History HeelFaceRevolvingDoor / Literature

* Lord Gro from E.R. Eddison's pre-Tolkiensian fantasy ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros''. Not only is he an incredibly manipulative MagnificentBastard, but he has a soft spot for the underdog. Thus every time he pulls off a successful {{plan}} (and this happens frequently), he immediately goes and switches sides to support the people he just screwed over. This makes him by far the most awesome character in the book.

* Long John Silver in "LIterature/TreasureIsland", to the point where its one of his defining characteristics:

* Long John Silver in '"LIterature/TreasureIsland'', to the point where its one of his defining characteristics:

* [[spoiler:Lily]] in ''SoonIWillBeInvincible'. In that case it's less that the character is intentionally trying to play the sides, and more that the character has enough common sense to see that the "heroes" and "villains" aren't all that different.

* Sauron of ''LordOfTheRings'' and ''TheSilmarillion''. In The Beginning, he was good, a servant of Aulë the Smith. Then Morgoth, Black Enemy of the World seduced him to the side of evil, and he left with Morgoth to rule in Middle-Earth. When Morgoth was defeated in an ''incredibly'' destructive war, Sauron had a true change of heart, and genuinely wanted to help with the reconstruction and make Middle-Earth beautiful again. He was too afraid to surrender himself to the Gods and potentially face retribution, however, so he took advantage of the reconstruction to set himself up as the next Dark Lord.

* Lampshaded in the ''Time of Troubles'' series by HarryTurtledove. A character is called a connoisseur of defection, changing sides five times. Both sides put up with him because he's such a damn good commander, and they feel that he can help them more while on their side than he can hurt them when he defects.

* Jeb Batchelder of the ''MaximumRide'' books. Went from MadScientist to helpful parental figure [[spoiler: back to mad scientist, and he's been attempting to play the father figure again lately.]]
** It's arguable that he's [[spoiler: been good the whole time]] and that [[spoiler: his daughter]] Max refuses to let go of her hatred and accept that.
** For the last couple of books [[spoiler: Angel has become this.]]

* [[spoiler:Yamato Masamoto]] from ''YoungSamurai: Way of the Warrior'' by ChrisBradford. He starts out as a full on {{Jerkass}} who despises Jack, pulls a HeelFaceTurn after [[spoiler:Dokugan Ryu]]'s attack, then pulls a FaceHeelTurn later on, ''then'' he pulls another HeelFaceTurn towards the end of the book and he and Jack become friends...

* Raistlin from ''{{Dragonlance}}'' might as well be the TropeNamer, given his actions in the books.
* In the ''SwordOfTruth'', the morally ambiguous Sister of the Dark Nicci gets the experience of serving just about every major faction. By the end of the series, she's gone from a totally innocent girl, to a supporter of the Fellowship of Order, to a respected Sister of the Light in service to [[{{God}} the Creator]], to a member of the secretive Sisters of the Dark who serve the [[{{Satan}} Keeper of the Underworld]], to [[spoiler: TheDragon of the Imperial Order under Emperor Jagang, then known as Death's Mistress]], to [[spoiler: a TrueNeutral wanderer teetering between the sides as she fulfills her personal quest to discover the meaning of existence]], to [[spoiler: the hero's BlackMagicianGirl lieutenant.]] In the end, it turns out that she is ultimately [[spoiler: on the good side, and she remains one of Richard's most trusted allies up to the end of the series and beyond.]]

* [[spoiler:Alex]] of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' series starts off working for MI6, then becomes neutral in ''Eagle Strike'', then he's working for Scorpia in ''Scorpia'', but he reverts to protagonist before the end of that novel.

* [[spoiler:Lord Scourge]] in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic: Literature/{{Revan}}''. At first, [[spoiler:he]] is a loyal subject of the [[TheEmpire Sith Empire]]. Then, [[spoiler:he]] is recruited by [[spoiler:Darth Nyriss]] in the plot to overthrow TheEmperor who plans to start another war with the [[TheFederation Republic]]. [[spoiler:Scourge]], remembering the result of the Great Hyperspace War, in which the Sith were driven to near-extinction by the Jedi, realizes another war could well spell the end of the Empire. However, over the years, he realizes that [[spoiler:Nyriss and her allies]] are too afraid to make a move and would rather play political games than do something to further their cause. Eventually, thanks in part to Revan's influence, [[spoiler:Scourge]] allies with Revan and Meetra Surik (the [[PlayerCharacer Exile]] from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII'') in order to kill the Emperor. However, when they reach the throne room and are ready to strike, [[spoiler:he has a vision of the Emperor's death and realizes it won't be then and there]]. [[spoiler:Scourge]] betrays the Jedi, [[spoiler:killing Surik]], and gets Revan imprisoned for three centuries. The Emperor misinterprets this as proof of loyalty and makes [[spoiler:Scourge]] his enforcer, who is also granted immortality.

** [[spoiler: The mutineers who kill Lord Commander Mormont were criminals that were sent to the Wall. Many had committed heinous crimes, but some, such as Chett (who, granted, never got the chance to go through with the mutiny), while still being complete assholes had spent a fair amount of time in service to the Watch. "Averted" in the TV show, where the mutineers seem to be made up of "{{Complete Monster}}s"]]

** [[spoiler: The mutineers who kill Lord Commander Mormont were criminals that were sent to the Wall. Many had committed heinous crimes, but some, such as Chett (who, granted, never got the chance to go through with the mutiny), while still being complete assholes had spent a fair amount of time in service to the Watch. "Averted" in the TV show, where the mutineers seem to be made up of "CompleteMonsters"]]

** [spoiler: The mutineers who kill Lord Commander Mormont were criminals that were sent to the Wall. Many had committed heinous crimes, but some, such as Chett (who, granted, never got the chance to go through with the mutiny), while still being complete assholes had spent a fair amount of time in service to the Watch. "Averted" in the TV show, where the mutineers seem to be made up of "CompleteMonsters"]]

* [[spoiler:Lord Scourge]] in ''StarWars: TheOldRepublic: Revan''. At first, [[spoiler:he]] is a loyal subject of the [[TheEmpire Sith Empire]]. Then, [[spoiler:he]] is recruited by [[spoiler:Darth Nyriss]] in the plot to overthrow TheEmperor who plans to start another war with the [[TheFederation Republic]]. [[spoiler:Scourge]], remembering the result of the Great Hyperspace War, in which the Sith were driven to near-extinction by the Jedi, realizes another war could well spell the end of the Empire. However, over the years, he realizes that [[spoiler:Nyriss and her allies]] are too afraid to make a move and would rather play political games than do something to further their cause. Eventually, thanks in part to Revan's influence, [[spoiler:Scourge]] allies with Revan and Meetra Surik (the [[PlayerCharacer Exile]] from ''StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublic II'') in order to kill the Emperor. However, when they reach the throne room and are ready to strike, [[spoiler:he has a vision of the Emperor's death and realizes it won't be then and there]]. [[spoiler:Scourge]] betrays the Jedi, [[spoiler:killing Surik]], and gets Revan imprisoned for three centuries. The Emperor misinterprets this as proof of loyalty and makes [[spoiler:Scourge]] his enforcer, who is also granted immortality.

* [[BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton]] in ''AClashOfKings'' starts out being a subject of the [[BigGood Starks]]. He then decides, in their absence, to [[spoiler: kidnap Lady Hornwood, forcibly marry her, rape her, and then starve her. Ser Rodrik Cassel hunts him down and unwittingly captures him in disguise, and he is brought to Winterfell as a prisoner. Theon Greyjoy discovers him after usurping Winterfell, and he becomes his ally. He escapes Ser Rodrik's counter-siege on Winterfell, and raises an army of Dreadfort men. They arrive at the siege, ostensibly as Stark reinforcements, where Ramsay betrays Rodrik, destroys the Stark army, and enters Winterfell, where he captures Theon and burns the castle to the ground.]]

* In ''RevengeOfTheSith'''s {{novelization}}, Anakin Skywalker veers between Palpatine and the Jedi in a way that's much less sudden than how it seems in the movie, even leaning several times back towards the Light Side. [[ItWasHisSled We all know where he ended up]], obviously, but the pull of doing what Obi-Wan - who wants him to defend and protect people - and Padme - who wants to love and be loved - want are as strong as doing what Palpatine wants. It's just that Palpatine knew there was a contest going on and worked to throw it, though there were some tricky moments. Notably, after waking up on the slab and hearing that he's killed his wife, Anakin ''immediately'' tries to kill Palpatine with the Force - but he's so much weaker than he used to be that he can't, and then he doesn't want to anymore. Palpatine's the only thing remotely like an ally he has.
** It should be noted that this pull is the reason that Obi-Wan was sent to Utapau, Palpatine knew that while Obi-Wan was alive Anakin would always be conflicted. It was also why he tried to convince Anakin to leave him on board the Invisible Hand.

* Snape from HarryPotter quite often ''seems'' to be doing this. Numerous red herrings are thrown at the reader from all directions to make them think Snape is a bad guy one minute, and a good guy the next. Despite the reveal that he actually was [[spoiler: on Harry's side]] all along, his actual integrity and ''preferred'' alignment is still up for interpretation.

* Sauron of ''LordOfTheRings'' and ''TheSilmarillion''. In The Beginning, he was good, a servant of Aule the Smith. Then Morgoth, Black Enemy of the World seduced him to the side of evil, and he left with Morgoth to rule in Middle Earth. When Morgoth was defeated in an ''incredibly'' destructive war, Sauron had a true change of heart, and genuinely wanted to help with the reconstruction and make Middle Earth beautiful again. He was too afraid to surrender himself to the Gods and potentially face retribution, however, so he took advantage of the reconstruction to set himself up as the next Dark Lord.