History Main / ReformedCriminal

** In fact, it emerged in ''[=StrikerS=]'' that Hayate still sometimes gets flak from being at the heart of the incident, despite it having taken place a decade in the past. She works as hard as she does in a bid to shake off the stigma.

* In ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', the Squirtle Squad started out as a gang of delinquent Pokémon that would perennially wreak havoc in a nearby town. However, when the Squirtle Squad help put out a forest fire, they are hailed as heroes and are officially ordained as the town's firefighters, with the local Officer Jenny supervising them. (The Squad's leader, however, would run off and join Ash's team.)

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys'', the titular gang is pretending to reform in order to avoid a jail sentence and to get another shot at stealing the coveted Golden Dolphin award, but as the leader Mr. Wolf discovers [[GoodFeelsGood what being good is like]], they gradually reform for real. [[spoiler:Governor Diane Foxington is also a former criminal, the legendary thief Crimson Paw, who got sick of the lifestyle and turned herself around for the better.]]

* DownplayedTrope in ''VideoGame/PrisonArchitect''. Whenever an inmate is released, whether it's at the end of their sentence or an early release through on parole, the game checks if they reoffend. Successfully rehabilitated prisoners find gainful employment and you the player get a bonus cash reward and a small blurb relating to where they found such employment in the "released prisoners" menu. Some reform programs also invite some reformed criminals to give talks and meetings that help inmates to be rehabilitated... And said reformed criminals are usually inmates you helped rehabilitate.

* Frank Abagnale Jr, both in real life and in the film ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'', went from passing millions of dollars worth of fraudulent checks to working as a fraud and security consultant for the FBI.

* Robert Piche, a Canadian private pilot, was imprisoned for sixteen months for smuggling marijuana into the US from Jamaica. Despite his criminal record, he was hired by the Canadian airline Air Transat - which turned out to be a good thing for 305 passengers and crew when he skilfully glided an Airbus A330 that ran out of fuel on a transatlantic flight to a safe landing in the Azores.

* Max Damage from ''[[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} Incorruptible]]''.

* At the end of the third ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game, former GentlemanThief [[spoiler: Ron [=DeLite=], aka Mask [=DeMasque=] ]] says that he's starting a security company to help businesses defend themselves against thieves. [[spoiler: And also that he's going to sell the security plans to crooks. At least he's not stealing anymore?]]
* Before his appearance in the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' games, James Raynor used to be a bandit, until he nearly got caught (his partner took all the blame, and was sentenced to prison), then he settled down and became a sheriff of Mar Sara colony.
* After the gang left him in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', John Marston gives up the criminal life and chooses to spend time with his family and work on his ranch. Unfortunately, [[BigBad Edgar Ross]] doesn't see it that way.

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter''

* In ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'', the Highwayman hero is revealed in his backstory to have been a bandit who robbed travelers and coaches for money... until one day during a robbery [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone a stray shot from his pistol killed a woman and her child]]. [[TheAtoner He was so horrified and distraught by this that he looked for his redemption by traveling to the estate to fight the evils within.]] His final line of dialogue [[HeroicSacrifice if he is chosen to be]] [[spoiler: hit by the Heart of Darkness' "Come Unto Your Maker" attack]] is [[DeathSeeker a calm acceptance of his fate.]]
-->''No way out. Hmph. Let's do this.''
* When she is introduced in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Jack is an apathetic criminal with a rap sheet that could span the distance between two mass relays. Should she survive into ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', however, she will turn her life around and become a biotic instructor at Grissom Academy, where she is adored by her pupils for her badass nature. She even becomes less of a [[SirSwearsALot Lady Swears-a-Lot]]!
* Claudio's school of Noble Arte in ''Videogame/CruzBrothers'' is composed of boxers who used to be delinquent and criminals who are reformed by learning boxing. For example, Faust used to be a con man who charms elderly women to steal their purses afterward.
* In ''VideoGame/NancyDrew: The Haunted Carousel'', Harlan did time for armed robbery before he was hired by the park. He keeps his past secret, something which makes him look even more suspicious...but he's not the saboteur.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSexyBrutale'', [[spoiler:Lucas]]'s attempt at insurance fraud inadvertently killed his friends and pregnant wife. He's spent the last twenty years thinking of nothing else.
* In ''Videogame/RebelInc'', one of the potential governors is the Smuggler, a former ArmsDealer who is using their skills in the underworld to try to stabilize a war-torn region. The Smuggler gains an advantage when your Corruption rating is high, earning more money off of backroom deals, but ''because'' he's a former criminal everyone is suspicious of him and thus he suffers drawbacks if Corruption gets too high. He can also cut corners with the national army to make money, but this will weaken their effectiveness, and he can even turn his army into a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary company]] to make money off of every unit in the field.
* In the WebGame ''VideoGame/{{Sleuth}}'', one of the preset backgrounds you can choose for your PrivateDetective is a former burglar who became TheAtoner and now catches murderers and other criminals for a living.

* Jesse [=McCree=] from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' used to run with the notorious Deadlock Gang until he was approached by Gabriel Reyes and given a chance to avoid prison by joining Blackwatch, Overwatch's black-ops division. Even after Overwatch is disbanded, he continues to fight the good fight as a vigilante. Eventually, to shed his past for good, he stopped using his criminal alias to [[RenamedToAvoidAssociation go by]] Cole Cassidy, his real name (ironically, the out-of-universe reason is that the original name was one of the people targeted by a sexual harassment suit against Activision).

* The sidekicks of Literature/JudgeDee tend to be reformed highway robbers and con men. Knowing the criminal underworld from the inside makes them quite useful to the magistrate's investigations.

* Jesse [=McCree=] from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' used to run with the notorious Deadlock Gang until he was approached by Gabriel Reyes and given a chance to avoid prison by joining Blackwatch, Overwatch's black-ops division. Even after Overwatch is disbanded, he continues to fight the good fight as a vigilante. Eventually, to shed his past for good, he stopped using his criminal alias to [[RenamedToAvoidAssociation go by]] Cole Cassidy, his real name.

** Paul of universe 16 spends a fair bit of time visiting Belle Reve penitentiary, in hopes of persuading some of the inmates to go straight when they're released. Notable successes include the Terror Twins, who actually help to put down an attempted prison break, then go on to a career in ship-breaking, and Captain Cold, who turns his groundbreaking technology into a PhD paper, and starts seriously considering offers from companies like [=KordTech=] and [=LexCorp=] (the latter not being Paul's ideal outcome, but with the potential to still be legitimate work).

* This is the main plot in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': [[spoiler: While never officially arrested, Nick Wilde is definitely a successful ConArtist and Hustler. The end of the movie shows that he's graduated from the police academy and is now Judy's patrol partner. ]].

%%* Rubberband Man in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''.

* Michael Franzese was a former captain of the Colombo crime family and is basically a real-life Scorsese character. He was active during many of the events that inspire his films and knows a great deal about them. Michael knew the real [[Film/GoodFellas Henry Hill]] and even saved his life on several occasions. Many of the mobsters arrested in [[Film/DonnieBrasco Donnie Brasco]] were his personal acquaintances. The Jimmy Hoffa incident happened during his time and he knows for sure what truly happened, but has declined to divulge any detail. Much like Larry Lawton above, Michael is now a motivational speaker and has his own [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelFranzese YouTube channel]], which he uses to talk about the Mafia life and reviews mob movies.

** Sagat was in the [[VideoGame/StreetFighter first SF tournament]] merely to test his skills against the best fighters in the world. He might have been a ruthless fighter, but he wasn't an evil one. His scarring at Ryu's hands instilled hatred in him and motivated him to join Shadaloo, but he realized that Shadaloo was not the right way, and his rivalry with Ryu has cooled down with time. Now he's just a fighter who will not settle with being in second place, and despite their rivalry, he and Ryu are friends now, according to his ending in Super Street Fighter IV.

* Jesse [=McCree=] from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' used to run with the notorious Deadlock Gang until he was approached by Gabriel Reyes and given a chance to avoid prison by joining Blackwatch, Overwatch's black-ops division. Even after Overwatch is disbanded, he continues to fight the good fight as a vigilante.

->"The game ain’t in me no more. ''NONE'' of it."

* Frank Abagnale Jr, both in real life and in the film Film/CatchMeIfYouCan, went from passing millions of dollars worth of fraudulent checks to working as a fraud and security consultant for the FBI.

* Plenty of Pirates fall under this trope.

* In the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series, it was revealed that Cody Travers, the hero of the original ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', had become a criminal, finding himself in prison after picking one too many fights after saving Metro City and becoming disillusioned. By ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV: Arcade Edition'', however, he not only turned his life around, but became the new mayor of Metro City!

* Michael Franzese was a former captain of the Colombo crime family and is basically a real-life Martin Scorsese character. He was around during many of the events that inspire Scorsese's movies and knows a great deal about them. He knew the real [[Film/GoodFellas Henry Hill]] and even saved his life on several occasions. Many of the mobsters arrested in [[Film/DonnieBrasco Donnie Brasco]] were his personal acquaintances. Much like Larry Lawton above, Michael is now a motivational speaker and has his own [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelFranzese YouTube channel]], which he uses to talk about the Mafia life and reviews mob movies.