History Main / ChronicVillainy

* A ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode had him befriending Plankton. Everything seemed fine until Plankton steals a krabby patty.

* Dr. Doofenshmirtz of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has twice attempted to quit villainy. The first attempt involved becoming a cheese maker, but that went south when Perry the Platypus, in a moment of weakness, ate the world's tastiest cheese Doof prepared while the doc's back was turned. This led Doof to use his cheese-aging 'inator for evil in response. The second attempt was in 'Agent Doof'; There, Doof joined the OWCA, but became a HeroWithAnFInGood, and subsequently fired. This time, however, he's elated to hear Major Monogram state that Doof was more of a threat inside the organization than outside it and went back to villainy thinking he still had it. [[spoiler:He turns good for real in the SeriesFinale.]]

* WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens: Chip Whistler,[[spoiler: after surviving his seeming death,]] attempts to go straight when he learns the Greens have moved out of Big City. He adopts the new identity of [[PunnyName Norm Alguy]], gets a day job, and even gets a girlfriend too. As his new life continues though, he finds it’s becoming incredibly routine and unsatisfying, and after a chance encounter with a family who reminds him of the Greens and a [[TalkingtoThemself little chat]] with his own dark reflection, he renews his vow of vengeance on the Green Family and their friends and continues to conspire against them from the shadows.

** A reviewer of the ''Batman'' series once went to the point of [[https://web.archive.org/web/20041023110659/http://anbat.toonzone.net/btas/hag.html calling it nigh-Calvinistic.]]

* Christianity (particularly Orthodox) states that this is the main cause of people's suffering. As a consequence of the Fall of Man, people ''cannot help but sin'', unless they recognize this fault, repent, and overcome it with God's help.
* Literature/TheBible: The Israelites, constantly. The same time the Law is being given to Moses, they are busy violating several of its commands. Moses and Joshua are able to keep the nation orderly for some time, but when Joshua dies, it's straight to [[AnarchyIsChaos a lawless nightmare]] under the Judges. Eventually the monarchy is established, with David and Solomon as their good rulers, but during Solomon's later years the country reverts to tyranny, idolatry, and violence. You could probably count the number of good post-Solomon rulers on one hand. Eventually after the fall of the kingdom and their return to their land, Ezra and Nehemiah give speeches reminding the Israelites how many times they messed up.

** The Sandman, [[IAmNotShazam no, not that one]], reformed somewhere in the '80s after going through BodyHorror, and became a reserve Avenger and joined [[Characters/MarvelComicsWildPack Silver Sable]]'s Wildpack for a while. Then Creator/JohnByrne got his mitts on him again, and had the Wizard [[RetCon hypnotize him into his "proper" personality]], then he nearly turned good in an early 2000 Peter Parker: Spider-Man comic in which he split into four different Sandmen (and one Sandwoman), but at the end of the story, his evil side takes over his good side, and his good side, [[ItMakesSenseInContext outside of the main body collaboration]], dies.

* UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story "Luthor Unleashed" has [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex]] suffer one painful defeat too many at Superman's hands, and decides to throw in the towel. He retires to the alien planet where he had once taken a wife (whom he had, till then, shamefully neglected) and tries to settle down to be a model citizen there. He even has a child. But despite his best efforts, he can't stop obsessing over the fact that Superman beat him. He finally builds a suit of PoweredArmor in anticipation of Superman tracking him down, but then uses it to relieve his tensions by using it to wreak havoc on his new home, becoming its first {{supervillain}}. Superman does indeed arrive, and in the ensuing fight, Lex accidentally detonates a powerful [[AppliedPhlebotinum gizmo]] and blows up the planet, killing his wife and infant son. He blames Superman and ends up more obsessed with his destruction than ever before. This is a pretty defining point about Lex Luthor and one of the best and most tragic examples. In many stories, Lex is a man who genuinely wants to do right by humanity and use his intellect for good. It's just that he can never get past his hatred of Superman. It also leads into the selfish spect of his personality: He wants to destroy Superman so the world will see him as the true savior of mankind.

Contrast TheFarmerAndTheViper, where a villain is given this same opportunity...and twists that goodness into a torment for the one who offered them redemption. Often, villains who try (and fail) to reform have some {{Idiosyncrazy}}.

** [[Characters/VenomEddieBrock Eddie Brock]], the former Venom, even after being separated from the symbiote. While trying to be a hero as Anti-Venom, [[spoiler: he discovered that his benefactor, Mr. Li, was the {{supervillain}} Mr. Negative]]. He was so disillusioned that he now struggles with homicidal urges. Bets are open as to how long it will take for him to become Venom proper again. Plus all the times he went back and forth between being a villain and an AntiHero as the regular Venom. Brock lost his powers as Anti-Venom and tried to go AntiHero again... by murdering other symbiotes, who he views as inherently evil. Small wonder that he's back to being AxCrazy [[spoiler: now that he's bonded to [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]]'s spawn, [[Characters/MarvelComicsToxin Toxin]]]].

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] never stops trying to usurp Asgard and defeat [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] for many reasons. He is TheUnfavourite of Asgard, being a trickster magician instead of a warrior, [[FreudianExcuse and so he can never truly believe that Odin and Thor truly love him as family,]] despite the fact that every time Loki's schemes fail, Odin and Thor always eventually forgive him and give him another chance. It got so bad that Loki actually let himself die at the conclusion of ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' and be reborn as a relatively innocent child in an attempt to ''escape'' Chronic Villainy. As the last remnants of his past life explains to the new Loki, he had become predictable in his treachery and, as a god of chaos and trickery, he would rather die than be predictable. [[spoiler: And, predictably, all of that actually was a scheme to dupe others into thinking that Loki has truly changed (at the moment when everyone but Thor gave up any hope of redeeming him), by using Kid Loki's innocence and then overwriting his personality with the Old Loki memories. Proving once again that Loki cannot escape this trope. His younger self [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls him out on it]], though he tries to deny it.]] Loki still has a problem with being properly evil though. [[spoiler:They tried that in ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers'' but [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack their conscience stopped them]] so they attempted a HeelFaceTurn again in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''. They succeeded too... and may or may not have died in the process. Loki's a walking MindScrew.]]

[[folder:Anime]]

* [[BigBad Yoshikage Kira]] from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' - ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable''. Though he may be a [[TheSociopath sociopath]], he's still [[AffablyEvil affable]] as he genuinely [[IJustWantToBeNormal only wants to live a quiet life]]. The only reason why he's a SerialKiller at all is because his compulsions (and hand fetish) force him to. Normally, this isn't a problem for him, because his [[FightingSpirit Stand]] allows him to dispatch of both victims and evidence in a clean and non-violent way, letting him go about his business. However, when he finds himself having to lay low [[spoiler:under the disguise of [[KillAndReplace Kosaku Kawajiri]]]] to throw off the heroes, he suffers [[GoingColdTurkey abstinence]] and descends into a mental breakdown.

* WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens: Chip Whistler,[[spoiler: after surviving his seeming death,]] attempts to go straight when he learns the Greens have moved out of Big City. He adopts the new identity of [[PunnyName Norm Alguy]], gets a day job, and even gets a girlfriend too. As his new life continues though, he finds it’s becoming incredibly routine and unsatisfying, and after a chance encounter with a family who reminds him of the Greens and a [[TalkingtoThemself little chat]] with his own dark reflection, he renews his vow of vengeance on the Green Family and their friends and continues to conspire against them from the shadows.

Compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain has repented and wants to go straight, but may find that the hero, or society in general, doesn't trust him enough to let him. Indeed, a particularly bad case of Reformed, but Rejected can easily fuel a case of Chronic Villainy. A SelfFulfillingProphecy, courtesy of WhatTheHellHero or AllOfTheOtherReindeer. Compare also RedemptionFailure, where the villain is pushed back to TheDarkSide not by internal residue compulsions, but by external circumstances. Compare ReformedButNotTamed, when the villain retains {{heel}} elements when doing a heel face turn, and may not return to being a villain. Also compare JustAGangster, where a criminal of some kind resists attempts to make them or their business legitimate.

Compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain has repented and wants to go straight, but may find that the hero, or society in general, doesn't trust him enough to let him. Indeed, a particularly bad case of Reformed, but Rejected can easily fuel a case of Chronic Villainy. A SelfFulfillingProphecy, courtesy of WhatTheHellHero or AllOfTheOtherReindeer. Compare also RedemptionFailure, where the villain is pushed back to TheDarkSide not by internal residue compulsions, but by external circumstances. Also compare JustAGangster, where a criminal of some kind resists attempts to make them or their business legitimate.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'''s [[spoiler: Kirei Kotomine]], so, so very much. He perfectly understands right and wrong, just the 'switch' inside humans where we [[GoodFeelsGood feel good for doing good]] is stuck [[EvilFeelsGood the other way]]. Did some evil, felt happy, realised he was doing evil, tried to do good, became a priest specialising in healing magic, and settled down with a family. His wife died, and he realised that all he felt was disappointment that he hadn't been able to kill her. He then realises that he is utterly unable to get any pleasure from life unless he's causing pain and suffering. From there, it just took a small push ([[SarcasmMode thank you]], [[LightNovel/FateZero Gilgamesh]]) for him to try to unleash every evil known to mankind on the world. When TheHero asks him why he's doing it, he replies with a speech that can be summed up as: [[ForTheEvulz "Just as some people find music or art entertaining, I can only find amusement in watching other people suffer."]]

* Oasis suffers from this in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. Even when she resists her [[{{Yandere}} insane obsession with Torg]] and [[TheyFightCrime fights crime]], she's still a particularly brutal [[VigilanteMan Vigilante Woman]] who's a little too callous about slaughtering dozens of people. Her assassin instincts even kick in during mundane tasks, such as when she makes pancakes and "doesn't stir the batter so much as stab it lots."

** The Crown Prince of this is [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]], who has reformed countless times, only to fall back into crime due to obsessing over beating the Bat. However, this trope still applies to a large portion of Batman's rogues gallery, most prominently, [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]] (who is probably a [[{{Pun}} close second]] to the Riddler), The Ventriloquist, [[Characters/BatmanCentralRoguesGallery Mr. Freeze]], and Harley Quinn. The second version, of a character whose power makes them evil and slowly returns them to villainy, is present in Man Bat and certain incarnations of Clayface.

-->[[spoiler:'''Howard''']]: [[spoiler:Chuck]] was right about you. You can't help yourself.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has Team Rocket. The trio are mostly {{Punch Clock Villain}}s, and there are many times that they are able to start their own legitimate business. But they are still compelled to do their old job of stealing Pokémon, or something related to Pokémon, no matter how [[EvilIsPetty puny or mundane]] it may be.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] has not reformed, but to the general public, it appears he has. However, nobody who actually knows him expects it to last, since everyone thinks he is going to have a VillainousBreakdown and go into a more overt form of this trope.

* ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]]'' is a big example, when it comes to his predatory instincts. He was [[HeelFaceBrainwashing inverted]] during ''{{ComicBook/AXIS}}'' and tried to genuinely [[TheAtoner atone]] for all his evil. [[StatusQuoIsGod But, the inversion wasn't meant to last.]] He shows signs of slipping in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016'' when he's hunting a dinosaur and tries to reign himself in, but can't. Chapter 17 has a lengthy inner monologue with him admitting that his inverted self is a lie, but confessing that he doesn't wanna let it go. He tries to hold on to it, but the old him is coming & fighting back -the Creed who cared about nothing but the kill. He also thinks about how he daydreams of slaughtering the X-Men while he fought alongside them, because that's what he was supposed to be doing. [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonetStCroix Monet St. Croix]] becomes his MoralityChain when he thinks about fighting for her -wanting to help cure her curse and stay true to his promise of keeping her secret. The run's finale showed he ran off with her. Sadly for the reformed Creed, he's not doing as well with the ''ComicBook/{{Resurrxion}}'' relaunch, He doesn't appear completely evil yet, but he's clearly not as good as before. He's [[LeftHanging no longer with Monet]] and was shown living by himself in the woods at the start of Weapon X. For now, he's focusing all his sadism & murderous tendencies on bad guys -as opposed to innocents. WordOfGod says he's going to continue exploring Creed's morality in the series.

* Frank Abagnale Jr in ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' eventually becomes addicted to the thrill of living like a playboy by conning money and eluding the authorities, while becoming tired from having to look over his shoulder all the time. He needs his father's support to stop, but Frank Sr. refuses for selfish reasons. Even when Frank tries to settle down his past catches up with him and he goes further into the criminal lifestyle. When Hanratty finally tracks him down in France, Frank almost seems like a thrill-seeking junkie, and Hanratty has to save him from getting himself killed. [[spoiler:Subverted when he is released from prison to work for the FBI catching criminals like himself, and he almost goes back to his former life. He comes back into work on Monday and greets Carl as usual.]]

* The tragedy of Londo Molari in ''Series/BabylonFive''. He is a good man at heart and frequently tries to use his influence for good or turn his back on the constant schemes of his old allies. But he is addicted to power and it takes only slight nudges from his former friends or personal tragedies to have him forget about his ideals and the previous times he set lose an avalanche of events he couldn't stop.

* Sylar (a.k.a Gabriel Gray) from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has become quite familiar with this trope lately. The show tried to play around with [[TheAtoner the idea of redemption]] [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor somewhat inconsistently]] during Volume 3, but it didn't take, partially thanks to liberal amounts of [[WhatTheHellHero extreme]] [[ReformedButRejected rejected reform]], and as of the current story arc, he's back to his superpowered, sociopathic ways, only now, with 90% more [[TallDarkAndSnarky snark]] [[spoiler: and a KidSidekick.]]
** After seeing his [[spoiler: biological father]] in a recent Volume 4 episode, however, this tendency might be part of a VillainousLineage. When Sylar displays his regenerative ability, [[spoiler: Daddy Gray, who is dying of lung cancer,]] tries to take it, even though he previously claimed to have gotten bored of killing and swore off it many years ago.
** His actions have finally caught up with him by the end of the final season. His slew of trauma, murder, and issues all come to a head, and, as a last resort, he hunts down Parkman to have his mind wiped clean. Parkman isn't buying it and refuses until Sylar threatens his family.

* Happens both times the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' team tries to use the retrovirus on Michael. The second time, they used it on a whole hive ship in addition to Michael. They just never learn.

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had an episode with the villain Jack Spicer offering to study with the heroes at the temple and become a xiaolin monk himself. His greed and ambition eventually get the better of him when he's presented with an opportunity to steal their ''Shen Gong Wu''. The rules of a subsequent Xiaolin Showdown force him to talk to Omi about his betrayal and admit that he really was trying to reform. In an even straighter example of the trope, the only reason he ran away was because he was afraid that he was not good at being good, and [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption failure was the only option]]. Maybe Spicer's a bit smarter than we'd guess.

** The amnesiac Joker shows potential hints of the start of this, as his normal laugh grows crazier and longer as time goes on. [[spoiler: Whether he'd have actually relapsed is moot when Harley shoves him into the same chemical vat that birthed him in the first place so he'll regain his memories.]]

* Literature/TheBible: The Israelites, constantly. The same time the Law is being given to Moses, they are busy violating several of it's commands. Moses and Joshua are able to keep the nation orderly for some time, but when Joshua dies, it's straight to [[AnarchyIsChaos a lawless nightmare]] under the Judges. Eventually the monarchy is established, with David and Solomon as their good rulers, but during Solomon's later years the country reverts to tyranny, idolatry, and violence. You could probably count the number of good post-Solomon rulers on one hand. Eventually after the fall of the kingdom and their return to their land, Ezra and Nehemiah give speeches reminding the Israelites how many times they messed up.

** Psycho has a severe empathy deficiency that makes it difficult for him to tell when he's crossing the line from socially-acceptable evil to the [[EvenEvilHasStandards unacceptable kind]]. As such, he tends to treat the crew as his prosthetic conscience. Come season 2, he begins to feel that his time with the crew has caused him to become progressively less villainous, leading him to try to return to villainy by attempting to convince Harley to TakeOvertheWorld. [[spoiler:He then splits from the crew after Harley gets cold feet and turns on them to attempt to rule the world himself.]]

-->-- '''[[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 The Riddler]]''', ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures Batman: Gotham Adventures]]'' #11

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** The Crown Prince of this is [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 The Riddler]], who has reformed countless times, only to fall back into crime due to obsessing over beating the Bat. However, this trope still applies to a large portion of Batman's rogues gallery, most prominently, [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]] (who is probably a [[{{Pun}} close second]] to the Riddler), The Ventriloquist, [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 Mr. Freeze]], and Harley Quinn. The second version, of a character whose power makes them evil and slowly returns them to villainy, is present in Man Bat and certain incarnations of Clayface.

** This compulsion goes all the way back to the 1960's Creator/AdamWest ''Series/Batman1966'' tv show. In one episode, Riddler's girlfriend asks him why he even bothers with riddles since Batman always figures them out. Riddler answers that the only reason he even ''became'' a criminal is so he could use riddles to stump Batman. Without riddles, he says, crime would be pointless.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]], the former Venom, even after being separated from the symbiote. While trying to be a hero as Anti-Venom, [[spoiler: he discovered that his benefactor, Mr. Li, was the {{supervillain}} Mr. Negative]]. He was so disillusioned that he now struggles with homicidal urges. Bets are open as to how long it will take for him to become Venom proper again. Plus all the times he went back and forth between being a villain and an AntiHero as the regular Venom. Brock lost his powers as Anti-Venom and tried to go AntiHero again... by murdering other symbiotes, who he views as inherently evil. Small wonder that he's back to being AxCrazy [[spoiler: now that he's bonded to [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]]'s spawn, [[Characters/MarvelComicsToxin Toxin]]]].

* UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} Franchise/{{Superman}} story "Luthor Unleashed" has [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex]] suffer one painful defeat too many at Superman's hands, and decides to throw in the towel. He retires to the alien planet where he had once taken a wife (whom he had, till then, shamefully neglected) and tries to settle down to be a model citizen there. He even has a child. But despite his best efforts, he can't stop obsessing over the fact that Superman beat him. He finally builds a suit of PoweredArmor in anticipation of Superman tracking him down, but then uses it to relieve his tensions by using it to wreak havoc on his new home, becoming its first {{supervillain}}. Superman does indeed arrive, and in the ensuing fight, Lex accidentally detonates a powerful [[AppliedPhlebotinum gizmo]] and blows up the planet, killing his wife and infant son. He blames Superman and ends up more obsessed with his destruction than ever before. This is a pretty defining point about Lex Luthor and one of the best and most tragic examples. In many stories, Lex is a man who genuinely wants to do right by humanity and use his intellect for good. Its just that he can never get past his hatred of Superman. It also leads into the selfish spect of his personality: He wants to destroy Superman so the world will see him as the true savior of mankind.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] never stops trying to usurp Asgard and defeat [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] for many reasons. He is TheUnfavourite of Asgard, being a trickster magician instead of a warrior, [[FreudianExcuse and so he can never truly believe that Odin and Thor truly love him as family,]] despite the fact that every time Loki's schemes fail, Odin and Thor always eventually forgive him and give him another chance. It got so bad that Loki actually let himself die at the conclusion of ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' and be reborn as a relatively innocent child in an attempt to ''escape'' Chronic Villainy. As the last remnants of his past life explains to the new Loki, he had become predictable in his treachery and, as a god of chaos and trickery, he would rather die than be predictable. [[spoiler: And, predictably, all of that actually was a scheme to dupe others into thinking that Loki has truly changed (at the moment when everyone but Thor gave up any hope of redeeming him), by using Kid Loki's innocence and then overwriting his personality with the Old Loki memories. Proving once again that Loki cannot escape this trope. His younger self [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls him out on it]], though he tries to deny it.]] Loki still has a problem with being properly evil though. [[spoiler:They tried that in ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers'' but [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack their conscience stopped them]] so they attempted a HeelFaceTurn again in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''. They succeeded too... and may or may not have died in the process. Loki's a walking MindScrew.]]
* Creator/GregRucka's run on ''[[Characters/DaredevilSupportingCharacters Elektra]]'' ended this way. After a whole run of issues in which she was forced to recognise just how much damage she'd done to innocent people, started seriously trying to reform, and came close to rejecting the conflict between the Chaste and the Hand altogether to just do good for its own sake, the Hand killed her new mentor and kidnapped the guy who first started her on the reform path. She killed all the Hand guys, but finally also killed the kidnapped guy because... well, presumably out of a momentary flash of despair that she'd been forced to kill a whole load of people, although it wasn't convincingly explained. There were stories that this was due to ExecutiveMeddling, because the writer of an imminent crossover event decided that he wanted [[StatusQuoIsGod "classic" Elektra]] to be involved in it.

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fic ''FanFic/ACureForLove'' Light is happy to remian as L's partner until Misa conspires to restore his Kira memories.

* Cruella de Vil in ''Film/OneHundredAndTwoDalmatians''. Went to jail, got reformed, but an accident with the main puppy caused her to start seeing dalmatian spots all over town. Kind of a disturbing scene. In a perversion of Pavlov's Dog, the researchers responsible for Cruella's behavioral modification into the saintly Ella accidentally discovered that the sound of a bell reverses the process. Needless to say, the minute Ella hears a bell ringing, she's back to being the sociopathic Cruella. This in a city that is famous for a gigantic clock tower by the nickname of Big Ben. There's also ''Film/{{Cruella}}''.

* Literature/TheBible: The Israelites, constantly. The same time the Law is being given to Moses, they are busy violating several of it's commands. Moses and Joshua are able to keep the nation orderly for some time, but when Joshua dies, it's straight to [[AnarchyIsChaos a lawless nightmare]] under the Judges. Eventually the monarchy is established, with David and Solomon as their good rulers, but during Solomon's later years the country reverts to tyranny, idolatry, and violence. You could probably count the number of good post-Solomon rulers on one hand. Eventually after the fall of the kingdom and their return to their land, Ezra and Nehemiah give speaches reminding the Israelites how many times they messed up.

* A particularly sadistic example in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', where Dr Hugo Strange eventually succeeds in curing the Ventriloquist from his insanity. The guy immediately tries to go back to a normal life... but Strange, [[PsychoPsychologist being who he is]], immediately works to ruin his life and turn him insane again for the sole sake of seeing how it'll turn out. By the end of the episode, he is back to being a criminal.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is cured from his mutation into the Goblin at the end of "Venom's Bomb". As he is trying to get back to a normal life, he genuinely attempts to make up for his crimes, tries to be a better father to Harry, and even becomes a super-hero as Iron Patriot. Sadly, a few episodes later, Dr Octopus, still trying to get revenge on him, kidnaps him and turns him back into the Goblin.

* Well done by Creator/MickeyRourke as the titular character of ''Film/JohnnyHandsome''.

* Played for drama in ''Series/TheSopranos'' with [[spoiler: Cousin Tony]].

* ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]]'' is a big example, when it comes to his predatory instincts. He was [[HeelFaceBrainwashing inverted]] during ''{{ComicBook/AXIS}}'' and tried to genuinely [[TheAtoner atone]] for all his evil. [[StatusQuoIsGod But, the inversion wasn't meant to last.]] He shows signs of slipping in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016'' when he's hunting a dinosaur and tries to reign himself in, but can't. Chapter 17 has a lengthy inner monologue with him admitting that his inverted self is a lie, but confessing that he doesn't wanna let it go. He tries to hold on to it, but the old him is coming & fighting back -the Creed who cared about nothing but the kill. He also thinks about how he daydreams of slaughtering the X-Men while he fought alongside them, because that's what he was supposed to be doing. [[Characters/XMen2010sMembers Monet St. Croix]] becomes his MoralityChain when he thinks about fighting for her -wanting to help cure her curse and stay true to his promise of keeping her secret. The run's finale showed he ran off with her. Sadly for the reformed Creed, he's not doing as well with the ''ComicBook/{{Resurrxion}}'' relaunch, He doesn't appear completely evil yet, but he's clearly not as good as before. He's [[LeftHanging no longer with Monet]] and was shown living by himself in the woods at the start of Weapon X. For now, he's focusing all his sadism & murderous tendencies on bad guys -as opposed to innocents. WordOfGod says he's going to continue exploring Creed's morality in the series.

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

[[folder:Religion]]

[[/folder]]

* Creator/GregRucka's run on ''[[Characters/DaredevilDaredevilAndSupportingCharacters Elektra]]'' ended this way. After a whole run of issues in which she was forced to recognise just how much damage she'd done to innocent people, started seriously trying to reform, and came close to rejecting the conflict between the Chaste and the Hand altogether to just do good for its own sake, the Hand killed her new mentor and kidnapped the guy who first started her on the reform path. She killed all the Hand guys, but finally also killed the kidnapped guy because... well, presumably out of a momentary flash of despair that she'd been forced to kill a whole load of people, although it wasn't convincingly explained. There were stories that this was due to ExecutiveMeddling, because the writer of an imminent crossover event decided that he wanted [[StatusQuoIsGod "classic" Elektra]] to be involved in it.

-->-- '''ComicBook/TheRiddler''', ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures Batman: Gotham Adventures]]'' #11

** The Crown Prince of this is ComicBook/TheRiddler, who has reformed countless times, only to fall back into crime due to obsessing over beating the Bat. However, this trope still applies to a large portion of Batman's rogues gallery, most prominently, ComicBook/TwoFace (who is probably a [[{{Pun}} close second]] to the Riddler), The Ventriloquist, Mr. Freeze, and Harley Quinn. The second version, of a character whose power makes them evil and slowly returns them to villainy, is present in Man Bat and certain incarnations of Clayface.

** The Chronic Villainy of Batman's RoguesGallery is justified by the common factor that almost all of them share: complete insanity. In their cases, villainy is almost their mental illness, one that seems impossible to remove. This is especially evident in ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', where both the Joker and Two Face go through apparent, but non-permanent, reforms.
** But then, even ComicBook/ThePenguin, often regarded as the OnlySaneMan among his enemies, had this once. In a two-part story (released as {{homage}} to the late Creator/BurgessMeredith) Cobblepot got restless and bored in his current role as TheDon, and despite having vowed to stop getting involved personally, undertook a series of crimes just to prove he was superior to Batman. He failed, but convinced Batman to let him go (as he'd likely be let OffOnATechnicality if arrested), and decided to go "back to my lounge booth - where I should have ''stayed''."

** The Sandman, [[IAmNotShazam no, not that one]], reformed somewhere in the '80s after going through BodyHorror, and became a reserve Avenger and joined ComicBook/SilverSable's Wildpack for a while. Then Creator/JohnByrne got his mitts on him again, and had the Wizard [[RetCon hypnotize him into his "proper" personality]], then he nearly turned good in an early 2000 Peter Parker: Spider-Man comic in which he split into four different Sandmen (and one Sandwoman), but at the end of the story, his evil side takes over his good side, and his good side, [[ItMakesSenseInContext outside of the main body collaboration]], dies.
** [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]], the former Venom, even after being separated from the symbiote. While trying to be a hero as Anti-Venom, [[spoiler: he discovered that his benefactor, Mr. Li, was the {{supervillain}} Mr. Negative]]. He was so disillusioned that he now struggles with homicidal urges. Bets are open as to how long it will take for him to become Venom proper again. Plus all the times he went back and forth between being a villain and an AntiHero as the regular Venom. Brock lost his powers as Anti-Venom and tried to go AntiHero again... by murdering other symbiotes, who he views as inherently evil. Small wonder that he's back to being AxCrazy [[spoiler: now that he's bonded to ComicBook/{{Carnage}}'s spawn, Toxin]].
** ComicBook/NormanOsborn has not reformed, but to the general public, it appears he has. However, nobody who actually knows him expects it to last, since everyone thinks he is going to have a VillainousBreakdown and go into a more overt form of this trope.
* UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} Franchise/{{Superman}} story "Luthor Unleashed" has [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Lex]] suffer one painful defeat too many at Superman's hands, and decides to throw in the towel. He retires to the alien planet where he had once taken a wife (whom he had, till then, shamefully neglected) and tries to settle down to be a model citizen there. He even has a child. But despite his best efforts, he can't stop obsessing over the fact that Superman beat him. He finally builds a suit of PoweredArmor in anticipation of Superman tracking him down, but then uses it to relieve his tensions by using it to wreak havoc on his new home, becoming its first {{supervillain}}. Superman does indeed arrive, and in the ensuing fight, Lex accidentally detonates a powerful [[AppliedPhlebotinum gizmo]] and blows up the planet, killing his wife and infant son. He blames Superman and ends up more obsessed with his destruction than ever before. This is a pretty defining point about Lex Luthor and one of the best and most tragic examples. In many stories, Lex is a man who genuinely wants to do right by humanity and use his intellect for good. Its just that he can never get past his hatred of Superman. It also leads into the selfish spect of his personality: He wants to destroy Superman so the world will see him as the true savior of mankind.
* ComicBook/{{Loki}} never stops trying to usurp Asgard and defeat [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] for many reasons. He is TheUnfavourite of Asgard, being a trickster magician instead of a warrior, [[FreudianExcuse and so he can never truly believe that Odin and Thor truly love him as family,]] despite the fact that every time Loki's schemes fail, Odin and Thor always eventually forgive him and give him another chance. It got so bad that Loki actually let himself die at the conclusion of ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' and be reborn as a relatively innocent child in an attempt to ''escape'' Chronic Villainy. As the last remnants of his past life explains to the new Loki, he had become predictable in his treachery and, as a god of chaos and trickery, he would rather die than be predictable. [[spoiler: And, predictably, all of that actually was a scheme to dupe others into thinking that Loki has truly changed (at the moment when everyone but Thor gave up any hope of redeeming him), by using Kid Loki's innocence and then overwriting his personality with the Old Loki memories. Proving once again that Loki cannot escape this trope. His younger self [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls him out on it]], though he tries to deny it.]] Loki still has a problem with being properly evil though. [[spoiler:They tried that in ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers'' but [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack their conscience stopped them]] so they attempted a HeelFaceTurn again in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''. They succeeded too... and may or may not have died in the process. Loki's a walking MindScrew.]]
* Creator/GregRucka's run on ''ComicBook/{{Elektra}}'' ended this way. After a whole run of issues in which she was forced to recognise just how much damage she'd done to innocent people, started seriously trying to reform, and came close to rejecting the conflict between the Chaste and the Hand altogether to just do good for its own sake, the Hand killed her new mentor and kidnapped the guy who first started her on the reform path. She killed all the Hand guys, but finally also killed the kidnapped guy because... well, presumably out of a momentary flash of despair that she'd been forced to kill a whole load of people, although it wasn't convincingly explained. There were stories that this was due to ExecutiveMeddling, because the writer of an imminent crossover event decided that he wanted [[StatusQuoIsGod "classic" Elektra]] to be involved in it.

* ''{{ComicBook/Sabretooth}}'' is a big example, when it comes to his predatory instincts. He was [[HeelFaceBrainwashing inverted]] during ''{{ComicBook/AXIS}}'' and tried to genuinely atone for all his evil. But, the inversion wasn't meant to last. He shows signs of slipping in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016'' when he's hunting a dinosaur and tries to reign himself in, but can't. Chapter 17 has a lengthy inner monologue with him admitting that his inverted self is a lie, but confessing that he doesn't wanna let it go. He tries to hold on to it, but the old him is coming & fighting back -the Creed who cared about nothing but the kill. He also thinks about how he daydreams of slaughtering the X-Men while he fought alongside them, because that's what he was supposed to be doing. ComicBook/MonetStCroix becomes his MoralityChain when he thinks about fighting for her -wanting to help cure her curse and stay true to his promise of keeping her secret. The run's finale showed he ran off with her. Sadly for the reformed Creed, he's not doing as well with the ''ComicBook/{{Resurrxion}}'' relaunch, He doesn't appear completely evil yet, but he's clearly not as good as before. He's [[LeftHanging no longer with Monet]] and was shown living by himself in the woods at the start of Weapon X. For now, he's focusing all his sadism & murderous tendencies on bad guys -as opposed to innocents. WordOfGod says he's going to continue exploring Creed's morality in the series.

* Cruella de Vil in ''Film/OneHundredAndTwoDalmatians''. Went to jail, got reformed, but an accident with the main puppy caused her to start seeing dalmatian spots all over town. Kind of a disturbing scene. In a perversion of Pavlov's Dog, the researchers responsible for Cruella's behavioral modification into the saintly Ella accidentally discovered that the sound of a bell reverses the process. Needless to say, the minute Ella hears a bell ringing, she's back to being the sociopathic Cruella. This in a city that is famous for a gigantic clock tower by the nickname of Big Ben.

*** By and large, Buffyverse takes the stance that though Spike may have genuinely loved while soulless and made a pretty big effort to defy his nature, he never quite could properly navigate morality without his soul, which often lead to him falling back on this trope. To his credit, once he has his soul, he remains firmly on the side of good--albeit in a KnightInSourArmor and GoodIsNotNice sort of way, though he cranks the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire shtick UpToEleven in the comics.

* ComicBook/NormanOsborn in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is cured from his mutation into the Goblin at the end of "Venom's Bomb". As he is trying to get back to a normal life, he genuinely attempts to make up for his crimes, tries to be a better father to Harry, and even becomes a super-hero as Iron Patriot. Sadly, a few episodes later, Dr Octopus, still trying to get revenge on him, kidnaps him and turns him back into the Goblin.