicism of the story: Fairly cynical. 4.
And Anders:
- Species: Human...sort of...mostly...I’ll call that a 4. Definitely some creepiness involved in being an abomination.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Older than Hawke, but probably not much past 30. 5.
- Role: True Companions, 3.
- Aesthetics: Hotter than a Fireball spell. 1.
- Motivation for doing good: Compassion and justice...with a side of vengeance on the oppressor. A little hard to rate, but let’s average the warm fuzzies and the cold smities out to a 2.
- Characterization: Surly and bitter, with a soft spot for the downtrodden and kittens vying with a good bit of hubris. Call it 3.
- Contentness: Self-hating, terrified, bipolar wreck wrestling with his Dark and Troubled Past, his own deep-seated rage, and Demonic Possession all at once. 5 in spades.
- Morality of the story: There’s no real Big Bad in DA2; while the likes of Ser Alrik do occasionally show up, it’s mostly more Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4.
- Cynicism of the story: DA2 is wicked cynical. 5.
And for one who may either betray you or stay loyal depending on how you've treated him: Zevran:
- Species: Elf. 2.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Young adult. 5.
- Role: The assassin who was hired to kill your Player Character. 4. (Funny that isn't a 5.)
- Aesthetics: Pretty boy with a seductive purring voice. 1.
- Motivation for doing good: Owing you for sparing his life. That’s kind of loyalty, I guess? 2.
- Characterization: Pleasant company, but won’t sink much lower than this, even if he has standards. 2.
- Contentness: Took his assignment to kill you because he wanted to die due to his guilt over murdering his lover because of a terrible misunderstanding. That’s pretty angsty. Also has a Dark and Troubled Past it’s hard to beat: being sold into slavery as an assassin at age seven. 5.
- Morality of the story: Black and gray and grimdark all over. 5.
- Cynicism of the story: Fairly cynical. 4.
Dragon Ball
Let’s see how likely the three Buus are to go Face:
Fat Buu
- Species: Eldritch Abomination - 1
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Existing since ages past. He’s quite old - 1
- Role: Big Bad - 1
- Aesthetics: Monstrous - 1
- Motivation: Obliviously Evil - 3
- Characterization: Tied with his Obliviously Evil status, he doesn’t know any better until Hercule explains to him the difference between right and wrong - 5
- Contentness: Obliviously Evil - 3
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. - 2
- Idealism: Idealistic - 5
Super Buu
- Species: Eldritch Abomination - 1
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Existing since ages past. He’s quite old - 1
- Role: Big Bad - 1
- Aesthetics: Monstrous - 1
- Motivation: Unlike Kid Buu, who is purely For the Evulz, Super Buu at least cares about a good fight - 1.5
- Characterization: Obviously Evil - 1
- Contentness: Unlike Kid Buu, Super Buu is at least a bit more interested in fighting a strong opponent rather than random destruction. - 1.5
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. - 2
- Idealism: Idealistic - 5
Kid Buu
- Species: Eldritch Abomination - 1
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Existing since ages past. He’s quite old - 1
- Role: Big Bad - 1
- Aesthetics: Monstrous - 1
- Motivation: He’s a monster who does evil things for the lulz. - 1
- Characterization: Obviously Evil. He’s even described as Evil Incarnate. - 1
- Contentness: He’s enjoying every minute of it - 1
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. - 2
- Idealism: Idealistic - 5
Fat Buu already has gone Face. Super Buu and Kid Buu, especially the latter, however, can piss off and stay dead.
Fire Emblem
Let’s do Fire Emblem Fates. How likely was it that Takumi was going to succumb to his Demonic Possession and become a Fallen Hero?
- Species: Human: 3.
- Gender: Male: 4.
- Age: All evidence indicates he is likely in his late teens, so Teenager: 4.
- Role: The second in line for the Hoshidan throne would almost certainly qualify as The Lancer: 5.
- Aesthetics: Bishōnen, and official art shows he is rather ripped under his rather concealing outfit. 1.
- Motivation: Love and loyalty for his siblings and kingdom. 2.
- Characterization: With his mood swings and distrust/hatred of the Avatar, Byronic Hero is perhaps the best fit for him. 2.
- Contentness: In Birthright, he’s a bit surly and distrustful, but he has his friends and family with him, so let’s give him a 3. In Conquest, he’s rather angry about the Avatar’s betrayal and his kingdom getting its ass kicked in a war. 5.
- Morality of the story: For the most part, Grey-and-Gray Morality; the Greater-Scope Villain doesn’t directly enter the plot outside Revelation. 4.
- Idealism of the story: The middle of the scale. Both sides have their good points and bad points, and either main path ends with a lot of innocent people and some of your loved ones dead, but in the end the good guys win out and the bad guys end up dead. Call it a 3.
- Average: 31/10 = 3.1 for Birthright, 33/10 = 3.3 for Conquest. Takumi was on a razor’s edge the whole way through, and it’s really your influence that determines whether he comes back from the brink (Birthright) or goes over the edge (Conquest).
Now for Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
How likely was it that Edelgard was going to turn out to be a traitor and warlord?
- Species: Human: 3.
- Gender: Female: 3.
- Age: Starts at 17, turns 18 during the story. 4.
- Role: One of the primary protagonists. 1.
- Aesthetics: Otherworldly due to Mystical White Hair. 5.
- Motivation: A genuine desire for societal reform. Let's call it a 3.
- Characterization: Leans towards the arrogant side. 4.
- Contentness: Hates the current state of society. 5.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Leans towards cynical since there's no way to stop the war and sympathetic major characters always end up dead. 4.
- Average: 36/10 = 3.6. The red flags were clearly there in hindsight, and if it weren't for her story role it would have been a very easy betrayal to see coming.
How likely would it be for Byleth to betray the Church, as happens on the Crimson Flower route?
- Species: A human whose soul is merged with either a goddess or a divine dragon worshiped as a goddess. 3.
- Gender: Player-determined between female (3) and male (4).
- Age: 20-21. 5.
- Role: The primary protagonist. 1.
- Aesthetics: Conventionally attractive. 1.
- Motivation: Loyalty and friendship towards their students. 2.
- Characterization: A stoic paragon. 1.
- Contentness: The murder of their father was a big blow, but other than that they've got it pretty good. 2.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Leans towards cynical since there's no way to stop the war and sympathetic major characters always end up dead. 4.
- Average: 26 or 27/10 = 2.6 or 2.7. Fairly unlikely - it's kinda hard to blame Rhea for snapping if they actually go through with it.
Guilty Gear
Let’s try to see if somewhere along the line in Guilty Gear, Anji Mito could call it quits with working with That Man.
- Species: Human, Japanese in a setting where Japanese is considered a rare breed/Last of His Kind - 5
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Young Adult - 4
- Role: He’s a freelancer, no business with PWAB or the Holy Order so far - 5
- Aesthetics: A Walking Shirtless Scene, and pretty attractive to boot - 5
- Motivation: Anji’s motivation is unknown, he sought knowledge and knowledge alone and that alone seems to put him rather low - 2
- Characterization: He’s not very lost, he’s focused on his thirst for knowledge and is a pretty honorable for a Japanese. More likely to become a Noble Demon - 4
- Contentness: He seems pretty content and seems to think That Man isn’t as bad as Baiken thinks, going so far as trying to recruit her - 2
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. Not as extreme as the BlazBlue setting, but Guilty Gear still doesn’t quite know a purely white faction. The Good: Holy Knights, Jellyfish Pirates, Zepp, Sol. The Bad: Assassin’s Guild, That Man’s group (barring I-No), Gears. The Evil: I-No, PWAB. - 4
- Idealism: Pretty Idealistic, but not very so. Anji being a Heel on basis of being with That Man himself is a proof that it’s not overly idealistic - 4
Now how likely was Anji Mito to join That Man:
- Species: Human, Japanese in a setting where Japanese is considered a rare breed/Last of His Kind - 1
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: He’s a freelancer, no business with PWAB or the Holy Order so far - 4
- Aesthetics: A Walking Shirtless Scene, and pretty attractive to boot - 1
- Motivation: Anji’s motivation is unknown, but he sought knowledge and knowledge alone and that alone seems to put him rather high - 5
- Characterization: He’s pretty much an easygoer - 2
- Contentness: Being a Japanese man, he is forced to live in colonies - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: Pretty Idealistic, but not very so. - 2
For a new GG character to be rated, Testament has all been on the stuff about Humans Are Bastards. As seen in one of his alternate endings in GGXX, he turns against humanity after Dizzy died. So what are the chances that in the future he gets riled up with humanity again and once again out to eradicate them?
- Species: Gear, seems like Superior Species to me - 1
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Probably quite into adulthood when he turns Gear - 5
- Role: Ever since he’s out of Justice’s services, he’s more like a Freelancer who chose to protect Dizzy on his own will. - 4
- Aesthetics: Gothic looking, red-eyed creepy Bishōnen... - 5
- Motivation: Love and Loyalty, probably he does “good” just to protect Dizzy - 2
- Characterization: VERY bitter and mistrusting of humanity, but lately he also becomes a bit of a loner due to Dizzy being with the Jellyfish - 5
- Contentness: Doesn’t comment much about it. - 3
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: Quite idealistic, but not so much - 2
Judging in some of the Accent Core Plus endings where Baiken goes insane and becomes a murderess, let’s see how likely she is to go heel should she appear in Xrd:
- Species: Human, Japanese in a setting where Japanese is considered a rare breed/Last of His Kind - 1
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: She’s a freelancer, no business with PWAB or the Holy Order so far - 4
- Aesthetics: She has pink eyes, which could qualify as red eyes, also is sexy and attractively scarred - 5
- Motivation: Baiken's motivation is just to kill That Man. She really gives no shit for “good” so long as she is satisfied - 5
- Characterization: She has zero social skills, is pretty hotheaded and arrogant, and a borderline psychopath. - Best case 4, Worst case 5
- Contentness: Being a Japanese person, she is forced to live in colonies - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: Pretty Idealistic, but not very so. - 2
Judging from the Bad Future in the Drama CD, where Dizzy goes bad let’s see how likely she is to go heel:
- Species: Half-human, Half-Gear - 2
- Gender: Female - 3
- Age: Chronologically, she's 6 - 1
- Role: True Companions with the Jellyfish Pirates - 3
- Aesthetics: Red eyes - 5
- Motivation: Compassion - 1
- Characterization: Pretty much the most pure-hearted character in the series. - 1
- Contentness: Being a Gear, she often is hunted down - 4
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 3
- Idealism: Pretty Idealistic, but not very so. - 2
Now for I-No:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Female - 4
- Age: Young adult - 4
- Role: The Dragon to the Big Bad - 4
- Aesthetics: Sexy - 4
- Motivation: She likes doing evil thing for lulz - 1
- Characterization: Obviously Evil - 1
- Contentness: She’s enjoying every minute of her acts - 1
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. - 4
- Idealism: Pretty Idealistic, but not very so. - 4
Gundam
As of Episode 24, one of the plot points in Gundam AGE is that someone in Flit Asuno’s crew is a Vagan spy. Surely his right-hand man Frederick Algreus isn't a Vagan... is he? Let’s find out.
- Gender: Male, 4.
- Age: Young Adult. Definitely younger than Flit Asuno who’s more middle-aged. 5.
- Role: He’s currently the strategist for the Earth Federal Forces. He’s also the right-hand man for Flit Asuno, so he’s a 5.
- Aesthetics: His looks can make Gundam fangirls pass out. 1.
- Motivation: What’s his reasoning for fighting against Vagan again? 5.
- Character: He certainly isn’t an arrogant, bitter guy. Let's say a 2.
- Contentness: He doesn’t seem to hate his position in the Earth Federal Forces. It's a 3 in my book.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-Gray Morality in full force in this series. 5.
- Idealism of the story: Despite the kiddy art style, AGE rivals the Universal Century when it comes to cynicism. 5.
- 35/9 = 3.8888888889. Well, looks like someone prefers tofu over meat. In all seriousness, Flit better watch his back, because Frederick is going to show his true colors very soon.
- Update: Now that was unexpected. Turns out he’s NOT the Vagan spy after all.
Haruhi Suzumiya
Now that Ryoko has come back, what are the chances that she will stop trying to kill Kyon?
- Species: She could be considered either a human-looking android or a Human Alien, so we’ll split the difference. 2.5
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Chronologically, was created three years before the start of the series, but is mentally a teenager, so 5
- Role: Hard to class; the closest thing is a Rival Turned Evil to Yuki. 5
- Aesthetics: In the eyes of fanboys, Sexy. 4
- Motivation: Not only does she have a goal, she keeps trying the same thing long after it’s become pointless. 2
- Characterization: Since she is an alien who views things fundamentally differently to humans, does that count as “plain nuts”? 2
- Contentness: That is an emotion, and she possess none. 3
- Morality of the story: White and Gray. 5
- Idealism of the story: Despite being a Deconstructor Fleet, it remains pretty idealistic. 5
- Average: 37.5/10 = 3.75. Who knows, maybe she could start to understand humans (like her comrade Yuki has already done) eventually.
From the same series, what are the chances that Kyon’s worries are correct and Mikuru becomes a morally questionable Manipulative Bastard like her future self?
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Teenager, though she is such a Moeblob she could probably qualify for Children Are Innocent. We’ll split the difference and say 2.5
- Role: True Companions. 3
- Aesthetics: Moe as all hell. 1
- Motivation: Her priority isn't to be “good” as much as it is to ensure that history goes the same way. It’s hard to tell so far, but probably 4.5
- Characterization: Moe characters are pure of heart, right? 1
- Contentness: Oh, damnit. Life kind of sucks for her. 4.5
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 1
- Cynicism of the story: Same as above. 1
- Average: 24.5/10 = 2.45. While she’ll probably avoid becoming her future self, she’d better be careful, and the rest of the SOS Brigade really should be supportive of her, lest she snap.
Koizumi is just secretive enough that he isn’t entirely trustworthy, so what are the chances that he’ll eventually betray the group?
- Species: Despite his esper powers, he is still a human. 3
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: Teenager. 4
- Role: Second-in-command of the SOS Brigade, and whenever Kyon needs to confide in someone, it’s either him or Yuki. 5
- Aesthetics: The fangirls pretty much say he’s a bishie. 1
- Motivation: He has to, or else the world would be destroyed. It’s clear that he’s doing it more out of obligation than a desire to actually save the world. 3
- Characterization: His whole personality is a façade, so we don’t have a clue. Based on his interactions with Kyon, though, he’s likely a 2.
- Contentness: Again, his public persona is a façade, and though he is always outwardly happy and pleasant around Haruhi, he seems to find his esper duties quite stressful in actuality. Let’s say a 4.
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 1
- Cynicism of the story: Same as above. 1
- Average: 28/10 = 2.8. He’d be dangerously high were it not for the idealism of the series, but Kyon still better watch his back.
Haruhi herself was originally the antagonist. How likely was her Character Development into a better person, really?
- Species: Though she is human, she is also a Reality Warper, which should probably override this. 5
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Teenager. 5
- Role: Definitely a freelancer. She marches to the beat of her own drum. 5
- Aesthetics: One of the prettiest girls in school, such that it is remarked upon in-universe. 4
- Motivation: Despair over her utterly mundane life caused her to do anything to stand out, even if it meant no longer obeying the restrictions of society. 3
- Characterization: Hard to class—for the most part she’s lost and confused (even if she’ll never show it) but she also has respect for people whom she perceives as not having completely given up hope in the possibility of the paranormal (such as Koizumi and John Smith), yet at the same time, she’s bugfuck insane. These balance out to 3.7
- Contentness: She might appear to be enjoying her life, but the first novel is called “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” for a reason. 4
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 5
- Cynicism of the story: Same as above. 5
- Average: 43.7/10 = 4.37. It was guaranteed.
Now for the Anti-SOS Brigade! Which ones are likely to have a change of heart, and which are truly evil?First up is Kuyou Suou:
- Species: A Humanoid Abomination that doesn’t even understand a facsimile of human experience. 1
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Like all humanoid interfaces, she was created three years ago, but unlike the Data Overmind interfaces, she definitely can’t pass as a convincing teenager and she comes off as a Creepy Child if she comes off as anything. 2
- Role: Seems like part of a Quirky Miniboss Squad at first, but is actually Fujiwara’s Dragon. Thus, she’s a 4
- Aesthetics: Would be a cute schoolgirl if she weren’t at the bottom of the Uncanny Valley. 2
- Motivation: Actually, why? The best anyone can tell is that it would benefit the Sky Canopy Dominion somehow if Haruhi were depowered. 2
- Characterization: Too alien to have any depth. 1
- Contentness: No one knows. 3
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 5
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 5
- Average: 29/10 = 2.9. Much like for Koizumi, the idealism skews the results toward turning good, even though the Anti-SOS Brigade arc ends with her still on Fujiwara’s side, and unrepentant.
Next is Tachibana Kyoko:
- Species: A human esper. 3
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Teenager. 5
- Role: Doesn’t appear to be a particularly high-ranking esper outside her closeness to Sasaki, and even as part of the Anti-SOS Brigade she doesn’t do much compared to Fujiwara and Kuyou. But she isn’t an opportunist so she’s probably still a 3
- Aesthetics: A cute girl, though not to Haruhi or Mikuru levels. 5
- Motivation: She believes that the world is better off with Sasaki instead of Haruhi having control of the Reality Warper powers, and at the same time clearly disapproves of her organization’s more extreme methods (such as kidnapping Mikuru). Her motivation really does seem to be more that Sasaki is her friend. Splitting the difference gives 4.5
- Characterization: Definitely possesses honor, and is very polite with Kyon despite him rejecting the Anti-SOS Brigade’s offer. 4
- Contentness: Doing well. 2
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 5
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 5
- Average: 40.5/10 = 4.05. It’s not at all surprising that she turns good at the end.
The sneering bastard himself, Fujiwara:
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Unclear. He could be either an older teenager or a younger adult. He’s old enough to drive a truck, but since he’s a time traveler, his license is probably fake. He’s younger than future Mikuru, but since her age is also unknowable, it proves nothing. In any case, he’s around a 4.5
- Role: He’s at least the Big Bad of the arc in which he appears, even though there probably isn’t one for the series as a whole. However, this isn’t clear until nearly the end, as he hides behind others. 1.5
- Aesthetics: The illustrations make him kind of handsome, despite the sneer. Fangirls would definitely say Evil is Sexy. 4
- Motivation: Another tricky one. At first it isn’t clear why he does what he does, but in his next appearance he explains that he wants to free humans from the tyranny of causality, suggesting a Well-Intentioned Extremist, though his willingness to resort to murder makes him a Knight Templar. Yet after he crosses the Moral Event Horizon, he breaks down and reveals that his real motivation is despair at losing his big sister, Mikuru, so he crosses over with Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, for a 3.5
- Characterization: Checks off the deadly sins of Pride (“the sneering bastard”), Wrath (Murder Is the Best Solution) and also Envy and Lust, but the aforementioned villainous breakdown also suggests that he’s very lost and confused, albeit probably too far gone to be helped. Let’s average it out to 3.5 just to be safe.
- Contentness: He wouldn’t have had that breakdown without angst, angst, and more angst. 5
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 5
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 5
- Average: 37/10 = 3.7. As incredible as it sounds, he just may see the light. That’s awfully high for someone whose last act before (presumably) dying is to try to kill the female lead...
And last, the reason the Anti-SOS Brigade exists at all, Sasaki:
- Species: Though she was the Reality Warper before Haruhi, she’s a normal human now. 3
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Teenager. 5note
- Role: Though set up as the one Big Bad, her heart is clearly not in it. Especially after Fujiwara makes his move. 5
- Aesthetics: A few characters comment on her prettiness, though Kyon doesn’t notice, and even though she is drawn to look like Haruhi, she doesn’t look as cute. Let’s split the difference between “pretty” and “plain-looking”, so 4
- Motivation: As it turns out, she doesn’t approve of any of the evil acts done in her name. Definitely a 5
- Characterization: Would be a Noble Demon without a doubt if she actually did anything. 4
- Contentness: Since she lived a normal life up till very recently, I’d say she’s doing well. 2
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 5
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 5
- Average: 42/10 = 4.2. Why did we ever think she was evil at all? Even without her joining Kyon to take her own Brigade down in novel 11, it was obvious that the real villains were only using her.
- Species: Again, human. 3
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Teenager. 4
- Role: Not in the SOS Brigade, so freelancer. 4
- Aesthetics: Somewhere between dignified and average. 2.5
- Motivation: She wants the paranormal to stay away from her. The only thing close on the list is “habit”. 4
- Characterization: Kyon picked up his cynicism from her, and the complete list of her friends consists of Kyon, Kyoko, and Kuyou. Averages to 4
- Contentness: Still doing well. 2
- Morality of the story: Same as above. 1
- Cynicism of the story: Same as above. 1
- Average: 28.5/10 = 2.85. In a more cynical story, she likely would have been Evil All Along.note Truly Tanigawa is a master of misdirection.
i Carly
How about Nevel from iCarly? Was his Heel–Face Turn plausible?
- Species: Irrelevant.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: Middle Ground I guess? 3.
- Aesthetics: Pretty plain looking. 3.
- Motivation: Love Makes You Evil, but not in a “loyalty” sense. Could probably fall under “Unscrupulous with some kind of goal,” so 2.
- Characterization: He was a pretty Flat Character, 1.
- Contentedness: Pretty much neutral. 3.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, 4.
- Idealism: Varies wildly, probably averages out at 3.
- 26/9=2.89. Almost exactly a 50/50 shot.
Jak And Daxter
Count Veger:
Let's see if the fans’ gift of cowhide trousers is completely unjustified...
- Species: “Human”. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Older. 1.
- Role: Some consider him a Big Bad, others would say he’s an Opportunist, so either a 1 or a 2.
- Aesthetics: Either genuinely ugly or just feeling the effects of age 3.
- Motivation: Knight Templar 4.
- Characterization: Lawful Evil and Even Evil Has Standards, so either a 3 or 4.
- Contentness: The strategy guide said he was generally unhappy, so we'll say “life is hard”. 4.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Kind of split between Idealistic and Cynical, so 3.
- 28/10 or 30/10 = Between 2.8 and 3. Probably not going to happen, at least not without a significant Freudian Excuse.
Kill La Kill
Satsuki:
- Species: N/A
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Teenager. 5
- Role: Primary antagonist (not the Big Bad but responsible for most of the conflict). 1
- Aesthetics: Attractive. 4
- Motivation: Social Darwinist. 3
- Characterization: Honorable. 4
- Contentedness: Doing well. 2
- Morality of the story: Good, Bad and Evil. 4
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5
- 32/9 = 3.6. So she falls just about in the middle, just slightly more likely to Heel–Face Turn. Made the outcome very surprising!
Kim Possible
Let’s see how Dr. Drakken and Shego hold up. They’ve teamed up with Kim and Ron multiple times, and in the end they all saved the world together. And during the times they turned good (brainwashed or otherwise, like during Christmas), they were clearly having a blast! Could they possibly turn AND stay good after the end?
Dr. Drakken/Drew Lipsky:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Middle-aged (he was in college with Kim’s dad) - 3
- Role: He is Kim’s main and most recurring foe, but he lost his status as the true Big Bad after Season 3 and the movie, and he also teamed up with her quite a bit, especially during the Grand Finale - 2
- Aesthetics: Average - 3
- Motivation: He wants to be a successful villain, but also desires to prove to everyone that he is a genius - 2
- Characterization: Like the other villains, he is a card-carrying villain, but definitely possesses some Lawful Evil traits and some otherwise decent qualities. Also, he and Kim (and Ron) definitely see each other as worthy opponents. Compromise - 3
- Contentness: While he enjoys making evil plans, he clearly experiences a lot of frustrations and setbacks, so it balances out to neutral - 3
- Morality of the story: Initially, the series is Black and White, but it resembles a lot more of The Good, The Bad and The Evil with time, especially in Season 4. Compromise - 3
- Idealism: The show is pretty idealistic, all things considered - 5
- 29/10 = 2.9
Shego:
- Species: Despite the green skin, she is human - 3
- Gender: Female - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 4
- Role: Kind of a freelancer, but she is mostly Drakken’s dragon - 4
- Aesthetics: She is a very sexy villain - 4
- Motivation: While she seems to be a villain mostly to enjoy herself, it is pretty obvious that she has far more loyalty and affection for Drakken than she lets on, especially in Season 4. Compromise - 3
- Characterization: She is also a card-carrying villain, but she and Kim so obviously consider themselves worthy opponents to the point that they are oozing with Foe Yay. Plus, as Kim herself says, Shego is softer and cares more than she lets on - 3
- Contentness: Usually she is about neutral - 3
- Morality of the story: 3
- Idealism: 5
- 36/10 = 3.6
While Drakken is not quite jumping up and down at the chance to turn (completely) good, it is definitely not impossible. Surprisingly, Shego is considerably more likely to fully turn good than Dr. D is. But then again, it might just be a way to make him turn Face even more easily...
Live A Live
So, who’da thunk that Oersted, of all people, would SNAP so hard?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: Since he’s at the age of marrying, I’d say Young Adult. 5.
- Role: The Hero. 1
- Aesthetics: Anime Hair and with dashes of Troubled, but Cute later on. Pretty cute. 1.
- Motivation: He’s out to save his love from the Demon King. 2.
- Characterization: Well, he used to be a shining example of the cheery Messiah, but slowly after shit hits the fan he became surly and bitter. On average, 2.
- Contentness: Oooh, angst angst angst! Sure we don’t hear him talk due to being a Heroic Mime, but we sure know that’s one massive angst source. 5.
- Morality of the story: All over the place, game-wise. And we’re not even sure how to dial him in his own story, considering while White can be good, it goes jackass with him. Ignore.
- Idealism: In his story? FUCKING 5.
- Average: 28/9: 3.11. Very slightly above average. Oersted just got the shittiest luck and could’ve wished he were born in another more positive timeline...
The Lord of the Rings
Just to see if Gandalf with his wisdom should have predicted Saruman’s Face–Heel Turn:
- Species: Hm... what are wizards, actually? But they’re very near to a superior species. 1.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: He was supposed to be older and wiser. 2.
- Role: He was a freelancer, wasn’t he? 4.
- Aesthetics: Dignified. 2.
- Motivation: What was his? 5.
- Characterization: Likes to play with dangerous stuff, though Gandalf didn’t know that, did he? I'll leave that out.
- Contentness: Was not known beforehand either.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Cynicism of the story: Quite idealistic. 2.
- 22/8 = 2.75. We can’t blame Gandalf for his surprise, though Saruman’s lack of a clear motivation should have given him pause to think.
Apparently, Sauron's version from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power really wanted to live his life in a human form as a humble blacksmith in Numenor. Let's see if his Heel–Face Turn truly would have lasted if it wasn't for Galadriel rekindling his desire for order.
- Species: Well, Sauron is a Maia and Satanic Archetype, so probably close to Eldritch Abomination and demons. He gets 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: He is older than the sun and moon and the world itself, but takes the form a young adult. Either impossible to rate or a 1.
- Role: He was Morgoth's dragon. 4.
- Aesthetics: Sauron shapeshifted from a Tin Tyrant to a handsome Loveable Rogue in human form, the closest thing to Bishōnen Line. 1.
- Motivation: He wanted to repair the damage he and Morgoth created by making experiments on Orcs to obtain the power of the unseen world, but in the same time he is also Obliviously Evil. 3.5.
- Characterization: He is introduced as a confused Retired Monster in human form, but is hard to believe the Master of Lies even if he truly tries to atone. Cannot rate this one.
- Contentness: He is a deceiver and is impossibly to guess how he feels about being evil, and shows signs he is even oblivious about being evil.
- Morality of the story: Morality Kitchen Sink, It's the Second Age after all. 4.
- Cynicism of the story: It's a colorful world, but a lot of tragedy is about to be unfolded. 2.
- 18.5/8 =2.31 or 17,5/7=2,50. Yeah, he was sincere about it, but it wouldn't have lasted at all. Galadriel can't be blamed for Sauron's constant Heel–Face Revolving Door.
Theo, a kindhearted teenage boy from the show, is theorized to become one of the ringwraiths, if not outright the Witch King of Angmar. Let's see what are the chances of him becoming Canon Character All Along.
- Species: He belongs to the Big Folk. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: He is a teen. 4.
- Role: freelancer, he is just a kid. 4.
- Aesthetics: Average. 3.
- Motivation: He loves his mother very much. 2.
- Characterization: He is brave, but insecure and can be influenced by Sauron's Evil Weapon. 2.5.
- Contentness: He is not unhappy with his life, but has a lot of issues to unpack. 3.5.
- Morality of the story: Morality Kitchen Sink. 3.
- Cynicism of the story: Same as the above. 4.
- 33/10 = 3,3. This is slightly above 50/50, so yeah, those theories have real chances of being true.
Mahou Sensei Negima
Time to look at how Cosmo Entelachia fares on this front:
Fate
- Species: Human enough. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Tough call. He started out as a Creepy Child, but then he starts looking older, closer to teenage, hmm. Let’s go 3.5.
- Role: Seemed to be the Big Bad for a while, but it’s pretty clear he’s always been The Dragon. 4.
- Aesthetics: The Glamour Failure with his body might cause him problems, but, depending on your mileage he either doesn’t have any outstanding features, possesses unnatural looks or is conventionally attractive. Eh, let’s say 3.5 again.
- Motivation: Well-Intentioned Extremist, probably 4.
- Characterisation: Shows many cold-blooded signs early, but seems to be showing some traits leaning towards him having standards 4.
- Contentness: His resolve does appear to have been shaken. 4.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. Except it’s also got The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. And there are almost no truly evil characters (barring Tsukiyomi and possibly some others), so Rousseau Was Right. Well, that averages to 4.
- Sliding Scale: Idealistic in the end 5.
- 36/10 or 37/10 = 3.6 or 3.7. Quite likely, really. The fact that Negi wants to make like Nanoha only improves his chances.
Now, his minions:
- Species: Pretty. 4.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Teenage. 5.
- Role: Quirky Miniboss Squad fits the most right now. 3.
- Aesthetics: Definately cute. 5.
- Motivation: They pretty clearly believe in whatever Fate is currently doing. 5.
- Characterisation: They haven’t had much, but they’re not evil nor crazy. It’s hard to say they’re Rounded Characters but they are pretty lost and confused, even if they try to act like Noble Demons. 4.5.
- Contentness: Life is very hard. Maybe not angst-festival hard, but it's pretty bad for them even if they like their ideal. 4.
- Morality of the story: 4.
- Idealism: 5.
- 43.5/10 = 4.35. Practically certain. It’s already started...
Now, Dynamis:
- Species: Human, probably 3.
- Gender: Male 2.
- Age: Middle-aged 3. Or Older 1. 2 is a nice round number.
- Role: Another high-ranking supporter. 4.
- Aesthetics: The fact that we don’t know what this guy looks like automatically invokes 2.
- Motivation: Means well, but seems less likely to be nice. Still, 4.
- Characterization: So far, hasn’t shown much in the way of mercy, but is definitely not insane, so 3.
- Contentness: No idea. 3.
- Morality of the story: 4.
- Idealism 5.
- 32/10 = 3.2. Not as low as one might have thought, but this could change as new information comes to light.
And finally, the only known evil member, Tsukiyomi:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Teenage. 5.
- Role: At first she seems like a Rival Turned Evil, but recent developments put her quite firmly in the opportunist camp. 2.
- Aesthetics: Cute. 5.
- Motivation: Yeah, we know what she tried to do. 1.
- Characterization: She’s well crazy but this seems to have been something that developed over time... let’s go with 1.5.
- Contentess: She sure looks like she's having fun... 1.
- Morality of the story: 4.
- Idealism 5.
- 31.5/10 = 3.15. The least likely in the group, but not impossible especially if she has a Freudian Excuse or Villainous Breakdown.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
For folks who have seen Thor: Ragnarok: we maybe weren’t expecting to see Loki pull a Heel–Face Turn. Or has he? Is he actually planning to stay on Team Good Guy? What’s in his future - becoming The Atoner, Redemption Equals Death, just plain being a Retired Monster, or... screwing over the heroes yet again?
- Species: Frost Giant (Inhuman), but shape-shifted into a human-looking default form unless exposed to extreme cold. Ummm... average that to a 2.
- Gender: Male. 2. (In the comics he’s genderfluid but defaults to male, but that’s a different continuity so we’ll leave that aside.)
- Age: Youngish adult in appearance at least, though he’s Really 700 Years Old. Call it a 4.
- Role: Ex-Big Bad. May or may not still be The Dragon to the Greater-Scope Villain. I guess that's a 4 if he’s The Dragon?
- Aesthetics: Sexy, Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette flavor. (Thor calling him “greasy and weaselly” notwithstanding.) 4.
- Motivation: Started as a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, developed into more of an Inferiority Superiority Complex. So - both hubris/worldview AND anger and despair. A solid 3.
- Characterization: Rather inconsistent between movies, Depending on the Writer - sometimes he’s an Anti-Villain (Thor: The Dark World) and sometimes he’s Ax-Crazy (The Avengers). He’s calmed down a lot, but he still definitely has Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and is pretty strange and erratic. 2.
- Contentness: Used to be obviously miserable and taking out said misery on everyone around him, but appears to have undergone some Character Development and become a fair bit cheerier. Let’s say 3.
- Morality of the story: Mostly Black-and-Gray Morality - Hela is REALLY bad, but most of the good guys aside from Thor are... highly questionable at best. 1.
- Idealism of the story: The MCU is fairly idealistic. 4.
- Average: 29/10 = 2.9. Higher than you’d expect for a dude who tried to blow up a planet and then tried to Take Over the World. Considering that the Greater-Scope Villain’s spaceship showed up at the end of the movie and said villain would not be pleased if Loki betrays him - and that Thor’s steering the ship back to Earth, where no doubt everyone would also be out for Loki’s blood - sticking with Thor does not look like a very attractive option from Loki’s perspective. But then, he did go with the gladiator slaves to fight Hela and rescue the Asgardians when he could easily have just decided Screw This, I'm Outta Here and flown their spaceship elsewhere. Who the hell knows?
Mass Effect
OK... I’ve decided the thoroughly evil Morinth is optimal for breaking this thing. Let’s see what the algorithm says of her odds of deciding to quit mind raping and murdering innocents are.
- Species: asari, and ergo pretty: 4
- Gender: Female: 4
- Age: Measured according to asari standards, young adult: 4
- Role: Opportunistic Serial Killer: 2
- Aesthetics: definitely nice to look at: 4
- Motivation: Sex, drugs, amusement: 1
- Characterization: Though not a flat character, she clearly enjoys her acts of wanton cruelty: 2
- Contentedness: The woman clearly enjoys her depraved, hedonistic existence: 1
- Morality of the story: Reapers and some criminals are evil, Shepard and a few others are good, plenty of gray room: 4
- Idealism of the story: complicated, depends on Shepard’s actions: 3
- 29/10 = 2.9 While not quite at 50/50, it’s definitely a high mark. Being an asari helps her there. But her motivation and characterization keep her from floating as high as I’d expected.
And now, from the same game, the odds of Legion going bad. Like Morinth, it was chosen for maximum scale-breaking, since its loyalty, assuming the appropriate mission is completed, is mostly not in doubt.
- Species: AI Mind Hive: 5
- Gender: It has none, despite often being called “he”: 1
- Age: depends on what you're measuring. Individual programs? The greater mind to which it is connected? The physical form and specific combination of programs that led to the gestalt entity known as Legion?: N/A
- Role: True Companions member: 3
- Aesthetics: Clearly inhuman—has a giant hole in its chest: 5
- Motivation: Loyalty to Shepard: 2
- Characterization: Rather alien, but mostly pleasant: 2
- Contentedness: Hard to tell, but seems pleased with its existence: 2
- Morality of the story: Reapers and some criminals are evil, Shepard and a few others are good, plenty of gray room: 3
- Idealism of the story: Complicated, depends on Shepard’s actions: 3
- 23/9 = 2.56 So evidently it isn’t likely to go Heretic on us any time soon, though it’s not impossible, if this algorithm is to be believed.
Let’s take a look at Udina’s turning Heel. The general reaction seemed to be “yeah, I knew he was an asshole, but I didn’t expect him to do something like THAT!”
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: I’ll go with middle - 3
- Role: He’s a politician, so I’ll say freelancer - 4
- Aesthetics : Average - 3
- Motivation: Somewhere between fighting for humanity and his own gain - 3
- Characterization: Definitely arrogant - 4
- Contentness: Seemed to be extremely frustrated - 4
- Morality of the story: The Mass Effect series, especially in the second and third games, seems to be Morality Kitchen Sink. Plenty of good, evil, and anywhere in between - 3
- Cynicism: I guess it depends on Shepard, but Mass Effect 3 still gets pretty grim regardless - 4
- 35/10 = 3.5. So we shouldn’t have been too surprised, but it wasn’t excruciatingly obvious.
Monster
Let’s see how much of a monster the eponymous Johan Liebert really is by showing how likely he is to go good.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: He can easily pass for his attractive sister whenever he crossdresses. Even without crossdressing, he looks pretty handsome already. 5.
- Motivation: Verges between nihilism (such as having Tenma kill him to prove that his Nihilism succeeds) and For the Evulz. To balance it out. 2.
- Characterization: Pretty cold-blooded due to his Dissonant Serenity he so frequently does whenever he commits something horrible. 3.
- Contentness: To just give a reason for his depraved acts... "Why not?" 1
- Morality of the story: Surprisingly, the series comes off as Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism of the story: Verges towards idealistic by the end. 4.
- 27/9 = 3. Hmmmm. For a Complete Monster, that’s pretty high. He could go either way at this point. It’s all a matter of Dr. Tenma’s idealism being able to completely influence him for the better.
The Music Freaks
Let's see how redeemable Zoey is:
- Species: She's a Human; 3
- Gender: Female; 4
- Age: 16; 5
- Aesthetics: I would say she's a 4
- Motivation: Greed/Revenge; 2
- Characterization: Your typical Alpha Bitch; 1
- Contentness: through most of the series she would be a 1, but considering recent events; 2
- Morality: Black-and-White Morality; 2
- Ideals: I was a bit iffy on this one, but I'm just gonna say 3
My Little Pony
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
Let’s see if Discord’s redemption is plausible enough:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies, but he’s a draconequus, so I’m going with 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Probably immortal. 1.
- Role: Well, he was the Big Bad of the season 2 premiere. 1.
- Aesthetics: Since he’s a mix of everything, 1.
- Motivation: Spreading chaos. 1
- Characterization: Being an entity of chaos, he looks pretty crazy. Still, it’s really, really hard to sort. 2 or 5? Dammit, but since he looks like a Card-Carrying Villain, I'm going with 4. He’s strange and erratic.
- Contentness: He seemed to be enjoying every minute while he was out. 1.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 2.2. Yup. The doubtful fans do have reason to question Discord’s reformation.
Now let’s check Queen Chrysalis:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. Changelings are rather pony-shaped. 2.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Older. 1.
- Role: Well, she was the Big Bad of the season 2 finale. 1.
- Aesthetics: Glamour Failure and One-Winged Angel. 2.
- Motivation: Now that’s pretty hard. She seems to be doing it for her kind, which would’ve made her a 4. But given her monstrosity in the comics, it’s leaning to 2. I'll just play it safe and make it 3.
- Characterization: Seems pretty cold-blooded. 3.
- Contentness: Seemed to enjoy making others suffer and sacking Canterlot far too much. 1.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 2.6.
Just for sake of completeness, King Sombra.
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. While he was once one, he became a cloud of darkness. 1.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Older. 1.
- Role: Well, he was the Big Bad for the season 3 premiere. 1.
- Aesthetics: Monstrous. 1.
- Motivation: Power. 2.
- Characterization: Obviously Evil. 1.
- Contentness: Not much was seen on him. Doing well. 2.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 2.1. Evil through and through as far as the series can go.
(Not doing Nightmare Moon yet since the IDW comics add more to what she was first conceived as. Please add after the issue covering her is finished.)
And now let’s check the minor villains, since friendship is a prominent theme:
Let’s start with the Flim Flam Brothers. Can they see the error of their ways?
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: A bit older than most of the main characters. 3.
- Role: Traveler salesponies nonpareil. 5.
- Aesthetics: 3.
- Motivation: Basically scammers and seem to be in it for a quick bit. 2
- Characterization: They look pretty greedy. 2.
- Contentness: Doing well. 2.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3.2.
Now for the Diamond Dogs if there ever is another run-in:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Maybe as old as most of the main characters. 4.
- Role: Gem hunters. 5.
- Aesthetics: Quite ugly. 3.
- Motivation: Greed. 2.
- Characterization: Again, greed. 2.
- Contentness: 3.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3.4.
Now for Gilda:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. She’s a griffon. 2.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Classmates with Rainbow Dash 4.
- Role: Very minor. Seems to be arrogant. 5.
- Aesthetics: 3, just to be safe.
- Motivation: Hmm, she looks down on ponies. Maybe 3.
- Characterization: Arrogant. Proud. 2.
- Contentness: Discontent seems to come from being around the ponies. 3.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3.6.
Let's see about those “villains” to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: They’re just children. 2.
- Role: Schoolfoal bullies. 5.
- Aesthetics: 5.
- Motivation: Tormenting the CMCs for being blank-flanks, even though they at one time accepted one such. 1.
- Characterization: Proud of their having cutie marks. 2.
- Contentness: Diamond Tiara at least loves tormenting the Crusaders. Silver Spoon is more on following her. 1 and 2.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3.1 and 3.2. Silver certainly is a tad nicer than Diamond.
Did Lightning Dust see the error of her ways?
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: As old as most of the main characters. 4.
- Role: Wonderbolt Academy cadet. 5.
- Aesthetics: I want to make it 5, but since just about everypony else is cute, 3.
- Motivation: To be the very best, no matter the cost. 2.
- Characterization: Lacks empathy. Utterly proud. 2.
- Contentness: Just focusing on being the best without concern for anything else. 3.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3.5. That demotion (not expulsion) in the end of the episode certainly should humbled her enough.
Last but not least, Trixie:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: As old as most of the main characters. 4.
- Role: Stage magician. 5.
- Aesthetics: I want to make it 5, but since just about everypony else is cute, 3.
- Motivation: Her only flaw at first was going too far in her boasts, humiliating those who challenge her without backing up her claims, her return is featured with Revenge. 3.
- Characterization: Seems to be repentant after removing the Alicorn Amulet. 4.
- Contentness: Life was hard by the time she returns. 4.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 4. Was there ever any doubt?
I know the series already ended but I'm surprised no one has done Cozy Glow:
- Species: Well, the dominant species are ponies. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Still a Child. 2.
- Role: The Big Bad of Season 8 and one of the Big Bads of Season 9. 1.
- Aesthetics: She's a pretty cute filly. 5.
- Motivation: Power. 2.
- Characterization: I'd say a 2
- Contentness: 1.
- Morality of the story: Rousseau Was Right. 5.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 3, surprising for a character who was turned into stone by the end of the series..
Naruto
What will become of Sasuke? Most expect him to be brought back by Naruto, yet many yearn to see him die as a villain deserves.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: He turned as a child, but now he is a teenager. 5.
- Role: Freelancer, rival turned evil. 5.
- Aesthetics: Sasuke is one cute teenie, isn't he? 5.
- Motivation: By now he nearly is Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. 3.
- Characterization: Stupid... uhm, lost and confused. 5.
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4.
- Morality of the story: The good, Naruto and co., the bad, Team Hawk, and the evil, Akatsuki. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Naruto is very idealistic. 5.
- 38/9 = 4.2222222222. He’s coming back, believe it.
- Update: If Chapter 627 is anything to go by, he comes back. The reunion of Team 7 four chapters later puts the icing on the cake.
Another Naruto character, since there is a theory on the WMG page that Kisame will turn face. Let’s see how this measures up.
- Species: Hardly looks human at all, and he’s said in terms of power to be like “A tailed beast, without the tails.” I’d say he’s inhuman. 1.
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Young adult. 3
- Role: One of Madara’s two dragons. 4.
- Aesthetics: Monstrous. 1
- Motivation: He’s a Blood Knight, so I’d say his motivation is somewhere between For the Evulz and hubris. 2.
- Characterization: Cold blooded. 3
- Contentness: Seems to be doing well. 2.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4
- Idealism of the story: Idealistic. 5.
- 27/10 = 2.7. Not too out there, but it still looks somewhat unlikely.
Naruto character number three, we’ll check out Tobi/Obito’s Heel/Face.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: He's the same age as Kakashi, who is a Young Adult, so 4.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: If it weren’t for his scars, he’d be attractive, so I’ll give him a 4.
- Motivation: Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, since he CAN phase through attacks, for starters. 3.
- Characterization: Worthy Opponent with Naruto. 4.
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism of the story: Cynical. 1.
- Score: 25/9 = 2.7777777778. Slightly under 50/50. Don’t expect this to happen, but don’t call it an Ass Pull if it does.
Now for an updated version of the character, let’s see how likely he will turn good.
- Species: Human. 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: Pre-Jinchuuriki, he was covered with scars, so 3. Post-Jinchuuriki, definitely creepy, so 2.
- Motivation: Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, since he CAN phase through attacks, for starters. 3.
- Characterization: Worthy Opponent with Naruto. 4.
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism - Idealistic. 5.
- 32/10 = 3.2 Pre-Jinchuuriki; 31/10 = 3.1 Post-Jinchuuriki. Hmmm. Only time will tell whether he will go good or not. At this point he can go either way.
Once Upon a Time
Will Regina the Evil Queen find redemption?
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Female. 4
- Age: Young Adult, in her early thirties. 4
- Role: Used to be the Big Bad, but has since been reduced to an Opportunist. 2
- Aesthetics: Sexy. 4
- Motivation: Pure Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds territory. 3
- Characterization: “Very lost and confused” doesn't begin to cover it. 5.
- Contentness: Again, the description (“Angst, angst, angst”) is an understatement. 5.
- Morality of the story: Evil is made, not born, and any evil has the potential to be redeemed. 5
- Idealism: Definitely on the idealistic side. 5
Now let’s look at the chances of Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.
- Species: Was human, then wasn’t, now is again. 3
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Middle Aged, in his forties or so. 3
- Role: Used to be the Greater-Scope Villain, but is an Opportunist just like Regina now. 2
- Aesthetics: Used to be lowest on this scale as Rumple, but as Mr. Gold, he’s hot. 4
- Motivation: Another Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. 3
- Characterization: Very rounded. 5
- Contentness: Like Regina, he never catches a break. 5
- Morality of the story: See Above. 5
- Idealism: See Above. 5
How about Captain Hook?
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Young Adult. Like Regina, he’s only in his early thirties. 3
- Role: He was something of The Dragon to Cora, but is a Freelancer now. 5
- Aesthetics: Between a sexy villain and just plain attractive. 4.5
- Motivation: Partly for revenge, partly because he thinks it’s justified. 3.5
- Characterization: A definite Worthy Opponent/Noble Demon type. 4
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4
- Morality of the story: 5
- Idealism: 5
The Order of the Stick
Redcloak. As the series approaches the end, will he see the error of his ways? (At the time this was written, the latest strip was #1234)
- Species: Goblin. 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Complicated. 1 Chronologically, but physically he's still the same as he was as a teenager when he first donned the Crimson Mantle. 1 or 5, average out to 3.
- Role: The Dragon (with an Agenda). 4.
- Aesthetics: Monstrous. 3.
- Motivation: Well-Intentioned Extremist. 4.
- Characterization: Something of a Noble Demon. 4.
- Contentness: Difficult to say. He's generally very stoic throughout it all. 3, but YMMV.
- Morality: Morality Kitchen Sink: 4.
- Idealism: I'd say 3, but YMMV.
Overwatch
Considering how Reflections had her do something “good” like visiting her husband’s grave, how likely do you think Amelie Lacroix will re-emerge from Widowmaker, thereby starting her redemption arc?
- Species: Human, though re-conditioned. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: 33 years old, which means... young adult. 4.
- Role: She’s pretty much The Heavy and The Dragon, conditioned to be loyal to Talon. Therefore 4.
- Aesthetics: The game’s poster girl for sexy. 4.
- Motivation: After the brainwashing, she kills for the sake of “feeling alive”, which puts her very low. However, if we talk about Amelie, she’s basically brainwashed into it. For convenience’s sake, let’s just put the average, at 3.
- Characterization: Part of Talon is being a Card-Carrying Villain so far, so 1.
- Contentness: Claims to be enjoying every minute, but then we have some shades that she wished she could die and join her husband in death, AKA Being Evil Sucks. The first part kind of overwhelms the latter, so 2.
- Morality of the story: It’s a Morality Kitchen Sink thus The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: 3. While the good guys like to promote idealism, the bad guys have gotten a good score as well.
- Average: 32/10 = 3.2. It’s just slightly above average, but the chance is there for Widowmaker to become Peacemaker...
Next up, Reaper. How likely is Mr. Edgelord going to learn humility and stop being petty or such a glory hound that he could get back to the good graces of the Overwatch, or will he continue relishing being an edgy evil assassin?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Middle-aged, seeing that he’s 50 during the Switzerland incident. 3
- Role: He combines being the other Dragon for Talon and also a mercenary (Talon hired him). I’ll give it 4.5.
- Aesthetics: Beneath the mask is something downright fucked up it freaks other people out. 2.
- Motivation: All he wanted was recognition, even if he has to do evil shits by it, though he does get kicks in doing bad stuffs. However, it wasn’t part of what he was in the past, so... I’ll give it 2.
- Characterization: Part of Talon is being a Card-Carrying Villain so far and Reaper does it par excellence, not to mention, back then he used to be so petty. So 1.
- Contentness: Like Widowmaker, Reaper’s life after resurrection was a constant pain, but he made it up by relishing his evil ways. So he gets the same score: 2.
- Morality of the story: It’s a Morality Kitchen Sink thus The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: 3. While the good guys like to promote idealism, the bad guys have gotten a good score as well.
- Average: 26.5/10 = 2.65. Unlike Widowmaker, Reaper seemed more content in being evil, so I guess what was edgelord shall still be edgelords in the end... But it’s not the bottom of the barrel, so there may be a slim chance.
To wrap up the first two, let’s take a look at the final current member of Talon, Sombra. How likely do you think she turns out to be a hidden force of good?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: 30 years old, definitely young adult. 4.
- Role: Even when she worked with Talon, Sombra is an opportunist to heart, she’s just using her allegiance to Talon to further her own goal, that we don't know yet. 2.
- Aesthetics: Well, while Sombra is not running on sexy like Widowmaker, she’s pretty attractive, actually that gives her a higher score: 5.
- Motivation: For the Evulz to the fullest: Sombra has no “amoral handicap” unlike Widowmaker (brainwashed) or Reaper (constant pain every second), she’s a bad girl because she likes it that way. 1.
- Characterization: Well, she’s gunning down for a certain thing that we don’t know of, but she also enjoys causing chaos here and there. 1.5.
- Contentness: No angst, like I said before. 1.
- Morality of the story: It’s a Morality Kitchen Sink thus The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: 3. While the good guys like to promote idealism, the bad guys have gotten a good score as well.
- Average: 28.5/10 = 2.85. Surprisingly only a few points higher than Reaper but still below average. I guess looks do factor in redeemability, but Sombra still had it low.
And now let’s move to a grayer area. So, Symmetra is working for Vishkar... an “obviously” corrupt corporation whose “good intentions” fell flat on their faces with their oppressive methods. She has her doubts... but will the doubt finally be the catalyst of her giving them the boot?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Around 30 years old, young adult. 4.
- Role: The Noble Top Enforcer of Vishkar, groomed to be their Ace. 4.
- Aesthetics: She’s definitely attractive, but not so much compared to Widowmaker. 5.
- Motivation: While a Well-Intentioned Extremist, Symmetra has developed a little bit of doubts about Vishkar’s actions, even if she hasn’t taken drastic measures. 5.
- Characterization: She's a very Rounded Character with good and bad sides in balance, and very confused about her place in life, be it whether Vishkar is doing a good thing or not, or how she felt alone due to her stance in the autism spectrum. 5.
- Contentness: Life is definitely hard for her, but she wouldn’t angst about it every few seconds. 4.
- Morality of the story: It’s a Morality Kitchen Sink thus The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4.
- Idealism of the story: 3. While the good guys like to promote idealism, the bad guys have gotten a good score as well.
- Average: 41/10 = 4.1. Well there’s a reason she's the Anti-Villain, so Vishkar might want to count their days on when they’ll stay relevantly evil, since Symmetra may either give them the boot, or as a part of redemption, reform it to a more honest corporate in vision of her order.
Well speaking of morally gray, Hanzo has been offered with the revival of his Shimada clan by Talon. He’s... definitely not the white sheep or goody-goody brother unlike Genji... but how long will he keep his normal morality or will he end up selling his soul to the devil for the fallen family? Let's find out.
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: 38 years old, a young adult. 5.
- Role: Right now he works as a freelancing mercenary. 4.
- Aesthetics: Even after his abandonment of the clan, he still looked dignified, even enough to buy himself a good jacket for winter. 2.
- Motivation: “With every death comes honor. With honor, redemption.” Yep. 3
- Characterization: While things weren’t as smooth in Hanzo’s life, he’s not as bitter as some like Soldier: 76. He can enjoy certain good things like buying a cake for a kid, eating ramen, crack joke or debate on which is better: wine or sake. However, he’s also pretty arrogant when it comes to his skills against anyone else. I’ll give it an average of 3.
- Contentness: Very so-so to him. The Genji issue is a big blow to him, but he still finds time to be a little more social. 3.
- Morality of the story: It’s a Morality Kitchen Sink thus The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Cynicism of the story: 3. While the good guys like to promote idealism, the bad guys have gotten a good score as well.
- Average: 33/10 = 3.3. Rather above average. Wow, Genji probably should start praying that Hanzo will have his honor unsullied.
Persona
Goro Akechi. Just how easy was it to see his betrayal coming?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Teenager. 4.
- Role: Freelancer. 4.
- Aesthetics: Dignified. 2.
- Motivation: "to punish sickening human beings" doesn't exactly fit into any of those categories, but IMO it certainly merits a 5.
- Characterization: Arrogant. 4.
- Contentness: Angst, Angst, Angst. 5.
- Morality: As much as the Phantom Thieves worry about their morality, in reality it's fairly Black and White. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
And how likely is it that he would truly redeem himself?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: The Dragon (with an Agenda). 4.
- Aesthetics: Creepy Awesome in his Black Mask form. 3.
- Motivation: Something of a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. 3
- Characterization: A Graceful Loser in the end, saving Joker and co. at the last minute. 4.
- Contentness: Angst, Angst, Angst. 5.
- Morality: As above, fairly Black and White. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 2, but YMMV.
Pokemon
Let us see how likely it truly was that N saw the error of his ways:
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Either a teenager or a young adult, we’re not sure. 4.5
- Role: Believed at first to be the one Big Bad (though actually an Unwitting Pawn.) Using his presumed role gives 1 and using his actual role gives 4
- Aesthetics: According to the fangirls, Troubled, but Cute. 5
- Motivation: If he isn’t a Well-Intentioned Extremist, then nobody is. 4
- Characterization: Worthy Opponent. By the end of the game, the player character considers him a friend, and vice versa. 4
- Contentness: He seems to enjoy life. 2
- Morality of the story: Probably Grey and Gray. 3
- Idealism of the story: Very much idealistic. 5
- Average: Either 33.5/10 = 3.35 or 36.5/10 = 3.65, depending on whether we are taking spoilers into account. His Heel–Face Turn was assured from the very beginning.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Was Kyoko’s turn Face plausible?
- Species: Human, or rather not, since she’s a magical girl. But this hardly matters. 3
- Gender: Female (not that it matters). 4
- Age: Teenager. 5
- Role: She works alone. 5
- Aesthetics: Troubled, but Cute. 5
- Motivation: One would think it was anger and despair due to inadvertently causing the deaths of her family, but since she managed to avoid becoming a Witch, it’s more likely Never Be Hurt Again, which would be classified under power. She also has some of The Social Darwinist in her. 2.5
- Characterization: Cold-blooded, but also lost and confused. Averages to 4
- Contentness: She doesn’t angst about it like other magical girls, but life is very hard, especially because she’s homeless. 4
- Morality of the story: Madoka is good. Sayaka and Homura are anti-heroes. Kyoko is bad (at first). Witches and Kyubey are evil. 3
- Idealism of the story: Most of the anime is relentlessly cynical, but the ending is more idealistic. This balances out to 3
- Average: 38.5/10 = 3.85. It was actually pretty likely.
Could Sayaka have in any way avoided becoming the Witch Oktavia von Seckendorff?
- Species: Magical girl. 3
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Teenager. 4
- Role: The Hero at this point, since Mami is dead, Homura is not a team player, and Madoka has yet to become a magical girl. 1
- Aesthetics: Like anyone else in this series. 1
- Motivation: She wants to be a hero, which, as the series points out, is just “for the glory”. 5
- Characterization: Becomes a magical girl because she thinks she’s in a more idealistic series, hence is arrogant and hotheaded, and making a contract with Kyubey is inherently playing with dangerous stuff. 4
- Contentness: Nothing has worked out for her, and once she reaches the edge, she’s angsting out the wazoo. 5
- Morality of the story: See above. 3
- Cynicism of the story: See above. 3
- Average: 32/10 = 3.2. While in theory she could have gone either way, Murphy's Law was not kind to her.
How likely was Homura’s rebellion, anyway?
- Species: Magical girl. 3
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Physically a teenager, but mentally, due to the time loop, a young adult. 4.5
- Role: Freelancer in the main story, but part of the True Companions in the Rebellion Story, so 3
- Aesthetics: A dignified Emotionless Girl. 2
- Motivation: Absolutely love and loyalty to Madoka. 2
- Characterization: Surly and bitter. 3
- Contentness: In this series? Angst, angst, angst. 5
- Morality of the story: See above. 3
- Cynicism of the story: Actually balances out between relentless hopelessness and a Surprisingly Happy Ending, which Rebellion makes bittersweet. 3
- Average: 31.5/10 = 3.15. While it was still shocking, there was some foreshadowing, especially considering Sayaka’s score.
Fans have been wondering just what would be needed to make Kyubey into an actual ally of the magical girls. Let’s find out:
- Species: Looks like a cute mascot, but is utterly inhuman. 1
- Gender: In all likelihood the species has No Biological Sex. 3
- Age: Since before the evolution of humanity. 1
- Role: Turns out to be the Big Bad who created the Witches, unless one wants to argue that this role ought to go to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. 1
- Aesthetics: Again, looks like a cute mascot. 5
- Motivation: Starts out with one goal: to prevent the heat death of the universe. In the sequel, however, this goal has already been achieved, but Kyubey still orchestrates the plot in the name of efficiency, so is now pursuing power. 2, but originally a 4
- Characterization: In hindsight, Obviously Evil. 1
- Contentness: Has no emotions, yet still seems to take delight in its actions. Averages to 2
- Morality of the story: See above. 3
- Idealism of the story: See above. 3
- Average: 22/10 = 2.2, or 24/10 = 2.4, depending on one’s interpretation of Kyubey’s motive. Not that it matters much, since just maybe, if Kyubey suffers enough in Homura’s new world, it will see the error of its ways, but don’t count on it.
Red vs. Blue
Let’s see if we can figure out whether Agent Washington has gone bad:
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: ...Not entirely clear, but he registers as older than the rest of the cast, so call it Middle-Aged. 3
- Role: Freelancer, obviously. 4
- Appearance: Well, they're all wearing the same sort of Powered Armor, but Wash’s does have that yellow stripe to indicate his Freelancer status, which could be a mark toward Predatory. ...Say 3.5.
- Motivation: Seems to be motivated by justice for himself and all the others Project Freelancer hurt, goes under Worldview and Honor. 3
- Characterization: Very bitter, but moves into Anti-Hero by the end of Reconstruction. 2.5
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4
- Morality of the story: Very much Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4
- Idealism: Cynical, despite being played for laughs. 5
- 3.6. ...That was absolutely no help at all.
The Secret Saturdays
Abbey Gray from The Secret Saturdays. Already turned once, will she be going back in season two?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: It’s not entirely clear, but since she saw the opportunity to become Van Rook’s new apprentice and seized it, I’d say opportunist, definitely. 2.
- Asthetics: Definitely sexy. 4.
- Motivation: Money, Dear Boy. 2.
- Characterization: Somewhere between 3 and 4. She is somewhat cold-blooded but she does have some honor too, so... 3.5.
- Contentness: I’d say she’s doing pretty well. 2.
- Morality of the story: Definitely some shades of grey with characters like Doyle. 3.
- Idealism of the story: There’s some serious moments, but it’s a mostly silly light-hearted series, so 4.
- 31.5/10 = 3.15. VERY close to the middle but leaning ever-so-slightly toward a turn back to the good guys. It’s definitely 50/50 and one of the more intriguing questions left to be answered as the show gears up for a third season.
Shakugan no Shana
Judging how most of the fanbase says that Yuji Sakai went all evil after merging with the Snake of the Festival, let's see if they’re right:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Teenager. 4.
- Role: The Hero (probably the closest to one). 1.
- Aesthetics: He's a Chick Magnet, so 1.
- Motivation: Love towards Shana, so 2.
- Characterization: Nice Guy, but gradually becomes less so as the series progresses, so 2.
- Contentness: 3.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality, so 4.
- Cynicism of the story: Season 3 boils down between the rather idealistic Crimson Denizens against the rather cynical Flame Hazes. Judging how the Denizens win for the most part, this makes the series verge towards and idealistic side, so 2.
- 26/10 = 2.6. While not as bad as what people say, him merging with the Snake of the Festival, at least darkened him.
Now that he’s joined the Bal Masque, let’s see if he can redeem himself and shed off all the demonization the fandom often gives him:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenager. 5.
- Role: This one is complicated. You got a Big Bad that is actually the Big Good, and judging how he joins two factions throughout the course of the story, this would also make him a freelancer. To balance things out, let's make it 3.
- Aesthetics: Tall, Dark, and Handsome + Bishōnen = 4.
- Motivation: Well-Intentioned Extremist, 4.
- Characterization: Becomes disillusioned on how to end the war between the Denizens and Flame Hazes, and judging how he's the Token Good Teammate for both factions, let's put it at 5.
- Contentness: He wants to make a world where Crimson Denizens no longer have to consume humans to survive, so 4.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 3.
- Idealism of the story: The series becomes more on the idealistic side by the end, so 4.
- 37/10 = 3.7. So he is Good All Along despite switching sides
We already knew that Margery Daw Heel Face Turns after Shana and Yuji defeat her, let's see how likely she was to do it:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: She’s lived for centuries. 1.
- Role: She cared more for fighting and vengeance, so 2.
- Aesthetics: She’s Ms. Fanservice. 4.
- Motivation: Vengeance, so 3.
- Characterization: Hard to say, so 3.
- Contentness: She’s had a pretty hard life. 4.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 3.
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 4.
- 31/10 = 3.1. So she was kind of likely to go Face, but it took a defeat from Shana and Yuji to fully convince her to do so.
Now Snake of the Festival Yuji drove her towards the Despair Event Horizon, let’s see how likely she is to go back to Heel:
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female. 3.
- Age: Centuries-old. 2.
- Role: Hard to describe, but judging how she develops a romance relationship with Keisaku Sato, she's probably 2.
- Aesthetics: Ms. Fanservice. 1.
- Motivation: Hard to tell, but probably 4.5.
- Characterization: Hotheaded, 4.
- Contentness: Her life’s pretty damn hard, and Snake of the Festival Yuji exacerbated it, probably 4.5.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 4.
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 2.
- 30/10 = 3. She was dangerously close, and Keisaku’s confession of his love to her saved her from going back to Heel.
Now for Sydonnay:
- Species: Humanoid, so 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Centuries-old. 1.
- Role: Supporter of the Bal Masque. 4.
- Aesthetics: One-Winged Angel. 2.
- Motivation: Deeply cares for Hecate. 5.
- Characterization: Admittedly, combining his aspects with Hecate, given that he deepy cares for her, probably 5.
- Contentness: He wants to stay with Hecate, which eventually lead to his death, so he’s probably around 4.5.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 3.
- Idealism of the story: Same as above, so 4.
- 32.5/10 = 3.25. So his deep love for Hecate did redeem him after all.
Now for Bel Peol:
- Species: Humanoid. 2.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: Centuries-old. 1.
- Role: The Dragon. 4.
- Aesthetics: Ms. Fanservice. 5.
- Motivation: Hard to say, so 3.5.
- Characterization: As scheming and manipulative she is, she’s also just as able to inspire loyalty to many, so 3.5.
- Contentness: Hard to say, so 3.
- Morality of the story: Grey-and-Gray Morality. 3.
- Idealism of the story: Same as above. 4.
- 33/10 = 3.3. So she’s likely to turn Face, considering that she survives in the end.
The Simpsons
Ned Flanders has turned evil in Treehouse of Horror, but how likely is that to occur in canon?
- Species: Everyone's pretty much human, so N/A
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: Middle-aged unless you count that one episode. 3
- Role: N/A
- Aesthetics: Average, but sometimes comes off as hot in-universe. I'll just put 2
- Motivation: Compassion, but also worldview. 2
- Characterisation: All-loving hero. 1
- Contentness: His wife died, but he's pretty fine otherwise. 2
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Cynicism: Average. 3
- Average = 20/8 = 2.5. He's probably not turning evil.
Stargate
Stargate Universe: The chance of Eli Wallace turning heel:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 4
- Age: Young Adult - 5
- Role: Smart guy, somewhere between Lancer and Freelancer - 4.5
- Aesthetics: Average - 3
- Motivation: Habit (he is pretty much a law-abiding citizen who doesn’t know better) - 4
- Characterization: As of 2x10 bitter, hotheaded with a touch of hubris - 3.5
- Contentness: Life is hard - 4
- Morality of the story: SGU is a lot darker than its kin, pretty much B&G - 5
- Cynicism of the story: They might as well go and hunt dogs - 5
Conversely, the chance of Rush turning completely face:
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: Middle-aged - 3
- Role: Arrogant kung-fu guy - 5
- Aesthetics: rather good looking - 5
- Motivation: For Science!/The Unfettered - 2.5
- Characterization: Rounded character - 5
- Contentness: Neutral (he would do good if that served him better) - 3
- Morality of the story: B&G - 1
- Idealism: Cynical - 1
Star Fox
How plausible was it for Krystal to turn rouge in Star Fox Command?
- Species: Last of the Cerinians. 1
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Young adult. 5
- Role: The Sixth Ranger of the group. 3
- Aesthetics: The Ms. Fanservice of the franchise. 5
- Motivation: Both out of compassion for others, and loyalty to Fox and the rest of the squad. 1.5
- Characterization: The Soft-Hearted Warrior bordering on All-Loving Hero. 1
- Contentness: She was doing great up until the Downtime Downgrade. 3
- Morality: Between Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the more monsterous villains, The Good, the Bad, and the Evil fits the best. 3
- Idealism: Idealistic, but has a War Is Hell leaning. 2
- Average: 27.5/10 = 2.75 - Fans were right to cry foul over her possible betrayal, and even then it was a beggers can't be chosers situation to stop the Angler invasion.
Star Trek
Let's see if Lore can see the error of his ways:
- Species: human-looking android. 2
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Chronologically young, his actor was in his thirties... I'll just put N/A
- Role: N/A
- Aesthetics: Average. 3
- Motivation: Seems to be doing it for kicks. 1
- Characterization: Erratic. 2
- Contentness: Sometimes half-heartedly complains. I'll put neutral. 3
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5
- Average: 22/8 = 2.75: Nearly a 50/50, but leaning towards "no".
Now, let's see if he could've succeeded in turning his "brother" evil.
- Species: Android. 5
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: N/A
- Role: True companion. 3
- Aesthetics: Pretty average, but has pale skin and yellow eyes. 3.5
- Motivation: I'll go with worldview. 3
- Characterisation: N/A
- Contentness: Doesn't have emotions, but he's in good hands. 2
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Cynicism: Idealistic. 1
- Average: 23.5/8 = 2.9. It was almost a 50/50. Thank goodness for Captain Picard.
People have worried Spock would turn evil in TNG and Disco. Let's see if they had right to worry:
- Species: Half-human hybrid. 1
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: Young in Disco, old in TNG. 5 or 2.
- Role: Freelancer. 4
- Aesthetics: Pretty average, but with Vulcan eyebrows and ears. 3.5
- Motivation: Worldview. 3
- Characterisation: N/A
- Contentness: Life was pretty hard both times. 4
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Cynicism: Idealistic. 1
- Average: 28.5/9 = 3.67 or 25.5/9 = 2.83. Yes, they had reason to worry both times, especially in Disco.
Was Chakotay right in worrying that Janeway would turn evil in "Equinox"?
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Female. 3
- Age: Middle-aged. 3
- Role: Heroine. 1
- Aesthetics: Dignified. 2
- Motivation: Worldview, but with a bit of love in there too. 3.5
- Characterisation: I think she's an anti-hero. 2
- Contentness: Stuck in the Delta Quadrant. 4
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3
- Cynicism: Idealistic. 1
- Average: 25.5/10 = 2.55. He was right in being a tad concerned, but probably shouldn't have worried too much.
Was Sisko right that Dukat is irredeemable?
- Species: Rubber-forehead alien. 2
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Middle-aged. 3
- Role: Big Bad. 1
- Aesthetics: Kind of ugly. 3
- Motivation: Seemed pretty power-hungry. 2
- Characterisation: Insane. 2
- Contentness: Semi-angsty. 4.5
- Morality: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 4
- Idealism: DS9 is a bit grittier than standard Star Trek, but still pretty idealistic. 4
- Average = 27.5/10 = 2.75. So maybe Sisko was wrong, but don't hold your breath.
Star Wars
Let's now see if the Jedi could have seen Darth Vader coming. Let’s put early-Revenge of the Sith Anakin Skywalker through this test.
- Species: Human. 3
- Gender: Male. 4
- Age: He is in his early twenties by the time of RotS, so young adult. 5
- Role: Technically he is the protagonist, but in terms of hero dynamics, Obi-Wan is arguably The Hero and Anakin is The Lancer in this episode. 1 OR 5 depending on your view.
- Aesthetics: Handsome, but now attractively scarred. A clear-cut 5.
- Motivation for doing good: Closest to “Love and Loyalty”, as he strove to protect both the citizens of the Republic and his wife from mortal danger. He’s a 2.
- Characterization: Hotheaded, arrogant, likes to play with dangerous stuff. 4
- Contentness with life: Angst, angst, angst, at least Matthew Stover’s characterization of Anakin is full of it. The movies are actually also pretty full of it too. 5
- Morality of the story: Black and light gray, actually. The Jedi of the Republic are quite fallible, and their enemies hateful, relentless monsters. Let's give it a 3.5.
- Cynicism: RotS is perhaps the most cynical episode, but the saga as a whole is very idealistic. Let’s give it a middle ground. 2.5.
Calculating... 35/10 = 3.5 OR 39/10 = 3.9!
Either way, Anakin was a pretty obvious disaster waiting to happen, and EVERYBODY (not just the future Emperor) should have seen that coming! If I were one of the Jedi, I would yell “DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER” and wouldn’t let Ani anywhere near Palpatine!
Now to see how surprising Darth Vader’s redemption should have been!
- Species: Human - 3
- Gender: Male - 2
- Age: He was in his late forties technically (middle-aged) - 3
- Role: By the time of Return of the Jedi he is the Dragon to the Emperor’s Big Bad - 4
- Aesthetics: Cyborg. In the words of Obi-Wan, “He is more machine now than man.” So I’ll go with 1.
- Motivation: The films and expanded universe strongly indicate he mostly wants power, but he also has a mixture of more tragic elements. I’ll go with 3.
- Characterization: He is so obviously evil that he may as well hold up a sign saying so. However, he also shows a lot of Lawful Evil tendencies. I’ll go with 3.
- Contentness: He walks around as a cyborg, badly burnt underneath the machinery, and needs a space inhaler to breathe. Must be hard, so 4.
- Morality of the story: Black and White by the time of RotJ - 2
- Idealism: Star Wars as a whole is quite idealistic, so I’ll say 5.
Average: 30/10 = 3.0
It was a pure 50/50 chance, so it wasn’t TOO surprising... Luke was being pretty reasonable in having faith in Anakin Skywalker coming back after all...
Was Palpatine right to suspect he could turn Luke to the Dark Side?
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 4.
- Age: Young Adult. 5.
- Role: The Hero. 1.
- Aesthetics: Pretty average. 3.
- Motivation: Love and loyalty. 2.
- Characterization: Borderline All-Loving Hero. 1.
- Contentness: Life is hard. 4.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil. 3.
- Cynicism: Idealistic. 1.
27/10=2.7. Not as hopeless as I was expecting, but he was still more than likely to fail.
As of the release of The Force Awakens, let’s see how close Kylo Ren is to a possible redemption.
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult, 4.
- Role: He’s basically Snoke’s Dragon, so 4.
- Aesthetics: While the whole unmasking scene serves to show how unusually average-looking he truly is, a fairly large portion of the fandom seems to believe otherwise, so let’s compromise with a 4.
- Motivation: From what we know about his origins, “sheer anger and despair” (likely directed at his parents and/or Luke) seems to cut it. 3.
- Characterization: Conflicted, lost and confused indeed, 5.
- Contentedness: Let's face it, Kylo Ren is basically a huge, conflicted ball of angst. 5.
- Morality of the story: The Good, the Bad, and the Evil, 4.
- Idealism: Idealistic, 5.
- Average: 39/10 = 3.9. Damn. Palpatine really should have watched his back a little more come endgame.
Now, for your mild amusement, let's see how likely Darth Sidious would be to see redemption.
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: In The Phantom Menace, he's late middle-aged, while for the rest of the series, he's definitely elderly. 1.
- Role: The absolute Big Bad of the Skywalker Saga. 1.
- Aesthetics: He was an ordinary looking fellow before the fight with Mace Windu turned him into a hideous freak of nature. Call it a 2.
- Motivation: A combination of powerlust and sadism. 1.
- Characterization: Obviously Evil. 1.
- Contentedness: He's on top, he's got the galaxy, his only times angsting are when he's on the back foot... 1.
- Morality of the story: Whenever he is in conflict with someone, it's pretty much Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: Idealistic. 5.
- Average: 19/10 = 1.9. Anyone who would try to save Sidious' soul is either a fool, a saint, or a foolish saint.
Steven Universe
With Peridot and Lapis redeeming themselves as the show goes on, will the last Homeworld Gem, Jasper, join them?
- Species: Gems are a textbook case of Human Outside, Alien Inside. 2.
- Gender: All gems are genderless but ascribe as female. 4.
- Age: At least a couple thousand years old. 1.
- Role: Played The Heavy to Yellow Diamond during a season finale and a later arc. 4.
- Aesthetics: Whenever she smiles with those Non-Standard Character Design facial expressions, a puppy dies. 2.
- Motivation: Preaches social darwinism under the rule of the diamonds, and wants nothing but slow and painful revenge on Rose Quartz. 3.
- Characterization: Prideful in her Quartz status, has a drug-like addition towards fusion, callous towards allies and enemies alike... Checking out the seven sins fits the bill. 2.
- Contentness: As of her Villainous Breakdown, full-on angst. 5.
- Morality of the story: Two human Hate Sinks and the Diamonds aside, the show preaches Rousseau Was Right. 5
- Idealism of the story: Not every single conflict ends with everyone happier than before, but the series is overall idealistic. 4.
- Average: 32/10 = 3.2. It's pretty much 50/50 assuming she gets uncorrupted.
What about Bismuth?
- Species: Same as Jasper. 2.
- Gender: See above. 4.
- Age: Ditto. 1.
- Role: The closest thing that fits her on the table is Rival Turned Evil. 5.
- Aesthetics: There’s nothing particularly beautiful or ugly about her in-universe. 3.
- Motivation: Boils down to Knight Templar-thinking and revenge on Homeworld for treating her as a slave and killing her friends during the war. 4.
- Characterization: Technically, she’s already on team good, just too “anti” of an Anti-Hero who’s enthusiastic about the Crystal Gems’ cause but jaded towards Rose Quartz and their friendship. 5.
- Contentness: There’s no buts about it: life sucks for her at the moment, Death Seeker tendencies and all. 5.
- Morality of the story: Same as before. 5.
- Idealism of the story: Ditto. 4.
- Average: 38/10 = 3.8. Pretty high score for someone who tried to kill Steven. Once her “time out” is over, she'll be front and center for a change of heart in time for the finale.
Sword Art Online
Let's try out the main villains of Sword Art Online and how likely they were to go face. Let's begin with Akihiko Kayaba
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: The Big Bad for Aincrad. 1.
- Aesthetics: He looks somewhat better than a 3, so let's do 3.5.
- Motivation: Blue-and-Orange Morality. 2.
- Characterization: He has honor and standard. 4.
- Contentness: I'll go with a 2. 2.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Nobuyuki Sugou
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: The Big Bad for Fairy Dance. 1.
- Aesthetics: He looks somewhat better than a 3, so let's do 3.5.
- Motivation: Complete Monster. 1.
- Characterization: Hate Sink. 1.
- Contentness: He's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Shouichi Shinkawa/Xa Xa
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: The Big Bad for Phantom Bullet. 1.
- Aesthetics: Underneath his mask, he actually looks kind of ugly. 3.
- Motivation: Complete Monster and For the Evulz. 1.
- Characterization: He's nut but at least he's not a hate sink like Suhou. 2.
- Contentness: He's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Atsushi Kanamoto/Johnny Black
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Ultimately an opportunist. 2.
- Aesthetics: Underneath his mask, he looks quite fucked up and horrifying. 2.
- Motivation: Complete Monster and For the Evulz. 1.
- Characterization: Obviously Evil and Hate Sink. 1
- Contentness: He's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Quinella
- Species: Artificial Fluctlight. 2.
- Gender: Female. 4.
- Age: She looks like a young adult but is in the equivalent age of centuries. 1.
- Role: Big Bad for Alicization's first half. 1.
- Aesthetics: Evil is very much sexy for her. 5.
- Motivation: Complete Monster. 1.
- Characterization: Lawful Evil. 3.
- Contentness: She's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Gabriel Miller
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: The Big Bad for Alicization's second half. 1.
- Aesthetics: Would look fairly average but his Ice Blue Eyes end up being a Red Right Hand. 2.
- Motivation: Complete Monster. 1.
- Characterization: Definitely nuts. 2.
- Contentness: He's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Vassago Casal/Po H
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Young Adult. 4.
- Role: Part of the Big Bad Duumvirate for Alicization's second half. 1.
- Aesthetics: Would look quite attractive but he's got two red right hands with his scar and his eyes glowing red underneath his hood. 2.
- Motivation: Complete Monster and For the Evulz. 1.
- Characterization: Obviously Evil. 1.
- Contentness: He's definitely enjoying it. 1.
- Morality: Whenever there's a main antagonist in SAO's arc, it's a Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism: I'd say 4, but YMMV.
Save for Akihiko Kayaba, of the remaining 6 main villains, Quinella, Gabriel and Vassago are dead, so only Sugou, Shouichi and Atsushi have any possible chance of turning face. As they're in prison, here's hoping a Death Equals Redemption happens to them but don't hold your breath.
Transformers
Breakdown from Transformers: Prime has several Pet the Dog moments, so odds are that he’ll eventually become an Autobot:
- Species: Cybertronian/Alien-robot. 2.
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: He acts like someone middle-aged. 3.
- Role: Serves as the Decepticons’ Brute. 3.
- Aesthetics: Has an Eyepatch of Power after getting one of his optics ripped out. 2.
- Motivation: His motives aren’t said out loud, but he seems to be loyal to Megatron. 5.
- Characterization: Noble Demon. 4.
- Contentness: Seems to be doing okay, but not great. 3.
- Morality of the story: Black-and-White Morality. 2.
- Idealism of the story: Middle of the road when it comes to idealism. 3.
- 29/10 = 2.9 Breakdown almost reaches 50/50. Whether he’ll go through a Heel–Face Turn is in question; only time will tell.
- Update: He got killed before he could change sides.
Veronica Mars
The Big Bads from the first two seasons of Veronica Mars (beware spoilers).
Aaron Echolls:
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Middle Aged. 3.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: Informed Attractiveness. 4.5.
- Motivation: Gah, complicated. Beats Logan because he’s a nutjob. Kills Lilly to keep sleeping with her secret. Does other things to get away with killing Lilly. I’ll go with 2.
- Characterization: *shrug* Once we find out he killed Lilly, he becomes a pretty flat character... but he had some Pet the Dog moments before. He’s pretty bats*** crazy, so I’ll go with 2.
- Contentment: He seems pretty cheerful most of the time, so 2.
- Morality of the story: Black and Gray? Ish? 1.
- Idealism of the story: Cynical. 1.
- 18.5/9 = 2.0555555556. Not really gonna happen. (Well, he’s dead, so...)
Cassidy Casablancas:
- Gender: Male. 2.
- Age: Teenaged. 5.
- Role: Big Bad. 1.
- Aesthetics: YMMV. Some find him sexy. 4.
- Motivation: Again, kinda complicated. With the biggest thing (the bus crash), it was desperation to avoid people finding out about how he was abused. Which is kinda between 3 and 2. 2.5.
- Characterization: ...GAH I HATE YOU. He seemed pretty Obviously Evil up on the roof, but cold-blooded might fit better. He's bats*** crazy, but due to Freudian Excuse, gets considered “lost and confused” a lot. Especially just before he jumped. Averages say 2.75.
- Contentment: Given he kills himself in the end, he wasn’t having it easy. 5.
- Morality of story: Black and Gray. 1.
- Idealism of the story: Cynical. 1.
- 24.25/9 = 2.6944444444. Unlikely. (And he’s also dead, so I’m not sure these had that much of a point...)
The Warrior's Chronicles
Let's see if Emperor K'Yyrikakas would have any chance at all of becoming good:
- Species: Krisil aren’t exactly close to humanoid... 1.
- Gender: Krisil don’t seem to really have them bar the Birthers. Leaving blank.
- Age: He’s not an OLD god-king, but he’s certainly not a teenager. Let's say 4.
- Role: He’s the invaders’ overlord, pretty much guaranteed 1.
- Aesthetics: Well, considering he’s not humanoid in the slightest I’ll have to say 1. And he is a little scaly-looking...
- Motivation: Well... He truly believes that conquest is good for his people... let’s say 3.
- Characterization: He’s a king and he’s not afraid to be dirty when he has to. Pretty much a 3.
- Contentness: He’s not exactly laughing with glee as they mow down the human infidels, but he likes it. 2.
- Morality of the story: There’s the true white, the true black, and all the grays in between. 2.
- Idealism: The stories a BIT cynical, but not enough to drag it all the way to a 2. 3.
World of Warcraft
So how likely was Jaina Proudmoore being a Dreadlord all along? With the story development in Legion, how likely will she snap and become a Raid Boss? Let’s find out!
- Species: Human. 3.
- Gender: Female, 3
- Age: She’s a young adult. 5
- Role: At the rate of what she is in WoW she’s left Dalaran in anger, thus more likely a Freelancer. 4
- Aesthetics: In average, 3, this is because by default she’s an attractive blonde, but after the Bombing of Theramore, her hair is bleached white. So average between 1 and 5.
- Motivation: Usually, for peace to be attained. We cannot say 1 as she’s now too bitter and leans more into Well-Intentioned Extremist AT BEST. So 3.
- Characterization: Surly, bitter NOW defines her. 3.
- Contentness: Full on Angst after Bombing of Theramore. 5.
- Morality of the story: Alliance and Horde has no higher ground in here. And then there’s the Burning Legion... 5.
- Idealism of the story: It’s Blizzard, the company with a boner for Crapsack World, Downer Ending, etc, and they seem to designate Azeroth as such (not so much for Korprulu Sector lately). 5.
- Average: 39/10: 3.9. It’s very probable. And since it's Blizzard... well yeah, we might as well get our gears up and prepare to raid Jaina one day, and remember her good old self by playing Heroes of the Storm...
Second World War
Now, for a somewhat controversial use of the scale. It is time to settle a question that is furiously debated on practically every online forum that doesn’t have a Ban on Politics. Who was more evil, Hitler or Stalin?
For Adolf Hitler:
- Species: Everyone in Real Life is human, so this doesn’t apply.
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: He came to power when he was in his forties, and started World War II when he turned fifty. 3
- Role: The one Big Bad, not only of the war but arguably the entire century. 1
- Aesthetics: He was pretty ugly. 3
- Motivation: Though he was no doubt a monster, he did not do it just For the Evulz. He wanted power, but that was derived from his social Darwinism and belief that “inferior races” must be eliminated. I will combine both for 2.5
- Characterization: Did he ever talk about anything other than killing those who weren’t part of his Master Race? 1
- Contentness: The war did not affect him personally until the very end when he knew he had lost. When his power was at his peak, he was enjoying every minute of it. 1
- Morality of the story: Real Life, by definition, has people of every moral persuasion. 4
- Idealism of the story: Nobody can agree on how cynical Real Life is, so this will not be counted.
- Average: 17.5/8 = 2.1875. The most disturbing thing about this is that he even scored higher than a 2.0.
Now on to Stalin:
- Species: Same as above, N/A
- Gender: Male. 2
- Age: Began his rule while middle-aged, but lived long enough to be considered old, so this averages out to 2
- Role: We're comparing him to Hitler, so only his role during the war will be counted. He was technically on the same side as the Allies for that one; we can consider him an Opportunist. 2
- Aesthetics: He looked pretty normal during his time in power. 3
- Motivation: Power, power, and nothing else but power. 2
- Characterization: Lawful Evil. 3
- Contentness: During the war, he claimed to be suffering but it didn’t really affect him. Let's go with neutral. 3
- Morality of the story: See above. 4
- Idealism of the story: See above. N/A
- Average: 21/8 = 2.625. Okay, it’s downright disturbing how close to the dividing line he is. Then again, he did side with the Allies when Hitler was threatening everyone (albeit for purely selfish reasons). That there are villains with even higher scores than this does not make it any less disturbing.
Despite all that, let the argument rest that Hitler was more evil than Stalin.
