History Main / InternalReformist

* Reinhard von Musel, later von Lohengramm in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' serves TheEmpire's military ranks in order to reform the system and put an end to the ruling Goldenbaum Dynasty. [[spoiler:Not only does he succeed, but he goes on to become Emperor himself.]]

* In ''Series/{{Tyrant}}'', Bassam tries to be this to the government of Abuddin, attempting to steer his StupidEvil brother Jamal towards creating a democracy. While his efforts sometimes succeed, in the end, [[spoiler:Abuddin is even worse off than it was when he started]],

* The Internal Reformist works towards bringing the worst of the [[GovernmentConspiracy conspiracies]] to light in ways that will make it impossible for the status quo to be continued or the corruption to be covered up. Keep in mind that creating reform has to be the intent of the person to qualify for this Type; if it's just a side-effect of solving some crime, then it is not this trope. Those with this type are usually in some kind of investigative field, such as a researcher, journalist, internal-affairs investigator, private-detective, or law-enforcement, and rely on an illusion of being harmless to zip about and gather evidence under the noses of those in charge. This type tends to require the most secrecy of all: particularly corrupt organizations might not have any problems with arranging an [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "accident"]] to bump them off once they're suspected of [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]], as these types tend to work alone or in small groups which are easy to dispose of.

--> '''Phil''': You talk as if I wasn't there with you in Birmingham facing dogs and fire hoses. This is me, Olfame, the same Olfame that was with you the night Harlem went up in flames. But now I have a family, and I choose not to fight in the streets. I have an office to fight from, and I have fought and won cases for fair housing, affirmative action, health care, and I am not ashamed to write a big fat check for something I believe in and that doesn't make me any less committed than you, so don't you dare look down your damn nose at me, Adabola.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', two of the three Lords of the titular houses are this. Dimitri, prince of the Kingdom of Faerghus and Claude, presumed heir to the Leicester Alliance, both have various different things they want to change about their homeland and want to reform when they ascend to leadership. Edelgard, heir of the Adrestian Empire, is of the belief that [[ItIsBeyondSaving there is too much corruption and too many powerful behind-the-scenes factions for reform to work]], and that all the current structures have to be torn down.

* ''VisualNovel/PrincessEvangile'' has the reformation faction of the board of directors, lead by Chairwoman Rousenin, who believe that subverting their OneGenderSchool is the way to survive into the future. To this end, her granddaughter, Rise, makes it a point of spreading this idea by being elected head of the White Lily Society. And it's through here that she manages to get several other open-minded people into joining the Association, namely the protagonist and his ChildhoodFriend, who are both shunned by the rest of the school due to their gender and social status.

* The First Three Books of the '' '' Empire Series '' by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoiler:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the ‘’Empire Series’’ by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoiler:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the ‘ ‘Empire Series’ ‘by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the ‘’Empire Series’’by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the ‘’ Empire Series ‘’by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the ‘’Empire Series‘’by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the (‘’)Empire Series(‘’)by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers:and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the (‘’ Empire Series‘’) by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers: and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* The First Three Books of the (‘’ Empire Series) by Richard Weyand deals with Empress Illithya II, [[spoilers and later her brother Trajan]] getting rid of the corruption within the Sintaran Empire.

* UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev tried to be this to the Soviet Union. Things didn't go as planned, and eventually it came down to implementing Stalinist-Communism or [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome letting "Real Existing Communism" reform itself out of existence]]. He chose the latter, though some people in government didn't like that and tried a coup. It ground to a halt when thousands of people showed up outside the residence of Yeltsin's government as a living roadblock for the coup's tanks. Yeltsin then ended up rescuing Gorbachev from his house arrest… and then dissolving the Union altogether, removing Gorbachev from power.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', two of the three Lords of the titular houses are this. Dimitri, prince of the Kingdom of Faerghus and Claude, presumed heir to the Leicester Alliance, both have various different things they want to change about their homeland and want to reform when they ascend to leadership. Edelgard, heir of the Adrestian Empire, is of the belief that there is too much corruption and too many powerful, behind the scenes factions for reform to work, and that all the current structures have to be torn down.

* [[TheOjou Weiss Schnee]] of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' intends to reform the [[MegaCorp Schnee Dust Company]], which under her CorruptCorporateExecutive father Jaques has become noted for its use of cheap, unsafe labor and cut-throat business dealings to maximize profit. [[spoiler:Her father suddenly disinheriting her]] throws a wrench in those plans, though.

* Aside from being inspired by a mobster that he saved the life of as a child, this is Giorno Giovanna's motivation for joining Passione in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind''. Giorno has come to realize how much the streets of Italy have run corrupt with gangsters [[DrugsAreBad peddling drugs to children]] (to say nothing about what happened to [[spoiler:Bucciarati's father]]), and so it has become Giorno's Golden Dream to become a "Gang-Star", overthrow the boss of Passione, and dismantle its narcotics division. Giorno proves successful, and the dismantling of the narcotics division is carried out in (the dubiously canon) ''LightNovel/PurpleHazeFeedback'' by Pannacotta Fugo as a test to prove his loyalty to Giorno.

* Aside from being inspired by a mobster that he saved the life of as a child, this is Giorno Giovanna's motivation for joining Passione in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo''. Giorno has come to realize how much the streets of Italy have run corrupt with gangsters [[DrugsAreBad peddling drugs to children]] (to say nothing about what happened to [[spoiler:Bucciarati's father]]), and so it has become Giorno's Golden Dream to become a "Gang-Star", overthrow the boss of Passione, and dismantle its narcotics division. Giorno proves successful, and the dismantling of the narcotics division is carried out in (the dubiously canon) ''LightNovel/PurpleHazeFeedback'' by Pannacotta Fugo as a test to prove his loyalty to Giorno.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', two of the three Lords of the titular houses are this. Dimitri, prince of the Kingdom of Faerghus and Claude, presumed heir to the Leicester Alliance, both have various different things they want to change about their homeland and want to reform when they ascend to leadership. Edelgard, heir of the Adrestian Empire, is of the belief that there is too much corruption and too many powerful, behind the scenes factions for reform to work, and that all the current structures have to be torn down.

** [[TheRival Miles Edgeworth]], meanwhile, following the events of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'', picks this as his reason for remaining a prosecutor; he recognized that the BigBad's actions were born from distrust of the courts, as other antagonists were using [[LoopholeAbuse loopholes]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem personal]] [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections influence]] to further their agendas. As of ''Dual Destinies'', Edgeworth has become Chief Prosecutor and is working to clean up his department.

** [[TheHero Phoenix Wright]] himself manages to become one via a BatmanGambit after [[spoiler:being unfairly disbarred]],(which has a bit of exposure as a side effect, allowing him to [[spoiler:clear his name]]).

* From ''Manga/TeamMedicalDragon'', Dr. Akira Katou is a trying to reform the Japanese Medical System by getting on the board of directors of their hospital.

* In ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'', that's the resolution Gojo has chosen to take, he loathes the way current Jujutsu society is run by the higher ups who are seemly uncaring towards anything and anyone that suffer greatly with their decisions, all is good as long traditions and their hold on positions of power are kept; with that Gojo wants a new generation of people to reform their world along with him. Several characters have remarked that if Gojo wasn’t trying to be a reformist, instead a murderous revolutionary, he already would have completely overthrown the whole world as they know by now, [[spoiler:and his past failures reveals Gojo is also hoping that he isn’t the sole strongest person in the world, because even with all that power he can’t guarantee the safety of every single person he cares about, he also wants a new generation to close the power gap in the new Jujutsu society he dreams of]].

* America Beeny in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' was sent to the Academy of Justice by the wishes of her dead father at the conclusion to the second America series. By the time of her final assessment, she has become this.

* In ''Film/TheInformant2009'', Mark Whitaker starts the movie as whistleblower. [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, his web of lies has become ridiculously tangled, and as it turns out, he had been embezzling money from the company for years. ]]

** In ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', Vimes briefly wonders if he should have been a Internal Reformist to Rust's regime, rather than throwing down his badge and storming out, before thinking "No. That never worked." [[spoiler:Indeed, Vimes manages to get a peek into an AlternateUniverse where he ''did'' decide to play internal reformist, and it ''[[KillEmAll really]]'' would have led to absolute disaster.]]

* The Vorkosigans and their circle of friends in Literature/VorkosiganSaga .

* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': This is VillainProtagonist Catherine's plan from the beginning: to alleviate the supression her home country Callow suffers from the Dread Empire of Praes, she plans to enter the Legions of Terror, raise through the ranks, and reform the system from within.

* Reeve Tuesti from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', starts out as the only member of MegaCorp Shinra's board who isn't a complete psychopath, but largely goes along with their wishes. As he pilots the robot Cait Sith, which becomes part of your party, he increasingly gets convinced of the rightousness of your cause and becomes TheMole, helping the party against the threats of both Sephiroth and Shinra.

* In ''Videogame/Cyberpunk2077'', Yorinobu Arasaka went from being a rebellious biker boss opposing his father [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Saburo Arakasa]] in ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' to a member of the Arasaka Corporation's board with the intent on reforming it from within. In the ending path where [[spoiler:V sides with Hanako Arasaka, it's revealed that his endgoal was to eventually destroy Arasaka via killing the rest of the board and instigating a world war focused against the corporation itself]].

* ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'': Atlas, Earth's champion, discovers that his home planet of Argos was not destroyed like he thought. When he returns, he is crowned king, but quickly discovers that it is a backstabbing pit of vipers that is elitist, racist, fascist, and militaristic. When he rescues his son from kidnappers, he wants to leave with him, but a group of rebels try to convince him to stay as king.

** The Nazis initially tried to seize power in a coup. After the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch, they began attempting to gain power through the electoral process. Eventually, the Nazis were able to win enough seats (though still not a majority) in the ''Reichstag'' for Hitler to appointed Chancellor with the support of other far-right parties. He then proceeded to rapidly tear down the democratic Weimar Republic from the inside and transform it into a totalitarian fascist state.

** Martin Luther initially tried to do this peacefully, but eventually took a populist approach. The resulting spark lit by Luther started the Protestant Reformation in full, and the very violent and bloody Wars of Religion. Luther played this straight later on when his faction got the support of local Lords and nobility, and he turned against the more radical Thomas Muntzer and others, who wanted a more egalitarian basis for organizing society.