Deadly Change-of-Heart: Difference between revisions

 

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]].

 

 

== 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.

** 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}}.

** 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.

* 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 (comics)|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''.

** Not sure if this counts—Megatron was just trying to keep himself from being, as Carly put it, " {{spoiler|[[Memetic Mutation|Sentinel's Bitch]]}}". Odds are he would have killed Optimus as soon as he was done with {{spoiler|Sentinel}} if Optimus hadn't dealt with him first.

* 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.}}

 

== Literature ==

** 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 [[Christopher Marlowe]]'s ''[[Doctor Faustus]]'', Faustus begins to regret his decision to make a deal with the devil right before he dies and is carried off to hell.

** 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]].

* 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]]ed, he considered [[Face Heel Revolving Door|going back]], but then {{spoiler|Dr. Maki mortally wounds him. He dies after helping Eiji destroy him.}}

* This happens to Cole in the fourth season of ''[[Charmed]]''. He finds a wizard willing to take the Source's powers, thus freeing him from being possessed but Phoebe appears on the scene and kills the wizard before he can take the powers. Cole is killed in the next episode.

 

== Music ==

* A heartbreaking example in ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]: Chains of Olympus''. After [[Big Bad|Persephone]] reveals her [[Evil Plan|scheme to undo reality]], Kratos ends up slaughtering the pure souls of Elysuim in order to gain his powers back that he can stop both her and [[The Dragon|Atlas]]. The price he ends up paying is '''very''' high; in order to save the world and the underworld, he would never see Calliope again.

** 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.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* 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.

** 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 (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Terra makes a [[Face Heel Turn]] and joins Slade, becoming [[The Mole]] to the Titans. However, due to getting close to the Titans, she ends up regretting her actions, but doesn't dare to fully betray Slade, so she just tries to spare Beast Boy, taking him on a date while Slade's army infiltrate the Titan Tower. Slade tracks Terra and Beast Boy down, revealing the truth to Beast Boy. An apologetic Terra breaks down sobbing, saying she's sorry and pleads with Beast Boy to forgive her, reminding him he said they'll be friends no matter what. [[What an Idiot!|An angry Beast Boy responds with "Slade's right. You don't HAVE any friends."]] As a result, Terra fully embraces being Slade's apprentice and becomes truly ''evil'', and Beast Boy [[My God, What Have I Done?|ends up kicking himself over slamming the door in her face earlier.]] In the end, however, Terra makes a [[Heel Face Turn]] after all...[[Heroic Sacrifice|but with a cost.]]

* 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.

 

== 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, de-emphasizing 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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