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Death Equals Redemption: Difference between revisions

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Since the character dies shortly after the [[Heel Face Turn]], this change of heart is unlikely to affect the plot much. There are exceptions, of course; occasionally, the dying character's last words can inspire the hero or even give him a vital clue. Rarely (very rarely), they recover; in media where "recovery" is routine, the redemption might not stick much longer than the death.
 
Compare [[Alas, Poor Villain]] and [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]], in which the character is at least partially redeemed in the audience's eyes simply through the act of dying even though they stay a villain. [[Dying Asas Yourself]], [[Heel Face Door Slam]], and [[Villain's Dying Grace]] are all sometimes (but not always) [[Sub-Trope|sub-tropes]]. Compare [[The Last Dance]], which is when a character has a longer period before death.
 
{{deathtrope}}
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== Anime & Manga ==
* In ''[[Ergo Proxy]]'' Raul and Daedalus both get their priorities straight just before dying.
* Quent in ''[[WolfsWolf's Rain]]'', realizing that wolves aren't evil when Toboe tries to save him.
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' (the anime anyway), there's an unusual case with the demon Dabura, who is sent to heaven when he dies because the ruler of the afterlife wants to punish him and thinks he'd enjoy hell too much. Being around so much pure good actually turns him into a cuddly emotional guy that likes to pick flowers.
** Not to mention Vegeta in the Freeza Saga, after being beaten by Freeza and on the verge of death he throws his pride to the side begs Goku to stop Freeza, cries even and is given an ''[[Freudian Excuse]]'' for the way he acts. Although when he is finally resurrected his [[Heel Face Turn]] at the edge of death is more or less forgotten.
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{{quote| '''Precia Testarossa:''' I've always been this way, haven't I? [[Tear Jerker|I never notice things until it's too late.]]}}
* Souther/Thouzer in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' acts out as a man who defies love all the time and prefers being a [[Complete Monster]] [[Evil Overlord]] all the time, until he's beaten out by Kenshiro and realize he'll die. In his last breaths, he recalled his love with his master Ougai, revealing his human side shortly before he dies with his crumbling Holy Cross Mausoleum.
* In ''[[Tenshi Nini Narumon]]'' it might be be kinda subverted, since in the last episode, it looked like Mikael and Silky (especially Mikael) could gain redemption only through letting go and dying, but then at the very end when Noelle eventually cleaned up the whole mess, everything turned out just fine, no one died and everyone seemed to get their happy ending.
* Kanna from [[Inuyasha]]. She tells Kagome through a small shard Naraku's [[Achilles Heel]] as a result of Naraku ordering her death.
* In [[Shadow Skill]], [[Power Born of Madness|insane]] [[Fallen Hero]] G is finally restored to sanity when he is forced to fight Gau in a lucid state. He self-destructs shortly afterwards as he was already a [[Paper Talisman]] [[Our Liches Are Different|Lich]] [[Living Onon Borrowed Time]] but [[Defeat Equals Friendship]] such that he manages to come back later as a ghost to help in the [[Final Battle]].
* ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]:'' Tousen. He spent much of his adult life plotting revenge on Soul Society as a result of the death of his [[Implied Love Interest|friend]]. One of his deepest fears was to [[Becoming the Mask|die a shinigami,]] the thing he hated most. As a result, he hollowfied to escape being a shinigami. At the end, when defeated and dying after his battle with Komamura and Hisagi, he returns to the shinigami form he had once despised, finally understanding the value of the friendships he had forged amongst the shinigami. He has just enough time to make his apologies to Komamura and Hisagi absolutely clear before [[Big Bad|Aizen]] kills him. Of course, he was dying anyway, but [[Complete Monster|Aizen]] just wanted to prove a point.
* Kaiser Ryo of [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]] most likely fits in season 3. Having found out that he's dying, he spends most of the season looking for one last great duel. However, he also [[Pet the Dog|repeatedly saves his brother's life]], snaps Judai out of a [[Heroic BSOD]] with a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], and is generally loses most of the harsh, psychotic persona of season 2.
 
 
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* [[Doctor Strange|Baron Mordo]], when he discovers that he's dying of cancer. Then he's brought back to life as a villain by writers who [[Did Not Do the Research]].
** Similarly in ''Doctor Strange: The Oath'' the main antagonist manages to linger a few minutes after dying to give a conflicted Strange some counsel.
* The early run of [[X-Men]] had a villain called the Changeling, who did this when he realized he had six months to live. His character later became the inspiration for the character of [[X-Men (Animationanimation)|Morph.]]
* In ''[[Thorgal]]'': Ogathai. He recognizes Thorgal as his son in a brief moment of clarity after being fatally shot.
* In [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] adventure ''Explorers on the Moon'', Wolff, the traitor of the story, finally sacrifices himself heroically to save the others. Deeply moved by his suicide note, the others consider him "a hero".
 
 
== Fanfiction ==
* In ''[[The Man Withqith No Name (Fanficfanfic)|The Man With No Name]]'', {{spoiler|the villain dies to save [[Doctor Who|the Doctor]] and [[Firefly|Mal's]] lives after begining to [[My God, What Have I Done?|regret what he had done]] and finding out he wouldn't have much longer to live because of his actions}}.
 
 
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'''Fox:''' Would you have told me if I hadn't killed you first? <br />
'''Rat:''' Never. }}
* In the ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Filmfilm)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' movie trilogy, Denethor gets a moment of clarity when he sees Faramir smile at being called his son just before he catches fire.
* The captain of the [[Big Bad]]'s ship in ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (Film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'', although it's not entirely clear whether he actually changed sides or was trying to gloat. Either way, he gives [[James Bond]] what he needed for the film's [[Eureka Moment]].
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''Blackbeard's Ghost''.
* The original Green Goblin in the film version of ''Spider-Man''.
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== Literature ==
* Erayk Dynnys, former archbishop of the [[Safehold (Literature)|Safehold]] kingdom of Charis, rediscovered his faith while awaiting execution as a scapegoat by the [[Corrupt Church|corrupt Church of God Awaiting]] in the second ''[[Safehold]]'' book, ''By Schism Rent Asunder,'' after having spent the first book a low-level [[Sinister Minister]].
* Edmund in ''[[King Lear]]''. An evil villain throughout, once he's fatally wounded in a duel with Edgar he repents.
* In ''[[Hamlet]]'', Laertes. Once he gets poisoned, he realises how low he had gone in his quest for vengence.
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* For [[The Father Luke Wolfe Trilogy|Colonel Stone]], death equaled not only Redemption, but Confession and Implication as well.
* Craig Toomy's death in [[The Langoliers]] is what allows the heroes to escape alive.
* Can happen in the [[Discworld]] novels, although the redemption generally happens after death, when the deceased has a chat with [[Grim Reaper|Death]]. Despite Death's [[Catch Phrase]] "There's no justice. There's just me.", this redemption does tend to avoid an [[Ironic Hell]]. Contrast the fate of Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Truth|The Truth]]''.
 
 
== Live Action TV ==
* A somewhat literal case with Gowron in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'': Jealous of Martok's popularity, he decides to take control of the Klingon fleet and squander lives in order to gain himself political glory until Worf challenges him to a duel to the death. As a result, he dies an honourable warrior's death and Worf performs the Klingon death ritual for him.
* ''24'' George Mason in Season 2. He is initially an [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]], and then attempts to leave LA when he realizes how big the nuclear explosion will be. He is exposed to lethal amounts of plutonium. After learning he will die ''very soon'' but he is not contagious, he returns to work and takes control of the situation. He the ultimately flies the bomb to where it can be safely detonated, saving Jack and convincing him to not give up.
* In the ''[[Alien Nation (TV series)|Alien Nation]]'' made-for-tv movie ''Dark Horizon'', the Tenctonese Overseer Ahpossno spends the entire movie trying to bring back news to his masters of the slaves' survival on Earth. In a desperate attempt to stop him, George infects him with a lethal virus, hoping that the slavemasters will think this means all of the Tenctonese died of a plague on Earth. As Ahpossno is dying while en route to his masters, he has flashbacks of the happy times he shared with George's family. Ultimately he sides with his people and, with his dying breath, tells his fellow Overseers that all of the slaves are dead.
* In ''Lost'', evil undead Sayid fights back against his brainwashing and sacrafices himself saving the lives of his friends.
 
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== Video Games ==
* In the ''[[World of Warcraft (Video Game)|World of Warcraft]]'' Patch 3:3:2, the time finally comes to defeat Arthas, The Lich King himself. In the cinematic after he is defeated he sees the ghost of his father and asks him if it is finally over. Despite everything he had done, his father still holds and comforts him in his last moments, essentially forgiving him.
{{quote| '''Arthas:''' I see only darkness for me...}}
** Whether or not the other lore characters/player population forgive him, however, is open to debate. Though Jaina seems to have forgiven him as well since he apparently kept enough of his humanity to hold onto a keepsake of their love, and Uther's spirit and Muradin felt regretful that they could not stop his [[Face Heel Turn]], and chose to remember what he once was.
* Queen Brahne in ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]''.
** For that matter, Kuja invokes this trope in the most poignant way, since his encroaching mortality is what drives him over the edge to try and destroy EVERYTHING, until the last second when he has been defeated and it is literally the only thing that spurs him to any degree of redemption (and possibly the only thing that ''could'' do so).
* Lady Lilith in ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]] Wings of the Goddess'' : once she realizes that she's done for, she gives to Lilisette a solution to save both futures.
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]:'' The light side ending. Malak pretty much does one of these, going on about now, how when he's dying, he realizes he is worthless. "And now, as the darkness takes me, I am nothing..."
* If you go to the trouble to redeem Aribeth in ''[[Neverwinter Nights (Video Game)|Neverwinter Nights]]: Hordes of the Underdark'', it might count.
* Neku in ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]''.
* Faldio in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles]]''; Faldio realizes he was wrong for believing in firepower over the [[Power of Friendship]] when it comes to saving lives on the battlefield. He proceeds to break himself out of prison just in time to kill himself in a combination [[Heroic Sacrifice|Heroic]]/StupidSacrifice as an apology to Welkin and Alicia, and to maintain some of the game's overall themes. It's a matter of some contention in the fandom.
* Psycho Mantis in ''[[Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'', in his [[Final Speech]], helps you move on and mentions it's the first time in a long time he's used his power to help people. He declares it 'nostalgic' just before he dies. Subverted as part of it was really him leading you on further into the villains' [[Batman Gambit]].
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* Bounty Hunter in ''[[RetakeRE-TAKE]]''.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'': [[Defied Trope|Defied]] in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0464.html this comic] by [[Knight Templar|Miko the (former) paladin]], who attempted to save her world by destroying an ancient gate. [[Alas, Poor Scrappy|While she is lying on the floor]] [[Half the Man He Used To Be|in two very large pieces]], she is told by the founder of her order [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|how badly she'd messed things up]]. He sadly informs her that though she carried out her duty, she cannot be readmitted to the paladins, because she never actually admitted that her original mistake was wrong or did anything to fix it.
{{quote| '''Soon Kim:''' Perhaps, if you had more time...but then again, perhaps not. Redemption is a rare and special thing, after all. It is [[Title Drop|not for everyone]]. }}
 
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