Line #63 Main/MoralityAdjustment


1	We have the FaceHeelTurn, when a hero changes sides and becomes a villain. We have the HeelFaceTurn, when instead a villain abandons ship (no, not ''that'' kind of [[{{Shipping}} ship]]) to become a hero. We even have the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, where they keep changing sides at the drop of a hat. But what about the part in between, when a character becomes more of either a Heel or a Face, but not far enough to leave the team?
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3	That's what we call a Morality Adjustment. It comes in all different variations based on direction and extent, but we'll break it into four main flavours.
4	# A villain becoming more of a Heel. (eg: from Villain to TheSociopath)
5	# A villain becoming more of a Face. (eg: from Villain to AntiVillain)
6	# A hero becoming more of a Heel. (eg: from Hero to AntiHero)
7	# A hero becoming more of a Face. (eg: from Hero to IdealHero)
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9	Compare VillainDecay, BadassDecay, MessiahCreep. Contrast HeelFaceTurn and FaceHeelTurn. A subtrope of CharacterDevelopment.
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11	----
12	!!Examples:
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15	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
16	* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', this happens to Kakashi. He changes from a by-the-book and cold-hearted (if loyal) {{Child Soldier\|s}} who'd leave a friend to die in a heartbeat if he thought it'd be better for the village, into a man who is known for never leaving anyone behind, no matter the costs.
17	* Xellos from the ''{{Literature/Slayers}}'' franchise. Although we're never exactly sure where he stands, he does skirt back and forth across this line while still facing the "I'm still evil but currently in a trend of doing good/evil things" line.
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20	[[folder:Comic Books]]
21	* Justified by MindRape in Franchise/TheDCU: The villain Dr. Light was extensively brainwashed by Zatanna. She attempted to bring out his good side, but was ultimately only capable of turning him into a HarmlessVillain. After ''Identity Crisis'', the brainwashing unstuck and he reverted to his old nasty self.
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24	[[folder:Literature]]
25	* The [[Series/DoctorWho Seventh Doctor]] in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' tie-in novels changed from an enigmatic though sympathetic "Dark Doctor" to a full-on KnightTemplar Doctor.
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28	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
29	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
30	** The First Doctor goes over the course of Season 1 from being the TokenEvilTeammate (his original intended role) and a SociopathicHero, to being a GuileHero and LoveableRogue. [[ShootTheDog Most of the time.]]
31	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars "The Waters of Mars"]] has the Tenth Doctor snapping and temporarily becoming a KnightTemplar who declares himself [[AGodAmI "Time Lord Victorious"]] and decides that the Laws of Time are his to do with as he wants before a woman he saved snaps him out of it by [[HeroicSuicide killing herself]]. And it is ''deeply'' unsettling. Adelaide, the woman in question, straight-up calls him a power-mad despot.
32	* In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', Cara has a morality adjustment, makes a HeelFaceTurn, and then has another MoralityAdjustment. She becomes an Anti-Vilain (a kind of NobleDemon) to save her friends, and then, after a Heel Face Turn, she becomes, first an [[AntiHero Anti-Hero]] (type [[GoodisNotNice 3]] bordering [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the next type]]), and then a just, compassive and determined heroine with great strength of will (and shades of [[KnightInSourArmor Anti-Hero type 2]]).
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35	[[folder:Video Games]]
36	* With the introduction of rogues and vigilantes in the Going Rogue expansion, characters in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' can go from hero to vigilante, from villain to rogue, from vigilante to villain or back to hero, and from rogue to hero or back to villain.
37	* Characters in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' are locked into supporting either [[TheAlliance the Republic]] or [[TheEmpire the Empire]], and since they are given objectives by their class and faction quests, their overall support of freedom vs. tyranny can't change. However, they ''are'' allowed to embrace the Light or Dark Side as they so choose, so a member of the Republic might be TheCape or an AntiHero willing to embrace Imperial tactics if it means winning the war. On the other hand, an Imperial character might be a traditional villain, or a ConsummateProfessional who eschews unnecessary cruelty and senseless violence. For instance, it is possible to rise to the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Dark Council of the Empire]] as a Sith Inquisitor by taking an exclusively Light Sided path--and yet every LS choice will come across as a shrewd scheme that, first and foremost, advances the Inquisitor's agenda, and just happens to have an unintentional side effect of making life better for the others.
38	* Arnie started out somewhat of a douchebag in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX'', but after being captured by UX and seeing Richard, he realized there needs to be a justice outside of the laws like UX and aspires to become like Richard. The fact that he was willing to pilot the Orphes, knowing what it could do to his body is telling.
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41	[[folder:Webcomics]]
42	* The titular {{antihero}} Shadehawk of ''Webcomic/AntiheroForHire'' has been making a slow but steady crawl towards the Disney Antiheroes. These days the real antihero of the strip is Crossroad, who's accused Shadey of "[[WideEyedIdealist rampant idealism]]".
43	* Maverick (i.e. [[spoiler:future Kaycee Jones]]) in ''Webcomic/{{Magellan}}'' moved from Hero towards Anti-Hero [[http://magellanverse.com/?p=599 after her mother's murder]].
44	* {{Lampshade\| Hanging}}d in ''Webcomic/MandatoryRollerCoaster'' with Tiger Pope declaring "All that stuff we told you was wrong and gross is actually pretty cool."
45	* Characters in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' (and its {{spinoff}}, ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'') are normally admirably resistant to anything as boring as learning lessons, but [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/even_your_name_calls_for_it here, Tatiana realises that she may have gone too far.]] (She's just finished conducting an improvised psychosexual experiment on one character, and she's been bullying another for a while.) Admittedly, it's a small adjustment, and it may not stick.
46	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
47	** DiscussedTrope when Roy's moral compass is assessed after his death to decide which afterlife he should go to. Though he'd identified himself as LawfulGood through the story up to that point, the assessing angel points out his more questionable decisions, such as hiring [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]], and suggests that his mixed bag of motivations and methods would make him fit better as NeutralGood. In the end, [[spoiler:he's still found LawfulGood]].
48	** [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] has one: while still ChaoticEvil, his tactics shift from StupidEvil to PragmaticVillainy as a result of meeting Lord Shojo (a ChaoticGood {{Chessmaster}}) and gaining an appreciation for his style. He later shows signs of BecomingTheMask and shifting towards ChaoticNeutral, even [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1151.html talking with Durkon]] about the concept of a HeelRealization.
49	%%** Vaarsuvius has had at least two adjustments, though exactly when they occurred is up for debate. Apparently, Vaarsuvius's actual alignment is TrueNeutral: [[AmbiguousGender s/he]] wants to save the world, but cares more about his/her personal goals and does what s/he needs to do to accomplish them.
50	* ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' is set in an RPGMechanicsVerse with {{Character Alignment}}s. TheChosenOne's husband Lenny starts out as TrueNeutral, helping Julie on her quest out of loyalty, but comes to care about doing the right thing for people and shifts to NeutralGood.
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52	%%
53	%%[[folder:Web Original]]
54	%%* Alas, poor [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr. Horrible]], we knew him well.
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57	[[folder:Western Animation]]
58	* David Xanatos of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' never quite did a full HeelFaceTurn into being a good guy, but he did [[NobleDemon tone down the ruthlessness]] of his methods, [[HappilyMarried start a family]], and mend his bridges with the gargoyles.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': After getting fired from the Separatists by Count Dooku, [[DarkActionGirl Asajj Ventress]] slowly becomes more {{antihero}}ic over the course of the rest of her time on the series and the novel ''Literature/DarkDisciple''. [[spoiler:This culminates in a HeroicSacrifice to save Quinlan Vos from Dooku's Force lightning.]]
60	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MoralityAdjustment