History Main / HighHeelFaceTurn

* Zig-Zagged with [[DarkChick Diana]] from ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. Throughout the series, she's probably the least outwardly loyal Coates kid, sometimes to the point of sabotaging their plans, but is the only one that actually cares about [[BigBad Caine]]. She stays even after [[spoiler:Drake's and Jack's]] [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turns]] but is still openly critical of how things are being done. Finally, in Plague, she [[spoiler:leaves for good]]. But she remains on her own side the whole time, so there's no technical change[[spoiler:, and she left more because Caine used her for sex and lied to her than an attack of conscience, although there's a little bit of that, too]].

When the HeelFaceTurn meets TheSmurfettePrinciple, if there is [[DarkChick a lone female among the cast of villains]], she is overwhelmingly likely to be the one who betrays them and turns good, usually because FemalesAreMoreInnocent.

Compare WomenAreWiser. See also SortingAlgorithmOfFaceHeelTurning, DatingCatwoman, MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter, DarkMagicalGirl, the DarkChick, the FemmeFatale, DefectingForLove, SexFaceTurn (the hero's usual technique), InLoveWithTheMark (a gender-neutral trope that can overlap with this one), DeliverUsFromEvil, and MenAreTheExpendableGender. Contrast DaddysLittleVillain, who's usually too evil to be redeemed.

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', Furiosa is [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only female soldier working for Immortan Joe or any of the other warlords]], and the plot kicks off with Furiosa defecting to rescue Joe's "wives"/sex slaves. It's implied Furiosa only joined Joe and worked up the ranks in order to make this rescue possible.

It isn't always because she [[InLoveWithTheMark falls in love]] with TheHero, although this is the most frequent version. WouldntHitAGirl may come into play as well; the simple fact that [[MenAreTheExpendableGender she isn't mown down]] [[WhatMeasureIsAMook like all the other]] {{Mooks}} may help her make up her mind that the side of good isn't so terrible after all. In other cases, she's GoodAllAlong but was initially attracted by the villain's charms before she realized she was getting in over her head and/or her [[AllAbusersAreMale male superiors]] decided it would be a great idea to [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal abuse her in some way]].

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' with Shego, who massively subverts the trope at the end of at least two episodes that look like they're heading in this direction. However, that doesn't stop her from taking part in numerous {{Enemy Mine}}s, particularly in the finale. Not to mention it's revealed she had done a {{Face Heel Turn}} in her background, inverting this trope, since she was the only female in her heroic SiblingTeam.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'', [[TheDragon Pete's lieutenant, Clarebelle Cow]], betrays him when she falls in love with Goofy... In SONG no less! "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_xrT_2knts Chains of Love]]"

* In ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'', [[spoiler: Emma Frost betrays the Inner Circle out of a combination of her love for Cyclops and the fact that hanging around with the X-Men has caused her to grow a conscience, and, of course, the practical reason that the Inner Circle kept switching up their plans without telling her, making her feel like a betrayal was coming]]. This trope is averted by the Inner Circle's ''other'' female member, Selene, however; she's portrayed as an entirely unrepentant sadist and schemer throughout.

* Mirage in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''; after seeing that Syndrome was willing to put her in danger just to taunt Mr. Incredible.

* Chane Laforet of the Lemures, in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''. Of course, her comrades were planning to kill her in the end, and it could be argued that she remained true to the group's ''original'' purpose (protecting her father)...
** Heck, she was three-quarters of the way through turning before the show even started, and her whole team knew it.

* In the Franchise/GreenLantern[=/=]ComicBook/GreenArrow teamup "Hard-Traveling Heroes II", Crackshot does this with barely a thought. Her boss is kind of weirding her out, Green Arrow's really hot, what's to consider?
* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' #4, Queenie, a member of ComicBook/TheJoker's gang, became the first criminal to deduce that Bruce Wayne was Batman and ended up falling for him. [[DeathBySecretIdentity She later took a bullet intended for the crime fighter]]. Likewise, it's often implied that Harley Quinn is only such a psycho due to Joker's toxic influence on her, as she's had her share of PetTheDog moments and even tried reforming at least once.
* ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul, daughter of ComicBook/RasAlGhul, frequently betrayed her father out of her love for his enemy, Franchise/{{Batman}}. Though in her case, it's more of a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor[=/=]DependingOnTheWriter, as she was always torn between her attraction to Batman and her loyalty to her father. During the "Death and the Maiden" arc, she turned against both men, having been betrayed by her father and sick of being used as a pawn by Batman to take Ra's down. By the time Creator/GrantMorrison started using her in his Batman Inc. storylines, she has become as evil as her father ever was. However, it'd seem by her own resurrection by the LazurusPit in recenter stories have thrown her back into her more honorable personage.
* ''Detective Comics'' #526, "All My Enemies Against Me", was the first mass team up by all the Gotham City villains to kill Batman. They were instantly betrayed by Talia and ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} (the only two women in the room) who both joined the caped crusader and attempted not only to help him defeat everyone else but also to [[DatingCatwoman get his attention]].

* In a feminist variation, [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Franchise/WonderWoman stories often had her make extra effort to redeem female opponents, [[MenAreTheExpendableGender far more effort than she would extend to a male baddie]]. And she often succeeded. Even Paula Von Gunther, a Nazi and one of Diana's main archnemeses at the time, saw the light and eventually became one of Diana's most loyal allies.
* Very few female ''ComicBook/XMen'' villains stay villains. The ComicBook/ScarletWitch, ComicBook/{{Rogue}}, Marrow, ComicBook/EmmaFrost, Sage, Danger, Frenzy, and Callisto were all ''X-Men'' or ''ComicBook/XFactor'' villains who became good guys. ComicBook/{{Mystique}} and Lady Mastermind were also ''X-Men'' villains who became X-Men, but [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor it didn't take]] (though Mystique is usually portrayed as redeemable and willing to do what she thinks is the right thing). The X-Men have had male villains change sides - ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} turned hero when his twin sister the Scarlet Witch did, though she's always portrayed as the more heroic of the two (unless she's having mental problems, in which case it's portrayed as not her fault) - but not as many. And when you consider that they have more male villains but fewer male villains-turned-hero, you can see this trope in full effect.

* The writers of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' seemed incapable of thinking women could be evil. Even villainesses tended to get the [[GaussianGirl soft-focused-cheesy-musiced-hey-it's-a-hot-girl]] treatment. Women who did do bad things were typically portrayed as naive and/or misguided and therefore more deserving of pity than blame. Prime examples of this are Lt. Marla [=McGivers=] and Dr. Janice Lester. Due to ValuesDissonance, modern-day viewers tend to take rather less kindly to these characters than was intended.
** An exception is Sylvia in "Catspaw". Not only is she an unmitigated villainess, she dies -- along with her more sympathetic male partner. [[spoiler: It probably helps that "her" undisguised form looked like it was made out of pipe cleaners.]]
** Notably, the episode "Friday's Child" was originally scripted with Eleen handing her own newborn child over to the bad guys in an effort to save herself and then getting killed anyway as they only wanted the baby in the first place. Roddenberry vetoed this because he believed all women would be maternal. Note the writer of this episode was a woman, so apparently he thought he knew her own sex better than she did.

* This often (but not always) happens in ''{{Series/Batman|1966}}'', usually with the various villains' molls.

** Every named villain in the serial "The Daleks' Master Plan" is either clearly male or a [[NoBiologicalSex genderless alien played by a male actor]], with the exception of TheAce Sara Kingdom. Guess which character ends up becoming a temporary companion.
** Exaggerated in "The Hand of Fear", where Eldrad (the only woman in the story other than Sarah Jane) is portrayed sympathetically and is willing to help the Doctor, until [[TheNthDoctor regenerating]] into a male body, who is a ranting megalomaniac.
** Missy [[spoiler: winds up being the first, and thus far only, incarnation of The Master to successfully pull a HeelFaceTurn, though she winds up [[RedemptionEqualsDeath shot in the back by her own past self]] for her trouble]].

** Missy [[spoiler: winds up being the first, and thus far only, incarnation of The Master to successfully pull a FaceHeelTurn, though she winds up [[RedemptionEqualsDeath shot in the back by her own past self]] for her trouble]].

* {{Invoked|Trope}} at EVOLVE when Rich Swann tried to talk Premier Athlete Brand secretary Wrestling/SuYung out of the group when she started interfering in his matches. While Swann had some fun at the other members' expense because of this "relationship" the only turn it caused was Wrestling/JohnnyGargano's, who was a {{face}} by default at that point anyway. [[HeelFaceMole Yung's was faked]].[[/folder]]

** Jannu/[[spoiler:Mahoro]] and Lije are the only female members of the Evolians in ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger''. Naturally, they're the only two members to turn good, aside from Abare Killer.

** Boa Hancock is the only female member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a group that has been solely antagonistic to Luffy up to the point of meeting her. She becomes one of Luffy's greatest allies after falling in love with him.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[HornyDevils Fuchsia]] is executing one against the devil himself. Unusually, it is [[ChasteHero not the manliness]] of Criminy who occasioned this change, but rather the fact that [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan he treated her like a decent person]].

* Trish in the first ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1''.

* Female villains in ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', due to usually being humans in supervillain outfits as opposed to [[PeopleInRubberSuits Rubber suit monsters]], generally need to take a OneWingedAngel form in order to be destroyed.

** Notable {{aver|tedTrope}}sions include Vypra in ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'', Miratrix in ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', and...yeah, especially since Miratrix was [[DisneyDeath just trapped in a crystal]], much like her boss Kamdor was prior to the season. Notable examples of being played straight include Itassis ''and'' Necrolai/[[spoiler:Leelee's mother Nikki]] of ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'', both of whom were redeemed at the end. The same applies to their counterparts, Sphinx and Vancuria, in ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''.

** Miratrix's counterpart, Shizuka in ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'', skirted the trope by not becoming necessarily good at the end of her series, but she stopped being an active hindrance to the heroes after Yaiba betrayed the Dark Shadow. He paid for what he did; she and Gekkou didn't. They're implied to have made the full turn by the time ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerVsSpaceSheriffGavanTheMovie'' rolls around since they are imprisoned along with an entire host of reformed Sentai villains.

** You can also add in Elsa from ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', who had her powers stripped by the BigBad and returned to human form and was now good. Like Astronema, she was [[spoiler:GoodAllAlong, just {{Brainwashed}}.]] Which also happened to be the same case as Jannu/[[spoiler:Mahoro]] in ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger''.
** Camille from ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' was redeemed by ThePowerOfLove for Jarrod. Likewise for Mele in ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger''.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

* Perona in ''Manga/OnePiece'' was the only one of Gecko Moria's minions who was female and fighting for him by her own free will. After some initial difficulties, Perona ended up helping Zoro during the timeskip, and post-time skip she helped fight off Marines that were trying to capture the Straw Hats.

** Of the five female members of the Donquixote Pirates, the only one who had a HeelFaceTurn (barring the one who was TheMole) defected because she fell in love with her opponent.

* Jinx from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the sole female of the HIVE Five group, ends up joining the Titans in the end.

Another possible reason is the audience discomfort in seeing a male hero fight a woman to the death. Because of the idea of men being stronger than women on average is ingrained in the audience's head, even if--like May Day from ''Film/AViewToAKill''--she physically outclasses him by a great deal, a heroic character committing violence against a woman is something of a taboo no matter how powerful or evil she is, especially in older works. Having her turn good is one of many options for dealing with a female antagonist without the hero directly harming her.

* [[spoiler:Guren]], one of the few major female filler antagonists in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', does a High-Heel–Face Turn after [[spoiler:coming to love Yukimaru, and cooperates with Naruto to ensure his safety]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:she apparently dies protecting him. Or not]].
** So did [[spoiler:Konan, the only female member of the Akatsuki, who admits that her morality and motivation completely depend on her childhood friend Nagato. So when he goes the route of RedemptionEqualsDeath, she follows the new goals which he strove for, becoming the unofficial leader of their village. Until Obito kills her, anyway.]].
*** [[spoiler: Konan averts this, actually. It was ''Pain'' who was convinced to pull a HeelFaceTurn, not her. Konan was only ever loyal to Pain, so ''she'' never actually switched sides.]]