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Deadly Change-of-Heart: Difference between revisions
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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]]'', {{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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* 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.}}
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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.
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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 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.}}
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* 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 sides--if only for lack of options--when he was killed.
* 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.
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* 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 The Deathly Hallows]]'' doesn't even let [[Dirty Coward|Peter Pettigrew]] get close - he hesitates for a split second after Harry reminds him of how he saved [[I Owe You My Life|his life in the past]], and his [[Evil Hand]] immediately strangles him to death.
** 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.
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* [[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 evil -- leaving the narrator as the new captain, wondering what ''he'' did wrong that he wasn't freed as well...
* ''[[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.
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== 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-Forged Friends|G'Kar]].
* 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.
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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.
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* 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|Face Heel Turned]], 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 ''[[
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** 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| '''Gabranth''': [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Even a stray has pride!]]}}
* 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 (
* [[
** 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.
== [[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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* 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, [[Did Not Eat the Mousse|even though he had nothing to do with the plot]] (in fact his very appearance was probably just to show he's a [[Cosmic Plaything]]), Timmy's wish that nobody remembers anything that happened from when the film began affected him, returning him to his fairy-obsessed self who tosses his cold fusion generator away because he doesn't know what it is anymore.
** 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.
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