Before I Change My Mind: Difference between revisions

However, the villain responds by trying to convince the hero that he (the hero) ''has'' to let him (the villain) go free. The reasons he'll give may vary, but most usually they'll involve the point that without the villain around to enforce his particular brand of evil, [[Eviler Than Thou|someone more brutal than he is]] will inevitably show up to fill the void and potentially make the status quo a whole lot worse than it is at current. Or, the villain might have [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|a very good reason]] for doing what he's been doing, and will let the hero know as much. Or, if the villain goes to jail, [[And Then What?|the hero won't have much other purpose in life]].

Alternately, reverse the scenario: the villain has the hero in his grasp and is ready, willing and able to kill him, but the hero says or does something that somehow convinces the villain not to go through with it. Or maybe the villain ''can't'' go through with it because [[Even Evil Has Standards]], [[Can't Kill You Still Need You|the hero has to live to serve a specific purpose]], or [[And Then What?|the villain's existence will be utterly empty without the hero being there to oppose him]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

* In one issue of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', [[Wolverine]] and Rogue are in the Savage Land and [[Enemy Mine|have joined up with foes Brainchild and Gaza]] to transform [[Big Bad|Sauron]] from his pterodactyl form back to humanity. Sauron [[What the Hell, Hero?|calls them out]] for trying to force the change on him, seeing as he's quite comfortable being Sauron instead of his former human self, and then points out that if he's not around to maintain his rule over the Savage Land, someone else will come along and take over anyway. Wolverine pauses a moment, then unsheathes his claws and severs Sauron's bonds before advising him to flee.