Adaptational Villainy: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Kaa Book vs movie 6454.jpg|frame| Kaa in Disney's [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Jungle Book]]: a man-eating [[Smug Snake]]. Kaa in the [[The Jungle Book (novel)|original]]: a wise [[Mentor]].]] |
[[File:Kaa Book vs movie 6454.jpg|frame| Kaa in Disney's [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Jungle Book]]: a man-eating [[Smug Snake]]. Kaa in the [[The Jungle Book (novel)|original]]: a wise [[Mentor]].]] |
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{{quote|''"As many people have noted throughout the years though, [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney]] has been rather...[[Disneyfication|lax]] when it comes to adapting books and fairy tales into movies. [[Pragmatic Adaptation|This is understandable in some cases]]. Still, it can be a bit galling when one knows that the fire-breathing, demonic witch on the screen was a kindly old lady in the source material."'' |
{{quote|''"As many people have noted throughout the years though, [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney]] has been rather...[[Disneyfication|lax]] when it comes to adapting books and fairy tales into movies. [[Pragmatic Adaptation|This is understandable in some cases]]. Still, it can be a bit galling when one knows that the fire-breathing, demonic witch on the screen was a kindly old lady in the source material."'' |
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|''[http://zelda-queen.livejournal.com/46445.html Top Five Miscast Disney Villains]''}} |
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The villain of an adaptation or retelling of a story is a familiar character who wasn't as bad in the source material. Sure, they may have been [[Jerkass|annoying at times]], or [[True Neutral|couldn't care less about the good guys]], but they weren't ''evil''. Maybe they were even an ally of the main characters who leaned a little too far on the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]], or a villain [[Even Evil Has Standards|with standards]] or who was [[Pet the Dog|known to show a softer side]]. Maybe the character rubbed the heroes the wrong way, but never caused any real harm and was otherwise a decent person. |
The villain of an adaptation or retelling of a story is a familiar character who wasn't as bad in the source material. Sure, they may have been [[Jerkass|annoying at times]], or [[True Neutral|couldn't care less about the good guys]], but they weren't ''evil''. Maybe they were even an ally of the main characters who leaned a little too far on the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]], or a villain [[Even Evil Has Standards|with standards]] or who was [[Pet the Dog|known to show a softer side]]. Maybe the character rubbed the heroes the wrong way, but never caused any real harm and was otherwise a decent person. |
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In any case, the character '''seriously''' [[Took a Level in Jerkass]] in the [[POV Sequel]], [[The Movie]], [[The Film of the Book]], or any other |
In any case, the character '''seriously''' [[Took a Level in Jerkass]] in the [[POV Sequel]], [[The Movie]], [[The Film of the Book]], or any other re-imagining of the original material. Where he was simply a pest before (and never treated as anything worse than that), or even nice, he now [[Kick the Dog|kicks puppies]] [[For the Evulz|for fun]]. |
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'''Adaptational Villainy''' can take several forms, depending on the adaptation and the character. The [[True Neutral]] figure is actively villainous instead of simply not caring or choosing not to get involved. An imposing and potentially dangerous, but ultimately helpful, ally may become an enemy instead. The [[Anti-Villain]] and [[Tragic Villain]] will probably lose most or all of their sympathetic side and have fewer, if any, [[Pet the Dog|nicer moments]]. This occasionally happens to characters who were explicit good guys in the source material, and if it does it's sometimes a [[Take That]] to [[The Scrappy|an unpopular one]] or to make the character [[Darker and Edgier]]. |
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[[Tropes Are Not Bad|This is not always a bad thing]], however, and indeed some iconic villains have come about in this way, although it will probably lead to accusations of [[Adaptation Decay]] or [[Character Derailment]] from purists. Unlike [[Ron the Death Eater]], there is usually more justification for the change in the character. Sometimes Adaptational Villainy is a result of [[Composite Character]] - the composite mixes the harmless character and a more villainous one - or [[Adaptation Expansion]], when [[No Antagonist|there is no obvious villain]] in the original work, and a [[The Ghost|Ghost]] or another minor character [[Ascended Extra|gets the part]]. Sometimes it's to [[Lighter and Softer|make the moral lines of an otherwise edgy story more clear]] or to [[Adaptation Distillation|simplify]] a complex character. A [[Perspective Flip]] often uses this deliberately to subvert the audience's expectations of who the hero and villain are. If the adaptation does well, the darker incarnation of the character may become more popular and [[Adaptation Displacement|eventually overshadow the original]]. This may happen for [[Adaptation Displacement|a variety]] [[Evil Is Cool|of]] [[Draco in Leather Pants|reasons]]. |
[[Tropes Are Not Bad|This is not always a bad thing]], however, and indeed some iconic villains have come about in this way, although it will probably lead to accusations of [[Adaptation Decay]] or [[Character Derailment]] from purists. Unlike [[Ron the Death Eater]], there is usually more justification for the change in the character. Sometimes Adaptational Villainy is a result of [[Composite Character]] - the composite mixes the harmless character and a more villainous one - or [[Adaptation Expansion]], when [[No Antagonist|there is no obvious villain]] in the original work, and a [[The Ghost|Ghost]] or another minor character [[Ascended Extra|gets the part]]. Sometimes it's to [[Lighter and Softer|make the moral lines of an otherwise edgy story more clear]] or to [[Adaptation Distillation|simplify]] a complex character. A [[Perspective Flip]] often uses this deliberately to subvert the audience's expectations of who the hero and villain are. If the adaptation does well, the darker incarnation of the character may become more popular and [[Adaptation Displacement|eventually overshadow the original]]. This may happen for [[Adaptation Displacement|a variety]] [[Evil Is Cool|of]] [[Draco in Leather Pants|reasons]]. |
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{{examples}} |
{{examples}} |
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== Anime and Manga == |
== Anime and Manga == |
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* In |
* In [[The Movie]] for ''[[The Vision of Escaflowne]]'', Folken is a psychotic [[Big Bad]], while in the original series he was more of an [[Anti-Villain]] or a [[Dragon with an Agenda]] to the actual [[Big Bad]], Emperor Dornkirk (who is absent from the movie altogether). {{spoiler|In fact, in the series he eventually has a [[Heel Face Turn]].}} |
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* To a lesser extent, King Dedede of ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]''. While still rarely exceeding a petty comedic [[Jerkass]], his anime counterpart has far fewer [[Pet the Dog|benevolent moments]] than that of the [[Kirby|original games]] ( |
* To a lesser extent, King Dedede of ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]''. While still rarely exceeding a petty comedic [[Jerkass]], his anime counterpart has far fewer [[Pet the Dog|benevolent moments]] than that of the [[Kirby|original games]] (where he serve as more of an [[Anti-Villain]] - he was known to [[Enemy Mine|occasionally team up with Kirby against a more serious threat, such as Zero or Nightmare]]) and usually plays the main antagonist of each episode. |
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* Some of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. While most of them (with the exception of Giovanni) are basically good guys in the games - Lance and Lorelei even helping out the player character at key points - Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina, Agatha, Lorelei, Lance, Karen, Will and {{spoiler|Pryce}} became villains in the manga adaptation ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. {{spoiler|To be fair, though, Pryce is a more sympathetic [[Anti-Villain]], Lance is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], and most of the other characters listed [[Heel Face Turn|reform]] later on, with the exception of Agatha.}} |
* Some of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. While most of them (with the exception of Giovanni) are basically good guys in the games - Lance and Lorelei even helping out the player character at key points - Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina, Agatha, Lorelei, Lance, Karen, Will and {{spoiler|Pryce}} became villains in the manga adaptation ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. {{spoiler|To be fair, though, Pryce is a more sympathetic [[Anti-Villain]], Lance is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], and most of the other characters listed [[Heel Face Turn|reform]] later on, with the exception of Agatha.}} |
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⚫ | ** This is utilized to a lesser extent with their anime counterparts. Sabrina is a good example: while she is a [[Strange Girl]] in ''[[Pokémon Red Blue and Yellow]]'', she isn't malevolent or dangerous. The anime turns her malevolent, punishing those who challenge her by turning them into dolls. Other Gym Leaders, while not villains, are cast as egotistical jerks in the anime, Lt. Surge, Erika, and Skyla being good examples. Still, just about all of them [[Defeat Equals Friendship|make friends with the heroes]] in the end, similar to their manga counterparts (this is something of an important plot point early on, since more often Ash earns his first gym badges out of reformed kindness from the leaders rather than actually winning against them). |
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** And occasionally the Pokémon themselves (particularly either Poison- or Dark- types), such as in the ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Mystery Dungeon]]'' games. In the games and anime, even Pokémon seen working for the antagonists aren't really evil, [[Punch Clock Villain|just doing their jobs]]. |
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** And occasionally some Pokémon themselves (particularly either Poison- or Dark- types) show unusually violent tendencies as well. Neither Ash nor Team Rocket ever seem to come upon a swarm of Beedrill that isn't hostile. Spearow and Fearow get this bad too. In the games, they are usually depicted as pragmatic Pokemon who flee from danger if they sense any, but in the anime, they seem malicious, prone to attack humans, and capable of holding long-standing grudges, most famously against Ash in the first episode and the incident which led to Pidgeotto's evolution into Pidgeot. There was one episode of Sun/Moon where a flock of them even attacked poor Nebby for no reason. |
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⚫ | ** This is utilized to a lesser extent with their anime counterparts. Sabrina is |
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*** What makes this more unusual is that the games, and to a lesser extent, the anime itself, emphasize that Pokémon aren't truly evil (worrying dex entries aside), with the latter showing that Team Rocket's Pokémon in particular are friendly [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]] when they aren't actively hunting down Ash and Pikachu. |
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* Gendo Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. In the anime, he is [[Ambiguously Evil]] and before his death he regrets having been a bad father to Shinji. In the manga adaptation, he is unquestionably evil and hates Shinji. |
* Gendo Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. In the anime, he is [[Ambiguously Evil]] and before his death he regrets having been a bad father to Shinji. In the manga adaptation, he is unquestionably evil and hates Shinji. |
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** To a smaller extent, Kaworu. In the original anime, he was pretty nice (outside of, you know, {{spoiler|being the seventeenth Angel}}). In the manga, he [[Kick the Dog|kick's a cat]]. This has been done to the point where fans have nicknamed him [[Fan Nickname|Evil Manga Kaworu]]. |
** To a smaller extent, Kaworu. In the original anime, he was pretty nice (outside of, you know, {{spoiler|being the seventeenth Angel}}). In the manga, he [[Kick the Dog|kick's a cat]]. This has been done to the point where fans have nicknamed him [[Fan Nickname|Evil Manga Kaworu]]. |
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* In the 2003 ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime, Basque Grand was transformed from the [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] and [[Colonel Badass]] that he was in the manga into a [[Colonel Kilgore]] and [[General Ripper]] who just can't wait to commit some more genocide. Kimblee, while an awful person in the manga, had his negative qualities cranked [[Up to Eleven]], and his good ones totally suppressed. Even Hohenheim, the [[Big Good]] in the manga, became a [[Retired Monster]] and utter [[Jerkass]]. However, all three of these cases were due to those characters not having been well established yet in the manga when the [[Overtook the Manga|anime overtook it]]. |
* In the 2003 ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime, Basque Grand was transformed from the [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] and [[Colonel Badass]] that he was in the manga into a [[Colonel Kilgore]] and [[General Ripper]] who just can't wait to commit some more genocide. Kimblee, while an awful person in the manga, had his negative qualities cranked [[Up to Eleven]], and his good ones totally suppressed. Even Hohenheim, the [[Big Good]] in the manga, became a [[Retired Monster]] and utter [[Jerkass]]. However, all three of these cases were due to those characters not having been well established yet in the manga when the [[Overtook the Manga|anime overtook it]]. |
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** Particularly justified in the case of Basque Grand, since Hohenheim and Kimblee had the advantage of at least having brief appearances on screen in the manga before their introduction to the anime. Basque Grand was mentioned has having been killed off screen in the manga and nothing else, so the writers of the anime had ''literally'' nothing to go on with him besides his name, appearance, and occupation. |
** Particularly justified in the case of Basque Grand, since Hohenheim and Kimblee had the advantage of at least having brief appearances on screen in the manga before their introduction to the anime. Basque Grand was mentioned has having been killed off screen in the manga and nothing else, so the writers of the anime had ''literally'' nothing to go on with him besides his name, appearance, and occupation. |
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⚫ | * In the [[Howl's Moving Castle (anime)|movie adaptation]] of ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (novel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'', the main villain of the book, the Witch of the Waste, is downgraded and drained of power. Meanwhile, two of the book's nice characters, the kindly, motherly Mrs. Pentstemmon (who in the book is murdered by the Witch) and the absent and also kindly Wizard Suliman (who in the book is captured and cursed by the Witch) are combined into one character and made evil, the real villain of the movie. |
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* [[Little Red Riding Hood]] is a criminal in ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt]]'', and an accomplice of the [[The Big Bad Wolf]]. |
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* While definitely a [[Jerkass Gods|Jerkass God]], Beerus was still very much an [[Affably Evil]] sort of antagonist in ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods]]'' who only turned hostile once Majin Buu ran afoul of his [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] and pressed several [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]] in rapid succession. But in ''[[Dragon Ball Super]]'', which adapted the movie as its first story arc, Beerus is a plain-and-simple [[Jerkass]] who seems to get a sick sense of joy out of tormenting Vegeta during the party right off the bat, and ''grins'' when he slaps Bulma for standing up to him (compared to the movie, which he does out of grim, silent anger). He's also a lot more proactive when it comes to destroying planets (his duty as God of Destruction) and enjoys that as well. Thankfully, [[Character Development|he gets better.]] |
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** Tagoma, a minor villain from ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F']]'' (the following movie), also got hit with this trope when his film was adapted as ''Super'''s second story arc. Originally, he was [[Noble Demon|surprisingly noble]] for one of Frieza's top enforcers to the point that he was willing to spare the lives of people who interfered with Frieza's resurrection [[Even Evil Has Standards|and was wary of resurrecting that madman to begin with.]] But in ''Super'', he's a violent psychopath on par with Frieza himself, and a cackling lunatic who will gladly tear through his own subordinates to kill the heroes, unlike his film counterpart who, judging by his relationship with Sorbet, valued their lives. Though in this case, he has the excuse of being tortured into violent insanity by Frieza, instead of ''merely'' being killed after accidentally pissing him off. |
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* Since they have a chance to be properly fleshed out as characters thanks to having ample pagetime to explore their personalities and motivations, a few of the Maverick bosses from the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series are a ''lot'' worse in the manga adaptations than they were as one-off bosses in the games. Boomer Kuwanger and Flame Stag, fairly standard villains in ''X1'' and ''X2'' respectively, are murderous maniacs willing to kill millions of innocent people purely because the former was bored, and the latter wanted to stick it to X for ''daring'' to discipline him during his Maverick Hunter days. Then there's Frost Walrus, already noted to have been labeled a Maverick in need of scrapping due to his obstinate, violent attitude in ''X4''. The manga adaptation, of course, takes this to its logical conclusion by making him a sick, twisted butcher of a robot with a love of torture, mutilation, and [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]]. |
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== Comic Books == |
== Comic Books == |
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* John Rockerduck is portrayed as a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] in several stories but he was by no means this or any other kind of villain in the only story [[Carl Barks|his creator]] used him. |
* John Rockerduck is portrayed as a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] in several stories but he was by no means this or any other kind of villain in the only story [[Carl Barks|his creator]] used him. |
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* Chaos in [[Sonic the Comic]]. He is depicted as a monster with no sympathetic backstory, while in the games, all of his friends were massacred by a tribe. |
* Chaos in [[Sonic the Comic]]. He is depicted as a monster with no sympathetic backstory, while in the games, all of his friends were massacred by a tribe. |
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* The |
* The [[New 52]] version of Silver Banshee is an inversion. Before the [[Continuity Reboot]] she was an out and out villainess, but the new version has been introduced as a very sympathetic character who seems set to be an outright heroine or at worst a [[Tragic Villain]]. Being [[Supergirl]]'s only friend and having a supervillain father complicate things. |
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== Fan Works == |
== Fan Works == |
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* Generally speaking, this trope is usually in effect for characters subjected to the "[[Ron the Death Eater]]" treatment (when they aren't "merely" twisted into obnoxious jerks). In fact, it's all there in the trope name: there are an ''astounding'' amount of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfics where Ron Weasley, a good-hearted, loyal, steadfast friend, ends up becoming a [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Death Eater]] out of jealousy and spite towards his friends. |
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* In ''[https:// |
* In ''[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13655556/chapters/31364238 Troop of Beasts]'', since Kakarot never hits his head, he never becomes the kind, happy Goku. After successfully killing Gohan (which he does while in full possession of his faculties, rather than after turning into an Oozaru), he slaughters everybody he comes across. Oh, and after forcing Colonel Violet to show how children are made, he starts violating huge numbers of women. Then, after the Red Ribbon Army is defeated, he becomes a warlord who subjugates many communities through brutal conquest. While he [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|comes to deeply care for his family and those he calls friends]] and [[Took a Level In Kindness|becomes more pleasant overall]], he's still not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination. |
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** And ''Troop of Beasts'' is far from the only fic of its kind. Goku never hitting his head and growing up evil (or at least, far rowdier and with looser morals) is a ''very'' popular [[Fandom-Specific Plot]]. |
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* While already an example of this trope in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' anime, Sabrina manages to be even worse in ''[[Pokémon Reset Bloodlines]]''. Much to Ash's horror, the Sabrina of the timeline he's stranded in isn't ''just'' a psycho who turns people into dolls that she can torment forever, but a murderous, sociopathic [[Social Darwinist]] who wants to cleanse the world of people she deems "weak" and "useless". Tellingly, Ash doesn't defeat her by having his clown of a Haunter make her laugh and trigger a [[Heel Face Turn]]. Instead, he swipes her badge and runs the hell away while she comes after him with an army of Psychic Pokémon. |
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* While Count Varley never appears in ''[[Fire Emblem: Three Houses]]'', Bernadetta and Yuri both paint a very vivid picture of him being an abusive father and terrible person in general, while ''Three Hopes'' would reveal that he's also one hell of a [[Dirty Coward]] when he finally appears in the flesh. Even then, he's far from the bloodthirsty war criminal that he is in ''[[The Savior King, the Master Tactician and the Queen of Liberation]]'', and never gets up to anything nearly as bad as butchering entire civilian populations. |
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== Film == |
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* One of the most famous examples is Kaa from ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'' by [[Rudyard Kipling]]. In the book, he is a mentor and friend of Mowgli, helping to save him when he is kidnapped by monkeys and offering him advice for battle, indeed never harming or threatening him in any way. The other animals in the jungle respect and fear him for his [[Old Master|wisdom]] and powers of hypnosis. In the [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Disney movie]] and its sequel, he is a [[Smug Snake|cowardly, greedy villain]] who only sees Mowgli as potential food. Apparently [[Executive Meddling|it was thought by Disney]] that audiences [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character.]] And in the sequel [[Villain Decay|Kaa loses any menace he once had]]. The live-action remake of the movie portrayed him as a mindless monster who is used as a [[Shark Pool]] by King Louie against thieves (in the novel, incidentally, Kaa was the only animal that the monkeys were afraid of); this depiction draws on a ''different'' snake who appeared in ''The Second Jungle Book''. |
* One of the most famous examples is Kaa from ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'' by [[Rudyard Kipling]]. In the book, he is a mentor and friend of Mowgli, helping to save him when he is kidnapped by monkeys and offering him advice for battle, indeed never harming or threatening him in any way. The other animals in the jungle respect and fear him for his [[Old Master|wisdom]] and powers of hypnosis. In the [[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|Disney movie]] and its sequel, he is a [[Smug Snake|cowardly, greedy villain]] who only sees Mowgli as potential food. Apparently [[Executive Meddling|it was thought by Disney]] that audiences [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character.]] And in the sequel [[Villain Decay|Kaa loses any menace he once had]]. The live-action remake of the movie portrayed him as a mindless monster who is used as a [[Shark Pool]] by King Louie against thieves (in the novel, incidentally, Kaa was the only animal that the monkeys were afraid of); this depiction draws on a ''different'' snake who appeared in ''The Second Jungle Book''. |
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** Speaking of ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'', [[Big Bad|Shere Khan]] himself is upgraded slightly with each Disney adaptation. In the books he was an antagonist, but represented as somewhat pitiful, is something of an arrogant fool, and is taken half-heartedly by a lot of residents of the jungle, including Bagheera. In the original Disney film, he is somewhat [[Laughably Evil|comedic]] and playful, but is genuinely feared and implied to be stronger than many animals put together. In ''[[Tale Spin]]'', he is given a much more deathly serious and calculating demeanor, but also is rather [[Affably Evil|affable]] and more of an [[Anti-Villain]] in many of his appearances, with [[Even Evil Has Standards|a moral code]] that restrains his villainy. In the sequel to Disney's ''Jungle Book'' he is an [[Knight of Cerebus|out and out dark presence whose only goal is to rip Mowgli to shreds]]. |
** Speaking of ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'', [[Big Bad|Shere Khan]] himself is upgraded slightly with each Disney adaptation. In the books he was an antagonist, but represented as somewhat pitiful, is something of an arrogant fool, and is taken half-heartedly by a lot of residents of the jungle, including Bagheera. In the original Disney film, he is somewhat [[Laughably Evil|comedic]] and playful, but is genuinely feared and implied to be stronger than many animals put together. In ''[[Tale Spin]]'', he is given a much more deathly serious and calculating demeanor, but also is rather [[Affably Evil|affable]] and more of an [[Anti-Villain]] in many of his appearances, with [[Even Evil Has Standards|a moral code]] that restrains his villainy. In the sequel to Disney's ''Jungle Book'' he is an [[Knight of Cerebus|out and out dark presence whose only goal is to rip Mowgli to shreds]]. |
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* In the children's book ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'', the new appliances in Rob's apartment are friendly and helpful to Toaster and the other older appliances, helping them find a new owner via a radio show, and feel guilty for their role in replacing still useful appliances. In the movie, they are [[Jerkass|arrogant and cruel to them]], even tossing them into a dumpster out of jealousy. |
* In the children's book ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'', the new appliances in Rob's apartment are friendly and helpful to Toaster and the other older appliances, helping them find a new owner via a radio show, and feel guilty for their role in replacing still useful appliances. In the movie, they are [[Jerkass|arrogant and cruel to them]], even tossing them into a dumpster out of jealousy. |
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* The three witches in ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'' are grasping and sneaky, if not evil, characters who try and trick Taman into giving up a treasure for the cauldron. In the book, they are neutral figures who bend their own rules to help Taran and the others get rid of it. |
* The three witches in ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'' are grasping and sneaky, if not evil, characters who try and trick Taman into giving up a treasure for the cauldron. In the book, they are neutral figures who bend their own rules to help Taran and the others get rid of it. |
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⚫ | * In the [[ |
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* Inverted in ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' with Snipes the magpie. In ''Chantecler'', the play which the movie is loosely based on, the Blackbird is a villainous character who plots to kill Chantecler. In the movie, his counterpart Snipes is a [[Jerkass]], but is also one of Chaunticleer's allies and nowhere near as bad as the Blackbird in the play. |
* Inverted in ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' with Snipes the magpie. In ''Chantecler'', the play which the movie is loosely based on, the Blackbird is a villainous character who plots to kill Chantecler. In the movie, his counterpart Snipes is a [[Jerkass]], but is also one of Chaunticleer's allies and nowhere near as bad as the Blackbird in the play. |
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* Both played straight and inverted in ''[[Shrek]]'' - Prince Charming, [[Little Red Riding Hood]], and the [[Fairy Godmother]] are villains while [[The Big Bad Wolf]] is one of the heroes, along with traditionally villainous creatures like ogres and dragons. |
* Both played straight and inverted in ''[[Shrek]]'' - Prince Charming, [[Little Red Riding Hood]], and the [[Fairy Godmother]] are villains while [[The Big Bad Wolf]] is one of the heroes, along with traditionally villainous creatures like ogres and dragons. |
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* Bowser from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' is a much more malevolent character in ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'' than he is in the games he hails from. Instead of a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] who treats his minions well and doesn't get up to much worse than trying to take over the world, he's a [[Jerkass]] [[Bad Boss]] willing to hurt minions who annoy him, and a sadistic [[The Sociopath|sociopath]] who will gladly murder and torture people to get what he wants, as well as destroy the Mushroom Kingdom entirely. Even his obsessive crush on Peach is subject to this, with him trying to murder her when she rejects him during their forced wedding. Compare that to the games, where he's merely a pushy, immature jerk who genuinely loves her (even if he isn't considerate of her feelings). |
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== Films -- Live-Action == |
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* In the original ''[[Land of the Lost (TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'' TV show, Enik the Altrusian was [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|gruff and somewhat self-centered]], but was otherwise a good guy and helped the main characters when they needed it, in contrast to his more vicious Sleestak relatives. In the [[Land of the Lost (film)|2009 live-action]] [[The Film of the Series|movie]], he is a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who wiped out his own people, tries to [[Take Over the World]] with an army of mind-controlled Sleestaks, and briefly tricks the main characters into helping him do so. |
* In the original ''[[Land of the Lost (TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'' TV show, Enik the Altrusian was [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|gruff and somewhat self-centered]], but was otherwise a good guy and helped the main characters when they needed it, in contrast to his more vicious Sleestak relatives. In the [[Land of the Lost (film)|2009 live-action]] [[The Film of the Series|movie]], he is a [[Manipulative Bastard]] who wiped out his own people, tries to [[Take Over the World]] with an army of mind-controlled Sleestaks, and briefly tricks the main characters into helping him do so. |
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* In the book ''[[The Space Odyssey Series|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], HAL-9000 is a beautifully-defined and deeply sympathetic character who is so human that he develops a psychosis. [[2001: A Space Odyssey|The movie]], deprived of the ability to use an [[Author Tract]] to make this clear, makes HAL seem far more monstrous than the original intent, and sadly the film is often cited as an example of [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]. |
* In the book ''[[The Space Odyssey Series|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], HAL-9000 is a beautifully-defined and deeply sympathetic character who is so human that he develops a psychosis. [[2001: A Space Odyssey|The movie]], deprived of the ability to use an [[Author Tract]] to make this clear, makes HAL seem far more monstrous than the original intent, and sadly the film is often cited as an example of [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]. |
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** The movie of ''[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'' sticks more closely to the book and redeems HAL, but of course it's often regarded as a very poor relation to the original movie. |
** The movie of ''[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'' sticks more closely to the book and redeems HAL, but of course it's often regarded as a very poor relation to the original movie. |
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* Pius Thicknesse of the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' books is weak-willed and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but isn't a villain until he is [[Brainwashed]] into becoming one by Voldemort through the Imperius Curse. He's presumably returned to normal after the war, although this isn't shown. In the [[Harry Potter (film)|film series]], he is implied to [[The Quisling|have joined the Death Eaters of his own free will]], as he doesn't display traits of characters under the Imperius Curse in the films and is more self-aware. |
* Pius Thicknesse of the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' books is weak-willed and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but isn't a villain until he is [[Brainwashed]] into becoming one by Voldemort through the Imperius Curse. He's presumably returned to normal after the war, although this isn't shown. In the [[Harry Potter (film)|film series]], he is implied to [[The Quisling|have joined the Death Eaters of his own free will]], as he doesn't display traits of characters under the Imperius Curse in the films and is more self-aware. |
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** Barty Crouch Jr. is also subjected to this. While he and his book-self share many of the same crimes (restoring Voldemort to his former glory, {{spoiler|murdering his father}}, torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, and {{spoiler|kidnapping and impersonating Mad-Eye Moody before locking him away in a trunk for nearly a year}}), he also lacks the sympathetic qualities of his book-self. Instead of being a troubled young man-turned fanatically loyal Death Eater due to a need for a father figure and a pitiable figure in the end, he's a one-dimensional lunatic who ''hisses like a snake'' and joined Voldemort purely [[For the Evulz]]. |
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* Hades in the ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' series is imposing and menacing, described as resembling every dictator in human history, but it turns out that he [[Dark Is Not Evil|isn't one of the bad guys]], and he eventually helps fight against the Titans while his son Nico becomes an important ally of the protagonists. [[Everybody Hates Hades|Not so much in the movie.]] |
* Hades in the ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' series is imposing and menacing, described as resembling every dictator in human history, but it turns out that he [[Dark Is Not Evil|isn't one of the bad guys]], and he eventually helps fight against the Titans while his son Nico becomes an important ally of the protagonists. [[Everybody Hates Hades|Not so much in the movie.]] |
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* Dee-Jay and Zangief in ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]'', who were portrayed as lackeys of M. Bison (although the latter does a [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end). |
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* In the short story that ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' is based on, "The Greatest Gift", Mr. Potter is only the owner of a photography studio and doesn't meet, much less cause problems for, George Bailey. In the movie, he is a corrupt slumlord, [[Jerkass]], and all-around nasty piece of work who goes out of his way to make George's life a living hell ([[Moral Event Horizon|and almost drives him to suicide]]). |
* In the short story that ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' is based on, "The Greatest Gift", Mr. Potter is only the owner of a photography studio and doesn't meet, much less cause problems for, George Bailey. In the movie, he is a corrupt slumlord, [[Jerkass]], and all-around nasty piece of work who goes out of his way to make George's life a living hell ([[Moral Event Horizon|and almost drives him to suicide]]). |
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* The movie version of ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'' has Roscoe and Boss Hogg portrayed as traditional, ''competent'' evil guys instead of the [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|goofball minor incompetents]] they usually were in the TV show. While they were corrupt, greedy jerks in the show, too, they were known to [[Pet the Dog]] on occasion, were relatively [[Harmless Villain|harmless villains]], and [[Even Evil Has Standards|had lines that they wouldn't cross]] - for example, Hogg hated violence and avoided physically harming people as part of his schemes. |
* The movie version of ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'' has Roscoe and Boss Hogg portrayed as traditional, ''competent'' evil guys instead of the [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|goofball minor incompetents]] they usually were in the TV show. While they were corrupt, greedy jerks in the show, too, they were known to [[Pet the Dog]] on occasion, were relatively [[Harmless Villain|harmless villains]], and [[Even Evil Has Standards|had lines that they wouldn't cross]] - for example, Hogg hated violence and avoided physically harming people as part of his schemes. |
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* In ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', Gennaro the lawyer, while a bit of a [[Jerkass]], is reasonably brave; he went on to punch out a ''Velociraptor'' and become [[The Lancer]] to Alan Grant (and survives), while fat Dennis Nedry was a programmer who got shortchanged by Hammond, which gives Nedry a more understandable, if not sympathetic, reason to betray him. In the film, Gennaro is a [[Dirty Coward]] who got eaten by a T-Rex while sitting on a toilet, and Dennis is essentially an unscrupulous backstabber who is open to bribes. |
* In the book ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', Gennaro the lawyer, while a bit of a [[Jerkass]], is reasonably brave; he went on to punch out a ''Velociraptor'' and become [[The Lancer]] to Alan Grant (and survives), while fat Dennis Nedry was a programmer who got shortchanged by Hammond, which gives Nedry a more understandable, if not sympathetic, reason to betray him. In the film, Gennaro is a [[Dirty Coward]] who got eaten by a T-Rex while sitting on a toilet, and Dennis is essentially an unscrupulous backstabber who is open to bribes. |
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** The movie version of Gennaro inherited all his worst traits (including his depraved cowardice and his violent death) from the character Regis, who appeared in the novel |
** The movie version of Gennaro inherited all his worst traits (including his depraved cowardice and his violent death) from the character Regis, who only appeared in the novel, making him a [[Composite Character]]. |
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** Hammond is an inversion. The movie version is a relatively decent man, while novel Hammond is more of a Jerkass (the above mentioned shortchanging of Nedry being one example of his jerkassery) with traits of [[Never My Fault]], blaming everyone but himself (even his grandchildren) for everything going wrong in the end. Movie Hammond lives in the end, while novel Hammond suffers a [[Karmic Death]] when he is slowly devoured by a pack of Compies. |
** Hammond is an inversion. The movie version is a relatively decent man, while novel Hammond is more of a Jerkass (the above mentioned shortchanging of Nedry being one example of his jerkassery) with traits of [[Never My Fault]], blaming everyone but himself (even his grandchildren) for everything going wrong in the end. Movie Hammond lives in the end, while novel Hammond suffers a [[Karmic Death]] when he is slowly devoured by a pack of Compies. |
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* Played with in the case of Emperor Palpatine of ''[[Star Wars]]''. The original novelizations portray him as an ineffective puppet ruler being manipulated by [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s and other bad people. The original trilogy of films hint that Palpatine was likely only pretending to be a puppet, most obviously in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]] gave him some [[Bad Boss]] moments, such as [[The Callista Trilogy|dealing out]] an [[And I Must Scream]] punishment to the engineer who designed that air shaft on the Death Star. The prequel trilogy expands further on Palpatine's history, revealing that he is a [[Complete Monster]] and [[Manipulative Bastard]] who completed a 1000-year-plus [[Xanatos Gambit]] by the Sith to take over the galaxy and destroy the Jedi. This means that Palpatine as portrayed in the webcomic ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' reverted to his oldest characterization. |
* Played with in the case of Emperor Palpatine of ''[[Star Wars]]''. The original novelizations portray him as an ineffective puppet ruler being manipulated by [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s and other bad people. The original trilogy of films hint that Palpatine was likely only pretending to be a puppet, most obviously in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]] gave him some [[Bad Boss]] moments, such as [[The Callista Trilogy|dealing out]] an [[And I Must Scream]] punishment to the engineer who designed that air shaft on the Death Star. The prequel trilogy expands further on Palpatine's history, revealing that he is a [[Complete Monster]] and [[Manipulative Bastard]] who completed a 1000-year-plus [[Xanatos Gambit]] by the Sith to take over the galaxy and destroy the Jedi. This means that Palpatine as portrayed in the webcomic ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' reverted to his oldest characterization. |
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* Scrappy-Doo in the ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' live-action movie. While previously an ally of the good guys ([[The Scrappy|although disliked by a lot of fans]]), he has a [[Face Heel Turn]] and becomes the [[Big Bad]], trying to kill Scooby and friends by sucking out their souls. |
* Scrappy-Doo in the ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' live-action movie. While previously an ally of the good guys ([[The Scrappy|although disliked by a lot of fans]]), he has a [[Face Heel Turn]] and becomes the [[Big Bad]], trying to kill Scooby and friends by sucking out their souls. |
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* In the film version of ''[[The |
* In the film version of ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'', Duncan Heyward, although {{spoiler|he has a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, is significantly more of a jerk than the character in the book. |
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* The [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|movie]] version of Denethor of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' has fewer redeeming features than his [[The Lord of the Rings|book]] counterpart, who leaned more as a [[Good Is Not Nice]] [[Anti-Hero]] until he [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|went mad]] as a result of using [[Evil Overlord|Sauron's]] seeing-stone, which Sauron used to push him over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. |
* The [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|movie]] version of Denethor of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' has fewer redeeming features than his [[The Lord of the Rings|book]] counterpart, who leaned more as a [[Good Is Not Nice]] [[Anti-Hero]] until he [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|went mad]] as a result of using [[Evil Overlord|Sauron's]] seeing-stone, which Sauron used to push him over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. |
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** The Palantir was not Sauron's. They all rightfully belonged to Arnor/Gondor. The problem came when Sauron took the one that had been in Minas Morgul (previously the Gondorian city Minas Ithil) after he conquered it and he ultimately used the link between the stones to deceive Denethor and eventually help break him. |
** The Palantir was not Sauron's. They all rightfully belonged to Arnor/Gondor. The problem came when Sauron took the one that had been in Minas Morgul (previously the Gondorian city Minas Ithil) after he conquered it and he ultimately used the link between the stones to deceive Denethor and eventually help break him. |
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* In the film adaptation of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', the Whos are for the most part more materialistic and unsympathetic than they were in the book, in part to make the Grinch more sympathetic. |
* In the film adaptation of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', the Whos are for the most part more materialistic and unsympathetic than they were in the book, in part to make the Grinch more sympathetic. |
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* ''[[October Sky]]'' turns Homer's father into a [[Jerkass]], presumably because there wouldn't really be a villain otherwise. In the book it was based on, his father is much nicer and more supportive of his rocketry work. |
* ''[[October Sky]]'' turns Homer's father into a [[Jerkass]], presumably because there wouldn't really be a villain otherwise. In the book it was based on, his father is much nicer and more supportive of his rocketry work. |
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⚫ | * In ''[[Iron Man 3]]'', the main villain is {{spoiler|Aldrich Killian, a minor comics character who sold Extremis to criminals, felt bad about it, and shot himself in the head. [[He's Dead, Jim|The end]]. In this film, he's the founder of A.I.M. and infects himself with the virus in order to kill Tony. The official tie-in video game takes it a step further and turns him into that universe's M.O.D.O.K.}} |
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* Inverted in ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'', where Nicholai Ginovaef, the human antagonist in ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'', became a good guy. |
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* In Peter Jackson's ''[[The Hobbit (film)|The Hobbit]]'' the Master of Lake-town has been changed from a greedy, self-centered politician who does not figure much in the plot into an oppressive tyrant who would have already been deposed if not for the ordinary people not being allowed to bear arms. |
* In Peter Jackson's ''[[The Hobbit (film)|The Hobbit]]'' the Master of Lake-town has been changed from a greedy, self-centered politician who does not figure much in the plot into an oppressive tyrant who would have already been deposed if not for the ordinary people not being allowed to bear arms. |
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* In ''[[Spider-Man]]'' comics, [[Venom (Comic Book)|Venom]] is often a villain, and sometimes a [[Nominal Hero]], but he’s usually considered [[Tragic Monster|a tragic one]] in either instance - formerly a journalist, the biggest story of his career was a series of interviews with a man claiming to be the murderous [[Knight Templar]] serial killer, the Sin Eater, cumulating in Brock revealing the killer’s identity. As it turned out, the man was not the Sin Eater at all, just a "compulsive confessor", which was proven when Spider-Man apprehended the true Sin Eater. The unintentionally-fraudulent story caused Brock to lose his job, his wife to divorce him, his father to disown him, and ruins his career, plunging him into madness. However, in ''[[Spider-Man 3]]'', the plot does away with all of his sympathetic qualities - the event that ruins Brock’s career is when he ''purposely'' photoshops Spider-Man into a story to depict Spidey as a criminal, simply to get on J. Jonah Jameson’s good side. When Peter exposes the ruse, Jonah isn’t amused and fires Brock. Making it worse, Brock becomes Venom not when praying for forgiveness for contemplating suicide (as he does in the comic), but praying for God to smite Peter. |
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* The Banana Split Gang became this in the horror/comedy, ''[[The Banana Splits Movie]]''. Folks who grew up between 1968 and 1984 might remember ''[[The Banana Split Show]]'', a variety show produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]] that ran for two years and was then shown on syndication for 12 more years. The show featured cartoon shorts and live action scenes with a [[New Age]] band made up of four nutty [[Funny Animal]] characters, Fleegle (dog), Bingo (monkey), Drooper (lion), and Snorky (elephant). The 2019 movie, however (possibly inspired by [[Five Nights at Freddy's (franchise)|a certain successful video game]]), cast the foursome as homicidal monsters, seeking revenge against the studio for canceling their show. {{spoiler| Except Snorky - he becomes the hero.}} |
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* ''[[Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey]]'' was similar, it features an evil [[Winnie the Pooh|Winnie and Piglet]] seeking bloody revenge against the now adult Christopher Robin for leaving them when he grew older. Unfortunately, the film is, even by slasher standards, pretty bad. |
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* ''[[The Mean One]]'', an (unauthorized) retelling of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' with the Grinch as the sociopathic killer; Cindy Lou (as an adult, the plot occurring twenty years after the incident) is the [[Final Girl]]. |
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* The entire plot of ''[[Brightburn]]''. The movie is pretty much the origin of [[Superman]] - had he been evil. |
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* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Slugworth is this in ''[[Wonka]]'', plus an [[Ascended Extra]]. In the [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|original novel]], [[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory|1971 film]]<ref>He seemed pretty sinister in that movie, but as revealed at the end, it wasn't really him.</ref>, and [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|2005 film]], he is one of the legendary candymaker’s competitors, and in all these versions "only" engaged in corporate espionage. In this prequel, however, {{spoiler|Slugworth is far more evil. A mobster in all but name, he is willing to have Wonka and his allies arrested on frivolous debt claims in order to “discourage” him from opposing the Chocolate Cartel and indenture them to a laundry, resorts to sabotage and arson, and then "offers" to pay off the debts Wonka and his friends owe, so long as he leaves town and never makes chocolate again. While Wonka agrees at first, Slugworth bribes the laundry owner to keep Noodle there anyway, and then tries to kill Wonka by planting a bomb on the boat Wonka leaves on. As Wonka later uncovers, Noodle is the daughter of Slugworth’s deceased brother, Slugworth having told her mother she was dead and then sold her to Scrubitt (the [[Big Bad]] of the movie) in order to eliminate her and gain the family inheritance.}} |
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* While initially seeming like a straight-up case of [[Adaptational Heroism]], it becomes clear around halfway into ''[[Spider-Man: Far From Home]]'' that Mysterio is every bit the villain that he is in the comics, and so much worse than that. While he can be nasty and genuinely dangerous at times, comics!Mysterio, for the most part, skews closer to the "Affable" side of [[Affably Evil]] and is often portrayed as [[A Lighter Shade of Black]] among Spidey's rogues' gallery. Here, Mysterio is a sadistic, sociopathic [[Attention Whore]] who orchestrates disasters with massive casualties around the world so he can stop them and be hailed as a hero for it, and is perfectly willing to murder a bunch of teenagers in order to cover up his crimes. |
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== Literature == |
== Literature == |
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* In ''Frankenstein's Monster'', a [[POV Sequel]] to Mary Shelley's novel ''[[Frankenstein (novel)|Frankenstein]]'', Captain Robert Walton is a [[Knight Templar]] who pursues the monster according to Victor's final wishes. In the original book, although Victor does make the same request, Walton feels some sympathy for the monster and allows it to leave his ship without a fight. |
* In ''Frankenstein's Monster'', a [[POV Sequel]] to Mary Shelley's novel ''[[Frankenstein (novel)|Frankenstein]]'', Captain Robert Walton is a [[Knight Templar]] who pursues the monster according to Victor's final wishes. In the original book, although Victor does make the same request, Walton feels some sympathy for the monster and allows it to leave his ship without a fight. |
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** Victor Frankenstein himself gets this in many modern interpretations, in which he is a [[Mad Scientist]], [[Card-Carrying Villain]], or both. In the book, his mental instability isn't so obvious, and he is a significantly more complex character, more misguided and pathetic than villainous. |
** Victor Frankenstein himself gets this in many modern interpretations, in which he is a [[Mad Scientist]], [[Card-Carrying Villain]], or both. In the book, his mental instability isn't so obvious, and he is a significantly more complex character, more misguided and pathetic than villainous. |
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* ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'': |
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** The Queen of Hearts is clearly a mean woman and a blustering [[Jerkass]] type, but calling her "evil" might be stretching the definition a little; though she often calls for people to be beheaded, her husband secretly pardons most of the people she condemns, and the Gryphon tells Alice that, "It's all in [the Queen's] fancy, you know. They don't actually execute anyone." Nonetheless, you can be sure in almost any modern adaptation of the work or inspired story where Alice is portrayed as the protagonist, the Queen of Hearts [[Composite Character| (often conflated with the Red Queen)]] will be the villain, and portrayed as far more evil than Carroll could have ever imagined. One good example is [[Alice in Wonderland (Disney film)| the 1951 Disney version]]; Whereas the trial scene in the original book ends with her realizing that the Queen of Hearts' threat against her is empty and dismissing the Queen's court as a pack of playing cards, the Disney version of the Queen is portrayed as a genuine threat, and the trial ends with Alice running for her life from the Queen and her soldiers before waking up. |
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** Then there's [[Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)| Tim Burton's movie]] and the [[American McGee's Alice| popular video game]]. Then Queen of Hearts is a mad tyrant in the first, and an [[Eldritch Abomination]] in the second. |
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** [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons| The Jabberwock]] is often both this and an [[Ascended Extra]] in such works, seeing as the evil beast wasn't even an antagonist for Alice in ''[[Through the Looking Glass]]'', only appearing in the now-famous poem that she read. The poem became so popular that most modern adaptations include the creature as an adversary for Alice and the heroes in general. |
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* Mr. Rochester is much less sympathetic in Jean Rhys's ''Wide Sargasso Sea'' than he is in ''[[Jane Eyre]]''. |
* Mr. Rochester is much less sympathetic in Jean Rhys's ''Wide Sargasso Sea'' than he is in ''[[Jane Eyre]]''. |
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* The [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] novel ''The Resurrection Casket'' is ''[[Treasure Island]] [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE]]!'' Drel McCavity (the Squire Trelawney character) turns out to be a villain, but not ''quite'' as much of one as Salvo (the John Silver character) who's been "upgraded" to a [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[Complete Monster]]. |
* The [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] novel ''The Resurrection Casket'' is ''[[Treasure Island]] [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE]]!'' Drel McCavity (the Squire Trelawney character) turns out to be a villain, but not ''quite'' as much of one as Salvo (the John Silver character) who's been "upgraded" to a [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[Complete Monster]]. |
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* In the original story of ''[[Saint George and The Dragon]]'' and most reworkings of it, Saint George is the hero. For example, in ''[[The Reluctant Dragon]]'', he becomes the title character's friend. In the ''Dragon Keepers'' series by Kate Kilmo, Saint George is a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] who enslaves magical creatures and drinks dragons' blood while the princess he saved is an evil witch. The dragon from the original tale tells his own side of the story, in which he was a benevolent sorcerer betrayed and killed by George. |
* In the original story of ''[[Saint George and The Dragon]]'' and most reworkings of it, Saint George is the hero. For example, in ''[[The Reluctant Dragon]]'', he becomes the title character's friend. In the ''Dragon Keepers'' series by Kate Kilmo, Saint George is a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] who enslaves magical creatures and drinks dragons' blood while the princess he saved is an evil witch. The dragon from the original tale tells his own side of the story, in which he was a benevolent sorcerer betrayed and killed by George. |
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* Inverted in ''[[Myth-O-Mania]]'' - mostly with the help of Hades, encounters with famous monsters from [[Classical Mythology]] tend to be resolved peacefully, and many of them are friendly and misunderstood rather than evil. The Hydra becomes one of Hercules's [[True Companions]], and killed humans with her [[Walking Wasteland|poisonous breath]] by accident rather than malice. The Minotaur is a perfectly decent vegetarian whose human "sacrifices" are found alive and well, intended as wrestling partners instead of food, while the Calydonian Boar is a down-on-his-luck wrestler who just wants his job back. |
* Inverted in ''[[Myth-O-Mania]]'' - mostly with the help of Hades, encounters with famous monsters from [[Classical Mythology]] tend to be resolved peacefully, and many of them are friendly and misunderstood rather than evil. The Hydra becomes one of Hercules's [[True Companions]], and killed humans with her [[Walking Wasteland|poisonous breath]] by accident rather than malice. The Minotaur is a perfectly decent vegetarian whose human "sacrifices" are found alive and well, intended as wrestling partners instead of food, while the Calydonian Boar is a down-on-his-luck wrestler who just wants his job back. |
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* In addition to many cases of [[Historical Villain Upgrade]], Dante did this a lot in the ''Inferno'' section of ''[[The Divine Comedy]]''. Many mythological figures like Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, and Diomedes, are suffering in Hell. Dante clearly had some ancestral bias against Greek heroes, seeing as he was Italian (read: Roman) and the Greeks were the victors in the Trojan War. |
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== Live-Action TV == |
== Live-Action TV == |
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* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' has a particularly aggravating one with {{spoiler|Doreah. In the book, she dies crossing the desert, loyal to Daenerys to the end. In the show, she survives the desert, only to happily betray Daenerys, with the line "He said you would never leave the city alive" being our only hint to her motivation.}} The sheer pointlessness of it (she ends up just as dead, with no other impact on the story) is really galling. |
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' has a particularly aggravating one with {{spoiler|Doreah. In the book, she dies crossing the desert, loyal to Daenerys to the end. In the show, she survives the desert, only to happily betray Daenerys, with the line "He said you would never leave the city alive" being our only hint to her motivation.}} The sheer pointlessness of it (she ends up just as dead, with no other impact on the story) is really galling. |
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** Joffery technically counts. He was, indeed, one of the most sadistic monsters on the show, but in this version, it was Littlefinger, not Joffery, who planned and engineered the attack on Bran. |
** Joffery technically counts. He was, indeed, one of the most sadistic monsters on the show, but in this version, it was Littlefinger, not Joffery, who planned and engineered the attack on Bran. |
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* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' combined this Trope with [[Weaponized Landmark]] in the Series 7 episode "The Angels Take Manhattan", where the Statue of Liberty (usually seen as a benign symbol) becomes one of the dreaded Weeping Angels in an [[Alternate Timeline]]. |
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== Mythology == |
== Mythology == |
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* In ''[[Double Dragon]]'', Jimmy Lee went from being the Player 2 character in the arcade version, helping his brother Billy defeat the Black Warriors, to being the [[The Man Behind the Man|true leader]] of the gang in the NES version due to the removal of the co-op mode. Whereas the arcade version only has the battle between the Lee brothers occur if both players completed the game together, the NES version simply has Jimmy show up to fight his brother after Machine Gun Willy (the arcade version's final boss) is defeated. Strangely, the NES versions of both sequels feature Jimmy as Player 2 once again and don't even acknowledge his role as a bad guy in the first NES game. |
* In ''[[Double Dragon]]'', Jimmy Lee went from being the Player 2 character in the arcade version, helping his brother Billy defeat the Black Warriors, to being the [[The Man Behind the Man|true leader]] of the gang in the NES version due to the removal of the co-op mode. Whereas the arcade version only has the battle between the Lee brothers occur if both players completed the game together, the NES version simply has Jimmy show up to fight his brother after Machine Gun Willy (the arcade version's final boss) is defeated. Strangely, the NES versions of both sequels feature Jimmy as Player 2 once again and don't even acknowledge his role as a bad guy in the first NES game. |
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* Smithers robs a jewelry store in ''[[The Simpsons (video game)|The Simpsons]]'' arcade game, a far contrast to his soft-spoken character on the show. |
* Smithers robs a jewelry store in ''[[The Simpsons (video game)|The Simpsons]]'' arcade game, a far contrast to his soft-spoken character on the show. |
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* [[Dumbo|The Ringmaster]] in Disney's ''[[Disney's Villains' Revenge]]''. |
* [[Dumbo|The Ringmaster]] in Disney's ''[[Disney's Villains' Revenge]]''. While he was a clueless windbag and a bit of a [[Jerkass]] in the film, he was far from evil and certainly didn't go out of his way to hurt and antagonize Dumbo. |
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* [[Casting a Shadow|Darkrai]] is portrayed as a [[Dark Is Not Evil]] Pokemon in the [[Pokémon]] games, hiding itself away voluntarily to try and prevent its power to trap other creatures in nightmares from afflicting others. In the [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Mystery Dungeon]] series, it is a much more malicious character who plots to plunge the world into eternal darkness [[For the Evulz]]. However, this Darkrai eventually loses its memory and can be recruited postgame. |
* [[Casting a Shadow|Darkrai]] is portrayed as a [[Dark Is Not Evil]] Pokemon in the [[Pokémon]] games, hiding itself away voluntarily to try and prevent its power to trap other creatures in nightmares from afflicting others. In the [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Mystery Dungeon]] series, it is a much more malicious character who plots to plunge the world into eternal darkness [[For the Evulz]]. However, this Darkrai eventually loses its memory and can be recruited postgame. |
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* ''[[The Simpsons Arcade|The Simpsons Mobile Arcade Game]]''; Many characters who [[Jerkass|are simply jerks]] in the cartoon are bosses trying to impede Homer, such as Chief Wiggum, Mayor Quimby, Jimmy Freedman (aka The Pimple Faced Kid), Kent Brockman, Krusty, and more. |
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* Unlike his comic book counterpart who would rather control New York than destroy it, Kingpin in ''Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin'' is cut from an entirely different cloth. Instead of the de-facto top dog of NYC's criminal underground, he's practically a Bond villain who seeks to nuke the city as part of his greater plan to take over the world, and will happily force Spider-Man to watch as he dunks Mary Jane in a vat of acid in one of the game's bad endings. |
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* Mysterio tends to bounce between being an ineffective goofball and a genuinely terrifying lunatic depending on who's writing him in the comics, but he's a full-on [[Omnicidal Maniac]] in ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]'' who's willing to destroy the multiverse itself so he can reshape it into something that's more to his liking. |
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* Hammerhead was always a bad guy in the original ''[[Spider-Man]]'' comics, but he was no worse than your average mobster and had his fair share of redeeming qualities, such as being against hurting women and children. His incarnation in [[Spider-Man (2018 video game)|the PS4 ''Spider-Man'' game]], however, is a nasty piece of work. Not only does he ''happily'' [[Would Hit a Girl|subject Yuri Watanabe to emotional torture and have Silver Sable physically tortured by his men]], but he's a prolific cop killer, tries to execute his rival Maggia dons by drowning them in cement, and couldn't care less that arming his men with Sable International's dangerous tech will kill plenty of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of his brutal turf wars. |
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* Aran Ryan is this in the Wii version of ''[[Punch Out]]''. When he appears in ''[[Super Punch Out]]'', he fights perfectly clean; even when the game is analyzed using the rules of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combat Sports, he doesn't cheat at all. In the Wii game, however, he is a ''blatant'' cheater, and worse than any other opponent, going so far as to put horseshoes in his gloves and using one of them like a flail. |
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* Wario being among the villains in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl|The Subspace Emissary]]'' isn't too weird in an of itself: he was the [[Big Bad]] of [[Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins|his debut game]], after all! However, the worst thing he did was take over Mario's castle and turn the friendly inhabitants of his island against him. Here, he's perfectly willing to [[Would Hurt a Child|hurt children]] and laugh about it, as well as assist the [[Big Bad|Ancient Minister]] with destroying entire worlds. |
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== Web Originals == |
== Web Originals == |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130621053829/http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/blogs/write/entry/top-five-miscast-disney-villains This page] lists five well-known characters who were reimagined into villains through Disney movies in this way. |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130621053829/http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/blogs/write/entry/top-five-miscast-disney-villains This page] lists five well-known characters who were reimagined into villains through Disney movies in this way. |
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* The ''[[Day of the Barney Trilogy]]'' takes Barney and Baby Bop, who are portrayed as sincere and good friends to the kids on ''[[Barney and Friends]]'', and portrays them as [[Complete Monster]]s who successfully get the world's children to kill any adult they come across, |
* The ''[[Day of the Barney Trilogy]]'' takes Barney and Baby Bop, who are portrayed as sincere and good friends to the kids on ''[[Barney and Friends]]'', and portrays them as [[Complete Monster]]s who successfully get the world's children to kill any adult they come across, {{spoiler|kill their male Special Friends when they turn thirteen, and take the thirteen year old girls away to fatally [[Medical Rape and Impregnate|mother]] mutated offspring.}} They're even revealed to be [[Really 700 Years Old|Really 65 Million Years Old]] and to have been the harbringers of many of the world's evil dictators and catastrophes. |
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* In the movie [[Downfall (film)|Downfall]] [[wikipedia:Hermann Fegelein|Hermann Fegelein]] is simply Heinrich Himmler's Number Two man who Hitler killed for trying to leave the Bunker and flee Berlin. In [[Hitler Rants]], however, he's portrayed as a malicious [[Trickster Archetype]] and [[Screwy Squirrel]] whose "antics" constantly bamboozle [[Butt Monkey|Hitler]] at the drop of a hat, making Fegelein the [[Big Bad]]. Granted, this stuff is [[Poke the Poodle]] compared to the [[Real Life]] [[Complete Monster|Fegelein's]] "[[Moral Event Horizon|antics]]" in Russia. |
* In the movie [[Downfall (film)|Downfall]], [[wikipedia:Hermann Fegelein|Hermann Fegelein]] is simply Heinrich Himmler's Number Two man who Hitler killed for trying to leave the Bunker and flee Berlin. In [[Hitler Rants]], however, he's portrayed as a malicious [[Trickster Archetype]] and [[Screwy Squirrel]] whose "antics" constantly bamboozle [[Butt Monkey|Hitler]] at the drop of a hat, making Fegelein the [[Big Bad]]. Granted, this stuff is [[Poke the Poodle]] compared to the [[Real Life]] [[Complete Monster|Fegelein's]] "[[Moral Event Horizon|antics]]" in Russia. |
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==Western Animation== |
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* In the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games and most cartoon adaptations, Dr "Eggman" Robotnik is villainous, but with a highly [[Affably Evil|affable]] and clownish demeanor, and in some cases leans into [[Anti-Villain]] territory. Robotnik of ''[[Sonic Sat AM]]'' and [[Sonic Underground]], however, is a monstrous (and far less humorous) dictator that not only has taken over most of the planet but thrives almost lustfully on having any remaining civilians [[Transformation Trauma|painfully]] [[Unwilling Roboticisation|robotocized]]. This depiction is drifted in and out for both comic adaptations (although they refer to his more petty, comical personality a lot more). |
* In the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, and most cartoon adaptations, Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik is villainous, but with a highly [[Affably Evil|affable]] and clownish demeanor, and in some cases leans into [[Anti-Villain]] territory. The Robotnik of ''[[Sonic Sat AM]]'' and [[Sonic Underground]], however, is a monstrous (and far less humorous) dictator that not only has taken over most of the planet, but thrives almost lustfully on having any remaining civilians [[Transformation Trauma|painfully]] [[Unwilling Roboticisation|robotocized]]. This depiction is drifted in and out for both comic adaptations (although they refer to his more petty, comical personality a lot more). |
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** Inverted in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' where Robotnik is instead portrayed as an oafish, cowardly buffoon who does nothing but get kicked around by not only Sonic and Tails, but also his own cronies Scratch and Grounder as well. |
** Inverted in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', where Robotnik is instead portrayed as an oafish, cowardly buffoon who does nothing but get kicked around by not only Sonic and Tails, but also his own cronies Scratch and Grounder as well. |
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*** The same applies for his outing in ''[[Sonic Boom]]''. Not only are his [[Affably Evil]] [[Manchild]] tendencies ramped [[Up to Eleven]], but he has his fair share of nice and genuinely ''heroic'' moments. He wants his prison cells for his enemies to be ''comfy'', for crying out loud! |
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* In the song ''[[Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer]]'', Cousin Mel is mentioned a grand total of once, playing cards with Grandpa after Grandma's death. In the [[Christmas Special]] based on the song, she is a [[The Grinch|Christmas-hating]] [[Gold Digger]] and wannabe [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|sings one of the]] [[Disney Acid Sequence|oddest]] [[Villain Song]]s [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|ever written]]. |
* In the song ''[[Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer]]'', Cousin Mel is mentioned a grand total of once, playing cards with Grandpa after Grandma's death. In the [[Christmas Special]] based on the song, she is a [[The Grinch|Christmas-hating]] [[Gold Digger]] and wannabe [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|sings one of the]] [[Disney Acid Sequence|oddest]] [[Villain Song]]s [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|ever written]]. |
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* In the book ''[[Cranberry Christmas]]'', Cyrus Grape is a [[Grumpy Old Man|curmudgeonly old man]] who refuses to let anyone skate on his pond, but gets his comeuppance when Mr. Whiskers finds a deed that proves the lake is actually on his property. In the animated special, Cyrus is a much more active antagonist, sneaking around and messing up Mr. Whiskers's house in order to keep Mr. Whiskers from finding that deed (whereas in the book he had no idea it existed). |
* In the book ''[[Cranberry Christmas]]'', Cyrus Grape is a [[Grumpy Old Man|curmudgeonly old man]] who refuses to let anyone skate on his pond, but gets his comeuppance when Mr. Whiskers finds a deed that proves the lake is actually on his property. In the animated special, Cyrus is a much more active antagonist, sneaking around and messing up Mr. Whiskers's house in order to keep Mr. Whiskers from finding that deed (whereas in the book he had no idea it existed). |
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* Tublat the gorilla from ''[[Tarzan]]'' by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]. In Disney's ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]'', his character is [[Composite Character|merged rather confusingly]] with another, Kerchak. Since Disney decided to make their version of Kerchak (who is ironically more similar to Burroughs's Tublat in personality) more sympathetic, as a consequence they ended up making their version of Tublat more sinister, like the novel's Kerchak. |
* Tublat the gorilla from ''[[Tarzan]]'' by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]. In Disney's ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]'', his character is [[Composite Character|merged rather confusingly]] with another, Kerchak. Since Disney decided to make their version of Kerchak (who is ironically more similar to Burroughs's Tublat in personality) more sympathetic, as a consequence they ended up making their version of Tublat more sinister, like the novel's Kerchak. |
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* In the TV show ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'', Proto Man is one of the major villains. In the games, while he did work for [[Big Bad|Dr. Wily]] [[Mega Man 3|at first]], he had a [[Heel Face Turn]] and became an ally to Mega Man, if a [[Aloof Ally|distant one]]. |
* In the TV show ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'', Proto Man is one of the major villains. In the games, while he did work for [[Big Bad|Dr. Wily]] [[Mega Man 3|at first]], he had a [[Heel Face Turn]] and became an ally to Mega Man, if a [[Aloof Ally|distant one]]. |
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** The same also goes for Dr. Wily himself. While a dangerous and manipulative man in the games, his villainy amounts to little more than trying to take over the world and kidnapping the occasional innocent person (at least, before the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series, where he's taken the plunge into [[Omnicidal Maniac]] territory). Here, he's an unhinged lunatic willing to kill countless innocent people, level entire cities, and even destroy most of the world and rule over the remains all out of petty spite towards Dr. Light. While not ''quite'' as dark, he's basically the show's equivalent to [[Sonic Sat AM|Sat AM Robotnik.]] |
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* In the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' comics [[Silver Sable]] is an [[Anti-Hero|anti-heroic]] mercenary. While she sometimes fights [[Spider-Man]], they usually team up to fight the real villain. In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', Silver Sable is a [[Mafia Princess]] and a straight up villain, since she's the [[Daddy's Little Villain|daughter]] of the mob boss Silvermane in the show. |
* In the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' comics [[Silver Sable]] is an [[Anti-Hero|anti-heroic]] mercenary. While she sometimes fights [[Spider-Man]], they usually team up to fight the real villain. In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', Silver Sable is a [[Mafia Princess]] and a straight up villain, since she's the [[Daddy's Little Villain|daughter]] of the mob boss Silvermane in the show. |
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** [[Word of God]] says that had the show continued, she would have [[Heel Face Turn|evolved]] into her usual anti-heroic persona. |
** [[Word of God]] says that had the show continued, she would have [[Heel Face Turn|evolved]] into her usual anti-heroic persona. |
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** Ammit, on the other hand, is portrayed as a pet of the [[Big Bad]]. In Egyptian mythology she was a neutral enforcer of order and punisher of evil, although this quality made her feared by the ancient Egyptians. |
** Ammit, on the other hand, is portrayed as a pet of the [[Big Bad]]. In Egyptian mythology she was a neutral enforcer of order and punisher of evil, although this quality made her feared by the ancient Egyptians. |
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* The ''[[Street Fighter (animation)|Street Fighter]]'' animated series made Zangief into one of M. Bison's lackeys, despite the fact that Zangief actually opposed Shadaloo in the games. |
* The ''[[Street Fighter (animation)|Street Fighter]]'' animated series made Zangief into one of M. Bison's lackeys, despite the fact that Zangief actually opposed Shadaloo in the games. |
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* In ''[[Wolverine and the X-Men]]'', Magneto's children - Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Polaris (who were all somewhat quick to abandon him in the comics) - are supporters of his, each of whom have attacked the X-Men (if we're counting the time Polaris attacked Professor X). At the end of the show, Scarlet Witch and Polaris turn against him, but Quicksilver stays on his side. Which is strange, considering how he got along ''worst'' with Magneto out of all of them. |
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**At the end of the show, Scarlet Witch and Polaris turn against him, but Quicksilver stays on his side. Which is strange, considering how he got along ''worst'' with Magneto out of all of them. |
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* From ''[[The Smurfs]]'': |
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** In the original version of "King Smurf", Brainy was ''not'' the eponymous villain as he was in the cartoon. Rather this role was taken up by an unnamed smurf. Brainy was, in fact, a member of [[La Résistance|the faction that opposed King Smurf.]] |
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** More a case of "Not the Hero By Adaptation", Brainy's role in "The Weather Smurfing Machine". In the original, he was the one who saved the day by tying his kite to the out-of-control Machine in order to draw lighting to it and blow it to pieces. In the animated version, Handy thinks this up, crafting the kite from Brainy's umbrella. Whether this change of plot was good or not is debatable; one could say that forcing Handy to destroy his own machine was a nice touch. |
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* [[Harley Quinn]] is a character who has gone all the way up and down the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains]], often into true villain territory, but most of the time, she’s regarded as a tragic figure corrupted by the Joker, who in [[New 52]], went so far as to dunk her in the same vat of chemicals that drove him mad. In the 2019 series, however, this origin is changed. Harley’s backstory reveals that she was likely [[Evil All Along]], having been a [[Yandere]] towards a boy as early as age 11 (having spent time in juvie for it) and possibly having killed her [[Alpha Bitch]] rival in high school. This is finally cinched by [[Repressed Memories]] that shows the Joker did ''not'' push her into that vat of chemicals - she willingly ''jumped'' in, and later rationalized that Joker pushed her in to absolve herself of any responsibility for it. This revelation causes Harley to embrace her dark side and plot to outshine the Joker in notoriety, which has been a major part of the ongoing plot. |
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* [[Mad Scientist|Professor Piddy P. Poopypants]] from ''[[Captain Underpants|Captain Underpants: The Epic First Movie]]''. In the original book, he seems to be a somewhat decent fellow until he snaps after George and Harold write a comic book that makes his [[Unfortunate Name]] the butt of a lot of jokes. In a lot of ways, his anger could even be justified; after all, he didn't choose such a ridiculous name, even if silly names are common in New Swissland. In the movie, however (where his name is stated to be P.P. Diarrheastein Poopypants Esquire, making it even more ridiculous) he really isn’t a nice guy to begin with. The movie portrays him as selfish and egotistical, not even interested in reforming (something he does in the original story) and flat-out rejecting the heroes’ attempts to make peace. |
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* From ''[[Justice League: Gods and Monsters]]'':<ref>Designed as a [[Darker and Edgier]] alternate universe to begin with, so these are far from the only changes to mainstream versions.</ref> |
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** Doc Magnus and the [[Metal Men]] are the main antagonists in the initial movie. |
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** Zigzagged with [[Batman]]. He is the [[Token Evil Teammate]] among the heroes here, being a vampire who will not hesitate to kill criminals. However, this version of Batman is not Bruce Wayne, but Kirk Langstrom, (as in the Man-Bat in the mainstream comic) so he can also count as [[Adaptational Heroism]]. |
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** [[The New Gods| Highfather]] is just as treacherous as [[Darkseid]] is in the mainstream universe, if not moreso. |
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** Dear lord, '''Harley Quinn'''. Clearly the most evil version of Harley to date, she's a chainsaw wielding [[Serial Killer]] who keeps the rotting corpses of her family like trophies. Even worse, the Joker is nowhere to be seen, implying she wound up like this on her own. |
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* Many non-evil characters who were originally introduced in the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]]'' comic got this Trope applied in the animated series - Leatherhead, Wingnut & Screwloose, and Mondo Gecko. In fact, the writers had planned to have Ray Fillet be the antagonist in “Rebel Without a Fin”; he was changed to an unrelated [[Fish Person]] simply called Ray because writer Stephen Murphy objected to the character being used as a villain. Didn’t stop a lot of fans from referring to him as “Ray Fillet”, though. |
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* ''[[Velma]]'' does this to the title character, Velma Dinkley; while not nearly as evil as the true antagonist, this version of Velma is far removed from the lovable nerd most fans of ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' are familiar with, the show making her an arrogant, narcissistic, selfish bigot, with no genuine concern for anyone but herself. Possibly her defining moment comes after Daphne gets into a fight with a student named Krista over sex and nudity on television (she opposes it and Krista is in favor of it), Velma assaults Daphne with a hockey stick, before asking her opinion of race-blind casting. When Daphne yells at Velma that she could have killed her, Velma replies “guess I didn’t try hard enough”. While pivotal parts of the story involves Velma clearing Fred and Daphne of murder, she only does so to help her father, who is their lawyer, and for the record, not a very good one. |
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** Daphne is little better than Velma, being both an [[Alpha Bitch]] and a true [[Bully]]. The aforementioned fight with Krista (which starts with choking her and ends with slamming her head to the floor) isn’t the only time she shows a violent streak; in fact, while she isn’t guilty of murder, she comes very close to being so more than once. Naturally, she and Velma are hated rivals during the series, Daphne going so far as to blackmail Velma into dealing narcotics for her in exchange for convincing her own parents (both of whom are police officers) into letting Velma see police records. |
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** The adaptation doesn’t truly make Fred a villain, though it does make him a complete jerk, and as for Shaggy, he has the opposite problem, being a [[Dogged Nice Guy]] who is far too trusting and forgiving, causing the other protagonists to take advantage of him at every opportunity. |
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Latest revision as of 06:22, 7 July 2024
![](http://static.miraheze.org/allthetropeswiki/f/f6/Kaa_Book_vs_movie_6454.jpg)
"As many people have noted throughout the years though, Disney has been rather...lax when it comes to adapting books and fairy tales into movies. This is understandable in some cases. Still, it can be a bit galling when one knows that the fire-breathing, demonic witch on the screen was a kindly old lady in the source material." |
The villain of an adaptation or retelling of a story is a familiar character who wasn't as bad in the source material. Sure, they may have been annoying at times, or couldn't care less about the good guys, but they weren't evil. Maybe they were even an ally of the main characters who leaned a little too far on the Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes, or a villain with standards or who was known to show a softer side. Maybe the character rubbed the heroes the wrong way, but never caused any real harm and was otherwise a decent person.
In any case, the character seriously Took a Level in Jerkass in the POV Sequel, The Movie, The Film of the Book, or any other re-imagining of the original material. Where he was simply a pest before (and never treated as anything worse than that), or even nice, he now kicks puppies for fun.
Adaptational Villainy can take several forms, depending on the adaptation and the character. The True Neutral figure is actively villainous instead of simply not caring or choosing not to get involved. An imposing and potentially dangerous, but ultimately helpful, ally may become an enemy instead. The Anti-Villain and Tragic Villain will probably lose most or all of their sympathetic side and have fewer, if any, nicer moments. This occasionally happens to characters who were explicit good guys in the source material, and if it does it's sometimes a Take That to an unpopular one or to make the character Darker and Edgier.
This is not always a bad thing, however, and indeed some iconic villains have come about in this way, although it will probably lead to accusations of Adaptation Decay or Character Derailment from purists. Unlike Ron the Death Eater, there is usually more justification for the change in the character. Sometimes Adaptational Villainy is a result of Composite Character - the composite mixes the harmless character and a more villainous one - or Adaptation Expansion, when there is no obvious villain in the original work, and a Ghost or another minor character gets the part. Sometimes it's to make the moral lines of an otherwise edgy story more clear or to simplify a complex character. A Perspective Flip often uses this deliberately to subvert the audience's expectations of who the hero and villain are. If the adaptation does well, the darker incarnation of the character may become more popular and eventually overshadow the original. This may happen for a variety of reasons.
It's not Adaptational Villainy if an entirely new character is created to be the villain. This trope only applies if the villain in question is recognizable from the original work, but was a more sympathetic or tragic figure, had some form of standards or was less menacing, had sympathetic moments, was strictly neutral, or wasn't evil at all.
This trope is Older Than Dirt, since this sometimes happened to religious or mythological figures who, over time, became more malicious then they were in the older versions of their myths due to displacement or conquest.
Compare Everybody Hates Hades, which is this trope applied to certain Dark Is Not Evil gods in mythology, and Historical Villain Upgrade, which is a variant for Real Life figures. Ron the Death Eater happens when a section of a fandom demonizes a character rather than one specific adaptation. Contrast Villain Decay, in which an established villainous character becomes less frightening or villainous over time and isn't taken as seriously by the heroes or the audience as a result. This trope is the opposite of Adaptational Heroism.
Anime and Manga
- In The Movie for The Vision of Escaflowne, Folken is a psychotic Big Bad, while in the original series he was more of an Anti-Villain or a Dragon with an Agenda to the actual Big Bad, Emperor Dornkirk (who is absent from the movie altogether). In fact, in the series he eventually has a Heel Face Turn.
- To a lesser extent, King Dedede of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. While still rarely exceeding a petty comedic Jerkass, his anime counterpart has far fewer benevolent moments than that of the original games (where he serve as more of an Anti-Villain - he was known to occasionally team up with Kirby against a more serious threat, such as Zero or Nightmare) and usually plays the main antagonist of each episode.
- Some of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members in Pokémon. While most of them (with the exception of Giovanni) are basically good guys in the games - Lance and Lorelei even helping out the player character at key points - Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina, Agatha, Lorelei, Lance, Karen, Will and Pryce became villains in the manga adaptation Pokémon Special. To be fair, though, Pryce is a more sympathetic Anti-Villain, Lance is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, and most of the other characters listed reform later on, with the exception of Agatha.
- This is utilized to a lesser extent with their anime counterparts. Sabrina is a good example: while she is a Strange Girl in Pokémon Red Blue and Yellow, she isn't malevolent or dangerous. The anime turns her malevolent, punishing those who challenge her by turning them into dolls. Other Gym Leaders, while not villains, are cast as egotistical jerks in the anime, Lt. Surge, Erika, and Skyla being good examples. Still, just about all of them make friends with the heroes in the end, similar to their manga counterparts (this is something of an important plot point early on, since more often Ash earns his first gym badges out of reformed kindness from the leaders rather than actually winning against them).
- And occasionally some Pokémon themselves (particularly either Poison- or Dark- types) show unusually violent tendencies as well. Neither Ash nor Team Rocket ever seem to come upon a swarm of Beedrill that isn't hostile. Spearow and Fearow get this bad too. In the games, they are usually depicted as pragmatic Pokemon who flee from danger if they sense any, but in the anime, they seem malicious, prone to attack humans, and capable of holding long-standing grudges, most famously against Ash in the first episode and the incident which led to Pidgeotto's evolution into Pidgeot. There was one episode of Sun/Moon where a flock of them even attacked poor Nebby for no reason.
- What makes this more unusual is that the games, and to a lesser extent, the anime itself, emphasize that Pokémon aren't truly evil (worrying dex entries aside), with the latter showing that Team Rocket's Pokémon in particular are friendly Punch Clock Villains when they aren't actively hunting down Ash and Pikachu.
- Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the anime, he is Ambiguously Evil and before his death he regrets having been a bad father to Shinji. In the manga adaptation, he is unquestionably evil and hates Shinji.
- To a smaller extent, Kaworu. In the original anime, he was pretty nice (outside of, you know, being the seventeenth Angel). In the manga, he kick's a cat. This has been done to the point where fans have nicknamed him Evil Manga Kaworu.
- In the My-HiME manga, the main antagonists of the first arc are Haruka and Yukino, the latter of whom is friends with Mai and Mikoto in the anime, and the otherwise heroic Akira assists them. By contrast, Shizuru never turns Psycho Lesbian, and Nao (reluctantly) helps the heroes after the teams merge.
- In the Mai-Otome manga, Tomoe is Demoted to Extra and does not attempt to plot against Arika, and Nina never does a Face Heel Turn. On the opposite end, Sergey goes from a Punch Clock Villain who betrays the Big Bad for his daughter's sake to a Complete Monster Big Bad who is not related to Nina, biologically or otherwise.
- In the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Basque Grand was transformed from the Reasonable Authority Figure and Colonel Badass that he was in the manga into a Colonel Kilgore and General Ripper who just can't wait to commit some more genocide. Kimblee, while an awful person in the manga, had his negative qualities cranked Up to Eleven, and his good ones totally suppressed. Even Hohenheim, the Big Good in the manga, became a Retired Monster and utter Jerkass. However, all three of these cases were due to those characters not having been well established yet in the manga when the anime overtook it.
- Particularly justified in the case of Basque Grand, since Hohenheim and Kimblee had the advantage of at least having brief appearances on screen in the manga before their introduction to the anime. Basque Grand was mentioned has having been killed off screen in the manga and nothing else, so the writers of the anime had literally nothing to go on with him besides his name, appearance, and occupation.
- In the movie adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, the main villain of the book, the Witch of the Waste, is downgraded and drained of power. Meanwhile, two of the book's nice characters, the kindly, motherly Mrs. Pentstemmon (who in the book is murdered by the Witch) and the absent and also kindly Wizard Suliman (who in the book is captured and cursed by the Witch) are combined into one character and made evil, the real villain of the movie.
- Little Red Riding Hood is a criminal in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and an accomplice of the The Big Bad Wolf.
- While definitely a Jerkass God, Beerus was still very much an Affably Evil sort of antagonist in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods who only turned hostile once Majin Buu ran afoul of his Hair-Trigger Temper and pressed several Berserk Buttons in rapid succession. But in Dragon Ball Super, which adapted the movie as its first story arc, Beerus is a plain-and-simple Jerkass who seems to get a sick sense of joy out of tormenting Vegeta during the party right off the bat, and grins when he slaps Bulma for standing up to him (compared to the movie, which he does out of grim, silent anger). He's also a lot more proactive when it comes to destroying planets (his duty as God of Destruction) and enjoys that as well. Thankfully, he gets better.
- Tagoma, a minor villain from Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (the following movie), also got hit with this trope when his film was adapted as Super's second story arc. Originally, he was surprisingly noble for one of Frieza's top enforcers to the point that he was willing to spare the lives of people who interfered with Frieza's resurrection and was wary of resurrecting that madman to begin with. But in Super, he's a violent psychopath on par with Frieza himself, and a cackling lunatic who will gladly tear through his own subordinates to kill the heroes, unlike his film counterpart who, judging by his relationship with Sorbet, valued their lives. Though in this case, he has the excuse of being tortured into violent insanity by Frieza, instead of merely being killed after accidentally pissing him off.
- Since they have a chance to be properly fleshed out as characters thanks to having ample pagetime to explore their personalities and motivations, a few of the Maverick bosses from the Mega Man X series are a lot worse in the manga adaptations than they were as one-off bosses in the games. Boomer Kuwanger and Flame Stag, fairly standard villains in X1 and X2 respectively, are murderous maniacs willing to kill millions of innocent people purely because the former was bored, and the latter wanted to stick it to X for daring to discipline him during his Maverick Hunter days. Then there's Frost Walrus, already noted to have been labeled a Maverick in need of scrapping due to his obstinate, violent attitude in X4. The manga adaptation, of course, takes this to its logical conclusion by making him a sick, twisted butcher of a robot with a love of torture, mutilation, and Hunting the Most Dangerous Game.
Comic Books
- In the The Mighty Thor comics, Loki is generally depicted as an evil god (though some individual writers have made him more of an Anti-Villain), but in the original Norse mythology he's a much more ambiguous figure, usually taking the role of The Trickster.
- Played with in the case of the Greek gods and goddesses in Wonder Woman. A number of them started out as Lighter and Softer than they were in Greek Mythology. However, Ares, the God of War, is portrayed as so dangerous and Too Powerful to Live that Wonder Woman has to actually kill him in at least one adaptation. Ares in the Greek myths, although The Berserker and ironically a bit of a Dirty Coward, looked after his kids and was worshipped like the other gods. However, the more recent Wonder Woman stories have taken to portraying the pantheon as somewhere closer to what they were like in mythology.
- In Ultimate Fantastic Four, Reed Richards, a hero in the original comics, becomes a major villain.
- This also happens to the the Hulk, Hank Pym, several X-Men, and the Black Widow, who become more villainous characters in the Ultimate Universe than their original incarnations were.
- John Rockerduck is portrayed as a Corrupt Corporate Executive in several stories but he was by no means this or any other kind of villain in the only story his creator used him.
- Chaos in Sonic the Comic. He is depicted as a monster with no sympathetic backstory, while in the games, all of his friends were massacred by a tribe.
- The New 52 version of Silver Banshee is an inversion. Before the Continuity Reboot she was an out and out villainess, but the new version has been introduced as a very sympathetic character who seems set to be an outright heroine or at worst a Tragic Villain. Being Supergirl's only friend and having a supervillain father complicate things.
Fan Works
- Generally speaking, this trope is usually in effect for characters subjected to the "Ron the Death Eater" treatment (when they aren't "merely" twisted into obnoxious jerks). In fact, it's all there in the trope name: there are an astounding amount of Harry Potter fanfics where Ron Weasley, a good-hearted, loyal, steadfast friend, ends up becoming a Death Eater out of jealousy and spite towards his friends.
- In Troop of Beasts, since Kakarot never hits his head, he never becomes the kind, happy Goku. After successfully killing Gohan (which he does while in full possession of his faculties, rather than after turning into an Oozaru), he slaughters everybody he comes across. Oh, and after forcing Colonel Violet to show how children are made, he starts violating huge numbers of women. Then, after the Red Ribbon Army is defeated, he becomes a warlord who subjugates many communities through brutal conquest. While he comes to deeply care for his family and those he calls friends and becomes more pleasant overall, he's still not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination.
- And Troop of Beasts is far from the only fic of its kind. Goku never hitting his head and growing up evil (or at least, far rowdier and with looser morals) is a very popular Fandom-Specific Plot.
- While already an example of this trope in the Pokémon anime, Sabrina manages to be even worse in Pokémon Reset Bloodlines. Much to Ash's horror, the Sabrina of the timeline he's stranded in isn't just a psycho who turns people into dolls that she can torment forever, but a murderous, sociopathic Social Darwinist who wants to cleanse the world of people she deems "weak" and "useless". Tellingly, Ash doesn't defeat her by having his clown of a Haunter make her laugh and trigger a Heel Face Turn. Instead, he swipes her badge and runs the hell away while she comes after him with an army of Psychic Pokémon.
- While Count Varley never appears in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Bernadetta and Yuri both paint a very vivid picture of him being an abusive father and terrible person in general, while Three Hopes would reveal that he's also one hell of a Dirty Coward when he finally appears in the flesh. Even then, he's far from the bloodthirsty war criminal that he is in The Savior King, the Master Tactician and the Queen of Liberation, and never gets up to anything nearly as bad as butchering entire civilian populations.
Film
- One of the most famous examples is Kaa from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. In the book, he is a mentor and friend of Mowgli, helping to save him when he is kidnapped by monkeys and offering him advice for battle, indeed never harming or threatening him in any way. The other animals in the jungle respect and fear him for his wisdom and powers of hypnosis. In the Disney movie and its sequel, he is a cowardly, greedy villain who only sees Mowgli as potential food. Apparently it was thought by Disney that audiences wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character. And in the sequel Kaa loses any menace he once had. The live-action remake of the movie portrayed him as a mindless monster who is used as a Shark Pool by King Louie against thieves (in the novel, incidentally, Kaa was the only animal that the monkeys were afraid of); this depiction draws on a different snake who appeared in The Second Jungle Book.
- Speaking of The Jungle Book, Shere Khan himself is upgraded slightly with each Disney adaptation. In the books he was an antagonist, but represented as somewhat pitiful, is something of an arrogant fool, and is taken half-heartedly by a lot of residents of the jungle, including Bagheera. In the original Disney film, he is somewhat comedic and playful, but is genuinely feared and implied to be stronger than many animals put together. In Tale Spin, he is given a much more deathly serious and calculating demeanor, but also is rather affable and more of an Anti-Villain in many of his appearances, with a moral code that restrains his villainy. In the sequel to Disney's Jungle Book he is an out and out dark presence whose only goal is to rip Mowgli to shreds.
- Jenner is quite the Complete Monster in the Don Bluth film The Secret of NIMH, what with destroying Mrs. Brisby's home and killing Nicodemus. However, in the book the film is based on, he is not nearly as villainous, but is a slightly more sympathetic and much less malicious Commander Contrarian who only appears through flashbacks and dies offstage.
- In the (non-Bluth directed) sequel to the movie, Martin, a good guy in both the film and book, becomes a crazed villain (although as the result of brainwashing).
- Ivan Sakharine in the Tintin comic The Secret of the Unicorn. While sinister-seeming and a nuisance, he isn't evil, and is victimized by the real villains, a pair of unscrupulous treasure hunters. He even gets an implied Pet the Dog moment - a cameo in Red Rackham's Treasure suggests that he offered his own Unicorn model for Captain Haddock's maritime gallery, and in turn Haddock seems to be on good enough terms with Sakharine to invite him to an exhibition there. In the movie based on the same comic, he is a much darker and more threatening character with a blood vendetta against Haddock's family who takes over the role of the comic's villains.
- In Disney's Hercules, Hades is a Satan-like villain (again), intent on overthrowing Zeus and taking over Mount Olympus. In Greek Mythology, he was a neutral but just ruler of the dead and no worse than the other Greek gods. Hades had no antagonism towards Heracles, only meeting the hero when Heracles asked to borrow Cerberus for one of his twelve labors. Heracles's original divine enemy was Hera, his stepmother and Zeus's wife. As for overthrowing Zeus, Hades never tried that in the myths. While Hades did kidnap Persephone (with Zeus's permission), he was nowhere near as bad a husband as his brothers Zeus and Poseidon.
- Inverted with Hera, however. In the movie, she is portrayed as Hercules's loving mother. In mythology, she was his main enemy, since he was the product of one of Zeus's "escapades".
- The Sea Witch in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Little Mermaid is a True Neutral character who shows no vindictive intentions toward the unnamed mermaid, only making the famous tongue-for-legs exchange, even warning the mermaid of the consequences of the transformation. She doesn't go back on the deal or interfere with her relationship with the prince until she is asked to by the mermaid's sisters, and even then only indirectly. In the Disney Animated Canon, she is named Ursula, is an out-and-out villain with a tendency toward Faustian deals, and gets in the way of Ariel's romance with Prince Eric far more than the character in the fairy tale did.
- Ursula also takes the place of the princess who the prince eventually marries in the original, who is innocent in Andersen's fairy tale and genuinely loves him.
- It may be surprising to learn that Archdeacon Claude Frollo of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a more sympathetic character in the original novel by Victor Hugo. While driven to evil deeds later by his lust for Esmeralda, he willingly adopts and cares for Quasimodo, instead of threatening to throw him down a well as he did in the Disney version of the story. All while looking after his layabout of a brother, Jehan, and being orphaned himself to boot. He was also more tolerant of gypsies, asking only that they keep their activities away from the cathedral rather than actively hunting them down.
- Inverted with Phoebus, however. In the book, he is a Jerkass and a Karma Houdini. In the movie, he is a much more sympathetic character who is Quasimodo's ally and marries Esmeralda in the end.
- The Queen of Hearts is depicted as an Axe Crazy villainess in the Disney and Tim Burton adaptations of Alice in Wonderland. In the book by Lewis Carroll, while she does constantly order executions, the King quietly pardons everybody she sentences to death when she isn't looking and no real harm is done. She never notices this, and the inhabitants of Wonderland just choose to play along with her.
- In the children's book The Brave Little Toaster, the new appliances in Rob's apartment are friendly and helpful to Toaster and the other older appliances, helping them find a new owner via a radio show, and feel guilty for their role in replacing still useful appliances. In the movie, they are arrogant and cruel to them, even tossing them into a dumpster out of jealousy.
- The three witches in The Black Cauldron are grasping and sneaky, if not evil, characters who try and trick Taman into giving up a treasure for the cauldron. In the book, they are neutral figures who bend their own rules to help Taran and the others get rid of it.
- Inverted in Rock-a-Doodle with Snipes the magpie. In Chantecler, the play which the movie is loosely based on, the Blackbird is a villainous character who plots to kill Chantecler. In the movie, his counterpart Snipes is a Jerkass, but is also one of Chaunticleer's allies and nowhere near as bad as the Blackbird in the play.
- Both played straight and inverted in Shrek - Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Fairy Godmother are villains while The Big Bad Wolf is one of the heroes, along with traditionally villainous creatures like ogres and dragons.
- Bowser from Super Mario Bros. is a much more malevolent character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie than he is in the games he hails from. Instead of a Jerk With a Heart of Gold who treats his minions well and doesn't get up to much worse than trying to take over the world, he's a Jerkass Bad Boss willing to hurt minions who annoy him, and a sadistic sociopath who will gladly murder and torture people to get what he wants, as well as destroy the Mushroom Kingdom entirely. Even his obsessive crush on Peach is subject to this, with him trying to murder her when she rejects him during their forced wedding. Compare that to the games, where he's merely a pushy, immature jerk who genuinely loves her (even if he isn't considerate of her feelings).
- In the original Land of the Lost TV show, Enik the Altrusian was gruff and somewhat self-centered, but was otherwise a good guy and helped the main characters when they needed it, in contrast to his more vicious Sleestak relatives. In the 2009 live-action movie, he is a Manipulative Bastard who wiped out his own people, tries to Take Over the World with an army of mind-controlled Sleestaks, and briefly tricks the main characters into helping him do so.
- In the book 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, HAL-9000 is a beautifully-defined and deeply sympathetic character who is so human that he develops a psychosis. The movie, deprived of the ability to use an Author Tract to make this clear, makes HAL seem far more monstrous than the original intent, and sadly the film is often cited as an example of A.I. Is a Crapshoot.
- The movie of 2010: The Year We Make Contact sticks more closely to the book and redeems HAL, but of course it's often regarded as a very poor relation to the original movie.
- Pius Thicknesse of the Harry Potter books is weak-willed and not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but isn't a villain until he is Brainwashed into becoming one by Voldemort through the Imperius Curse. He's presumably returned to normal after the war, although this isn't shown. In the film series, he is implied to have joined the Death Eaters of his own free will, as he doesn't display traits of characters under the Imperius Curse in the films and is more self-aware.
- Barty Crouch Jr. is also subjected to this. While he and his book-self share many of the same crimes (restoring Voldemort to his former glory, murdering his father, torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, and kidnapping and impersonating Mad-Eye Moody before locking him away in a trunk for nearly a year), he also lacks the sympathetic qualities of his book-self. Instead of being a troubled young man-turned fanatically loyal Death Eater due to a need for a father figure and a pitiable figure in the end, he's a one-dimensional lunatic who hisses like a snake and joined Voldemort purely For the Evulz.
- Hades in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series is imposing and menacing, described as resembling every dictator in human history, but it turns out that he isn't one of the bad guys, and he eventually helps fight against the Titans while his son Nico becomes an important ally of the protagonists. Not so much in the movie.
- Dee-Jay and Zangief in Street Fighter, who were portrayed as lackeys of M. Bison (although the latter does a Heel Face Turn at the end).
- In the short story that It's a Wonderful Life is based on, "The Greatest Gift", Mr. Potter is only the owner of a photography studio and doesn't meet, much less cause problems for, George Bailey. In the movie, he is a corrupt slumlord, Jerkass, and all-around nasty piece of work who goes out of his way to make George's life a living hell (and almost drives him to suicide).
- The movie version of The Dukes of Hazzard has Roscoe and Boss Hogg portrayed as traditional, competent evil guys instead of the goofball minor incompetents they usually were in the TV show. While they were corrupt, greedy jerks in the show, too, they were known to Pet the Dog on occasion, were relatively harmless villains, and had lines that they wouldn't cross - for example, Hogg hated violence and avoided physically harming people as part of his schemes.
- In the book Jurassic Park, Gennaro the lawyer, while a bit of a Jerkass, is reasonably brave; he went on to punch out a Velociraptor and become The Lancer to Alan Grant (and survives), while fat Dennis Nedry was a programmer who got shortchanged by Hammond, which gives Nedry a more understandable, if not sympathetic, reason to betray him. In the film, Gennaro is a Dirty Coward who got eaten by a T-Rex while sitting on a toilet, and Dennis is essentially an unscrupulous backstabber who is open to bribes.
- The movie version of Gennaro inherited all his worst traits (including his depraved cowardice and his violent death) from the character Regis, who only appeared in the novel, making him a Composite Character.
- Hammond is an inversion. The movie version is a relatively decent man, while novel Hammond is more of a Jerkass (the above mentioned shortchanging of Nedry being one example of his jerkassery) with traits of Never My Fault, blaming everyone but himself (even his grandchildren) for everything going wrong in the end. Movie Hammond lives in the end, while novel Hammond suffers a Karmic Death when he is slowly devoured by a pack of Compies.
- Played with in the case of Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars. The original novelizations portray him as an ineffective puppet ruler being manipulated by Corrupt Corporate Executives and other bad people. The original trilogy of films hint that Palpatine was likely only pretending to be a puppet, most obviously in Return of the Jedi. The Expanded Universe gave him some Bad Boss moments, such as dealing out an And I Must Scream punishment to the engineer who designed that air shaft on the Death Star. The prequel trilogy expands further on Palpatine's history, revealing that he is a Complete Monster and Manipulative Bastard who completed a 1000-year-plus Xanatos Gambit by the Sith to take over the galaxy and destroy the Jedi. This means that Palpatine as portrayed in the webcomic Darths and Droids reverted to his oldest characterization.
- Scrappy-Doo in the Scooby Doo live-action movie. While previously an ally of the good guys (although disliked by a lot of fans), he has a Face Heel Turn and becomes the Big Bad, trying to kill Scooby and friends by sucking out their souls.
- In the film version of The Last of the Mohicans, Duncan Heyward, although he has a Heroic Sacrifice, is significantly more of a jerk than the character in the book.
- The movie version of Denethor of The Lord of the Rings has fewer redeeming features than his book counterpart, who leaned more as a Good Is Not Nice Anti-Hero until he went mad as a result of using Sauron's seeing-stone, which Sauron used to push him over the Despair Event Horizon.
- The Palantir was not Sauron's. They all rightfully belonged to Arnor/Gondor. The problem came when Sauron took the one that had been in Minas Morgul (previously the Gondorian city Minas Ithil) after he conquered it and he ultimately used the link between the stones to deceive Denethor and eventually help break him.
- It does the same to Saruman. The only people able to use the stones without going mad were Aragorn and Pippin. Aragorn was too powerful for Sauron to break and Pippin was... well, a Hobbit. Denethor was probably down the line of his corruption for the sake of story telling.
- Faramir, although on the good side in both, is more antagonistic towards the hobbits in the film version of The Two Towers than he was in the book. He is also tempted by the Ring in the movie - in the book, he's Genre Savvy enough to know that anything made by Sauron is probably dangerous.
- Word of God says it was because they didn't have enough time to do the complex character development that that scene would require to justify Faramir not trying to take the ring.
- Jim Phelps in the first Mission Impossible movie. In the original series, he was a major protagonist.
- Sentinel Prime, in his earliest appearances in the Transformers cartoons, was one of Optimus Prime's mentors and is usually depicted as a good guy. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, however, he is the Big Bad and has no qualms about killing and enslaving humans to restore Cybertron.
- Granted, this isn't the first time Sentinel's actions were morally reprehensible, but this is the first time that he's depicted as an outright villain.[1]
- He was also originally planned to be Ultra Magnus, one of Optimus's closest friends in previous series, but Hasbro didn't want Ultra Magnus's name to be tarnished as a traitor, just like how they also didn't like the idea of making Rodimus a jerk.
- In the famous movie Dracula, and many other adaptations after it, Renfield is a willing slave to Dracula. In the original book, while Renfield is under Dracula's control, he isn't so happy about it. He even tries to kill Dracula at one point, although unsuccessfully.
- In the film adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Whos are for the most part more materialistic and unsympathetic than they were in the book, in part to make the Grinch more sympathetic.
- October Sky turns Homer's father into a Jerkass, presumably because there wouldn't really be a villain otherwise. In the book it was based on, his father is much nicer and more supportive of his rocketry work.
- In Iron Man 3, the main villain is Aldrich Killian, a minor comics character who sold Extremis to criminals, felt bad about it, and shot himself in the head. The end. In this film, he's the founder of A.I.M. and infects himself with the virus in order to kill Tony. The official tie-in video game takes it a step further and turns him into that universe's M.O.D.O.K.
- In Marvel comics, Psylocke, Spike, Multiple Man, and Quill are all allies of the X-Men. In X-Men: The Last Stand, all of them are members of Magneto's Brotherhood.
- In Peter Jackson's The Hobbit the Master of Lake-town has been changed from a greedy, self-centered politician who does not figure much in the plot into an oppressive tyrant who would have already been deposed if not for the ordinary people not being allowed to bear arms.
- In Spider-Man comics, Venom is often a villain, and sometimes a Nominal Hero, but he’s usually considered a tragic one in either instance - formerly a journalist, the biggest story of his career was a series of interviews with a man claiming to be the murderous Knight Templar serial killer, the Sin Eater, cumulating in Brock revealing the killer’s identity. As it turned out, the man was not the Sin Eater at all, just a "compulsive confessor", which was proven when Spider-Man apprehended the true Sin Eater. The unintentionally-fraudulent story caused Brock to lose his job, his wife to divorce him, his father to disown him, and ruins his career, plunging him into madness. However, in Spider-Man 3, the plot does away with all of his sympathetic qualities - the event that ruins Brock’s career is when he purposely photoshops Spider-Man into a story to depict Spidey as a criminal, simply to get on J. Jonah Jameson’s good side. When Peter exposes the ruse, Jonah isn’t amused and fires Brock. Making it worse, Brock becomes Venom not when praying for forgiveness for contemplating suicide (as he does in the comic), but praying for God to smite Peter.
- The Banana Split Gang became this in the horror/comedy, The Banana Splits Movie. Folks who grew up between 1968 and 1984 might remember The Banana Split Show, a variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera that ran for two years and was then shown on syndication for 12 more years. The show featured cartoon shorts and live action scenes with a New Age band made up of four nutty Funny Animal characters, Fleegle (dog), Bingo (monkey), Drooper (lion), and Snorky (elephant). The 2019 movie, however (possibly inspired by a certain successful video game), cast the foursome as homicidal monsters, seeking revenge against the studio for canceling their show. Except Snorky - he becomes the hero.
- Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was similar, it features an evil Winnie and Piglet seeking bloody revenge against the now adult Christopher Robin for leaving them when he grew older. Unfortunately, the film is, even by slasher standards, pretty bad.
- The Mean One, an (unauthorized) retelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas with the Grinch as the sociopathic killer; Cindy Lou (as an adult, the plot occurring twenty years after the incident) is the Final Girl.
- The entire plot of Brightburn. The movie is pretty much the origin of Superman - had he been evil.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive Slugworth is this in Wonka, plus an Ascended Extra. In the original novel, 1971 film[2], and 2005 film, he is one of the legendary candymaker’s competitors, and in all these versions "only" engaged in corporate espionage. In this prequel, however, Slugworth is far more evil. A mobster in all but name, he is willing to have Wonka and his allies arrested on frivolous debt claims in order to “discourage” him from opposing the Chocolate Cartel and indenture them to a laundry, resorts to sabotage and arson, and then "offers" to pay off the debts Wonka and his friends owe, so long as he leaves town and never makes chocolate again. While Wonka agrees at first, Slugworth bribes the laundry owner to keep Noodle there anyway, and then tries to kill Wonka by planting a bomb on the boat Wonka leaves on. As Wonka later uncovers, Noodle is the daughter of Slugworth’s deceased brother, Slugworth having told her mother she was dead and then sold her to Scrubitt (the Big Bad of the movie) in order to eliminate her and gain the family inheritance.
- While initially seeming like a straight-up case of Adaptational Heroism, it becomes clear around halfway into Spider-Man: Far From Home that Mysterio is every bit the villain that he is in the comics, and so much worse than that. While he can be nasty and genuinely dangerous at times, comics!Mysterio, for the most part, skews closer to the "Affable" side of Affably Evil and is often portrayed as A Lighter Shade of Black among Spidey's rogues' gallery. Here, Mysterio is a sadistic, sociopathic Attention Whore who orchestrates disasters with massive casualties around the world so he can stop them and be hailed as a hero for it, and is perfectly willing to murder a bunch of teenagers in order to cover up his crimes.
Literature
- In Frankenstein's Monster, a POV Sequel to Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, Captain Robert Walton is a Knight Templar who pursues the monster according to Victor's final wishes. In the original book, although Victor does make the same request, Walton feels some sympathy for the monster and allows it to leave his ship without a fight.
- Victor Frankenstein himself gets this in many modern interpretations, in which he is a Mad Scientist, Card-Carrying Villain, or both. In the book, his mental instability isn't so obvious, and he is a significantly more complex character, more misguided and pathetic than villainous.
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
- The Queen of Hearts is clearly a mean woman and a blustering Jerkass type, but calling her "evil" might be stretching the definition a little; though she often calls for people to be beheaded, her husband secretly pardons most of the people she condemns, and the Gryphon tells Alice that, "It's all in [the Queen's] fancy, you know. They don't actually execute anyone." Nonetheless, you can be sure in almost any modern adaptation of the work or inspired story where Alice is portrayed as the protagonist, the Queen of Hearts (often conflated with the Red Queen) will be the villain, and portrayed as far more evil than Carroll could have ever imagined. One good example is the 1951 Disney version; Whereas the trial scene in the original book ends with her realizing that the Queen of Hearts' threat against her is empty and dismissing the Queen's court as a pack of playing cards, the Disney version of the Queen is portrayed as a genuine threat, and the trial ends with Alice running for her life from the Queen and her soldiers before waking up.
- Then there's Tim Burton's movie and the popular video game. Then Queen of Hearts is a mad tyrant in the first, and an Eldritch Abomination in the second.
- The Jabberwock is often both this and an Ascended Extra in such works, seeing as the evil beast wasn't even an antagonist for Alice in Through the Looking Glass, only appearing in the now-famous poem that she read. The poem became so popular that most modern adaptations include the creature as an adversary for Alice and the heroes in general.
- Mr. Rochester is much less sympathetic in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea than he is in Jane Eyre.
- The Doctor Who Expanded Universe novel The Resurrection Casket is Treasure Island IN SPACE! Drel McCavity (the Squire Trelawney character) turns out to be a villain, but not quite as much of one as Salvo (the John Silver character) who's been "upgraded" to a Faux Affably Evil Complete Monster.
- In the original story of Saint George and The Dragon and most reworkings of it, Saint George is the hero. For example, in The Reluctant Dragon, he becomes the title character's friend. In the Dragon Keepers series by Kate Kilmo, Saint George is a Villain with Good Publicity who enslaves magical creatures and drinks dragons' blood while the princess he saved is an evil witch. The dragon from the original tale tells his own side of the story, in which he was a benevolent sorcerer betrayed and killed by George.
- Inverted in Myth-O-Mania - mostly with the help of Hades, encounters with famous monsters from Classical Mythology tend to be resolved peacefully, and many of them are friendly and misunderstood rather than evil. The Hydra becomes one of Hercules's True Companions, and killed humans with her poisonous breath by accident rather than malice. The Minotaur is a perfectly decent vegetarian whose human "sacrifices" are found alive and well, intended as wrestling partners instead of food, while the Calydonian Boar is a down-on-his-luck wrestler who just wants his job back.
- In addition to many cases of Historical Villain Upgrade, Dante did this a lot in the Inferno section of The Divine Comedy. Many mythological figures like Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, and Diomedes, are suffering in Hell. Dante clearly had some ancestral bias against Greek heroes, seeing as he was Italian (read: Roman) and the Greeks were the victors in the Trojan War.
Live-Action TV
- In Forrest Wilson's Super Gran books, the character Tub, while initially a somewhat reluctant henchman to Campbell, becomes a good guy in later books following a Heel Face Turn. In the TV show, he is a Card-Carrying Villain who goes along with Campbell's plans unquestioningly.
- In the Sky 1 adaptation of Treasure Island, the real villain isn't the Affably Evil Silver; it's Squire Trelawney, who plots to cheat Jim and Dr Livesey out of their share of the treasure, arranges for Mrs Hawkins to be thrown out of the inn while they're away, has Mr Arrow executed, and eventually suffers a Karmic Death by diving after the treasure when Jim throws it overboard. Not much like the excitable but well-meaning "most liberal of men" in the book.
- Tom Redruth, Trelawney's gamekeeper, gets this, too - in the book, he is an elderly man who accompanies Trelawney to the island and is killed by the mutineers. In the series, he is Trelawney's vicious enforcer back in England.
- The television adaptation of the Sharpe novel Sharpe's Battle was written before the novel had been finished, resulting in a vastly different second half. So while Lord Kiely gets a much more sympathetic treatment in the adaptation and dies a heroic death (rather than blowing his brains out on realising he's a bit rubbish), Spear Carrier Guardsman O'Rourke, whose main contribution in the novel is to say his name when Sharpe asks him, gets turned into a Turncoat who kills a couple of likeable characters mostly because they're there.
- The Worst Witch TV series inverted this a lot, coupling with Adaptation Expansion. Miss Bat and Miss Drill each made one appearance in the original books and were implied to be rather strict and unkind teachers. In the TV series however they are both much nicer and are more likely to help the girls with whatever problems they have. Drucilla in the books is also the right hand girl to Alpha Bitch Ethel Hallow but gets a Heel Face Turn towards the end of the series. Even Ethel is hinted to not be that bad and helps the girls out a few times, something she certainly didn't do in the books. Miss Hardbroom is also much less of a Sadist Teacher than she is in the books.
- Game of Thrones has a particularly aggravating one with Doreah. In the book, she dies crossing the desert, loyal to Daenerys to the end. In the show, she survives the desert, only to happily betray Daenerys, with the line "He said you would never leave the city alive" being our only hint to her motivation. The sheer pointlessness of it (she ends up just as dead, with no other impact on the story) is really galling.
- Joffery technically counts. He was, indeed, one of the most sadistic monsters on the show, but in this version, it was Littlefinger, not Joffery, who planned and engineered the attack on Bran.
- Doctor Who combined this Trope with Weaponized Landmark in the Series 7 episode "The Angels Take Manhattan", where the Statue of Liberty (usually seen as a benign symbol) becomes one of the dreaded Weeping Angels in an Alternate Timeline.
Mythology
- Mordred in Arthurian legend went from playing a small but important role as the killer of Arthur (and something of a Worthy Opponent) to becoming Arthur's evil illegitimate son who was connected to Morgan le Fay. In his earliest appearances, it isn't clear whether Mordred and Arthur were enemies at all.
- Morgan le Fay herself was, in her earliest incarnations, a healer who helped Arthur by preserving his immortality, not the evil witch seen in later versions of the story.
- Odysseus, while respected by many of his enemies for his cunning and tactical skills in Greek Mythology, was viewed as a liar and a cheat by the Romans (such as Virgil), who treated him as a pure villain and placed far less emphasis on his good characteristics. In The Divine Comedy, Dante placed Ulysses in the hell of evil counselors.
- Set in Egyptian Mythology, although he feuded with Horus after killing Osiris, was originally the protector of Re from the evil serpent Apep and worshipped in his own right. After Egypt was split between the Upper and Lower Kingdoms, he became an evil god in Lower Egypt and his positive aspects were handed over to other deities. His worship as the god of foreigners almost entirely stopped after the Hyksos invaded Egypt.
- Loki of Norse mythology, while always a trickster, steadily becomes more and more of a bad guy throughout the different stories. Some of this is assumed to be because of Christian influence.
Theater
- The Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although he becomes one of Dorothy's friends, isn't nice in his early appearances (after all, he did have Ozma kidnapped to prevent her from interfering with his takeover of Oz). However, in the Perspective Flip Wicked - both the original book and the musical - he is much worse. The musical version is only a little more sympathetic than the Complete Monster book version, who doesn't shy from personally murdering the Ozma Regent, violently suppressing Animal protesters, and attempting to exterminate the Quadlings just to get at the rubies on their land.
- It's sort of half-way in the musical, the Wizard is sort of a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is puppeteered by Madame Morrible and generally seems to want the best for Oz, as long as he remains its leader.
- While he doesn't become evil, Raoul becomes a drunken mess in Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, while he was one of the noblest characters in both the theater adaptation and the original book.
- Meg Giry, on the other hand, plays this much more dramatically. She goes insane and kills Christine, her friend in the original.
Video Games
- In Double Dragon, Jimmy Lee went from being the Player 2 character in the arcade version, helping his brother Billy defeat the Black Warriors, to being the true leader of the gang in the NES version due to the removal of the co-op mode. Whereas the arcade version only has the battle between the Lee brothers occur if both players completed the game together, the NES version simply has Jimmy show up to fight his brother after Machine Gun Willy (the arcade version's final boss) is defeated. Strangely, the NES versions of both sequels feature Jimmy as Player 2 once again and don't even acknowledge his role as a bad guy in the first NES game.
- Smithers robs a jewelry store in The Simpsons arcade game, a far contrast to his soft-spoken character on the show.
- The Ringmaster in Disney's Disney's Villains' Revenge. While he was a clueless windbag and a bit of a Jerkass in the film, he was far from evil and certainly didn't go out of his way to hurt and antagonize Dumbo.
- Darkrai is portrayed as a Dark Is Not Evil Pokemon in the Pokémon games, hiding itself away voluntarily to try and prevent its power to trap other creatures in nightmares from afflicting others. In the Mystery Dungeon series, it is a much more malicious character who plots to plunge the world into eternal darkness For the Evulz. However, this Darkrai eventually loses its memory and can be recruited postgame.
- The Simpsons Mobile Arcade Game; Many characters who are simply jerks in the cartoon are bosses trying to impede Homer, such as Chief Wiggum, Mayor Quimby, Jimmy Freedman (aka The Pimple Faced Kid), Kent Brockman, Krusty, and more.
- Unlike his comic book counterpart who would rather control New York than destroy it, Kingpin in Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin is cut from an entirely different cloth. Instead of the de-facto top dog of NYC's criminal underground, he's practically a Bond villain who seeks to nuke the city as part of his greater plan to take over the world, and will happily force Spider-Man to watch as he dunks Mary Jane in a vat of acid in one of the game's bad endings.
- Mysterio tends to bounce between being an ineffective goofball and a genuinely terrifying lunatic depending on who's writing him in the comics, but he's a full-on Omnicidal Maniac in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions who's willing to destroy the multiverse itself so he can reshape it into something that's more to his liking.
- Hammerhead was always a bad guy in the original Spider-Man comics, but he was no worse than your average mobster and had his fair share of redeeming qualities, such as being against hurting women and children. His incarnation in the PS4 Spider-Man game, however, is a nasty piece of work. Not only does he happily subject Yuri Watanabe to emotional torture and have Silver Sable physically tortured by his men, but he's a prolific cop killer, tries to execute his rival Maggia dons by drowning them in cement, and couldn't care less that arming his men with Sable International's dangerous tech will kill plenty of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of his brutal turf wars.
- Aran Ryan is this in the Wii version of Punch Out. When he appears in Super Punch Out, he fights perfectly clean; even when the game is analyzed using the rules of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combat Sports, he doesn't cheat at all. In the Wii game, however, he is a blatant cheater, and worse than any other opponent, going so far as to put horseshoes in his gloves and using one of them like a flail.
- Wario being among the villains in The Subspace Emissary isn't too weird in an of itself: he was the Big Bad of his debut game, after all! However, the worst thing he did was take over Mario's castle and turn the friendly inhabitants of his island against him. Here, he's perfectly willing to hurt children and laugh about it, as well as assist the Ancient Minister with destroying entire worlds.
Web Originals
- This page lists five well-known characters who were reimagined into villains through Disney movies in this way.
- The Day of the Barney Trilogy takes Barney and Baby Bop, who are portrayed as sincere and good friends to the kids on Barney and Friends, and portrays them as Complete Monsters who successfully get the world's children to kill any adult they come across, kill their male Special Friends when they turn thirteen, and take the thirteen year old girls away to fatally mother mutated offspring. They're even revealed to be Really 65 Million Years Old and to have been the harbringers of many of the world's evil dictators and catastrophes.
- In the movie Downfall, Hermann Fegelein is simply Heinrich Himmler's Number Two man who Hitler killed for trying to leave the Bunker and flee Berlin. In Hitler Rants, however, he's portrayed as a malicious Trickster Archetype and Screwy Squirrel whose "antics" constantly bamboozle Hitler at the drop of a hat, making Fegelein the Big Bad. Granted, this stuff is Poke the Poodle compared to the Real Life Fegelein's "antics" in Russia.
Western Animation
- In the Sonic the Hedgehog games, and most cartoon adaptations, Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik is villainous, but with a highly affable and clownish demeanor, and in some cases leans into Anti-Villain territory. The Robotnik of Sonic Sat AM and Sonic Underground, however, is a monstrous (and far less humorous) dictator that not only has taken over most of the planet, but thrives almost lustfully on having any remaining civilians painfully robotocized. This depiction is drifted in and out for both comic adaptations (although they refer to his more petty, comical personality a lot more).
- Inverted in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, where Robotnik is instead portrayed as an oafish, cowardly buffoon who does nothing but get kicked around by not only Sonic and Tails, but also his own cronies Scratch and Grounder as well.
- The same applies for his outing in Sonic Boom. Not only are his Affably Evil Manchild tendencies ramped Up to Eleven, but he has his fair share of nice and genuinely heroic moments. He wants his prison cells for his enemies to be comfy, for crying out loud!
- Inverted in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, where Robotnik is instead portrayed as an oafish, cowardly buffoon who does nothing but get kicked around by not only Sonic and Tails, but also his own cronies Scratch and Grounder as well.
- In the song Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Cousin Mel is mentioned a grand total of once, playing cards with Grandpa after Grandma's death. In the Christmas Special based on the song, she is a Christmas-hating Gold Digger and wannabe Corrupt Corporate Executive who sings one of the oddest Villain Songs ever written.
- In the book Cranberry Christmas, Cyrus Grape is a curmudgeonly old man who refuses to let anyone skate on his pond, but gets his comeuppance when Mr. Whiskers finds a deed that proves the lake is actually on his property. In the animated special, Cyrus is a much more active antagonist, sneaking around and messing up Mr. Whiskers's house in order to keep Mr. Whiskers from finding that deed (whereas in the book he had no idea it existed).
- Transformers Animated actually did this to the character Waspinator from Beast Wars. While Beast Wars Waspinator is portrayed as the lovable Butt Monkey who does nothing but get kicked around by other characters (though he does manage to injure the occasional Maximal, usually not by accident), Animated Waspinator, now renamed Wasp, is downright terrifying, and wants to get revenge on everyone who abused him.
- Captain Hook of Peter Pan, while usually depicted as a Laughably Evil and relatively mild villain (particularly in the Disney adaptation), is genuinely sinister in Peter Pan and The Pirates. Despite a Freudian Excuse and occasional sympathetic moments, this version of Hook is by far the darkest portrayal of the character.
- Besides the one voiced by Tim Curry, there's also the Hook from the live-action version from 2003.
- Inverted in Young Justice, where Artemis is a heroine.
- Rampage, a minor heroine from Superman Post-Crisis comics, is turned into a villain in Justice League Unlimited.
- Tublat the gorilla from Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs. In Disney's The Legend of Tarzan, his character is merged rather confusingly with another, Kerchak. Since Disney decided to make their version of Kerchak (who is ironically more similar to Burroughs's Tublat in personality) more sympathetic, as a consequence they ended up making their version of Tublat more sinister, like the novel's Kerchak.
- In the TV show Mega Man, Proto Man is one of the major villains. In the games, while he did work for Dr. Wily at first, he had a Heel Face Turn and became an ally to Mega Man, if a distant one.
- The same also goes for Dr. Wily himself. While a dangerous and manipulative man in the games, his villainy amounts to little more than trying to take over the world and kidnapping the occasional innocent person (at least, before the Mega Man X series, where he's taken the plunge into Omnicidal Maniac territory). Here, he's an unhinged lunatic willing to kill countless innocent people, level entire cities, and even destroy most of the world and rule over the remains all out of petty spite towards Dr. Light. While not quite as dark, he's basically the show's equivalent to Sat AM Robotnik.
- In the Spider-Man comics Silver Sable is an anti-heroic mercenary. While she sometimes fights Spider-Man, they usually team up to fight the real villain. In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Silver Sable is a Mafia Princess and a straight up villain, since she's the daughter of the mob boss Silvermane in the show.
- Word of God says that had the show continued, she would have evolved into her usual anti-heroic persona.
- Anubis is a villain in the TV show Mummies Alive, when he was actually a good god in Egyptian Mythology who guarded and protected the dead. Set is also seen with Anubis, while Set disowned him in the myths for siding with Horus.
- Ammit, on the other hand, is portrayed as a pet of the Big Bad. In Egyptian mythology she was a neutral enforcer of order and punisher of evil, although this quality made her feared by the ancient Egyptians.
- The Street Fighter animated series made Zangief into one of M. Bison's lackeys, despite the fact that Zangief actually opposed Shadaloo in the games.
- In Wolverine and the X-Men, Magneto's children - Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Polaris (who were all somewhat quick to abandon him in the comics) - are supporters of his, each of whom have attacked the X-Men (if we're counting the time Polaris attacked Professor X). At the end of the show, Scarlet Witch and Polaris turn against him, but Quicksilver stays on his side. Which is strange, considering how he got along worst with Magneto out of all of them.
- Oh, and Gambit, you know, the X-Man? He's a member of the Thieves' Guild who only cares about the money, to the point where he'll steal a weapon for the MRD, who he knows will use it against mutants, his own kind, for money. Man, what a Jerkass.
- Another good guy, Multiple Man, works for Sinister.
- From The Smurfs:
- In the original version of "King Smurf", Brainy was not the eponymous villain as he was in the cartoon. Rather this role was taken up by an unnamed smurf. Brainy was, in fact, a member of the faction that opposed King Smurf.
- More a case of "Not the Hero By Adaptation", Brainy's role in "The Weather Smurfing Machine". In the original, he was the one who saved the day by tying his kite to the out-of-control Machine in order to draw lighting to it and blow it to pieces. In the animated version, Handy thinks this up, crafting the kite from Brainy's umbrella. Whether this change of plot was good or not is debatable; one could say that forcing Handy to destroy his own machine was a nice touch.
- Harley Quinn is a character who has gone all the way up and down the Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains, often into true villain territory, but most of the time, she’s regarded as a tragic figure corrupted by the Joker, who in New 52, went so far as to dunk her in the same vat of chemicals that drove him mad. In the 2019 series, however, this origin is changed. Harley’s backstory reveals that she was likely Evil All Along, having been a Yandere towards a boy as early as age 11 (having spent time in juvie for it) and possibly having killed her Alpha Bitch rival in high school. This is finally cinched by Repressed Memories that shows the Joker did not push her into that vat of chemicals - she willingly jumped in, and later rationalized that Joker pushed her in to absolve herself of any responsibility for it. This revelation causes Harley to embrace her dark side and plot to outshine the Joker in notoriety, which has been a major part of the ongoing plot.
- Professor Piddy P. Poopypants from Captain Underpants: The Epic First Movie. In the original book, he seems to be a somewhat decent fellow until he snaps after George and Harold write a comic book that makes his Unfortunate Name the butt of a lot of jokes. In a lot of ways, his anger could even be justified; after all, he didn't choose such a ridiculous name, even if silly names are common in New Swissland. In the movie, however (where his name is stated to be P.P. Diarrheastein Poopypants Esquire, making it even more ridiculous) he really isn’t a nice guy to begin with. The movie portrays him as selfish and egotistical, not even interested in reforming (something he does in the original story) and flat-out rejecting the heroes’ attempts to make peace.
- From Justice League: Gods and Monsters:[3]
- Doc Magnus and the Metal Men are the main antagonists in the initial movie.
- Zigzagged with Batman. He is the Token Evil Teammate among the heroes here, being a vampire who will not hesitate to kill criminals. However, this version of Batman is not Bruce Wayne, but Kirk Langstrom, (as in the Man-Bat in the mainstream comic) so he can also count as Adaptational Heroism.
- Highfather is just as treacherous as Darkseid is in the mainstream universe, if not moreso.
- Dear lord, Harley Quinn. Clearly the most evil version of Harley to date, she's a chainsaw wielding Serial Killer who keeps the rotting corpses of her family like trophies. Even worse, the Joker is nowhere to be seen, implying she wound up like this on her own.
- Many non-evil characters who were originally introduced in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic got this Trope applied in the animated series - Leatherhead, Wingnut & Screwloose, and Mondo Gecko. In fact, the writers had planned to have Ray Fillet be the antagonist in “Rebel Without a Fin”; he was changed to an unrelated Fish Person simply called Ray because writer Stephen Murphy objected to the character being used as a villain. Didn’t stop a lot of fans from referring to him as “Ray Fillet”, though.
- Velma does this to the title character, Velma Dinkley; while not nearly as evil as the true antagonist, this version of Velma is far removed from the lovable nerd most fans of Scooby-Doo are familiar with, the show making her an arrogant, narcissistic, selfish bigot, with no genuine concern for anyone but herself. Possibly her defining moment comes after Daphne gets into a fight with a student named Krista over sex and nudity on television (she opposes it and Krista is in favor of it), Velma assaults Daphne with a hockey stick, before asking her opinion of race-blind casting. When Daphne yells at Velma that she could have killed her, Velma replies “guess I didn’t try hard enough”. While pivotal parts of the story involves Velma clearing Fred and Daphne of murder, she only does so to help her father, who is their lawyer, and for the record, not a very good one.
- Daphne is little better than Velma, being both an Alpha Bitch and a true Bully. The aforementioned fight with Krista (which starts with choking her and ends with slamming her head to the floor) isn’t the only time she shows a violent streak; in fact, while she isn’t guilty of murder, she comes very close to being so more than once. Naturally, she and Velma are hated rivals during the series, Daphne going so far as to blackmail Velma into dealing narcotics for her in exchange for convincing her own parents (both of whom are police officers) into letting Velma see police records.
- The adaptation doesn’t truly make Fred a villain, though it does make him a complete jerk, and as for Shaggy, he has the opposite problem, being a Dogged Nice Guy who is far too trusting and forgiving, causing the other protagonists to take advantage of him at every opportunity.
- ↑ Though, there were plans that, in season 4 of Transformers Animated, Sentinel would have taken a possibly much more antagonistic role.
- ↑ He seemed pretty sinister in that movie, but as revealed at the end, it wasn't really him.
- ↑ Designed as a Darker and Edgier alternate universe to begin with, so these are far from the only changes to mainstream versions.