Basic Trope: A bad guy turns into a good guy.
- Straight: Dr. Evilstein turns against Emperor Evulz and starts helping the heroes when he's betrayed by his master one too many times.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob seemingly crossed the Moral Event Horizon back in his youth and kept doing increasingly evil deeds on a daily basis. Then, he suddenly sees the light and turns into a force of good so big that he rivals The Hero himself in goodness. Eventually he becomes a paragon of virtue.
- Heel–Face Town
- All of the Villains are redeemed by the end of the story.
- Downplayed:
- Alice tames a wild cat that's been going about her house.
- Took a Level in Kindness
- Reformed, but Not Tamed
- Hazy-Feel Turn
- Going from a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- The bad guy was a Punch-Clock Villain.
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- A character is an Unwitting Pawn being manipulated by the villain but immediately switches sides once they know the truth.
- Justified:
- He got sick of being evil and became filled with shame and remorse, and wants to repent for his sins.
- He was a Knight Templar or Well-Intentioned Extremist who had a Heel Realization that he's gone way too far, and became exactly what he hated.
- He was disgusted with how evil the main villain was, and decided he had to cut ties with him.
- His goals are much more readily fulfilled if he works for the heroes than the villains.
- Evulz has treated him like shit for years, and he is taking the opportunity to pay him back with interest.
- He always wanted to do the right thing. The villains simply tricked him into believing their cause was just and heroic. Upon learning that he was working for the bad guys all this time, he abandons the group to join the real heroes.
- Reformed Criminal
- Doctor Evilstein would have put up with the abuse... until Emperor Evulz threatened his kids. Evilstein betrays Emperor Evulz for his children. When the heroes attack, Evilstein makes sure Evulz plan fails at the worst possible time... or Evilstein himself gets off the bench and attacks Evulz himself.
- Inverted: Face–Heel Turn.
- Subverted:
- Double Subverted: He's only pretending to turn on the bad guys... at first, but then he starts Becoming the Mask.
- Parodied:
- The hero gives a speech about The Power of Friendship so Sickeningly Sweet most viewers are in a diabetic coma... and the villain gets heart shaped eyes, stops his Evil Plan and opens an Orphanage of Love.
- He sees the errors in his ways in being team Coke; he's now team Pepsi.
- Zig Zagged: Heel–Face Revolving Door.
- Averted:
- It's clear right from the beginning that he's still evil... but his goals align with the heroes for now.
- Evilstein is a Complete Monster, and thus will never join the good guys' cause.
- Retired Monster
- Enforced:
- "This bad guy is really popular; we need to make him into a hero so we don't get into trouble with the Moral Guardians."
- The author of the work is a Christian and he wants his work to preach about forgiveness.
- Lampshaded: "I was upstaged by an Eldritch Abomination that wants to eat our planet, changing sides may be cliche, but it's also sane."
- Invoked:
- The Atoner
- "You never know, he might stop his plot if we can convince him using the Artifact of Death will kill all life on Earth."
- The hero gives Dr. Evilstein a compelling speech about how Being Evil Sucks.
- Exploited: Suspecting that one of his minions will eventually join the good side, Emperor Evulz secretly implants a bomb within him. Not only it will get rid of him, but with perfect timing it might even kill all the heroes in the process.
- Defied:
- "You think I'll stop just because it would save the life of my beloved? Hahahaha! That's funny!"
- Redemption Rejection
- Discussed: "You know, it always seems these Noble Demon types find Redemption in the Rain".
- Conversed: "Well, whaddya know, the most sympathetic of the bad guys was redeemed."
- Deconstructed:
- Heel Face Doorslam, when it results in death.
- The bad guy switches sides and helps save the day... but rather than find redemption, friendship, love or even gratitude, he promptly goes to jail for all the crimes he's done. By the time he's released he's not hailed as a hero, but forgotten. Those who do know who he is treat him as a reject. Why did he switch sides again?
- The villain tries to atone for his past misdeeds, but quickly learns that redemption is not a clean, instant process and frequently resumes his old crimes.
- Reconstructed:
- The bad guy weighs the possibilities, realizes that changing sides is profoundly stupid... but still feels Even Evil Has Standards. So he'll help stop this bad guy, and go to jail.
- The repeated failures to stay good motivate the villain to work harder to push himself away from evil. Through increased effort and patience, he manages to become a genuinely good person.
Back to Heel–Face Turn.
