Deadly Change-of-Heart: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"When the cold heart of a villain softens and he turns into a good guy, the plot will quickly require him to be killed, usually after maudlin final words."''|[[Roger Ebert]], '''''Deadly Change-of-Heart''', Ebert's Glossary of Movie Terms''}}
The much more vindictive brother of [[Redemption Equals Death]], where you have a villainous character who is beginning to realize that the way of evil is not the way, and is attempting or planning to [[Heel Face Turn|redeem themselves]], but is killed or otherwise brutally rebuffed, either by karma, [[Reformed but Rejected|the heroes]], or even [[You Have Failed Me...|their boss]] (the latter who most often crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] in doing so) before they can carry out their plans.
As a result, the character doesn't even get redemption, and they will never throw off the darkness of their past.
Less lethally, a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] may find they've been effectively chained to the role, and no amount of [[Character Development]] or [[The Woobie|viewer sympathy]] can free them. In this case, they at least don't die, but are still doomed to a lifetime of failure and villainy and ''[[Genre Savvy|realize it]]''. Contrast [[Redemption Earns Life]], [[Karma Houdini Warranty]], and [[Redemption Rejection]]. Compare [[Redemption Failure]], where the character actually goes clean for a while but has to revert back to villainy due to unforeseen circumstances. When it's played lethally, this trope can straddle the border of [[Redemption Equals Death]] or [[Death Equals Redemption]], depending on how close to redemption the character comes before they're offed. May be the result of a [[Last Second Chance]] offer that is later taken [[Off the Table]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
{{deathtrope}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Near the end in the manga of ''[[Gash Bell]]'' {{spoiler|Zeon Bell}} repents for everything he did in the human world and his ruthless towards {{spoiler|his younger twin brother}} Gash. In the last part of the fight he wasn't trying to make Gash suffer, instead he was testing him to see if {{spoiler|their father, the last king of the demon world}} made the right choice giving the power of Baou to Gash.
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* {{spoiler|Ikuya Asano}} from ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'', who had [[Despair Event Horizon|given into despair]] upon {{spoiler|being [[Trapped in Another World]]}} and became a pawn in the [[Big Bad]]'s hands because of that, is given a chance for a last mission which will help him redeem himself. He's killed in it, and his [[Famous Last Words]] lampshading the trope: "Why did {{spoiler|I come into this world}}? Will I just die for nothing?!"
* {{spoiler|Jegan}} from ''[[Rave Master]]''. After his defeat he realizes that [[Love Makes You Evil|nothing he can do will put him on the winning end of the love triangle]] and [[Driven to Suicide|starts looking for a way to end his life]] when he's talked down by a girl who starts inspiring him to turn over a new leaf. Then we find out that Demon Card's new policy is to eliminate everything in a 5 mile radius of a member who failed his or her mission.
* In ''[[Pokémon (
* Shinsen Tennozu of ''[[Speed Grapher]]'' is the head of both a legitimate multi-billion dollar organization and the shadier criminal group that helped make it so powerful. Also, [[Abusive Parents|she's a]] [[Denied Food
* Deliberately invoked by {{spoiler|Klaus Von Bogoot}} on {{spoiler|Mary, Ibaraki and Oyamada}} in ''[[Cyborg 009]]''. {{spoiler|He had forcibly made them into Cyborgs, counting on them to kill their former [[True Companions|friend]] 009... but the moment the kids couldn't bring themselves to kill him, he [[Action Bomb|activated the bombs they had implanted in their bodies.]] The three [[Oh Crap|look at each other in horror]], then Ibaraki tackles Joe so he won't get close, and they hug each other as they say their goodbyes and die.}}
* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', after [[The Brute|Senkaku]] escapes from prison, he reflects on the battle he had with [[The Hero|Kenshin]]. Grateful that Kenshin spared his life, he decides to turn over a new leaf... only for [[The Dragon|Seta Sojiro]] to [[Dropped a Bridge
* ''[[Chirin no Suzu]]'' has this happen to Chirin at the very end. He kills the Wolf, but the sheep throw him out. Chirin is left with nothing. This is one of the contributing factors to the tragedy of the story.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation]]'', {{spoiler|Kid Cortlaw}} turns against Buhpu and leads to his defeat after learning that he {{spoiler|killed Ivy and lied that the MLS did it}}. He realizes that his allying with Ark to {{spoiler|bring back his parents}} was wrong, but is unable to do anything more before he dies.
* Yamada gets this in ''[[
* [[Mirai Nikki]]: {{spoiler|Yukkii's father}} was an all around horrible parent who not only {{spoiler|tries to break Yukkii's phone so his debt would get paid off, but also leaves his son to die, and kills his own ex-wife so she won't turn him in to the police}}. Still, he does realize that what he did was wrong and was going to make it up to Yukkii by turning himself in and finally going to look at the stars with his son...that is, until he gets stabbed in the gut ''immediately'' after he declares this.
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** Though how much deciding that you're only going to murder one more person for money counts as a [[Heel Face Turn]] is a matter of some dispute.
** The samurai doesn't appear to feel remorseful and the bookie doesn't appear to force the samurai into one last fight. The samurai wants to earn enough money to care for his family and the fight with Usagi just happens to be the one that would give the samurai enough Ryo to live a quiet, peaceful life with his wife and child. The samurai fights this last fight not because the bookie is forcing him to, but because he wants more Ryo.
* LOTS of villains in ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' books:
* In ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' Mac Gargan, a.k.a. the Scorpion, ends up wandering the sewers at one point, depressed but with a clearer head than he had had for a long time. Eventually, his sanity starts to return, and he is about to make a [[Heel Face Turn]] when Spider-Man {{spoiler|having depression issues of his own, finds Gargan and [[What the Hell Hero|attacks him savagely ignoring Gargan's pleas that he had changed.]] Gargan then goes crazy again to save himself and continues his life of super-villain debauchery, first as Scorpion, and later as a new Venom}}.▼
** In one story from the 70s, the Kingpin's wife Vanessa once told him he had to choose between her and his crime syndicate. He chose her. (She gave him twenty-four hours to tie up loose ends, and he may well have killed Spider-Man, had the deadline not come right before he was about to make the killing blow.) The two retired to a private estate in the South Seas. But many other crime bosses he had bequeathed his empire to didn't like having to run it without him, and felt that Vanessa was the cause, so sometime later, she was apparently killed by an assassin's bullet. (She got better later.) The Kingpin returned worse than ever, not only seizing back full control of his former organization, but making sure the police ended up with incriminating evidence that led to the arrest of the ones responsible for his wife's apparent death (he hadn't been fooled for a minute) a true case of a plan [[Gone Horribly Right]].
* ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'': V4 has a wretchedly sadistic example in Sun Boy, a long-standing Legionnaire who'd been seduced into being the public face of the evil Earthgov. Faced with an impending disaster, he tried to put his costume back on and save the city, only to a) meet with public scorn and b) be caught in the explosion of a fusion reactor. Wait, we're not done: due to his powers, the explosion didn't kill him (actually, due to his powers [[Did Not Do the Research|the explosion shouldn't even have touched him]]; oh well); instead it left him a mangled, screaming, ''burning'' wreck. He then spent the next ''year and a half'' on life-support, in agonizing pain and reliving his worst memories, until finally he was [[Mercy Kill|shot]] by his lover/[[The Handler|handler]] (who then killed herself). That door slammed so hard it ''broke''. ▼
▲*
** Shriek, one member of Carnage's group of killers during the [[Maximum Carnage]] fiasco. Some months after that event, she broke out of Ravencroft Asylum and kidnapped Malcolm McBride (formerly Carrion, who was human at the moment, the virus inside him in remission) and stress caused by the ordeal caused him to become Carrion again. After seeing Carrion show some sympathy for his mother, Shriek had a brief moment of sanity, and actually tried to absorb the Carrion Virus into herself, trying to make a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save Malcolm. She did save Malcolm, but the virus didn't kill her... And for poor Shriek, this heroic act only made it worse for her. It drove her deeper into madness, making her think the virus inside her was an unborn child, and she spent her time in her cell eagerly anticipating the birth of her "baby" like an expectant mother. Eventually, the Jackal assaulted her to get the virus back, and when next seen, she was back with Carnage and worse than ever.
** The Rhino spent a good chunk of his criminal career using the money he made from villainy to finance surgery that would remove the suit that was bonded to him. In ''Deadly Foes of Spider-Man'', he finally found a doctor who managed to do it, and he retired to Mexico City. However, the Kingpin - who had financed both the surgery and most of his activities during that mini-series - felt the need to remind him of that, so he sent Rhino a non-lethal bomb as a threat, along with a message that ''he knew'' where the doctor who had done the surgery was, ''and'' that said doctor was in witness protection. In order to protect himself and them, Rhino got a new suit from [[Welcome to Evil Mart|Justin Hammer]], and before long, was back in business as a villain.
* From [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]: The Blob was the oldest-running villain to lose his mutant powers during M-Day, but afterwards, the future was looking bright for him; he had become a fitness guru in Japan, and would be staring in an upcoming movie filmed in San Francisco made by Kingo Sunen. However, he has since resumed his villainous ways, having been given the Mutant Growth Hormones by Mystique, restoring his powers. Clearly, super-villainy was just too much of a temptation for him.
▲* ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (
* In ''[[Nikolai Dante]]'', during the Battle of St Petersburg, a random [[Mook]] suddenly had a change of heart and shoved a machine gun operator out of the way to stop him firing on the Romanov forces. Immediately afterwards, Jena, unaware of what he had just done, stabbed him in the chest.
* A [[Star Wars]] Tales comic tells the POV account of the first stormtrooper to rush into the ''Tantive IV'' in [[A New Hope]]. Desperate to leave his backwater, dead-end planet, he murders a subversive man as a loyalty test for an Imperial officer and leaves with them to become a stormtrooper. He has witnessed horrors, committed unspeakable atrocities, and, all this time later, is beginning to lose his cold, ruthless demeanor. He wonders if he hadn't made the wrong decisions, and begins to consider jumping ship and finding the Rebel Alliance. Then Princess Leia shoots him in the face.
* In ''[[Ultimate Spider
* In ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', {{spoiler|the head is shot down by the time he began to ponder about his ways and the possibility to change them.}}
== Film ==
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** Well, [[Big Bad|Fearless Leader's]] call does interrupt them during the above mentioned conversation, and during the [[Final Battle]] they ''do'' keep fighting on his side. So, it's more like they were considering giving up evil, but ultimately decided "The Hell with it" and slammed the door shut themselves.
* This is what gave [[John Woo]]'s ''The Killer'' its [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]] ending, though it was a villain that did the killing rather than a hero, as the victim was {{spoiler|the titular protagonist}}.
* The pivotal scene of [[Gollum Made Me Do It|Smeagol's]] near-repentance on the stairs was omitted from the film ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** At the beginning of the third movie (in an extended scene), it looks like Wormtongue is finally about to abandon Saruman and join the heroes, giving them insight on the enemy's plan. When Saruman realizes this, he strikes him across the face. Wormtongue is so upset by this that he stabs Saruman in the back and is shot down by Legolas, resulting in yet another point against diplomacy in Middle Earth.
*** Though this is EXACTLY how Saruman and Wormtongue die in the books, albeit significantly later in the time-line. Wormtongue is shot by the hobbits, though, who assume (probably correctly) that he's gone completely mad.
* The titular protagonist in ''[[The Wrestler]]'', after dissapointing his daughter one times too many, is abandoned by her for the final time with no chance of future redemption, which leads to his final journey to self-destruction.
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* The ending of ''[[American History X]]'' involves a particularly memorable one; the day after Danny leaves the Neo-Nazi movement, he is killed because he pissed off a bully (who happened to be a minority) he had a feud with (and for further irony, was probably pressured into it the same way Danny was pressured into Nazism and then out again by his own [[Big Brother Mentor]]). Some alternative endings have this causing Derek to revert to Nazism, undoing all the [[Character Development]] of the film.
* The title character of ''[[Carlitos Way]]'' is a gangster who has been freed early on a technicality. He really, sincerely strives to now live an honest life. Unfortunately, just about every other character in the film is determined to see him fail, and, while he does achieve his dream of redemption, it costs him his life.
* Happens to Megatron at the end of ''[[Transformers (
** Not sure if this
* In ''[[Four Lions]]'' one of the protagonists panicked and no longer wanted to be a suicide bomber, so he tried to turn himself in to the police. While he was yelling about how his costume was filled with explosives but he wasn't going to blow himself up, {{spoiler|one of his friends blew him up to stop him giving the rest of them away.}}
* In ''[[Babysitter: Killer Queen]]'', {{spoiler|Bee double crosses the cult, enabling Cole and Phoebe to not only survive, but fall in love. Sadly, this does not nullify her [[Deal with the Devil]], so she is [[Dragged Off to Hell]] with the others, [[Redemption Equals Death| a fate she anticipated and accepts]].}}
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Smeagol's literal [[Heel Face Turn|face turn]] on the stairs of Cirith Ungol. Smeagol's gentle touch of Frodo's knee is [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|misinterpreted by Sam]] as an attack on his master (or molestation, as Sam's wording of it implies.) This marks the last point in the book where Smeagol had a chance at redemption...<ref>But Frodo's "faith" in Gollum is rewarded when Gollum ends up destroying the Ring anyway, and Sam also makes up for his earlier mistake by sparing Gollum when he has a chance to kill him, which helps result in said destruction of the Ring.</ref>
** Wormtongue appears to have one of these in the penultimate chapter. You can sense that he really does want to leave Saruman, but as he's hesitating, Saruman mocks him. This drives him to kill Saruman, and then the hobbits kill him.
* In ''[[The Stand]]'', an especially ironic example is the story of Nadine Cross, who spent her whole life believing she had to save her virginity for [[Dream Weaver|Randall Flagg]], who is revealed to be [[The Antichrist]]; when she falls in love with good guy [[Jerk
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', according to [[Word of God]], {{spoiler|Asmodean}} was genuinely trying to switch
* Of the less lethal variety we have Zaknafein from the [[Drizzt]] books, who realized the evil in his society but was unable to escape it or to fight against it and became resigned to being the least evil he could get away with.
* In the ''[[Coldfire Trilogy]],'' {{spoiler|the Hunter, finally no longer undead and free to try to redeem himself, is promptly killed.}} Sort of.
* Jacen Solo from the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]].
** Probably does not apply. While Jacen had realized that he'd made a number of mistakes, he had no intention of turning back. It's just that what he was trying to do at the time of his death was a good thing.
* In [[
* ''[[Harry Potter and
** Another possible example from the book would be the fate of Regulus Black, a former Death Eater who sacrificed his life in an attempt to destroy [[Big Bad|Voldemort's]] [[Soul Jar|Horcrux]] after realises just [[Complete Monster|how bad]] Voldemort was. Unfortunately, not only did Voldemort have more than the one Horcrux, but his accomplice was unable to destroy the one he did get - and because no one knew what he'd done, Dumbledore still ended up being horribly wounded pointlessly trying to retrieve it from the original hiding place.
** Before it even happened in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', Dumbledore states that Harry sparing Pettigrew's life would give Pettigrew a chance to do the same later on; [[Wild Mass Guessing|so it could be that Pettigrew was willing to let his Evil Hand kill him before he did anything foolish]].
*** Well, maybe. Dumbledore was damn wise, but that doesn't mean he was a [[Seers|precog]].
* In a true horror instance, the God of the [[Left Behind]] books continues his series-long progression across the [[Moral Event Horizon]] by rendering people who've accepted the Mark of the Beast ''unable to repent even though they desperately want to''. At one point a character tries to recite a prayer, ''any'' prayer, and can only recall the first line of "Now I lay me down to sleep".
** This is at least semi-Scriptural. According to Revelation, there are some decisions you can't take back. It's not clear from the Scriptures, however, whether that means you aren't allowed to repent, or whether it's just that nobody who goes that route ''ever will'' sincerely repent.
** Leon Fortunato, when he is brought before Jesus along with Nicolae Carpathia, tries to repent and gets the
* Vermin in the ''[[Redwall]]'' universe can never repent, ever. ''Outcast of Redwall'' was a particularly strong example, where a ferret raised in the abbey turns out evil, just because of his nature as a ferret.
** But there have been a couple cases of vermin turning out good. In ''The Bellmaker'', for example, the former pirate Blaggut ends up leading a life of peace at the end of the book. Most vermin with streaks of good [[Redemption Equals Death|realize it a bit late]], however.
* The Romulan Star Empire has one of these in the [[Star Trek:
* [[Glen Cook]] wrote three short stories about a crew of pirates under a [[Flying Dutchman]] sort of curse. They realize in the second story that any of them who do something genuinely ''good'' can escape their eternal wandering, and the ship's captain sacrifices himself to destroy an even worse
* ''[[In Death]]'': In ''Ceremony In Death'', one lawyer who happens to be a Satanic cult member gets evidence shoved into his face that one of his fellow cult members has been murdered. Later, he realizes that he's been having blackouts ever since he joined the cult...and that he witnessed that one cult member murdered in a sacrifice in one of those blackouts! He starts wonder what else happened in those blackouts. He ends up deciding that he can't defend the cult leader anymore and that he should tell Eve everything he knows...only to get murdered shortly after his decision. Now that's just harsh!
* In ''[[
* Shel Silverstein wrote a poem about two generals who didn't want to fight, but go to the beach together. They discussed it, thought about what people would say, and killed each other.
* Cyric in the Avatar trilogy in the Forgotten Realms world has a brief battle with himself about his betrayal of his friends.
== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[
** When Londo learns the truth, he becomes [[The Atoner]], but gets the door slammed on his face again and again. Eventually, he plans a {{spoiler|[[Thanatos Gambit]]}} with the only people who still believe in him: [[Morality Chain|Vir Cotto]] and [[Fire
* There was an early episode of ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' where Xena, after encountering some of her former warriors back from her days as a [[Blood Knight]], convinces one of them that her commitment to reform is genuine. Later on in the episode, that guy sacrifices his life to save her. Fast forward to a different episode, where Xena is asked by Hades himself to go to the underworld, because evil has achieved a Karma Inversion: all the blessed people who used to play in the Elysium Fields have been sent to Tartarus, and all the evil folks condemned to Tartarus are partying in Elysium. When she gets there, she finds her dead friend, and realizes that if he's in Elysium ''now'', he must have been in Tartarus before. He confirms it, saying something like "One sacrifice wasn't enough to make up for a lifetime of evil." In the end however, he's allowed to stay in Elysium for good after helping save Hades.
* Boomer of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', who [[Heel Face Revolving Door|switched sides more time than this entry will try to document]], finally got the door slammed on her as the series approached the end. After {{spoiler|faking a [[Heel Face Turn]]}} and returning {{spoiler|Ellen}} to the fleet, she {{spoiler|steals Hera and returns to the Cylons. However, Boomer and Hera bond and she feels immense regret for what she's done, so she takes Hera and returns her to Athena, her real mother. Athena, sick of Boomer's bullshit, shoots her. At least Boomer was savvy enough to realize returning Hera was going to be the last thing she does}}.
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** A ''literal'' Heel Face Door Slam happened to Spike. Originally a villain, he became a [[Enemy Mine|reluctant ally]] of the good guys in Season 4, and in Season 5, having fallen in love with Buffy, he tried acting more heroic in order to impress her. However, when Spike expresses his love by kidnapping Buffy and chaining her up in his crypt, she has Willow cast a spell that makes it impossible for Spike to enter Buffy's home. He's initially surprised, then emotionally devastated, when he runs into the invisible barrier surrounding her house and Buffy slams the door in his face.
*** Spike got another chance later, though - refusing to tell [[Big Bad|Glory]] what she wanted to know (that Buffy's sister was the [[MacGuffin Girl]] she was looking for) at risk of death earned him a measure of Buffy's forgiveness. Though he'd still cause trouble for her and her friends at time, Buffy notably ''never'' reverted to the same level of contempt she'd had for him beforehand.
** Also, Faith. An ally of Buffy, {{spoiler|she [[Face Heel Turn|defected to the other side]]}}. Later, she interrupted {{spoiler|a captive Willow, expecting Willow to start begging her and trying to convince her that it's not too late. Instead, Willow tells her that yes, ''it is'' too late, and that Faith won't have any more chances for redemption.}} Don't worry, she eventually {{spoiler|got her [[Redemption in
*** Faith, in turn, takes a sharp turn to the evil side by performing an (unwitting) Heel Face Door Slam on a minor character.
** Over on ''[[
*** Yeah, and then when Lindsey {{spoiler|tried to join the team in the series finale, Angel had Lorne kill him.}}
*** Which might have had some (troubling) justification. {{spoiler|Lorne had seen Lindsey's nature and told Lindsey that he would never be part of the solution.}}
* On ''[[The Wire]]'', while the heel/face lines are often very blurry to begin with, basically any time a character involved in organized crime decides to become an informant, they inevitably die. The most prominent example is probably {{spoiler|Bodie Broadus}}, who spends the first three seasons of the show steadily rising the ranks of the Barksdale drug empire, only for that empire to crumble at the end of the fourth season leaving him on his own as [[Complete Monster|Marlo Stanfield's]] far more brutal, violent regime takes over. Bodie chafes at this and by the end of the season he's convinced to inform on Marlo and company. {{spoiler|[[Dying Moment of Awesome|He dies before he can ever actually go through with it]]}}, [[Last Stand|albeit on his own terms]].
* In an episode of ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'', Orson's Ex-Wife Alma, who, up until then had been colluding with Orson's Mother to kill Bree, ends up falling off a roof and killing herself while trying to warn Danielle.
* Maury Parkman in season 3 of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' gets his neck snapped by Arthur Petrelli when he realizes Arthur's evilness and rebels to try to protect his son, Matt.
* An interesting case in ''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue]]''. Diabolico, after discovering how little his mistress Queen Bansheera cared for her minions, even destroying one of them in an attempt to get the rangers, vowed to never serve her again. However, he was brainwashed and forced to fight the rangers. Despite knowing that he wanted to change, the rangers had no choice but to destroy him. However, in the finale, he gets another chance at [[Heel Face Turn]] by returning as a spirit and helping the rangers imprison Bansheera in the demon dimension forever.
** It should be noted, however, that at no point did Diabolico indicate that he was actually turning ''good,'' he was just turning against the Queen. He himself put it that he'd come to hate the queen more than them.
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' has this happen to Bennett. {{spoiler|She's made the choice to help the team at the LA Dollhouse, if only because Echo has promised to help her get all the revenge she wants on Caroline and she's in love with Topher. Then Saunders shoots Bennett in the head.}}
* Wakana Sonozaki from [[Kamen Rider Double]] had planned on getting away from her megalomaniac father's plans and move out of the city with her friend/ {{spoiler|brother}} Philip. Her dad [[Brainwashed and Crazy|had other ideas.]] After her father died and she was subsequently used as an [[Apocalypse Maiden]] by her father's ex-financers, her mind was so shattered that she was put under observation in a mental hospital. She finally gets her redemption by sacrificing herself so that {{spoiler|Philip/Raito}} can be brought [[Back
** Earlier in the series, Kirihiko Sonozaki's turn started when he met [[The Hero]] Shotaro and discovered they both loved Fuuto, and continued when [[Heel Realization|realizing how his selling Gaia Memories was hurting the city]] when he saw a bunch of kids sharing the Bird Memory around and suffering drug-like effects. After helping Shotaro (as Double) defeat the Bird Dopant, he tried to convince his wife Saeko to leave the city with him. Too bad for him, [[The Dragon|she wasn't too interested]].
* On [[Lost]], we have {{spoiler|Charles Widmore}}. When he shows up claiming to have redeemed himself in season six, we aren't quite sure if he's legit or not. When we finally realize that he ''is'', he is {{spoiler|promptly shot and killed by Ben, though that's more because he didn't want Widmore to have a chance to save his daughter when Ben didn't get a chance to save his.}}
* In [[Legend of the Seeker]] TV series, just as it seems that Zedd has talked Denna into changing her ways and setting him free, she is shot in the back with an arrow by Cara and falls off a cliff.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'', Ankh had been on a series wide [[Heel Face Turn]] as he grew closer to Eiji and Hina. This actually happened to him ''twice''. The first time was when he was absorbed by his [[Evil Counterpart]]. Soon, after he [[Face Heel Turn
* This happens to Cole in the fourth season of ''[[
* Two examples in Wednesday:
** {{spoiler|The [[Corrupt Politician| Mayor of Jericho]] (who was formerly the Sheriff) has committed many crimes in his past, the most serious of which framing Gomez for murder in order to protect the victim’s father, a bigot who had orchestrated a plot to murder the entire student body of Nevermore. In the present day, the Mayor realizes he has gone too far and starts trying to find the true mastermind of the current plot - only for that mastermind to decide [[He Knows Too Much]] and murder him.}}
** Wednesday's actions in her attempt to identity the mastermind tend to be rather destructive, so much that {{spoiler|[[Evil Teacher| Headmistress Weems]] (who is trying very hard to cover up the murders, making her an unwitting accomplice) eventually decides to expel her. However, Wednesday is so insistent she knows who the villain is that Weems decides to give her one final chance and use her abilities to get close to the accused suspect, hoping a confession or lack thereof will confirm or deny Wednesday's claims. Unfortunately, Wednesday is right, and trying to confront the killer gets Weems killed.}}
== Music ==
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* In the opera ''Susannah,'' Olin Blitch, the traveling evangelical preacher, forces the protagonist (who is not on good terms with the rest of the town) to have sex with him. Overcome with remorse, he tries to convince the people that she's not a bad person. They don't listen. He begs Susannah to forgive him, she doesn't. Then her brother kills him.
* In [[The Crucible]], Mary Warren told the judges and everyone that she and the other girls were lying about being attacked by witches. Then she got scared and ended up accusing John Proctor of witchcraft instead.
** [[Truth in Television]]: Mary Warren did this in real life, from what historians know. She admitted that she and the girls were lying, but then they accused ''her'' of witchcraft, saying she'd joined the witches so they'd stop hurting her. Mary confessed to save herself, and "confirmed" the girl's accusations as true.
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* After dueling Loghain in [[Dragon Age]], you can {{spoiler|offer him a chance to redeem himself}}, but generally the path is to decapitate him right there, {{spoiler|if only because Alistar will leave the party in disgust at allowing the man who led nearly every Grey Warden of Ferelden to their deaths live. It's worth noting that Riordan, the person who suggests to let Loghain be of some use instead of executed, is a Grey Warden himself.}}
* Special Agent Kato in ''[[Shadow Hearts]] Covenant'' {{spoiler|gradually grows disgusted with the motives of his superiors, and shifts focus towards his own dream of having a family with the clone of his murdered love (it's complicated), and living peacefully. Then the girl is killed a second time, and Kato decides to destroy the world.}}
* It is very possible to slam the door in the face of a character's redemption (Although, not necessarily canon) in every ''[[Fire Emblem]]'', due to the fact that [[Anyone Can Die]], and there's lots of [[Strange Bedfellows|potential allies who are enemies at first]].
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', {{spoiler|Sephiran}} is so utterly resigned to his fate that the only way to save him is if you start a [[New Game
** Another canon example from ''Sacred Stones'': Glen and Duessel, two of Vigarde's generals, both figure out that something rotten is going on in Grado; Duessel manages to defect, but Glen is slain by Valter [[Curb Stomp Battle|effortlessly]] before he can switch sides.
* Kuja of ''[[
* Gabranth of ''[[
{{quote|
* In [[Mass Effect
** In [[Mass Effect 3]], the exact same thing happens with {{spoiler|[[He Who Fights Monsters|The Illusive Man]]}}
* In ''[[Mortal Kombat 9
** [[Late Arrival Spoiler|Elder Sub-Zero dies at Scorpion's hand and his soul descends into the Netherrealm to become Noob Saibot]] (as foreshadowed in ''Mythologies'' and revealed in ''Deception''). Raiden tries to avert this in ''9'' by striking a deal with Scorpion (if Scorpion doesn't kill Sub-Zero, he'll ask the Elder Gods to restore Scorpion's family to life), but Quan Chi, being the [[Manipulative Bastard|asshole]] that he is [[Blatant Lies|creates false images of Sub-Zero killing Scorpion's wife and child]], causing Scorpion to lash out and kill his nemesis in anger anyway. So, not only does the younger Sub-Zero get dragged into the picture alongside Smoke ''again'', but his older brother [[Came Back Wrong|returns to life]] as Noob Saibot ''again''. This also comes with the unfortunate side-effect of Scorpion playing Quan Chi's lapdog, something that Raiden calls him out on (in the original timeline, Scorpion learned that Quan Chi, and ''not'' either of the Sub-Zero brothers killed his family, and chased Quan Chi through the Netherrealm after ''4'', beating the tar out of him).
** Also, Sindel. True to ''[[
* [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]] has Officer Hernandez, the third, [[The Voiceless|silent]] member of C.R.A.S.H (Well, not completely silent. The one time he speaks is on the phone with C.J. warning him that C.R.A.S.H is going to make sure he stays in Los Santos and works with them.) who acts as a Foil to the loudmouthed [[Big Bad|Tenpenny]] and [[Jerkass|Pulaski.]] Eventually however, he got fed up with [[Dirty Cop|Tenpenny and Pulaski's ways]] sometime offscreen as his final cutscene is of Tenpenny beating him with a shovel for being a snitch, and having C.J. dig his grave at gunpoint. Hernandez isn't dead though, and he gets back up to try and tackle Pulaski, only to get shot, finally dying.
** The Introduction DVD expands on this. Hernandez speaks in it, telling a story about how he had to make a difficult decision between letting a man beat his crack addicted wife, or jailing the man and leaving the obviously unsuitable for children wife with their kids, establishing himself as a cop with morals. The other two cops scoff at that being a difficult decision, telling him that they're gonna be making difficult decisions on a regular basis. Later on, they force him to personally shoot a cop who had evidence proving that Tenpenny and Pulaski were crooked, so he can "be a fucking man." It makes Hernandez's death all the more tragic, as he was pretty much one of the handful of good cops in the whole series.
* {{spoiler|Gaspard}} in ''[[
* {{spoiler|Specialist Cross}} in ''[[Prototype (
* [[The Elder Scrolls IV
** Much like the [[Penny Arcade]] example below, there's a lot of talk about missing the recipient of the letter and sending them needed money.
* In [[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]], the Blades want you to do this to {{spoiler|Paarthunax, the dragon leader of the Graybeards, for his past crimes... nevermind the fact that the only reason the atrocities were thwarted was because of his eventual notion that these mortals are worth something, and teaching them how to overcome Alduin.}}
* The Bonfire of the Vanities DLC for [[
** Notably, one of them admits that he wasn't under the Apple's influence and followed Savonarola because he happens to agree with him. He laughs at Ezio for thinking that the Apple is the only reason someone may share another person's ideas.
* A heartbreaking example in ''[[God of War (
** The quicktime event where Kratos must push away his daughter and embrace his monstrous self again is possibly the most [[Tear Jerker|heartbreaking]] use of this type of gameplay ever created.
* In the ''[[Castlevania]]'' franchise, the initial reason Mathias Cronqvist became the diabolic vampire Dracula was [[Rage Against the Heavens]]. Blaming God for taking his beloved wife from him after showing unshakable faith his entire life, he felt that defying the laws of God by becoming a vampire would be fitting revenge. But after roughly three centuries as one, he fell in love again. While details are sketchy, he and Lisa fell in love, married, and even had a son (Alucard, who would eventually become his enemy) and for a while, it seemed Dracula was truly happy and would put his evil ways behind… Until Lisa, after using alchemy to cure those who fell ill from an epidemic, fell victim to an angry mob who believed she was practicing witchcraft. All hope for Dracula's redemption was lost that day, and his rage shifted from God to humanity in general.
* Zigzagged with Charlie from ''[[Don't Starve]]''. As seen in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjbOJBfk5U&t=1s the trailer for the sequel], she tries to redeem herself by rescuing Wilson from the Nightmare Throne, only to be corrupted by it herself. Although, it seems very likely her darker personality was influencing her with the ''intent'' to claim the Throne's power.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[The Order of the Stick
** Miko Miyazaki takes a shot at this trope, but falls short. Redemption in this case would have meant [[Knight Templar|admitting she was wrong]], and {{spoiler|she dies before she gets the chance}}.
** The prequel book "Start of Darkness" reveals that Redcloak falls into the second type. For a brief moment he considers setting his [[Evil Plan]] aside in favor of an ordinary life, but then [[Big Bad]] Xykon shows up and slams the door in the most tragic way possible.
** Half-orc ninja Therkla gets this in a big way. She falls madly in love with Elan, but he's not willing to leave Haley for her, and nobody else on the Good side is willing to cut her any slack. {{spoiler|She dies tragically.}}
* [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/10/19/ Played] hilariously straight in ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' (in reference to ''[[Uncharted]]'').
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': {{spoiler|[[Homestuck
* The plot of ''[[Darwin Carmichael Is Going to Hell]]'' can be summarized as "futilely banging on the door." Darwin only made one mistake, but the [[Call It Karma|laws of the universe]] aren't letting him make up for it, since the incredibly bad luck he's been cursed with applies even when he's trying to help other people.
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* Link was going down this path in ''[[There Will Be Brawl]]'', realizing that he and Zelda were going too far to get their hands on the Mushroom Kingdom throne. {{spoiler|Then Zelda literally stabs him in the back with the Master Sword and leaves him for dead.}}
** Zelda follows him down this road in the finale, in which {{spoiler|she attempts to sacrifice herself in place of the "not yet dead" Link. Unfortunately, Ganondorf's attack is so powerful, it takes them both out simultaneously.}}
* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Armageddon Girl slammed the door on her own [[Heel Face Turn]]. Ultra-Man managed to talk her down from destroying a city. The hero speaks to her with heartfelt concern about her former career as a teen sidekick to a superhero, and how no won could blame her for going a little nuts after her family was killed, and that she could get help if she only wanted it. She thought about it for a while, then tearfully smashed Ultra-Man through a building, crying, "No, it's too late for that."
* [[Trigger Star]] has [http://www.triggerstar.com/index.php?strip_id=68 this.]
** In Avocado's defense, that was the most competent he's ever been at anything.
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' has a definite example in v4, with minor player {{spoiler|Remy Kim}}. After leaving behind one person to die in a dangerzone after stabbing him and then also stabbing a battered girl, he runs into Sarah Tan, his friend from school, and has a [[Heel Realization]]. He vows to protect her, and it ''looks'' like she might be a [[Morality Pet]] - type figure... but not only is she angry at him for his actions, but he promptly gets [[Boom! Headshot!|headshotted]] [[Killed Mid
** Lyn Burbank spends her early part of the game trying to play the game after killing her cousin, and even after she joins a group to repay being rescued from a [[Villainous Breakdown|nervous breakdown]], it eventually falls apart, ending in her [[Mercy Kill|MercyKilling]] one of the members and pulling a gun on the other one before leaving him behind, going on to return to playing the game. After she gets caught and [[Cold
** Non-death variant; Reiko Ishida, after her murder of {{spoiler|Carol Burke}} among other things, becomes more hesitant to play the game, and once she finds her girlfriend Sarah Xu, she's obviously happy. However when {{spoiler|the escape boats arrive}} she is denied going with Sarah, on the basis that she was playing the game to begin with. It ends with {{spoiler|Sarah going on the escape boat (though reluctantly) and Reiko staying}}.
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* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Zuko, who has been trying to capture the protagonists for three seasons and half-ignoring their insistence that he could be their friend for just as long, finally sees the error of his ways and, guilt-ridden and earnest, tries to join the Aang Gang so he can play a vital role in teaching Aang/saving the world. The protagonists unanimously decide that he's used up his chances and send him away. Then he accidentally injures the only protagonist still in doubt about him. Kid's got bad karma. {{spoiler|All is eventually well though!}}
** More accurately, he chased them for one season, had two relatively neutral encounters, betrayed an almost-not-really-there possibility of alliance, was absent from their lives for about half a season, and ''then'' turned up wanting to be their friend. Special in that he wasn't able to do this until after experiencing the shock of doing the thing that makes them unable and unwilling to trust him. And then the feet-burning thing.
* In ''[[
* Taken to ridiculous extremes in the ''[[Fairly Oddparents]]'' [[Made for TV Movie|TV movie]] Channel Chasers. At the end of the movie, Timmy's [[Sadist Teacher]] Mr. Crocker was seen coming out of therapy, cured of his obsession with fairies and decides to turn his life around. He even discovered cold fusion! Then, [[
** Done again in the episode "Crocker Shocker", where Mr. Crocker is put under hypnosis by a desperate therapist to erase his belief in fairies. Among the changes he undergoes, he loses his hunchback look and his ears move from his neck to his head. Unfortunately, it turns out that Fairy Magic is powered by Crocker's fairy believing spazz attacks, so Timmy had to get him to change back to his old self. You know the universe is unfair when one person's sanity has to be sacrificed.
* In ''[[Teen Titans (
* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', [[The Starscream|Starscream]] gets so sick of the being the Decepticon's [[Chew Toy]] that he tries to defect to the Autobots. Note that Starscream is not in any way repentant, he just figures he has a better chance on their side. Once it's revealed that Starscream killed [[Sacrificial Lion|Cliffjumper]], [[Action Girl|Arcee]] goes ballistic and tries to [[You Killed My Father|avenge her dead partner.]] Starscream is driven off, and is convinced that he should become a neutral party in the war.
* In the ''[[DC Super Hero Girls]]'' episode “#AngerManagement”, Pamela (aka Poison Ivy) goes to Jessica's anger management therapy classes, and they actually seem to work; her hatred of humanity starting to wane, letting her finally enjoy the beauty of the natural world that she loves. Until she finds there are plans to cover a lake and meadow with concrete in order to build a monument to concrete. This causes Pam to relapse and believe that Kara (who ironically, is [[Supergirl]]) had a point with her claims that "anger is healthy" and relapses into her villainous form, using the lake to create an algae monster to attack the city.
== Real Life ==
* Sabino Arana Goiri (1865-1903) was a Spanish writer, philosopher, and political activist of Basque descent. It was he who founded the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), which was the first political party to strive toward an independent nation-state for the Basque people. He also harbored an obsessive loathing for any Iberian peoples who were ''not'' Basque, condemning them in his nationalistic tracts and arguing against intermarrying with them to such a degree that his attitude bordered on racism. (It should be pointed out that this was the 1890s, [[Values Dissonance|when racism was not only socially acceptable but also considered rational and scientific]]; and anyway, most of Arana Goiri's opponents shared similar attitudes.) Arana Goiri eventually began to moderate his extremist views,
▲* Sabino Arana Goiri (1865-1903) was a Spanish writer, philosopher, and political activist of Basque descent. It was he who founded the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), which was the first political party to strive toward an independent nation-state for the Basque people. He also harbored an obsessive loathing for any Iberian peoples who were ''not'' Basque, condemning them in his nationalistic tracts and arguing against intermarrying with them to such a degree that his attitude bordered on racism. (It should be pointed out that this was the 1890s, [[Values Dissonance|when racism was not only socially acceptable but also considered rational and scientific]]; and anyway, most of Arana Goiri's opponents shared similar attitudes.) Arana Goiri eventually began to moderate his extremist views, deemphasizing race and stating that home rule for Basques within the Spanish nation-state would be an acceptable alternative. Unfortunately, he died before he could convince most of his followers to similarly adjust their attitudes, and the PNV (or at least a militant wing of it) remained radicalized down to the present day. It is largely for this reason that Basques are often thought of (at least by other Spaniards) as terrorist bombers, rather than the peaceful, churchgoing farm folk they always have been and still are. When a bombing occurred in Madrid in 2004, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar even hinted that the plot might have been orchestrated by ETA (a major Basque terrorist organization) rather than by the true suspect, Al-Qaeda. Many Spaniards, including non-Basques, conceded that that was wrong, and it's widely credited for Anzar's party being defeated in the national elections 3 days later.
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[[Category:Heel Face Index]]
▲[[Category:Heel Face Door Slam]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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