History TheAtoner / AnimeAndManga

** In the GrandFinale [[spoiler:Suzaku--a former DeathSeeker who wanted to atone for killing his own father, yet has been Geassed to Live at any cost--becomes one of these when he takes on the role of Zero at Lelouch's request. After killing him]]. More than that, [[spoiler: Suzaku]] was TheAtoner all along. Driven to kill [[spoiler: his father]] in order to save [[spoiler: the population of his entire country]], with dubious results, he joins the army... and starts being the [[spoiler: DeathSeeker]] he was up until the above scene in the finale.
** Paired with the above [[spoiler: Lelouch had become one at the same time after the last TraumaCongaLine he went through which left him with ''nothing'' after he was betrayed by the very forces he raised up to fight against TheEmpire. In his case, however, his method of atonement is to die after performing the Zero Requiem to force the world into a better place; by giving them first himself as ''the'' enemy to hate and then placing Suzaku as the new Zero for them to rally behind after Lelouch secretly cleaned up the worst of Britannia and the world so it would be easier for his sister to succeed him as a much beloved leader.]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Despite his status as a hero, Endeavor made his family go through emotional and physical hell just to have a perfect successor, who'd be able to overcome All Might and become the number one hero in his stead. Circumstances and major events made him have a HeelRealization, and strive to live up to his status as a hero and make amends for his horrible treatment of his family. Deconstructed since while he's genuinely willing to atone, he has possibly ''too much'' to make up for 10+ years of emotional and physical abuse on his family are nowhere near easily forgivable, if at all. Out of his family, only his daughter, Fuyumi, is willing to give him some sort of benefit of a doubt; his wife Rei and remaining sons Natsuo and Shoto still don't want anything to do with him, (though Shoto is more neutral) and Natsuo, in particular, is quick to call him out the first chance he gets. He's painfully aware of all of it, yet continues to try and atone anyway, as it's the only thing he can do. Then there’s the oldest, Toya, who was thought dead but survived and became Dabi, a mass-murdering psychopath who wants Endeavor dead…

** Dr. Knox, like the rest of above mentioned in the Ishavalan war, but he isolated himself from his friends and family.

* Vegeta from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' in the Buu saga. After spending much of the series being unable to catch up to Goku, Vegeta allows the evil sorcerer Babidi to place him under mind control for the power boost it comes with. Vegeta kills dozens of people, fights off the mind control to fight Goku, and helps Babidi unseal Majin Buu, who (seemingly) kills Gohan. Vegeta at last sees sense after this and goes to fight Buu alone, and [[TakingYouWithMe blows himself up in an attempt to kill Buu]] which ultimately fails.

* ''Manga/TegamiBachi'':

** After seeing the error of his ways, Terasaka decides to become a better student and classmate, to the point of shrugging off [[spoiler: a potentially fatal poison]] to help his classmates at the climax of the Assassination Island arc.
** [[spoiler: Kayano]] is the first to join Nagisa's "blue" (save Koro-sensei) side during the civil war game as penance for having attempted to kill Koro-sensei out of MisplacedRetribution.
** [[spoiler: For both his failure to protect Aguri, his past as a professional hitman, and his inability to properly guide his apprentice, who betrayed him to the government and assumed his "Reaper" persona, Koro-sensei has decided to spend his last days teaching her students at Class 3-E to honor her dying wish of helping them become better persons, even as he takes to heart her lessons about what it means to love and look after someone.]]
* Discussed in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', when [[spoiler: Reiner]] mockingly demands to know if this is what Eren expects [[BigBadFriend them]] to do, while [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking what the point is of lecturing them on morality]] if [[YouMonster he already sees them as monsters]]. It gets more complicated since [[spoiler: he ''is'' genuinely remorseful over his crimes, slowly spiraling into [[TraumaInducedAmnesia madness]] and close to crossing the DespairEventHorizon. However, it's fairly clear Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie don't believe atoning for their crimes is even ''remotely'' possible, leaving them with no choice but to continue their mission]].
** [[spoiler: The First King, Karl Fritz, is also this. Despite being ruler of the Eldian Empire, he was wracked with immense guilt over the genocidal and sadistic atrocities that his ancestors meted out on the Marleyan people and so hatched a plan. Together with the noble Tybur family, Fritz created the myth of Helos, a Marleyan warrior who slew the Devil of All Earth, a figure in Eldian mythology that had granted Ymir her Titan-shifting powers, and led his people in revolution against Eldia. In truth, Fritz and the Tyburs took a large portion of the Eldian people to the neighbouring island of Paradis, where they would wait in exile until Marley decided to wipe them out. Fritz believed Marley was entirely justified in exterminating the remaining Eldians for their crimes and thus would put up no resistance when Marley came knocking. To further ensure this was carried out, Fritz erased the memories of his people so they would be ignorant and peaceful, unaware of the world beyond the walls.]]

* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline Progressive'', Nezuo, is a player who'd scammed other players out of their weapons in order to help his guild, who'd fallen behind the other clearers while trying to help him level (Nezuo has a Full-Dive Nonconformity that's an almost crippling disadvantage in battle). After Kirito and Asuna find out what he was up to, he, on Kirito's advice, masters the chakram (one of the few viable ranged weapons in the game) and uses it to save the other clearers from the second floor boss. Unfortunately, he's [[HeelFaceDoorSLam nearly executed for his crimes]] until his guildmates take responsibility and give up their gear as restitution.

** Dr. Marcoh, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Alex Louis Armstrong's motivations are to atone for all the Ishvalans they killed during the Ishval Massacre. '''''Especially''''' Armstrong, Roy, and Hawkeye. i.e., Roy's long-term goal when he becomes Führer? [[spoiler:He wants to turn the country into a democracy, and eventually be tried for his war crimes - which Riza implies could get him executed. And considering ''her'' famous "I'll follow you into hell" line...]].

** [[spoiler: Pain AKA Nagato, who sacrifices himself to reverse all of the damage he has done to the Leaf Village upon being swayed by Naruto's words, trusting in him to end the cycle of hatred.]].
** [[spoiler: Tobi AKA Obito Uchiha, who saves Naruto's life and tries to sacrifice himself on two seperate occasions. The second time sticks, with him dying in Kakashi's place.]]
** [[spoiler: Kabuto Yakushi, after excepting his fate in the genjutsu, Izanami casted by Itachi, he helps the heroes in the Fourth Shinobi World War. After the war he starts an orphanage in Konoha, like his adoptive mother had once]].
** [[spoiler: Sasuke Uchiha. After he realizes he has caused so much pain for little to no reason, he requests that Naruto takes his Rinnegan and use it to dispel the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and kill him off. Naruto has none of it and tells him to redeem himself by helping others. He... does just that, exploring Kaguya's dimensions to search for a reason as to why Kaguya would want an army of White Zetsu. This comes to a head in ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'', where he ends up leading the other Kage to rescue Naruto, as well as tutoring Naruto's son, Boruto.]] Although this last one is a base breaker as some people feel [[KarmaHoudini he was let off too easily.]]
* ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' has Kippei "The Kyushuu Lion" Tachibana. While not an evil person, his playing style was highly violent. Then, [[spoiler: his best friend ''and'' rival Senri Chitose became one of his victims when Tachibana accidentally hit him [[EyeScream in the eye]] and almost blinded him]]. Wrecked with guilt, Tachibana seriously thought he should just leave tennis as a whole, but then his family transferred to Tokyo. He enrolled in Fudomine Junior High and and witnessed how the local tennis clubs' rookies were bullied by the sempais and the ex-coach; Tachibana stood up for them and became their leader and captain.
* [[spoiler: Xerxes Break]] of ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' is this, though he claims otherwise. This is because he was once [[spoiler: Kevin Regnard, a FailureKnight driven to make a DealWithTheDevil that required him to murder as part of his bargain. He made it with the hopes of changing the past, in order to bring back the murdered family he served. Eventually, after sacrificing 116 people to his Chain, he was dragged into the Abyss and was able to convince the Will of the Abyss to grant his wish. Unfortunately, he later learned his wish resulted in the family being murdered four years later... by the one child that had survived the slaughter in the original timeline]]. The horror and grief over his actions are his driving motivation, though he keeps it secret from others.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'': After discovering that it was not Rin's fault that her beloved mother died [[spoiler: Kaede Fuyou]] makes her purpose in life "to serve Rin-kun"--so she can make up to him for all the tremendous abuse she piled up on him.[[spoiler: (who ''willingly'' took the blame because Kaede was this close to just let herself die by despair) before the discovery]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Despite his status as a hero, Endeavor made his family go through emotional and physical hell just to have a perfect successor, who'd be able to overcome All Might and become the number one hero in his stead. Circumstances and major events made him have a HeelRealization, and strive to live up to his status as a hero and make amends for his horrible treatment of his family. Deconstructed since while he's genuinely willing to atone, he has possibly ''too much'' to make up for 10+ years of emotional and physical abuse on his family are nowhere near easily forgivable, if at all. Out of his family, only his daughter, Fuyumi, is willing to give him some sort of benefit of a doubt; his wife Rei and remaining sons Natsuo and Shoto still don't want anything to do with him, (though Shoto is more neutral) and Natsuo, in particular, is quick to call him out the first chance he gets. He's painfully aware of all of it, yet continues to try and atone anyway, as it's the only thing he can do. Then there’s the oldest, who became Dabi, a mass-murdering psychopath who wants Endeavor dead…

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Despite his status as a hero, Endeavor made his family go through emotional and physical hell just to have a perfect successor, who'd be able to overcome All Might and become the number one hero in his stead. Circumstances and major events made him have a HeelRealization, and strive to live up to his status as a hero and make amends for his horrible treatment of his family. Deconstructed since while he's genuinely willing to atone, he has possibly ''too much'' to make up for 10+ years of emotional and physical abuse on his family are nowhere near easily forgivable, if at all. Out of his family, only his daughter, Fuyumi, is willing to give him some sort of benefit of a doubt; his wife Rei and remaining sons Natsuo and Shoto still don't want anything to do with him, and Natsuo, in particular, is quick to call him out the first chance he gets. He's painfully aware of all of it, yet continues to try and atone anyway, as it's the only thing he can do.

* Franz Bonaparta from ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' is played up as being the creepy childrens book author responsible for the madness that created Johan Liebert. [[spoiler: As it turns out, he actually had everyone involved in the eugenics experiment killed so he could save Johan's twin sister from a similar fate]].

** [[spoiler: Sasuke Uchiha. After he realizes he has caused so much pain for little to no reason, he requests that Naruto takes his Rinnegan and use it to dispel the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and kill him off. Naruto has none of it and tells him to redeem himself by helping others. He... does just that, exploring Kaguya's dimensions to search for a reason as to why Kaguya would want an army of White Zetsu. This comes to a head in ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'', where he ends up saving Naruto's life, as well as tutoring Naruto's son, Boruto.]] Although this last one is a base breaker as some people feel [[KarmaHoudini he was let off too easily.]]

** One young man who bullied Historia on the past works at her orphanage as a volunteer to atone for his mistreatment of her, [[spoiler:and eventually became the father of her child]].

* In episode 6 of the ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'' anime, [[CasanovaWannabe Makoto Isshiki]] [[spoiler:shaved off his head and [[TakingTheHeat took the heat]] for the other guys in 1-4 for taking polls of the girls]]. This is to maintain some kind of desirability among the girls.

* ''LightNovel/TheMisfitOfDemonKingAcademy'': After Emilia Ludowell gets the snot beat out of her post-reincarnation, she takes a hit intended for Anos' mother, which earns her Anos' gratitude. Sooner or later, after realizing that her experiences with the very racism she once believed in would forever change her, even if she returned as a pure-blooded demon, she decides to enroll as a teacher, and later, headmistress in the Hero Academy, swearing her life to protect and guide her new students there.

* For ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'', Hatou applies. [[spoiler: In the vast majority of worlds she denies herself happiness to try to solve Yukari's murder. She has endured numerous deaths, alcoholism, rape (implied), and who knows what else in pursuit of her goal. All because she helped Alice convince Yukari to join JAUNT]].

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': In the appropriately-named "Atonement Chapter" (Tsumihoroboshi-hen) Keiichi [[spoiler:is briefly able to break through the GroundhogDayLoop and is allowed to clearly see his actions in the first arc, in which the HatePlague drove him to isolate himself from his friends and murder Rena and Mion]]. He becomes The Atoner as a result and [[spoiler:redoubles his efforts to try and save Rena, who is now in the same boat as he was]]. Also, [[spoiler: before he moved to Hinamizawa, he was a nihilistic loner who got his kicks by shooting at little kids with a pellet gun. When he severely injures a little kid (as opposed to the bruises it usually caused) he realized how horrible his actions were and turned over a new leaf]].

%%** ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' has Ai.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''

* In ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', Canale tries to atone for his years as a Sharq assassin and particularly for the murder of Sesaam Zaiyaun, whom he was in love with. He requests that Ayace kill him several times, lest he bring anymore danger to the people he loves.

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', it's revealed that Kalinin always felt horrible guilt and great regret that he did nothing to save Sousuke's mother (who ended up plunging to her death on the frozen and broken down airplane). As a result, he feels the great need to make it up to Sousuke, and always had the great desire to adopt him as his own son. Unfortunately, Sousuke is sent to an orphanage, and the next time Kalinin meets him, he's shocked to see that Sousuke turned into a [[TheStoic cold blooded]], uncaring killer. This causes him to feel ''even more guilt'' for having let Sousuke go and become like this, and in turn becomes even more dead set on making it up to him.

* ''LightNovel/KinosJourney''. A once-violent criminal has decided to atone for his acts by accompanying the widow of a man he killed while she [[WalkingTheEarth Walks The Earth]] as her bodyguard. [[spoiler:The next scene shows the atoner dying in a forest clearing, as the widow has just emptied her pistol into him. She was so hurt that she didn't think he deserved atonement]].

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'': At the near-end of the story,' [[spoiler:Yuuji]], knowing how much pain he had caused for the sake of Xanadu's creation with the power of the God of Creation, attempts to become this by leaving for Xanadu alone, in order to work to encourage the Crimson Denizens to live in peace with, and befriend, the humans living there. The love that he and [[spoiler:Shana]] shared trumped this, however, and they leave for the new world together. At Xanadu, he does atone by trying to get the Humans and Denizens to co-exist, but [[ReformedButRejected often ends up becoming a target of aggression, getting involved in fights and often on the run]].

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline Progressive'', Nezuo, is a player who'd scammed other players out of their weapons in order to help his guild, who'd fallen behind the other clearers while trying to help him level (Nezuo has a Full-Dive Nonconformity that's an almost crippling disadvantage in battle). After Kirito and Asuna find out what he was up to, he, on Kirito's advice, masters the chakram (one of the few viable ranged weapons in the game) and uses it to save the other clearers from the second floor boss. Unfortunately, he's [[HeelFaceDoorSLam nearly executed for his crimes]] until his guildmates take responsibility and give up their gear as restitution.

* Abel Nightroad from ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' is a centuries old Crusnik (uber-vampire who feeds on normal vampires, has superior destructive powers and is invincible) who used to hate humans and took the vampire side of the conflict when war broke out. He was essentially a living weapon of mass destruction and supposedly killed seven million humans. Eventually it was the death of his lover, who had sided with the humans (after telling him how to defeat the vampires) and had been trying to influence him, that caused him to change his views. Nine hundred years later, he's a priest of the Vatican and tries to avoid and prevent killing whenever he can, and is wracked by guilt for his sins.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has three prime examples of this.
** This first is [[spoiler: Pain AKA Nagato, who sacrifices himself to reverse all of the damage he has done to the Leaf Village upon being swayed by Naruto's words, trusting in him to end the cycle of hatred.]].
** The second is [[spoiler: Tobi AKA Obito Uchiha, who saves Naruto's life and tries to sacrifice himself on two seperate occasions. The second time sticks, with him dying in Kakashi's place.]]
** The third, and the only one who doesn't die, is [[spoiler: Sasuke Uchiha. After he realizes he has caused so much pain for little to no reason, he requests that Naruto takes his Rinnegan and use it to dispel the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and kill him off. Naruto has none of it and tells him to redeem himself by helping others. He... does just that, exploring Kaguya's dimensions to search for a reason as to why Kaguya would want an army of White Zetsu. This comes to a head in ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'', where he ends up saving Naruto's life, as well as tutoring Naruto's son, Boruto.]] Although this last one is a base breaker as some people feel [[KarmaHoudini he was let off too easily.]]