History AdaptationalHeroism / AnimeAndManga

** In the live-action films, Light Yagami himself falls into this to a degree. According to WordOfGod, in the original anime and manga, Light is a perfectionist who couldn't deal with the fact that he accidentally killed someone (thus, he reasons that it was okay, since the dude was an asshole, and that it's okay to kill criminals). In the films, his StartOfDarkness is in part because he held the law on a BrokenPedestal. Light is given this treatment even further in the live action 2015 series, where he deeply loves his family (even if he has a strained relationship with his father), actually reciprocates Misa's feelings, and was even able to save people using the Death Note (getting rid of JerkJock Souta and saving his father from his mother's murderer). And that's to say nothing of "Light Turner" from the 2017 Netflix film.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', Maple was a jerk and a nuisance who would occasionally cause item losses if you weren't careful. In the manga, she ends up joining Link on his quest to stop Onox (if for completely selfish reasons) and comes to befriend him over the course of the story.
** ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords2004'' does this to TheHeavy of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures''. [[spoiler: Shadow Link]] in the game is a pitch black LivingShadow who Zelda confirms is MadeOfEvil, and is ultimately destroyed by the Links. In the manga, [[spoiler: Shadow Link]] has an inferiority complex, is sensed by Zelda to not be evil, and ultimately redeems himself by fighting Vaati.
** The adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' has [[BigBad Vaati]] redeeming himself at the end and returning to his master Ezlo. Doubles as NotHisSled because ''The Minish Cap'' is supposed to be the prequel to ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]]'' where Vaati is still a villain.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', Jolene is a PsychoExGirlfriend who chases Linebeck around over a piece of treasure he stole, and is willing to fight the younger Link to the death. In the manga, she eventually forgives Linebeck and helps Link kill the BigBad.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Argorok is an evil dragon that terrorizes the City in the Sky. His counterpart in ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016'' was a benevolent guardian before being corrupted by the Mirror of Twilight. When Link removes it, the dragon returns to normal.

** Yugi's SuperpoweredAlterEgo is generally played as a noble hero; in the original manga, especially early on, he's somewhere between a SociopathicHero and a barely-controllable SuperpoweredEvilSide.
** The manga version of Seto Kaiba is a cold individual who, during the Death-T arc, is revealed to have acquired his Blue-Eyes White Dragons through less than honorable means and climbed the ladder at Kaiba Corp rapidly [[spoiler: which resulted in his adoptive father Gozaburo being DrivenToSuicide]]; and treats Yugi and his friends with his utmost bitterness (he even outright says he's disgusted by their friendship) and flat out tries to kill them. [[KickTheMoralityPet Even his younger brother Mokuba isn't safe from his abuse]]. In the anime, Kaiba initially displays the characteristics of his manga counterpart, but eventually softens by the Battle City arc and even helps Yugi and his friends in key moments. His worst acts from the manga as also removed so at worst he only comes off as an arrogant, selfish, {{Jerkass}} instead of a full blown villain.

** The adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' makes Vitreous a friendly character. In the video game, Vitreous was just a [[FacelessEye bunch of eyeballs]] that acted as a boss without any real background, or character. In the manga, Vitreous is a giant {{Cyclops}} girl who was cursed into that form, and gives Link directions on how to find Zelda.

** In contrast to the unrepentant villain she was in [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the manga]], Lust is more sympathetic, the most adamant of the Homunculi [[BecomeARealBoy to become human]], and the one most prone [[ContemplateOurNavels to introspection]]. [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn She ultimately ends up helping Edward, albeit for her own purposes]].]]

** Speaking of Grossberg, in the game he never offers to defend Maya in court and never tells her about his involvement in the DL-6 incident that lead to her mother vanishing. Here he offers to defend Maya immediately and only backs out after getting a threatening call from {{blackmail}}er Redd White, and outright begs her to forgive him for his role in DL-6.

** In the adaptation of Reunion, and Turnanbout, the plot to [[spoiler: murder Turner Grey and frame Maya for it was all Morgan Fey's idea. Ini Miney only wanted to rig the channeling in a way that Turner wouldn't discover that the woman he's trying to channel was actually 'her'. She approached Morgan Fey to this end, who then blackmailed Miney into going along with her plans by threatening to expose her secret. In the game, both of them were in on the whole thing together.]]

* ''Manga/MegaManNTWarrior2001'': Unlike in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3'', where he's a villain working for WWW, [=BubbleMan=] in this adaption is an ally of [=MegaMan=]. Though he's still something of a nuisance.

** In ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'', the titular Oriko, after seeing a vision of Kreimhild Gretchen, decided that the best solution was to [[MurderIsTheBestSolution kill Madoka before she contracted]]. In the spinoff manga ''Symmetry Diamond'', [[ForWantOfANail she sees Walpurgisnacht instead]]. This change results in Oriko and Kirika being full-blown heroes instead of the [[VillainProtagonist villainous main characters]] they were in the source material.

** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureJojolion JoJolion]]'' is set in an alternate universe where several characters from previous series are radically reimagined. One of the most significant departures is [[spoiler: Yoshikage Kira, the SerialKiller BigBad of ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'']]. [[spoiler: While ''[=JoJolion=]'''s Kira was aloof, rude and a major narcissist, he loved his mother and sister deeply, and decided to torment Ojiro Sasame after he witnessed the surfer using his Stand to non-fatally drown a woman at the beach. A subsequent flashback also gave him a PetTheDog moment by showing that he once saved a young Yasuho's life by crushing the Rock Animal that had been trying to kill her. He also ultimately ended up [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing his own life to save Josefumi]], a notion that would've seemed completely alien to the original Kira.]]

* ''Anime/AceAttorney'':

* In the ''Manga/TheFlowersOfEvil'' anime, Saeki seems to accept Takao's decision to break up with her with quiet dignity and then leaves him alone. In the original manga, this instead causes her to become a full-on {{yandere}} and eventually [[spoiler:rape him]].

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSteelTroops'' have the brain of Zanda Claus, who in the original manga and anime has a desire to KillAllHumans until Doraemon forcefully converts it into one of their allies by remodifying it's interior circuits, effectively putting it through a HeelFaceBrainwashing. The 2011 anime remake instead had Doraemon putting Zanda Claus' brain into an incubator which hatches it into an innocent chick-like form, that the gang names Pippo. After making amends with Pippo and becoming friends with it, Pippo then willingly turns over a new leaf to become one of the good guys.

** The Saiyan race in general [[CharacterizationMarchesOn gets more and more heroic]] in every Dragon Ball media following their introduction where they were nothing more than [[AliensAreBastards evil planet conquering brutes]] and Goku was only an exception because of his head injury.
*** The first time was in ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'' where Bardock and his squad have great comradery and care for each other, and the other Saiyans while they laugh off Bardock’s warnings about Frieza still show concern for his injuries and sanity. Also in the English dub Bardock explicitly loves his son Goku while in the original Japanese dub he only cares about Goku avenging their race by killing Frieza.

** King Vegeta also gets this in ''Dragon Ball Super: Broly'', in the original telling when he learned about Broly’s absurdly high power level he had Broly [[WouldHurtAChild stabbed in his crib]] and blasts a hole through his father Paragus when the latter tries to plead with him. In the new telling, King Vegeta just banishes Broly to Vampa where he won’t get out of control and hurt anyone, nor does King Vegeta harm Paragus in this version (though he does threaten to). Then when Broly goes on a UnstoppableRage as an adult, King Vegeta’s actions were ultimately justified. Him instigating the war against the Tuffles isn't mentioned.
** Frost in the ''Manga/DragonBallSuper'' manga doesn't cause [[spoiler:wars for the sake of being a VillainWithGoodPublicity and doesn't mock everybody when he's discovered. Plus, since he is not a BitchInSheepsClothing, [[AffablyEvil the politeness he shows towards Goku could be genuine]]. He admits that since there was no prize, he was using the poison to end these pointless battles as quickly as possible]]. Which raises the question of why didn't he just allow himself to lose and be done with the tournament. As for [[spoiler:his alliance with Frieza, Frost in the manga doesn't exclusively target Universe 7 and seems to genuinely view his partnership with Frieza as a way to survive in the Tournament rather than exact any sort of vengeance. That said he mentions liking to rule with an iron fist.]]

** In the original ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' manga, "Nena" turns out to be a villainous Stand user who has [[KillAndReplace killed and stolen the identity of a beautiful young Indian girl]]. In the OVA, Nena is an innocent young Indian girl who has been manipulated by Hol Horse and isn't a Stand user.

** Lord Raptor/Zabel Zarock is one of the evilest Darkstalkers in the games, being an undead AxCrazy serial killer rockstar who [[SoulEating eats souls]]. In the [=OVA=] while still pretty sinister we don’t actually see him kill any innocent people, and he’s very nice and caring to CatGirl Felicia. He even saves her from being burned alive by the CorruptChurch by absorbing their evil souls.
** Demitri Maximoff, the VillainProtagonist of the first few games (before [[BreakOutCharacter Morrigan]] took over) is a clear cut EvilOverlord [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]]. The only times he does anything inadvertently heroic is when he’s in a EnemyMine situation against a larger threat such as Pyron. The rest of the time he drinks innocent girls’s blood, tries to kill or enslave Morrigan and take over the demon realm set himself up as the new ruler. In the OVA we never see Demitri feast on young women or turn them into vampires and while he’s still cruel to humans and initially antagonistic to Morrigan, he still unintentionally protects people by fighting the invading Huitzil robots as well as Pyron. He even becomes [[VampiresAreSexGods romantically involved]] with Morrigan by the end.
** Donovan Baine counts as well, in the games while he starts off as a heroic {{Dhampir}} Donovan eventually gives into bloodlust and becomes the vampiric character [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Dee]]. In the OVA Donovan learns to accept and control his monstrous side thanks to [[MoralityPet Anita]]’s help and manages to [[EarnYourHappyEnding save the planet]] by defeating Pyron. Also in the games Donovan as a Darkhunter seeks out and kills any Darkstalkers on sight, while in the OVA Donovan can discern between good Darkstalkers and evil Darkstalkers since he doesn’t try and kill [[ChineseVampire Hsien-Ko]] and her sister Mei-Ling (who are undead).

* ''Anime/OnePieceStampede'' gives this treatment to Rob Lucci. In the [[Franchise/OnePiece show]] Lucci is an unabashed PsychoForHire who uses the privileges TheGovernment gives him as an excuse to butcher people purely for the [[BloodKnight pleasure]] of it. In the movie due to the larger threat of Douglas Bullet, Lucci not only saves Buggy but [[EnemyMine actually helps]] Luffy and the others Pirates take Bullet down rather then just [[KnightTemplar trying to kill them]] as he would in the manga and anime. True Lucci afterwards does try to attack Luffy, when he’s holding the log post to Laugh Tale (the island where One Piece is hidden) before being stopped by Sanji but it’s pretty minor compared to the [[AxCrazy senseless violence]] he commits in the main series.

** Downplayed example with Gladion: in the ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' games, Gladion is an enforcer for Team Skull who is incredibly abrasive in conversation and a perfectionist in battle [[spoiler: due to being disowned by Lusamine as a result of not wanting to follow her example]]. While his counterpart in the Sun and Moon series has shades of these traits, he is also shown to have a more noble attitude towards his relationships with people; such as treating Ash in a more friendly manner and fighting off Team Rocket and the recurring Team Skull grunts. He also doesn't seem to have any relation to Team Skull and has a different reason for running away from home, which may imply the anime version of the character may be an even more morally-gray rival than his video game counterpart.
** Lusamine is a ''huge'' example, going from a [[spoiler:cold, callous, and controlling [[AbusiveParent Abusive Parent]] using the Aether Foundation for her own ends]] in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' to a genuinely loving, if a bit [[WackyParentSeriousChild overbearing]] and {{Workaholic}}, mother towards Gladion and Lillie.

* ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'': Himeko Shirogane, the counterpart of Princess Morbucks from the original ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', is still an AlphaBitch, but has a sympathetic backstory of wanting attention because she is ignored by her parents. She also has no interest in attacking the Powerpuff Girls. Unfortunately, she as a SuperPoweredEvilSide who does, and when she changes back, she has no memory of her evil self's actions.

* ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' makes villains less evil than in ''Anime/GoLion'':
** Daibazaal was a tyrant who had Fala's entire family shot, commits horrible atrocities on the conquered, and has slaves killed for sport. It's even revealed any affection Daibazaal has for his son, Sincline, is fake and Daibazaal has no love for him, only keeping around because killing him would cause scandal. In ''Voltron'', Zarkon was a tyrant who killed Allura's father in single combat, isn't shown to murder slaves for sport, and doesn't commit horrible atrocities on the conquered. Zarkon's relationship with Lotor is more ambiguous with Zarkon seeming to show genuine affection for Lotor at times.
** Honerva was always a WickedWitch and commits satanic acts on her enemies and Galra prisoners. In ''Voltron'', Haggar used to be a good sorceress and her actions are more typical witchcraft.
** Sincline was a mentally unbalanced ChildByRape who abused women, had a sick obsession with Fala, tended to kill his subordinates, and any honor he showed was fake. In ''Voltron'', Lotor had a HairTriggerTemper, only attempted AndNowYouMustMarryMe stuff, had a more genuine affection for Allura, only yelled threats at his subordinates, and was actually honorable. Lotor even pulled an EnemyMine to save Allura at one point.
** In the 11th episode of ''[=GoLion=]'', Galra was doing a PrisonerExchange, but it's revealed to the audience that Galra had no intention to honor this and was going to kill the hostages [[ILied anyway]]. In the 11th episode of ''Voltron'', the Drules of Planet Doom seemed like they were going to actually keep to the deal.

* Plutia adapts a more controlled version of her sadism as Iris Heart in ''Anime/{{Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation}}'', where only the villains were her targets, unlike in her debut appearance in ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory'', where good and evil alike aren't safe from the (be it mental or physical) turmoil and trauma [[TheDreaded Madame Goddess]] is capable of gleefully inflicting. Plutia herself [[AdaptationalNiceGirl also qualifies]], as she doesn't have her game counterpart's selfish and malicious streak and habit of directing her sadism towards her friends, instead being genuinely compassionate to her allies, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold even as Iris Heart]]. Special mention goes to Episode 9 where [[spoiler: she initially accuses Neptune (who had suffered a HeroicBSOD after Peashy got kidnapped) for lying about herself, but when the latter breaks down and tells her the truth, Plutia, in her HDD form, outright ''[[PetTheDog hugs]]'' her and tells her that everything will be fine, even admitting that she actually loves her.]]

* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', Julio Chesaré and his master Pope Vittorio Serevare are good guys with the former aiding the protagonists at various points and the latter pulling a HeroicSacrifice in the fourth season. In the light novels, Pope Vittorio is the surviving villain of a BigBadEnsemble and Julio is his [[TheDragon Dragon]]. He [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates others (including Queen Henrietta)]], is willing to employ assassination, and played a role in instigating Gallia's wars (which was led by the other BigBad). He is also plotting to start a war against the elves reclaim the Holy Land, even to the point of wiping them out. [[WellIntentionedExtremist There are apparently good motives to his actions]] as he claims that he is trying to save humanity and that it ultimately comes down to "us or them" with the elves. Sadly, [[DiedDuringProduction Noboru Yamaguchi, author of the light novels, passed away, so we'll probably never know Vittorio's complete plan and motivations.]] Interestingly, Yamaguchi was involved heavily in the fourth season, so Vittorio and Julio's adaptational shift was something that he at least okayed, if not planned out himself.

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'', a LighterAndSofter take on the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, has its title character, Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos. The original Nyarlathotep is the only outright evil Elder God, driving people into madness and self-destruction purely out of malice, spite, and ForTheEvulz (the others simply have BlueAndOrangeMorality). As for Nyarko, she ''does'' have her bad points[[note]]like being [[ClingyJealousGirl overly clingy]], telling [[BlatantLies blatant (but mostly benign) lies]] for fun, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] [[CuteAndPsycho butchering her enemies]][[/note]], but on the whole she's a silly but good-hearted person who makes friends easily due to her open and cheerful nature and is utterly devoted to the story's male lead Mahiro because she's hopelessly in love with him. The main cast also includes Cthuguha the Living Flame and Hastur the King in Yellow, here imagined as an {{Emotionless|Girl}} GamerChick and an AdorablyPrecociousChild respectively.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Argorok is an evil dragon that terrorizes the City in the Sky. His manga counterpart was a benevolent guardian before being corrupted by Mirror of Twilight. When Link removes it, the dragon returns to normal.

** ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' made a more sympathetic version of [[spoiler:Volvagia.]] In the game, he is an ancient monster who [[spoiler:devoured Gorons]] that Ganondorf revived to make an example of those who stand up to him. In the manga, [[spoiler: Volvagia]] was [[spoiler:Link's adorable pet dragon who was BrainwashedAndCrazy after seven years, [[TragicMonster forcing Link to slay him]]]].