History Main / RedemptionPromotion

* [[TheAtoner Tai Lung]] in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' Fanfic ''Fanfic/ADifferentLesson''. He still loses in battle often enough to justify needing Po and the Five as his allies, and he has issues with [[HotBlooded controlling]] [[FatalFlaw his temper]] and ([[PersonalityPowers not coincidentally]]) his [[ElementalPowers Fire chi]], but in all other respects he remains as powerful, incredible, and badass a fighter as he was when a villain. The fact he isn't maddened or enraged all the time (and has gotten over his FreudianExcuse) also allows him to actually make use of those thousand scrolls he learned, and use them cleverly and effectively. The Fire chi and [[spoiler:the Golden Spear]] also count as power-ups for him.

* Proves to be the case for the titular character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': he was a clown and an overdramatic petty nuisance as a villain, but turns out to be surprisingly competent (and still overdramatic) once he finds a reason to fight for the good side.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' only briefly shows Dinobot with the Predacons before he switches sides, but what happens in that time is a little embarrassing: He mouths off to Megatron, gets told off, and is blasted over the horizon by Scorponok (who would ''never'' pack that kind of punch again). It's probably for the best that he finds himself with the Maximals sooner rather than later, then, as he has a much better track record on his new team, culminating in [[spoiler: a HeroicSacrifice fighting ''all'' the Predacons by himself.]]

* Ken Ichijouji from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''. As the Digimon Emperor, he was a petulant SmugSnake who frequently had his plans defeated by the Digidestined and was curb-stomped by Takeru. After his HeelFaceTurn, he was able to digivolve Wormon into Stingmon and was able to DNA digivolve Stingmon with Dasiuke's [=ExVeemon=], with the two being the only ones on the team to achieve mega form. Ken also got to seal away Daemon.
* Beelzebumon from ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. A pseudo-DealWithTheDevil let him go from a non-threat to a KnightOfCerebus in a single jump, only to be taken down hard once he crossed the line by [[spoiler: [[SacrificialLion killing Leomon]]]]. Making amends with the human partners he ran away from boosted him to a SuperMode beyond his original Mega form, with a HandCannon and a spiffy set of wings to boot.

* The fanmade novelization ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'' integrates several characters from ''Videogame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'', including Astor, who retains his signature weapon, named the Malice Orb. Astor uses the Malice Orb to create malice constructs and cast essentially all of his battle spells. [[spoiler: When the Malice Orb is freed from the influence of Malice, it becomes the Sheikah Orb, which was its original state to begin with. It chooses Paya as its master, and grants her extensive powers beyond those that Astor used, including summoning monsters from across time, portal creation, and even the power to repair damage by reversing the flow of time on it.]]

Villains that were already powerful and effective in their villainy will generally get a RedemptionDemotion instead to keep the SuperWeight scale balanced.

%%%* Proves to be the case for [[spoiler:the title character]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''.

* Most versions of ''[[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]]'' are far more powerful and dangerous when fighting for humanity and the Earth than the ones who fight against us. Special mention should go to the second Showa-era Godzilla -- in his first few movies, he was beaten back by either the military or another benevolent monster like Mothra. After his HeelFaceTurn, he was able to take down two monsters at once, some of whom were more powerful than himself, gained allies as dangerous as he was, and gained a few new superpowers. [[JustifiedTrope Possibly justified]], since the antagonistic ones are often shown to be TragicMonsters who are oftentimes in agony while they rampage, thus limiting their effectiveness as combatants

* Most versions of ''[[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]]'' are far more powerful and dangerous when fighting for humanity and the Earth than the ones who fight against us. Special mention should go to the second Showa-era Godzilla -- in his first few movies, he was beaten back by either the military or another benevolent monster like Mothra. After his HeelFaceTurn, he was able to take down two monsters at once, some of whom were more powerful than himself, gained allies as dangerous as he was, and gained a few new superpowers.

* Sunset Shimmer from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' films and specials is widely considered by the fanbase to be one of the weaker villains of [=MLP=] G4 but shows herself to be a very competent heroine following her [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turn]], being the main reason why the far more dangerous villains in the subsequent two movies are defeated.
* When Carl the Cockroach wizard allies with [[WesternAnimation/YinYangYo Yin and Yang]], he is incredibly competent, namely against the Night Master. This is namely because Carl's weakness is psychological; insults throw him off his game. Presumably, the villains aren't good enough at insults to exploit this (or perhaps their insults aren't as good.) He also helps them thwart Eradicus' plan of turning everyone evil through evil coffee, all while being in disguise and thus relying less on his powers.