Tropes A to K (Berserk Button, Big Brother Instinct, Bowdlerise, Broken Aesop, Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass, Famous Last Words, Hypocrite, Jerkass, Jerkass Has a Point) | Tropes L to Z (Nice Guy, Ship Tease, Shout-Out, Took a Level in Kindness, Wham Episode, Wham Line) | Anime and Others
- In Naruto (1997), the titular character starts out as a much bigger jerk than his most popular incarnation, and the story is about him learning to make friends.
- Sakura Haruno goes from a Jerkass Tsundere who beats up Naruto and swoons over Sasuke, to a more vulnerable but rather more kind-hearted Combat Medic who is also one of Naruto's best friends. She'll still dish out the punishment on Naruto every now and then, though.
- Kakashi goes from an arrogant, selfish brat who is angry with the world to the much kinder and humble person he is today because of what Obito taught him.
- After his defeat by Naruto, Neji goes from an Jerkass Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy who harshly beat his cousin Hinata to a generally nice guy who shows concern when she is injured and supports her crush on Naruto.
- There's also Neji's uncle, Hiashi Hyuuga. He started off treating Hinata as The Un Favourite, due to the family believing her to be a failure because of her kind and gentle personality and weak power, in comparison to her more aggressive and skilled younger sister. By Part II, he and Hinata are on better terms, to the point where he allows her to participate in the Fourth Shinobi War and then help him and Neji protect Naruto against Obito and Madara.
- Kankuro also qualifies, starting off as an arrogant, Hot-Blooded Jerkass and becoming noticeably kinder in Shippuuden, partly due to his improving relationship with Gaara.
- Many people overlook it, but Sasuke did this for a short period. Team 7 managed to bring him out of his shell to the point that he was willing to die to defend them. Then Itachi scrambled his brains and he ended up power-levelling in Jerkass.
- In the second half of the Shinobi World War, he gets this after having decided to go from avenger of the Uchiha Clan to protector of the Hidden Leaf Village (well, or so it seems at first), then for good after his actual Heel–Face Turn.
- Gaara himself is also one, thanks to his defeat from Naruto; as he goes from a cold-blooded, murderous sociopathic serial killer to a kind, gentle, shy and charismatic Kazekage.
- While he already was Naruto's ally, Kurama takes a big level after Neji's death by going out of his way to remind a distressed Naruto of the sacrifices others made for him also because of what he means to them, even those that were caused by Kurama himself. It wasn't too long ago that a similar incident was used to the Kyuubi's advantage to persuade Naruto to release the seal...
- After all the atrocities he committed, Orochimaru of all people has seemingly rethought his life. With Kabuto serving as a mirror to his actions, Orochimaru eventually realized that he could no longer have his way anymore. So out of charity (and perhaps guilt) he assisted Tsunade's recovery after her battle with Madara. Proclaiming that Sasuke is better off monitored, than controlled.
