History Main / TheIrredeemableException

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Unlike his DiscOneFinalBoss counterpart Egil, Zanza, the game's true BigBad, never shows any remorse for his actions [[spoiler: indeed, according to the sequel, his remorse is trapped in another plane of existence]] and the party feels no hesitation or sympathy in taking him down.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', almost all of the Akumatized villains show themselves to be nice (or [[{{Jerkass}} not nice]], but not in the "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery set Paris ablaze]]" way) people who were pushed over the edge and subsequently BrainwashedAndCrazy...the sole exceptions being [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugLilaRossi Lila Rossi]], [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugChloeBourgeois Chloe Bourgeois]] ([[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom who's also often the cause of said akumatizations in the first place]]), and [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugHawkMoth Gabriel Agreste]] [[spoiler:(aka [[BigBad Hawk Moth]])]], who expose themselves as [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Jerks with a Heart of Jerk]] by ''willingly'' accepting being akumatized.
** [[spoiler: Even Gabriel managed to redeem himself when he finally got what he wanted and used the power he had been chasing after for so long to sacrifice himself to save his wife and Nathalie.]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': Most of the Another Riders in the original series that aren't previous villains from the franchise turn out to have been nice people or at least not eager for world domination, merely being brainwashed by the Anotherwatches. Even the villains who set them up to begin with, the Time Jackers, eventually turn good or at least mellow out despite everything once they get exposed to the idea of a normal life through various means. However, Hiryu Kakogawa/Another Zi-O stands out as the sole exception; despite initially being a victim of BigBad Swartz's manipulations, it becomes clear that he does not actually care about being a pawn and spends the entire series critically wounding the (now-freed) Anotherwatch holders and using Swartz to alter history to power himself up out of pure, NotBrainwashed spite towards protagonist Sougo Tokiwa. After his final defeat in the main series, he is last seen knocked out cold, with both sides completely apathetic to his well-being. When he returns in the AlternateContinuity stage show ''Final Stage'', he is portrayed as a BornInTheWrongCentury loser on top of all of his previous crimes and personality traits that Sougo decides to ''kill outright'' after he tries to power up one last time.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Over the show's course, a significant portion of its antagonists are redeemed and brought to the heroes' side or, at least, convinced to drop their antagonism to them. The most notable exceptions to this are [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek]], and [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicKingSombra King Sombra]], who all scorn redemption at various points in their personal histories and eventually [[LegionOfDoom band together]] to serve as the final season's main villains, where they're eventually defeated for good and [[AndIMustScream turned to stone]] (or [[KilledOffForReal completely]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill vaporized]] by friendship magic, in the case of King Sombra).

* In ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', Wander, being the AllLovingHero that he is, reforms pretty much every villain he comes across. Even resident BigBad Lord Hater has his redeeming moments. However, the one glaring exception is GreaterScopeVillain Lord Dominator, the biggest threat to the galaxy. She does leave the galaxy in the end, but not before calling everyone "a bunch of dorks".

** At the end of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' when the villains are about to kill Shrek, Artie gives them a speech about how they don't have to be evil and can choose to do whatever they want. All of them have a HeelFaceTurn except for Prince Charming who still tries to attack.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': The film's conflict centers around the war between the Pridelanders, Simba's pride, and the Outsiders, followers of [[GreaterScopeVillain the deceased Scar]], and it's resolved when [[StarcrossedLovers Kiara and Kovu]] convince both lion factions to end their feud and become one pride for peace and prosperity. But the only lion unwilling to change their ways is the [[BigBad Zira]], leader of the Outsiders and Kovu's mother. Fanatically loyal to Scar, Zira threatens to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her children]] for refusing to fight ([[EvenEvilHasStandards which prompts the rest of the Outsiders to turn against her]]) and then immediately attacks Simba, only to end up hanging precariously on the edge of the gorge above a torrent river. Despite [[SaveTheVillain Kiara's attempt to save her]], Zira tries to attack her but ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling into a torrent river]] where she is swept away and drowned. A DeletedScene would shown that [[SpitefulSuicide Zira deliberately lets go to spite Kiara]], swearing that she will never accept an aid of a Pridelander.

* Jail Scaglietti, the BigBad of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', is, so far, the only antagonist who has defied the DefeatMeansFriendship mindset of the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' series and steadfastly refused to reform his criminal ways (as did three of his most loyal underlings, if primarily out of admiration for him than of their own conviction).

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Puss faces three antagonists in his pursuit of the Wishing Star: Goldilocks (and the Three Bears), [[Characters/PussInBootsJackHorner "Big"/"Little" Jack Horner]], and [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. Puss, Goldilocks, and Jack want to get the titular wish for their own selfish desires, and Death wants to kill Puss due to how much he disregarded his previous lives. In the end, both Puss and Goldilocks give up their wish, since their journeys through the forest as well as their CharacterDevelopment have made them realize that they don't need their wishes. As for Death, he comes to realize that Puss' journey has genuinely changed the cat's outlook on life and lets him live the rest of his days in peace. The only character who never gets any sort of redemption is Big Jack Horner, who revels in his vileness throughout the entire journey, to the point that the Ethical Bug serving as Jack's "conscience" eventually gives up looking for any good in him and decries Jack as a monster.
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' when the villains are about to kill Shrek, Artie gives them a speech about how they don't have to be evil and can choose to do whatever they want. All of them have a HeelFaceTurn except for Prince Charming who still tries to attack.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': The film's conflict centers around the war between the Pridelanders, Simba's pride, and the Outsiders, followers of [[GreaterScopeVillain the deceased Scar]], and it's resolved when [[StarcrossedLovers Kiara and Kovu]] convince both lion factions to end their feud and become one pride for peace and prosperity. But the only lion unwilling to change their ways is the [[BigBad Zira]], leader of the Outsiders and Kovu's mother. Fanatically loyal to Scar, Zira threatens to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her children]] for refusing to fight ([[EvenEvilHasStandards which prompts the rest of the Outsiders to turn against her]]) and then immediately attacks Simba, only to end up hanging precariously on the edge of the gorge beneath a torrent river. Despite [[SaveTheVillain Kiara's attempt to save her]], Zira tries to attack her but ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling into a torrent river]] where she is swept away and drowned. A DeletedScene would shown that [[SpitefulSuicide Zira deliberately lets go to spite Kiara]], swearing that she will never accept an aid of a Pridelander.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': The film's conflict centers around the war between the Pridelanders, Simba's pride, and the Outsiders, followers of [[GreaterScopeVillain the deceased Scar]], and it's resolved when [[StarcrossedLovers Kiara and Kovu]] convince both lion factions to end their feud and become one pride for peace and prosperity. But the only lion unwilling to change their ways is the [[BigBad Zira]], leader of the Outsiders and Kovu's mother. Fanatically loyal to Scar, Zira threatens to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her children]] for refusing to fight ([[EvenEvilHasStandards which prompts the rest of the Outsiders to turn against her]]) and then immediately attacks Simba, only to end up hanging precariously on the edge of the gorge beneath a torrent river. Despite [[SaveTheVillain Kiara's attempt to save her]], Zira tries to attack her but ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling into a torrent river]] where she is swept away and drowned. A DeletedScene would shown that [[SpitefulSuicide Zira deliberately let go to spite Kiara]], swearing that she will never accept an aid of a Pridelander.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': The film's conflict centers around the war between the Pridelanders, Simba's pride, and the Outlanders, followers of [[GreaterScopeVillain the deceased Scar]], and it's resolved when [[StarcrossedLovers Kiara and Kovu]] convince both lion factions to end their feud and become one pride for peace and prosperity. But the only lion unwilling to change their ways is the [[BigBad Zira]], leader of the Outlanders and Kovu's mother. Fanatically loyal to Scar, Zira threatens to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her children]] for refusing to fight ([[EvenEvilHasStandards which prompts the rest of the Outlanders to turn against her]]) and then immediately attacks Simba, only to end up hanging precariously on the edge of the gorge beneath a torrent river. Despite [[SaveTheVillain Kiara's attempt to save her]], Zira tries to attack her but ends up [[DisneyVillainDeath falling into a torrent river]] where she is swept away and drowned. A DeletedScene would shown that [[SpitefulSuicide Zira deliberately let go to spite Kiara]], swearing that she will never accept an aid of a Pridelander.

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Puss faces three antagonists in his pursuit of the Wishing Star: Goldilocks (and the Three Bears), [[Characters/PussInBootsJackHorner "Big"/"Little" Jack Horner]], and [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. Puss, Goldilocks, and Jack want to get the titular wish for their own selfish desires, and Death wants to kill Puss due to how much he disregarded his previous lives. In the end, both Puss and Goldilocks give up their wish, since their journeys through the forest as well as their CharacterDevelopment had made them realize that they don't need their wishes. As for Death, he comes to realize that Puss' journey has genuinely changed the cat's outlook on life and lets him live the rest of his days in peace. The only character who never gets any sort of redemption is Big Jack Horner, who revels in his vileness throughout the entire journey, to the point that the Ethical Bug serving as Jack's "conscience" eventually gives up looking for any good in him and decries Jack as a monster.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', almost all of the Akumatized villains show themselves to be nice (or [[{{Jerkass}} not nice]], but not in the "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery set Paris ablaze]]" way) people who were pushed over the edge and subsequently BrainwashedAndCrazy...the sole exceptions being [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugLilaRossi Lila Rossi]], [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugChloeBourgeois Chloe Bourgeois]], and [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugHawkMoth Gabriel Agreste]] [[spoiler:(aka [[BigBad Hawk Moth]])]], who expose themselves as [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Jerks with a Heart of Jerk]] by ''willingly'' accepting being akumatized.

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Puss faces three antagonists in his pursuit of the Wishing Star: Goldilocks (and the Three Bears), Big Jack Horner, and [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. Puss, Goldilocks, and Jack want to get the titular wish for their own selfish desires, and Death wants to kill Puss due to how much he disregarded his previous lives. In the end, both Puss and Goldilocks give up their wish, since their journeys through the forest as well as their CharacterDevelopment had made them realize that they don't need their wishes. As for Death, he comes to realize that Puss' journey has genuinely changed the cat's outlook on life and lets him live the rest of his days in peace. The only character who never gets any sort of redemption is Big Jack Horner, who revels in his vileness throughout the entire journey, to the point that the Ethical Bug serving as Jack's "conscience" eventually gives up looking for any good in him and decries Jack as a monster.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' has most of its villains see redemption in the end. [[DiskOneFinalBoss Sasha and Grime]] both end up seeing the errors of their ways and become genuinely admirable leaders to Amphibia, Marcy ends up realizing her mistake of trying to cling to the past and move on, and most of the humans that antagonized Anne and the Plantars while on Earth end up helping them when the planet is invaded. Even [[TheDragon Andrias]] learns to step out of his father's shadow, and that he does not need to be evil like him. The Core, meanwhile, never learns. It completely refuses to acknowledge change, and still believes that the world must always be the same, no matter how much everyone argues against it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', almost all of the Akumatized villains show themselves to be nice (or [[{{Jerkass}} not nice]], but not in the "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery set Paris ablaze]]" way) people who were pushed over the edge and subsequently BrainwashedAndCrazy...the sole exceptions being [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila Rossi]], [[SpoiledBrat Chloe Bourgeois]], and [[ControlFreak Gabriel Agreste]] [[spoiler:(aka [[BigBad Hawk Moth]])]], who expose themselves as [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Jerks with a Heart of Jerk]] by ''willingly'' accepting being akumatized.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Over the show's course, a significant portion of its antagonists are redeemed and brought to the heroes' side or, at least, convinced to drop their antagonism to them. The most notable exceptions to this are Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and King Sombra, who all scorn redemption at various points in their personal histories and eventually [[LegionOfDoom band together]] to serve as the final season's main villains, where they're eventually defeated for good and [[AndIMustScream turned to stone]] (or [[KilledOffForReal completely]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill vaporized]] by friendship magic, in the case of King Sombra).
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': In the final season, nearly every significant villain achieves redemption in some manner. Catra breaks out of her self-destructive cruelty to save the people she loves, Entrapta comes around to prioritizing other people over herself, Shadow Weaver [[DeathEqualsRedemption chooses to die in the act of]] saving the children she abused, and even the BigBad of the prior 4 seasons Hordak finds true love and prevents conquest. The one exception is Horde Prime, the Big Bad of the last season, who's so steeped in his centuries of xenocide and brainwashing that he has no desire to change. As such, She-Ra exorcises him from his last clone body without a hint of regret.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', almost all of the Akumatized villains show themselves to be nice (or [[{{Jerkass}} not nice]], but not in the "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery set Paris ablaze]]" way) people who were pushed over the edge and subsequently BrainwashedAndCrazy...the sole exceptions being [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila Rossi]], [[SpoiledBrat Chloe Bourgeois]], and [[ControlFreak Gabriel Agreste]] [[spoiler:{AKA [[BigBad Hawk Moth]])]], who expose themselves as [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Jerks with Heart of Jerk]] by ''willingly'' accepting to become Akumatized.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' when the villains are about to kill Shrek, Artie gives them a speech about how they don't have to be evil and can choose to do whatever they want. All of them have a Heel-Face-Turn except for Prince Charming who still tries to attack.

* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': Despite most of the villains being everything from genocidal warlords to demonic harbingers, most of them either redeem themselves, are brainwashed pawns, or genuinely care for others. Not so with the Demon King, who tries to destroy all races other than demons and wipe out all of Britannia, and Bellion, the demonic leader of the Six Knights of Black.

Except ''THIS'' character. No matter what the hero says, no matter if there's no chance of winning, no matter if so many other characters who've done worse things have managed to come to the light, this {{Jerkass}} will never turn to good for as long as they live. As such, this trope often overlaps with RedemptionRejection. Expect EvenTheLovingHeroHasHatedOnes to apply to this character.

* One of the main distinguishing features of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is that it's "the friendly RPG where nobody has to die", allowing you to make peace and become friends with with every single character despite nearly all of them serving as an antagonist at some point or another. The one and only exception to this rule is the Fallen Child, as they're a PosthumousCharacter. During any route where your goal is to spread peace and make friends, their story will have ended long before the events of the game with a failed SuicideAttack against their home village (and possibly [[KillAllHumans the rest of the human race]], as they went to their grave a MisanthropeSupreme) that also took their brother down with them.]] Conversely, if you choose to play the game as violently as possible, the Fallen Child will be resurrected in a ''[[CameBackWrong significantly]]'' [[EldritchAbomination worse]] [[OmnicidalManiac state]] and destroy the world so utterly that [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the game will no longer be playable by conventional means]]. In other words, the closest thing you can give them to a path to redemption is just not making one specific series of choices that will cause them to become ''worse''.

In settings that veer strongly towards idealism on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, good and evil clash but evil rarely stays that way for long. Most villains there aren't truly all wicked, and with the right words and the right person to coax out their latent sympathies, even the most seemingly monstrous of people can be turned to good.

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:Film - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Puss faces three antagonists in his pursuit of the Wishing Star: Goldilocks (and the Three Bears), Big Jack Horner, and [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. Puss, Goldilocks, and Jack want to get the titular wish for their own selfish desires, and Death wants to kill Puss due to how much he disregarded his previous lives. In the end, both Puss and Goldilocks give up their wish, since their journeys through the forest as well as their CharacterDevelopment had made them realize that they don't need their wishes. As for Death, he comes to realize that Puss' journey has genuinely changed the cat's outlook on life, and lets him live the rest of his days in peace. The only character who never gets any sort of redemption is Big Jack Horner, who revels in his vileness throughout the entire journey, to the point that the Ethical Bug serving as Jack's "conscience" eventually gives up looking for any good in him and decries Jack as a monster.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'': Most of the Another Riders in the original series that aren't previous villains from the franchise turn out to have been nice people or at least not eager for world domination, merely being brainwashed by the Anotherwatches. Even the villains who set them up to begin with, the Time Jackers, eventually turn good or at least mellow out despite everything once they get exposed to the idea of a normal life through various means. However, Hiryu Kakogawa/Another Zi-O stands out as the sole exception; despite initially being a victim of BigBad Swartz's manipulations, it becomes clear that he does not actually care about being a pawn and spends the entire series critically wounding the (now-freed) Anotherwatch holders and using Swartz to alter history to power himself up out of pure, NotBrainwashed spite towards protagonist Sougo Tokiwa. After his final defeat in the main series, he is last seen knocked out cold, with both sides completely apathetic to his well-being. When he returns in the AlternateContinuity stageshow ''Final Stage'', he is portrayed as a BornInTheWrongCentury loser on top of all of his previous crimes and personality traits that Sougo decides to ''kill outright'' after he tries to power up one last time.
* ''Series/OddSquad'': A majority of the series' {{Big Bad}}s tend to be redeemed by the end of their respective seasons, with Odd Todd going through a HeelFaceReturn, Otis's adoptive duck family reforming and apologizing to him, The Shadow reconciling with her sister and departing with her to fix the damage she caused, and Olando deciding to stay in the present time instead of going back to the past. The only BigBad who ''doesn't'' get reformed, however, is Ohlm, who, after being defeated by Olympia, Oona, Otis and Oprah, declares his intent to never stop until Odd Squad is down on its knees and [[GoToYourRoom gets dragged straight home to be grounded]] as a result.

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'': When it comes to most of the villains of the main campaign, almost all of them end up redeeming themselves in the end (Morsayati at least has an excuse for not doing so, being MadeOfEvil and all). All of Euden's siblings end up changing their ways and learning to become better people and actually start to aid Euden in the end. [[EvilTwin Nedrick]] is quite sympathetic, and eventually comes to a common ground to become the EleventhHourRanger. Even the Agito and Beren are implied to have underwent {{Heel Face Turn}}s in the end. The only antagonist from the main campaign who never redeems himself is [[BigBad Xenos]], who is stuck in his own personal opinions of how HumansAreBastards and that [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill taking away their free will is the only way for people to prosper]]. Euden repeatedly tells him that not every single human is evil, and that they can come together with him. Xenos refuses to listen, and when he inevitably gets defeated, Euden says that it's because no matter what he did, Xenos just wouldn't bond with humans, and that his refusal to see humanity for the good that it really is is what led to his downfall.
* Livius Erimond in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' stands out among the game's {{arc villain}}s in being a total HateSink; while the rest of them, even those who do despicable things, have some sympathetic motivations or chance at redemption, Erimond gets no such treatment. He is notably the only one who cannot be recruited by the Inquisition at his judgment under any circumstances.
-->'''Cassandra:''' What of magister Erimond? Do you sense a secret pain in him?
-->'''Cole:''' No. Erimond is an asshole.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Unlike his DiscOneFinalBoss counterpark Egil, Zanza, the game's true BigBad, never shows any remorse for his actions [[spoiler: indeed, according to the sequel, his remorse is trapped in another plane of existence]] and the party feels no hesitation or sympathy in taking him down.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' has most of its villains see redemption in the end. [[DiskOneFinalBoss Sasha and Grime]] both end up seeing the errors of their ways and become genuinely admirable leaders to Amphibia, Marcy ends up realizing her mistake of trying to cling to the past and move on, and most of the humans that antagonized Anne and the Plantars while on Earth end up helping them when the planet is invaded. Even [[TheDragon Andrias]] learns to step out of his father's shadow, and that he does not need to be evil like him. The Core, meanwhile, never learns. It completely refuses to acknowledge change, and still believes that world must always be the same, no matter how much everyone argues against it.

** Downplayed in Season 3. The point of the train is for people to improve themselves and make up for their mistakes; they have a number on their hand representing their flaws, and as they become better, the number goes down. Reach zero, and you get to get off the train and go home. Whilst WordOfGod clarifies, the train is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality very flawed and many people die on it]] without ever improving themselves. All the protagonists we have seen in the show have made it off the train, even characters who have made ''very'' big mistakes with big numbers to match (such as Amelia, the dictator of the train in the first season, who has a number that ''goes up to her neck'') can start working on themselves any time they want, and their number will go down accordingly. That said, Simon is the first character we see fail the train. The third season, stars Simon and Grace, Simon's best friend and boss, as the {{Villain Protagonist}}s at the start of the third season. The two have been on the train for years without any sort of explanation of it, they eventually came to conclusion that the denizens on the train are AlwaysChaoticEvil and that the point of the train is to raise your number and never leave. Grace slowly find out they were wrong about the nature of the train, and having numbers that go up their arms is ''not'' a good thing, she makes a HeelFaceTurn and vows to dismantle the Apex, a {{cult}} she created. Simon, however, digs in his heels and [[IRejectYourReality refuses to accept that the ideology Grace was created was wrgon]], even trying to murder Grace twice. By the time he meets his FamilyUnfriendlyDeath, his number covers his whole body, including his face, while the last scene of the season shows Grace's number slightly decreasing as she begins to make steps to atone for her past actions. It's made very clear that he was never inherently irredeemable and at several points, Simon shows progress and signs of doubt about the ideology he is in. However he doesn't progress due to a combination of a DetrimentalDetermination, some bad luck and being failed by the mentor that was supposed to help him. One example of the latter being that Simon was told by his former ParentalSubstitute, not to trust Amelia, no matter what. Hence he doesn't believe Amelia when she tells him and Grace they were wrong about the train.
** [[KillerCop Reflection Police Officer Mace]] in Season 2 isn't a passenger, but stands out as the only major antagonist, ''not'' to have any kind of redeeming qualities or HiddenDepths, simply being a [[PoliceBrutality vicious cop]]. Even during a ChainedHeat scenario with Mirror Tulip, the person Mace is trying to kill, Mace is consistently hostile and refuses to work with MT, even after [[SaveTheVillain she goes out of her way to keep him alive]]. In the end, [[spoiler: MT is reluctantly forced to kill Mace after he tries to kill them both in a suicidal maneuver.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', almost all of the Akumatized villains show themselves to be nice (or [[{{Jerkass}} not nice]], but not in the "[[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery set Paris ablaze]]" way) people who were pushed over the edge and subsequently BrainwashedAndCrazy... the sole exceptions being Lila Rossi, Chloe Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste, who expose themselves as [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Jerks with Heart of Jerk]] by ''willingly'' accepting to become Akumatized.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Over the show's course, a significant portion of its antagonists are redeemed and brought to the heroes' side or, at least, convinced to drop their antagonism to them. The most notable exception to this are Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek and King Sombra, who all scorn redemption at various points in their personal histories and eventually [[LegionOfDoom band together]] to serve as the final season's main villains, where they're eventually defeated for good and [[AndIMustScream turned to stone]] (or [[KilledOffForReal completely]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill vaporized]] by friendship magic, in the case of King Sombra).

* In ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', Wander, being the AllLovingHero that he is, reforms pretty much every villain he comes across. Even resident BigBad Lord Hater has his redeeming moments. However, the one glaring exception is GreaterScopeVillain Lord Dominator, the biggest threat to the galaxy. She does leave the galaxy in the end, but not before calling everyone "a bunch of dorks".

** [[PoliceBrutality Reflection Police Officer Mace]] in Season 2 isn't a passenger, but stands out as the only major antagonist, ''not'' to have any kind of redeeming qualities or HiddenDepths, simply being a vicious cop. Even during a ChainedHeat scenario with Mirror Tulip, the person Mace is trying to kill, Mace is consistently hostile and refuses to work with MT, even after [[SaveTheVillain she goes out of her way to keep him alive]]. In the end, [[spoiler: MT is reluctantly forced to kill Mace after he tries to kill them both in a suicidal maneuver.]]

* One of the main distinguishing features of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is that it's "the friendly RPG where nobody has to die", allowing you to make peace and become friends with with every single character despite nearly all of them serving as an antagonist at some point or another. The one and only exception to this rule is the Fallen Child, as they're a PosthumousCharacter. During any route where your goal is to spread peace and make friends, their story will have ended long before the events of the game with a failed SuicideAttack against their home village (and possibly [[KillAllHumans the rest of the human race]], as they went to their grave a MisanthropeSupreme) that also took their brother down with them.]] Conversely, if you choose to play the game as violently as possible, the Fallen Child will be resurrected in a ''[[CameBackWrong significantly]]'' [[EldritchAbomination worse]] [[OmnicidalManiac state]] and destroy the world so utterly that [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the game will no longer be playable by conventional means]]. In other words, the closest thing you can give them to a path to redemption is just not making one specific series of choices that will cause them to become ''worse.''
* It is standard in each ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles game to have one major villain be sympathetic and earn a degree of redemption while another is too far gone.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', Wander, being the AllLovingHero that he is, reforms pretty much every villain he comes across. Even resident BigBad Lord Hater has his redeeming moments. However, the one glaring exception is GreaterScopeVillain Lord Dominator, the biggest threat to the galaxy. She does leave the galaxy in the end, but not before calling everyone "a bunch of dorks."

Except ''THIS'' character. No matter what the hero says, no matter if there's no chance of winning, no matter if so many other characters who've done worse things have managed to come to the light, this {{Jerkass}} will never turn to good for as long as they live. As such, this trope often overlaps with RedemptionRejection.

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain''. The point of the train is for people to improve themselves and make up for their mistakes; they have a number on their hand representing their flaws, and as they become better, the number goes down. Reach zero, and you get to get off the train and go home. Whilst WordOfGod clarifies, the train is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality very flawed and many people die on it]] without ever improving themselves. All the protagonists we have seen in the show have made it off the train, even characters who have made ''very'' big mistakes with big numbers to match (such as Amelia, the dictator of the train in the first season, who has a number that ''goes up to her neck'') can start working on themselves any time they want, and their number will go down accordingly. That said, Simon is the first character we see fail the train. The third season, stars Simon and Grace, Simon's best friend and boss, as the {{Villain Protagonist}}s at the start of the third season. The two have been on the train for years without any sort of explanation of it, they eventually came to conclusion that the denizens on the train are AlwaysChaoticEvil and that the point of the train is to raise your number and never leave. Grace slowly find out they were wrong about the nature of the train, and having numbers that go up their arms is ''not'' a good thing, she makes a HeelFaceTurn and vows to dismantle the Apex, a {{cult}} she created. Simon, however, digs in his heels and [[IRejectYourReality refuses to accept that the ideology Grace was created was wrgon]], even trying to murder Grace twice. By the time he meets his FamilyUnfriendlyDeath, his number covers his whole body, including his face, while the last scene of the season shows Grace's number slightly decreasing as she begins to make steps to atone for her past actions. It's made very clear that he was never inherently irredeemable and at several points, Simon shows progress and signs of doubt about the ideology he is in. However he doesn't progress due to a combination of a DetrimentalDetermination, some bad luck and being failed by the mentor that was supposed to help him. One example of the latter being that Simon was told by his former ParentalSubstitute, not to trust Amelia, no matter what. Hence he doesn't believe Amelia when she tells him and Grace they were wrong about the train.

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain''. The point of the train is for people to improve themselves and make up for their mistakes; they have a number on their hand representing their flaws, and as they become better, the number goes down. Reach zero, and you get to get off the train and go home. Whilst WordOfGod clarifies, the train is very flawed and many people die on it without ever improvie. All the protagonists we have seen in the show have made it off the train, even characters who have made ''very'' big mistakes with big numbers to match (such as Amelia, the dictator of the train in the first season, who has a number that ''goes up to her neck'') can start working on themselves any time they want, and their number will go down accordingly. That said, Simon is the first character we see fail the train. The third season, stars Simon and Grace, Simon's best friend and boss, as the {{Villain Protagonist}}s at the start of the third season. Grace slowly find out they were wrong about the nature of the train, and having numbers that go up their arms is ''not'' a good thing, she makes a HeelFaceTurn and vows to dismantle the cult she created. Simon, however, digs in his heels and [[IRejectYourReality refuses to accept that the ideology Grace was created was wrgon]], even trying to murder Grace twice. By the time he meets his FamilyUnfriendlyDeath, his number covers his whole body, including his face, while the last scene of the season shows Grace's number slightly decreasing as she begins to make steps to atone for her past actions. It's made very clear that he was never inherently irredeemable and at several points, Simon shows progress and signs of doubt about the ideology he is in. However he doesn't progress due to a combination of a DetrimentalDetermination, some bad luck and being failed by the mentor that was supposed to help him. One example of the latter being that Simon was told by his former ParentalSubstitute, not to trust Amelia, no matter what. Hence he doesn't believe Amelia when she tells him and Grace they were wrong about the train.

* The entire point of the ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' is for people to improve themselves and make up for their mistakes; they have a number on their hand representing their flaws, and as they become better, the number goes down. Reach zero, and you get to get off the train and go home. Even people who have made ''very'' big mistakes with big numbers to match (such as Amelia, the Conductor in the first season, who has a number that ''goes up to her neck'') can start working on themselves any time they want, and their number will go down accordingly. The exception to this is Simon. When he and Grace, both {{Villain Protagonist}}s at the start of the third season, find out they were wrong about the nature of the train, and having numbers that go up their arms is ''not'' a good thing, she makes a HeelFaceTurn and vows to help the children under her care get their numbers down to zero so they can return home. Simon, however, digs in his heels and [[IRejectYourReality refuses to accept they were wrong]], even trying to murder Grace twice. By the time he meets his FamilyUnfriendlyDeath, his number covers his whole body, including his face, while the last scene of the season shows Grace's number rapidly decreasing as she begins to make steps to atone for her past actions. It's made very clear that he was never inherently irredeemable, but he chose to be when he refused to take responsibility for his actions and accept that he'd made a bunch of mistakes.