History MotiveDecay / AnimeAndManga

** Like his [[Anime/DragonBallSuper anime]] counterpart, Zamasu in the ''Manga/DragonBallSuper'' manga starts off as a KnightTemplar who views mortals as evil and wants to exterminate them to create a perfect world. But whereas anime Zamasu retains his vision and still revered the gods [[spoiler: even after killing them]], manga Zamasu loses all of his noble intentions by the time be fuses with Goku Black and now wants to become the TopGod just for the sake of it. Even worse is when he denounces his fellow gods as beneath him.

** Like his [[Anime/DragonBallSuper anime]] counterpart, Zamasu in the ''Manga/DragonBallSuper'' manga started off as a KnightTemplar who saw mortals as evil and wanted to destroy them all to create a perfect world. But whereas anime Zamasu retained his vision and still revered the gods [[spoiler: even after killing them]], manga Zamasu lost all of his noble intentions and wanted to become the TopGod just for the sake of it and denounced his fellow gods as beneath him.

** Like his anime counterpart, Zamasu in the ''Dragon Ball Super'' manga started off as a KnightTemplar who saw mortals as evil and wanted to destroy them all to create a perfect world. But whereas anime Zamasu retained his vision and still revered the gods [[spoiler: even after killing them]], manga Zamasu lost all of his noble intentions and wanted to become the TopGod just for the sake of it and denounced his fellow gods as beneath him.

*** This is capitalized in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', during which he ''succeeds'' at collecting the Dragon Balls before any of the heroes even know he's doing it. When a henchman naturally assumes he's going to wish for immortality, Frieza dismisses the notion as [[RevengeBeforeReason it would eliminate any challenge in taking his revenge.]] No, instead he intends to wish [[spoiler: to be ''[[TheNapoleon five inches taller]]''.]]

** Tobi is actually a subversion. We are initially led to believe that he is actually Madara Uchiha, the real one of which rather did come in this flavor. With the revelation that he's actually [[spoiler:Obito Uchiha, a childhood friend of Kakashi's, we learn that his sole motivation is to destroy the world because he thinks it's not real after [[TheLostLenore the girl he liked died]], because [[InsaneTrollLogic a world where something bad can happen to the girl he liked can't possibly be real]].]]

* Invoked over the course of ''Manga/DeathNote''. Light Yagami's megalomania causes him to completely lose sight of his original goal ([[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans to improve the world by removing its criminal element]]) and degrade into using the Death Note to [[AGodAmI become "The God of the New World" and destroy his enemies]], as well as clean up any undesirables; by the final chpaters, he's starting to kill people for being "lazy". He also turns from a ManipulativeBastard who carefully plans everything out into a CardCarryingVillain who is so sure of his own success that the very concept of his own failure seems to confuse him. Many a character points out that Light is little better than a serial killer by the end, but Light's so blinded by his pride that it takes [[spoiler:his impending death]] for him to catch on.

* Lampshaded and ultimately justified in ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby''. While Ryo's ultimate goals are ostensibly to save humanity from demons and expose them to the world, he starts to realize that his actions over the course of the series (including trying to kill innocent civilians and [[spoiler: using the revelation of the existence of demons to create martial law and sow panic and violence amongst the populace]]) run more and more counter to it, eventually leading him to return to South America for answers. [[spoiler: There he discovers that he's actually the reincarnation of Satan, and his actions have been serving his own subconscious plans to destroy humanity, and from there he fully embraces this role.]]

* Lampshaded and ultimately justified in ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby''. While Ryo's ultimate goals are ostensibly to save humanity from demons and expose them to the world, his actions over the course of the series (including trying to kill innocent civilians and [[spoiler: using the revelation of the existence of demons to create martial law and sow panic and violence amongst the populace]]) run more and more counter to it, eventually leading him to return to South America for answers. [[spoiler: There he discovers that he's actually the reincarnation of Satan, and his actions have been serving his own subconscious plans to destroy humanity, and from there he fully embraces this role.]]

* Toward the end of ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'', someone with the people skills and political savvy to become Prime Minister becomes an all-consuming openly megalomaniacal beast with nothing more important to do than indulge in evil laughter and pull grotesque faces. What makes this {{Egregious}} is that before he appeared to have a plan with substantially evil implications on the lives of real people, but that all degenerates into BondVillainStupidity just to terrorize a little girl he claims to worship.

** Blue Cosmos from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' suffers greatly from this trope. Originally they were an environmental pressure group, but after Human genetic enhancement became possible they shifted their focus to preventing widespread genetic modification. After genetic enhancement did become widespread they became a militant/terrorist organization bent on killing anyone who had their DNA altered. When war finally breaks out between the genetically enhanced Coordinators and the natural humans of Earth Blue Cosmos begins artificially enhancing their own people to fight one on one with the Coordinators ([[SarcasmMode because apparently it's okay if the enhancements are based on cybernetics and addictive drugs rather than genetic modification]]). Then it all turns out they were just a catspaw to Logos who do it for [[WarForFunAndProfit profit]].

** Brock's life goal was to be a great Pokémon breeder. Unfortunately, the CasanovaWannabe part of his characterization [[{{Flanderization}} consumed the character]]. He finally left the show becoming a Pokémon '''doctor'''.

** Also, Ash's goal was ToBeAMaster; that is, to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master (a Pokémon Master being a trainer who is an official part of the Pokémon League, though exactly how one achieves that was always vague). Nowadays, this goal is barely referenced, and Ash seems to be going around fighting Pokémon battles for the heck of it. In Season 9, he was even offered the position of Frontier Brain, which would probably make him a Pokémon Master, but he turned it down.

* [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Roy Mustang]] starts out trying to become the best damn leader in the world, but it starts to go wrong when he faces Envy, [[spoiler:who killed Hughes]]. Fortunately, Hawkeye helps him out. [[spoiler:With death threats.]]
** A better example would be the BigBad -- he originally started out as [[spoiler:a lab experiment who couldn't survive outside of the tiny flask it was created in, and caused the end of an ancient civilization to gain a human body of its own]]. After that, it starts an elaborate AncientConspiracy, sealing itself in a dark underground hideout, preparing for the day it can [[spoiler:absorb God]]. Van Hohenheim even points out that it's essentially back where it started.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':

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* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'':

* Divine of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' starts out as some sort of VisionaryVillain, being the leader of a movement giving shelter to the repudiated Psychic Duelists, wanting to form an army with them to take revenge on all the people hating and shunning them, making the world a better place for Psychic Duelists. Though his plans got foiled by his sudden death. But [[AssPull miraculously]] he returned and CharacterDerailment did take the best of him. While he was always close to the MoralEventHorizon, but also had his goals and clearly shared more with Aki than just [[MoreThanMindControl mind control]], he suddenly forgot all about his earlier intentions, turned into a psychopathic dumbass, causing his own death with the most ridiculous EngineeredPublicConfession and got eaten by a giant lizard just in time to exculpate Aki from all guilt and before he was about to [[NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay kill the main character]]. However, Divine is subject to a bit of AlternateCharacterInterpretation as it's hard to discern where his [[BitchInSheepsClothing facade of geniality]] ends and his true feelings begin due to his being such a ManipulativeBastard.

* This sort of thing happened across international lines as part of Creator/FourKidsEntertainment's dub of ''Anime/YuGiOh''. They usually played down the sympathy-inducing backstories of the villains and made them more evil. Pegasus' goal was the same (to bring back his lover Cecilia) but the methods were more ruthless. In the original, he needed to defeat Yugi so that he could gain control of Kaibacorp's technology and create a ''hologram'' of Cecilia to live with. In the dub, he wanted Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and all Millennium Items so that he could bring Cecilia's soul back and infuse it into the hologram. It's said in the dub that in doing so, he could inadvertently destroy the world. Although probably unintentional, [[{{Woolseyism}} this motive shift actually makes sense in the long run]], as the seven items together DO open the door to the afterlife (where Pegasus could get Cecilia's soul) and also unleash the power of Zorc Necrophades into the world, which could indeed destroy it against Pegasus's wishes (this is Yami Bakura's intentional goal.)

* This sort of thing happened across international lines as part of FourKidsEntertainment's dub of ''Anime/YuGiOh''. They usually played down the sympathy-inducing backstories of the villains and made them more evil. Pegasus' goal was the same (to bring back his lover Cecilia) but the methods were more ruthless. In the original, he needed to defeat Yugi so that he could gain control of Kaibacorp's technology and create a ''hologram'' of Cecilia to live with. In the dub, he wanted Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and all Millennium Items so that he could bring Cecilia's soul back and infuse it into the hologram. It's said in the dub that in doing so, he could inadvertently destroy the world. Although probably unintentional, [[{{Woolseyism}} this motive shift actually makes sense in the long run]], as the seven items together DO open the door to the afterlife (where Pegasus could get Cecilia's soul) and also unleash the power of Zorc Necrophades into the world, which could indeed destroy it against Pegasus's wishes (this is Yami Bakura's intentional goal.)

** Misty's ''overt'' goal is to be a Water Pokémon Master.[[note]]Her ''covert'' goal is [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry to get out from under her sisters' thumbnails]]. She seems to be able to accomplish this by staying with Ash until ''they'' decide to quit the Gym altogether.[[/note]] However, aside from a few episodes in Johto, [[InformedAttribute She never gets any chance to demonstrate any battling proficiency]] and her Kanto captures were more accidents than applications of knowledge.

** Misty's ''overt'' goal is to be a Water Pokemon Master.[[note]]Her ''covert'' goal is [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry to get out from under her sisters' thumbnails]]. She seems to be able to accomplish this by staying with Ash until ''they'' decide to quit the Gym altogether.[[/note]] However, aside from a few episodes in Johto, [[InformedAttribute She never gets any chance to demonstrate any battling proficiency]] and her Kanto captures were more accidents than applications of knowledge.
** Also, Ash's goal was ToBeAMaster; that is, to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master (a Pokémon Master being a trainer who is an official part of the Pokémon League). Nowadays, this goal is barely referenced, and Ash seems to be going around fighting Pokémon battles for the heck of it. In Season 9, he was even offered the position of Frontier Brain, which would probably make him a Pokémon Master, but he turned it down.

** Orochimaru's experiments and [[GrandTheftMe his usage of different bodies from ninja]], started as a method to learn every jutsu and [[WhoWantsToLiveForever gain immortality]]. However, his continuous experiments in the Cursed Seal seem not to do that and turn them into monstrous beings, not really related to his original goal. Sasuke actually called him out on this before finishing him.

** Blue Cosmos from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' suffers greatly from this trope. Originally they were an environmental pressure group, but after Human genetic enhancement became possible they shifted their focus to preventing widespread genetic modification. After genetic enhancement did become widespread they became a militant/terrorist organization bent on killing anyone who had their DNA altered. When war finally breaks out between the genetically enhanced Coordinators and the natural humans of Earth Blue Cosmos begins artificially enhancing their own people to fight one on one with the Coordinators. Then it all turns out they were just a catspaw to Logos who do it for [[WarForFunAndProfit profit]].

** After the aforementioned event in addition to [[spoiler:Nunnally's apparent demise]], Lelouch, who prior to the betrayal had actually assembled a legitimate front in the UFN to battle Britannia, now decides to go it alone, [[TheUnfettered abandoning all personal inhibitions]] and willing to use his geass on anyone and go to even more drastic extremes, including making {{Faceless|Goons}} SlaveMooks out of his new army, detonating the world's biggest energy reserve [[InferredHolocaust and apparently causing more death and destruction than he did during his rebellion pre-betrayal]]. The latter (or former technically) was at least somewhat justified because of [[BlackAndGreyMorality the opposition he faced off against]]. It's not that he became evil per se; the plot justifies it as [[spoiler:him centering the world's hate around him for world peace]]. However, given the leading circumstances and the plausibility of such a plan (and Lelouch's own admission that it was a gamble), it all seemed like a convenient [[DeathSeeker death wish]] for him. The aforementioned fact that causing worse, unnecessitated destruction was a path to atonement, even as a mask, when it is even noted in side materials by Lelouch that there are other methods, makes it seem more a case of {{Designated|Evil}} than NecessarilyEvil.

* Naraku from ''Manga/InuYasha'' has changed motives so many times that eventually he was evil just for the sake of being evil. Initially, he wanted to use the Shikon no Tama to become a powerful full-fledged youkai, so his goal is getting all the shards of the Jewel. But then, he was somewhat driven by his lust for Kikyo and hatred for Inuyasha, both coming from his human heart, so his goal becomes getting rid of that. He succeeds in separating his physical heart and discarding his feelings for Kikyou, so now his goal changes to killing her. But it turns out he needs both his heart and feelings to do this so the goal becomes reabsorbing them, and when he does, he finally kills her. In the end, he succeeds in getting the whole Shikon Jewel, but he neither absorbs it nor does he wish on it, he just decides to use it to kill his enemies. Naraku himself admits he's not sure what comes next after he's done that. Yes, that's right - he spends ''over 500 issues'' of the manga trying to get the jewel, and once he finally has it, he's not sure what to do with it. Even worse, it's revealed later that he did make a wish on the Jewel but was not granted: to have Kikyou's heart. However, Naraku is an amalgamation of many {{Youkai}} and a human man called Onigumo, so it's understandable that his personality and goals not only change significantly (it has even been a plot point on occasion), but also contradict each other; especially when it comes to Kikyou and the Jewel. The youkai hate Kikyou and want the Jewel to become powerful, but Onigumo "loves" Kikyou and wants the Jewel to have her.

* Naraku from ''Manga/InuYasha'' has changed motives so many times that eventually he was evil just for the sake of being evil. Initially, he wanted to use the Shikon no Tama to become a powerful full-fledged youkai, so his goal is getting all the shards of the Jewel. But then, he was somewhat driven by his lust for Kikyo and hatred for Inuyasha, both coming from his human heart, so his goal becomes getting rid of that. He succeeds in separating his physical heart and discarding his feelings for Kikyou, so now his goal changes to killing her. But it turns out he needs both his heart and feelings to do this so the goal becomes reabsorbing them, and when he does, he finally kills her. In the end, he succeeds in getting the whole Shikon Jewel, but he neither absorbs it nor does he wish on it, he just decides to use it to kill his enemies. Naraku himself admits he's not sure what comes next after he's done that. Yes, that's right - he spends ''over 500 issues'' of the manga trying to get the jewel, and once he finally has it, he's not sure what to do with it. Even worse, it's revealed later that he did make a wish on the Jewel but was not granted: to have Kikyou's heart. However, Naraku is an amalgamation of many {{Youkai}} and a human man called Onigumo, so it's understandable that his personality and goals not only change significantly (it has even been a plot point on occasion), but also contradict; especially when it comes to Kikyou and the Jewel. The youkai hate Kikyou and want the Jewel to become powerful, but Onigumo "loves" Kikyou and wants the Jewel to have her.

* Naraku from ''Manga/InuYasha'' has changed motives so many times that eventually he was evil just for the sake of being evil. Initially, he wanted to use the Shikon no Tama to become a powerful full-fledged youkai, so his goal is getting all the shards of the Jewel. But then, he was somewhat driven by his lust for Kikyo and hatred for Inuyasha, both coming from his human heart, so his goal becomes getting rid of that. He succeeds in separating his physical heart and discarding his feelings for Kikyou, so now his goal changes to killing her. But it turns out he needs both his heart and feelings to do this so the goal becomes reabsorbing them, and when he does, he finally kills her. In the end, he succeeds in getting the whole Shikon Jewel, but he neither absorbs it nor does he wish on it, he just decides to use it to kill his enemies. Naraku himself admits he's not sure what comes next after he's done that. Yes, that's right - he spends ''over 500 issues'' of the manga trying to get the jewel, and once he finally has it, he's not sure what to do with it. Even worse, it's revealed later that he did make a wish on the Jewel but was not granted: to have Kikyou's heart. However, Naraku is an amalgamation of many {{Youkai}} and a human man called Onigumo, so it's reasonable to expect his personality and goals to not only change significantly (it has even been a plot point on occasion), but also be contradictory; especially when it comes to Kikyou and the Jewel. The youkai hate Kikyou and want the Jewel to become powerful, but Onigumo "loves" Kikyou and wants the Jewel to have her.