History Main / HeelFaceReturn

* JohnCena arranged for a ''double'' Heel Face Return in August 2010. ChrisJericho and {{Edge}}, who had been unrepentant Heels up until then (Edge had had an earlier Heel Face Return when he'd won the Royal Rumble in January, but he'd subsequently turned heel again after failing to win the World Heavyweight Championship and attacking Randy Orton.) were persuaded by Cena to join him in a coalition consisting mostly of faces (BretHart, Great Khali, JohnMorrison, and R-Truth rounding out the group) after they were all individually attacked by TheNexus. Edge quit the group out of parnoia, while Jericho's egotism and desire to be the leader of Cena's army led to a match between the two that he lost and left due to the match stipulation.However, they eventually decided to fight beside Cena at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' after all. However, both promptly turned heel ''again'' at the actual event (granted, it was largely due to a misunderstanding on Cena's part); Jericho remained a heel for what remained of his WWE career, while Edge turned face for a ''third'' time that year after a confrontation with the ''Raw'' General Manager shortly afterward.
** Then when Chris returned in 2012, he managed this and turn heel in the span of ''ten minutes''. And he did it by absolutely saying nothing instead of a return promo and basically pandering to the crowd while shouting out things like "Yeah, baby!" for those ten minutes.

* Wrestling/JeffHardy from Wrestling/{{TNA}} is an example of how a wrestler returns as a face and [[ReformedButRejected still gets heat for their past actions]] not just in the ring, but also [[RealLifeWritesThePlot out]]. Not only did he [[FaceHeelTurn aligned himself with Immortal]], but also [[DrugsAreBad felt terribly short on his performance at Victory Road 2011]]. So a few months later, Jeff became TheAtoner, apologizing to the fans and the locker room for his unprofessional behavior, yet the locker room wasn't receptive to this matter until the next couple of months. As of Bound For Glory 2012, Jeff wins the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, thus completed his road to redemption.

* In ''FairyTail'', when Natsu and his friends return from a mission, they suddenly discover that [[{{Jerkass}} Gajeel]] has joined their guild. They are not amused.

A HeelFaceReturn is a complete aversion of this. In this case, an antagonist leaves the scene showing no sign of redemption, though he's probably not a CompleteMonster. At any rate, the next time you see him, he's gone through some off-screen redemption, and is suddenly siding with the heroes. His reason for this will likely be explained later on, but it generally takes awhile to earn the heroes' trust, though it may be a mere [[EnemyMine necessary alliance]].

* In ''{{Terminator}}'', ArnoldSchwarzenegger plays the main villain. In ''{{Terminator}} 2'', his [[BackupTwin seemingly otherwise identical character]]'s goal is to protect John Connor against the main villain. This is because the second T-800 was captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance.

* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].

* JohnCena arranged for a ''double'' Heel Face Return in August 2010. ChrisJericho and {{Edge}}, who had been unrepentant Heels up until then (Edge had had an earlier Heel Face Return when he'd won the Royal Rumble in January, but he'd subsequently turned heel again after failing to win the World Heavyweight Championship) were persuaded by Cena to join him in a coalition consisting mostly of faces (BretHart, Great Khali, JohnMorrison, and R-Truth rounding out the group) after they were all individually attacked by TheNexus. Jericho and Edge both then threatened to leave the group due to Jericho's egotism and Edge's paranoia, but they eventually decided to fight beside Cena at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' after all. However, both promptly turned heel ''again'' at the actual event (granted, it was largely due to a misunderstanding on Cena's part); Jericho remained a heel for what remained of his WWE career, while Edge turned face for a ''third'' time that year after a confrontation with the ''Raw'' General Manager shortly afterward.
* It doesn't always take an especially long absence, either. [[RonKillings R-Truth]], who was in a tag team with TheMiz, fell victim to Miz's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. Miz gave him a sneak [[FinishingMove Skull Crushing Finale]], which almost ''did'' (in Kayfabe) crush his skull. Truth was out with a concussion for an even four weeks. At his next appearance a month later, his wrath had turned on the Miz. And "Little Jimmy" - his apparent ArchEnemy during his heel run - [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} was now his imaginary friend and spiritual advisor.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:ProfessionalWrestling]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].

* Faith from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', unless you saw her arc on ''{{Angel}}''.
* Lytton does this in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''Attack of the Cybermen'', as (possibly) does the Master in "The Five Doctors". The latter eventually gets so sick of nobody believing him that he just gives up and decides to kill everybody anyway.

* In ''{{Terminator}}'', ArnoldSchwarzenegger plays the main villain. In ''{{Terminator}} 2'', his [[BackupTwin seemingly otherwise identical character]]'s goal is to protect John Conner against the main villain. This is because the second T-800 was captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance.

* After his expulsion for trying to kill Utena, Saionji from ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' is next seen several episodes later, crashing in Wakaba's room, at which point he is portrayed in a much more positive light.

Simply put, this is an odd variation of a ChekhovsGunman with a dose of HeelFaceTurn.

Simply put, this is an odd variation of a CheckhovsGunman with a dose of HeelFaceTurn.

A HeelFaceReturn is a complete aversion of this. The guy leaves the scene showing no sign of redemption, though he's probably not a CompleteMonster. At any rate, the next time you see him, he's gone through some offscreen redemption, and is suddenly siding with the heroes. His reason for this will likely be explained later on, but it generally takes awhile to earn the heroes' trust, though it may be a mere [[EnemyMine necessary alliance]].

!!'''Warning, due to the spoiler-heavy nature of this trope, all spoilers will be unmarked.'''

* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].

* Rufus Shinra is a major antagonist in ''FinalFantasyVII'', who is last seen apparently being killed. In ''AdventChildren'', he shows up again and explains he's seen the error in his ways and is working to undo the damage he did. His repentance kind of makes sense in that the consequences of Shinra Company's activities were extremely dramatic by the end of the game, and nearly were [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt even worse]].

* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''{{Ben 10}}'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the fact that Torchwood was suddenly on the Doctor's side ''looked'' like this to [[AllThereInTheManual anyone who hadn't been watching]] [[{{Torchwood}} the spinoff series of the same name]].
** In the classic series, Lytton does this, as (possibly) does the Master in "The Five Doctors". The latter eventually gets so sick of nobody believing him that he just gives up and decides to kill everybody anyway.

* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''{{Ben 10}}'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].
* Happens to Fidget the bat in a sequel comic based on ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective''.

* Kevin was a recurring antagonist in ''Ben10'', but becomes one of the [[PowerTrio main three protagonists]] in [[Ben10AlienForce its sequel series]].

* Faith from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

* JohnCena arranged for a ''double'' Heel Face Return in August 2010. ChrisJericho and {{Edge}}, who had been unrepentant Heels up until then (Edge had had an earlier Heel Face Return when he'd won the Royal Rumble in January, but he'd subsequently turned heel after failing to win the World Heavyweight Championship) were persuaded by Cena to join him in a coalition consisting mostly of faces (BretHart, Great Khali, JohnMorrison, and R-Truth rounding out the group) after they were all individually attacked by TheNexus. Jericho and Edge both then threatened to leave the group due to Jericho's egotism and Edge's paranoia, but they eventually decided to fight beside Cena at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' after all. However, both promptly turned heel ''again'' at the actual event (granted, it was largely due to a misunderstanding on Cena's part); Jericho remained a heel for what remained of his WWE career, while Edge turned face for a ''third'' time that year after a confrontation with the ''Raw'' General Manager shortly afterward.

* This happens a lot when a Heel (TripleH or KurtAngle come to mind) leaves due to injury; when they come back they get a giant pop and like as not are treated like Faces, at least until they do something Heelish - [[WildCard and maybe not even then]].