Heel Realization: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Common when [[The Dark Side Will Make You Forget]] or when [[Big Brother Is Employing You]].

 

For the opposite, see [[You Are Better Than You Think You Are]] where the character fails to see they are nobler than they give themselves credit for.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Magical Project S]]'', Misao Amano is shocked to find out she is Pixy Misa (the evil magical girl that has tortured practically every main character, including her parents and her best friend). While it was initially thought her evil side was due to brainwashing, it was in fact her repressed self, despite having no memory of her actions.

** Lelouch has one in the first season after he's forced to [[Shoot the Dog]] {{spoiler|and kill his sister Euphemia}}. Although upset over his actions, Lelouch realizes [[Ignored Epiphany|he's gone too far to turn back.]]

* In ''[[Berserk]]'', Griffith is made to realize at the Eclipse that rather than being the beloved leader that everyone thinks he is (including himself at times), [[Ambition Is Evil|he is an ambitious man]] who will do anything to realize his dream and uses people to that end, even into death on the battlefield. It's his spite for Guts' being the one person he couldn't control that sends him over the mother of all [[Moral Event Horizon]]s.

** Also hilariously averted by Yanbo and Mabo: they never realized they were bullies to start with, and yet they manage to {{spoiler|realize a [[Heel Face Turn]]}} without noticing.

* [[Suzumiya Haruhi]] in ''Sigh'', when she finally gets called out by Kyon on her treatment of Mikuru. Directly after this is one of her biggest [[Pet the Dog]] moments, and she becomes much nicer after this. Made more obvious in the anime rendition, where she looks away from Kyon as he calls her out and it's clear [[Cry Cute|that she's at the verge of tears]].

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Most of these moments are in flashbacks, as soldiers in Ishval realize they're acting as [[Punch Clock Villain]]s and become [[The Atoner]]s we know and love. In the timeframe of the story itself, {{spoiler|Scar gets a slower-acting one than usual, apparently beginning when he notices that he's standing menacingly over Ed and Winry in exactly the same way he remembers [[Sociopathic Soldier|Kimblee]] standing over him and [[Dead Little Sister|his brother]]}}.

* In ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam]]'', both Master Asia and Dr. Mikamura get them. For Master Asia, it was the fact that humanity was a part of the Earth as nature was and wiping them all out wouldn't solve a thing. For Dr. Mikamura, it was the realization that his own jealousy towards Dr. Kasshu lead them to the point where his own daughter was now the core of the Devil Gundam. Both of them suffer [[Tear Jerker]]-worthy [[Redemption Equals Death]] moments to atone.

* The comedy series ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'', surprisingly, has a few examples.

** [[Played for Laughs]]: This trope is the entire point of ''High School Boys and Panties'' — peeping at a girl's panties does not make a guy feel good, but guilty and depressed... especially when you tricked a [[Ditz]] into unwittingly flaunting her panties. Motoharu slipped into a [[Heroic BSOD]] so hard ''he skipped school for three days''.

** [[Played for Drama]]: {{spoiler|Yanagin was in Habara's gang as well, but she did a [[Heel Face Turn]] due to [[Scars Are Forever|what happened to Karasawa.]]}}

* The final climax of the 2003 version of ''[[Astro Boy (anime)|Astro Boy]]''. For the entire series, Dr. Tenma had been trying to guide Astro so that he would eventually become the most powerful robot in the world, able to rule over all humanity. However, all this time, Astro had been fighting for peaceful man-machine coexistence. So in their final conflict, Tenma and Astro meet in the abandoned Laboratory 7, {{spoiler|where most of Tenma's angst originated, first with his real son then with Astro's original incarnation}}. What finally ended the battle wasn't strength of arms at all, but Astro {{spoiler|forgiving Tenma for everything he did. He suddenly realizes that the robot he built himself had shown himself to be ''more human than him'', and he finally surrenders.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'', the entire point of {{spoiler|Negascott}} is to get Scott to recognize his own faults as a person and to understand that he's played a part in the failures of his past relationships rather than just blaming others.

* Paradoxically, inverted in [[The Flash]], after one of Flash's friends accuses [[Reed Richards Is Useless|Flash of not using the full extent of his abilities to help people.]] The friend then realizes the best way to make the Flash a better hero is to become a villain who'd push him to be one.

 

== Fan Works ==

** {{spoiler|King Endrin Aeducan}} is a sort of aversion because he knows what he's doing is wrong from the get go. Still, his {{spoiler|deathbed scene}} finally has him putting it into words, but it's far, ''far'' too late by then, or so he thinks. {{spoiler|It actually wasn't, since everything had gone according to one of the DN's plans, but Endrin actually ''chooses'' to die because he didn't want to face his second son when he came back.}} It's just a very small point in his favor that {{spoiler|part of the reason for his decision to give up on life before the second eldest prince has a chance to return is the fact that he doesn't want to put Raonar through the experience of having a second parent die in front of him.}} Needless to say, {{spoiler|the second son in question quite rightfully calls him a stupid old man when he finds out.}}

 

== Film ==

* In ''[[Dogma]]'', Loki has a moment like this when he hears Bartleby claim that God unfairly favours humans over angels and that therefore they are entitled to kill a bunch of them if that means they get to return to Heaven.

{{quote|"My God. I've heard a rant like this before... You sound like the Morning Star... You sound like [[The Devil|Lucifer]], man! You've fucking ''lost'' it! You are not talking about going home, Bartleby, you are talking fucking ''war on God!'' Well fuck that! I've seen what happens to the [[Pride|proud]] when they try to take on the throne... [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|I'm going back to Winsconsin.]]"}}

 

== Literature ==

* Ian Hunter of ''[[The Unicorn Chronicles]]'' spends the first book, plus a great deal of flashback, being on the side of his great-great-and so on- grandmother, who is trying to destroy luster and the unicorns, all to 'rescue' his daughter. Upon finding her, she yells at him for hurting her friends, and after he gets dumped in the middle of nowhere, he realizes that Beloved is a monster and he's been on the wrong side for the past ten or so years.

* A halfway one from [[The Secret River]]: Thornhill says that he is "not a bad man", but is doing "something only the worst of men could do"

** She goes to her {{spoiler|[[And I Must Scream|not quite death]]}} still insisting she's the good one, but Granny's insistence otherwise has rattled her somewhat. Granny, though, has on multiple occasions made a point of saying that only people who don't know better can actually be bad; if you know the difference between right and wrong, you can't choose wrong.

** Subverted in ''Wyrd Sisters'' when Granny Weatherwax forces the [[Complete Monster|monstrous]] queen of Lancre to see her [[True Self]]. Instead of repenting, the queen declares that given the chance to start over she would've done everything the same, only harder. {{spoiler|She then suffers [[Karmic Death]]...sort of.}} Which would make the above point "if know the difference... and are sane..."

** Another Turtledove book late in his [[Timeline-191]] series features a character who has become a guard at what is basically Auschwitz in the extermination of American Southern blacks, and considers himself doing vital work for the safety of his country. When he eventually realizes, basically through the simple decency of one of the prisoners, that blacks are * people* , [[Driven to Suicide|he is overcome at the evil he has been helping enact and kills himself]].

*** This is especially poignant, as earlier in the series the character somewhat identified with blacks (though in a way that only made him dislike them more). He himself was of Mexican descent, and commented more than once that in the eyes of most Confederates, he was at most only one step away from blacks.

* Reverend Hale in ''[[The Crucible]]'' has one of these and spends the rest of the play trying to make amends - by encouraging victims of the witch-hunt to confess and live rather than die for continuing to deny witchcraft.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''Traitor General'', {{spoiler|Sturm}}, his memory partially recovered, regards himself as deeply injured by his treatment at the hands of the Imperial forces. However, as he recovers, he realizes that [[Amnesiac Dissonance|he had forgot his acts that inspired it]], and that he [[Redemption Equals Death|deserves to die]]. (Which is more than he realized, with all his memories, at the end of ''Necropolis''.)

* ''[[Atonement]]'' gives one to Briony, the ''narrator'', upon the realization that her actions sent an innocent man to prison.

** In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''Fulgrim'', Fulgrim realizes how great his betrayal is when he is fighting {{spoiler|Ferrus Manus; his [[Evil Weapon|sword]] gets him to kill Ferrus Manus anyway, saying he will kill him otherwise, and then, when Fulgrim says "[[What Have I Done]]", it lets him realize the depths of his crime, and that his view of Ferrus Manus had been formed by spiteful misinterpretation of his deeds.}}

** While we're on this, Sarpedon of the ''[[Soul Drinkers]]'' (another [[Ben Counter]] work) comes to the terrifying realisation at the end of ''Soul Drinker'', upon finding out that his Chapter have essentially become Chaos Marines (although, had it not been for Chaos mind-befuddling, the mutations would have provided a pretty damn big clue). Having realised this, Sarpedon hauls himself and his Chapter back from the brink of Chaos just in time, and kills the Daemon responsible.

* In the novelization of the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' story ''Urza's Saga'', we have the [[Knight Templar]] archangel Radiant, whose last words are the startled "''I'm'' the mad one!"

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' novel examples:

** Later, when Harry {{spoiler|is dead in Ghost Story}}, he realizes what his decisions in the previous book did to his friends, especially Molly. {{spoiler|It turns out that accepting a devil's bargain in front of your partially-reformed warlock wizardling apprentice is a ''bad'' idea, and that she learns from your example.}}

* In one of the [[Iron Warriors]] short stories, the renegade [[Space Marine]] Ardaric Vaanes realises that yes, he's become a Traitor Marine. At first, however, he doesn't ''care''.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Done rather nicely in [[iCarly]] with Nevel, who was as close to a [[Big Bad]] as the show got. After spending the series doing everything he could to destroy iCarly, he gets caught on video being his mean, [[Jerkass]] self to a little girl who'd accidentally bumped into him. Not only does this ruin his life, it shows him what he's ''really'' been like. He pretty much says [[My God, What Have I Done?]] and makes a token effort to change his ways. Ultimately, the iCarly gang help him do so and he performs a [[Heel Face Turn]] as a result.

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' had an episode with two unrelated stories about this. One centered arounnd reuinion between Leonard and a former bully, during which time he began to realize how much he'd hurt Leonard {{spoiler|until he wakes up the next morning fully sober up and reverts to his older self}}. The other centered around {{spoiler|Penny}} realizing that she used to be a bully and trying to overcome her guilt upon realizing how much she hurt her classmates.

 

== Music ==

* The second half of [[David Bowie]]'s "Cygnet Committee," wherein the second narrator first gleefully describes the violence he and his allies have turned to, but slowly sees it to be antithetical to his ideals.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyuJI73Uxns "The Truth beneath the Rose"] by [[Within Temptation]] seems to be about this.

* Bob has a small one in [[Zombie Apocalypse|"Re: Your Brains"]] by [[Jonathan Coulton]], which doesn't seem to effect him much.

* Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "The Curse of Milhaven"

* "I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion.

* Happens in the middle of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQYZUU63QM "Crusade"] by [[Voltaire (musician)|Voltaire]], after the narrator has slain one of the reportedly evil dragons he was crusading against.

 

 

* In [[Ravenloft]], having a Heel Realization is the only way a darklord can escape his/her [[Ironic Hell]] realm. The sourcebook does note that people actually ''capable'' of having a Heel Realization would never have become darklords in the first place.

 

* The stage version of ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'' climaxes when Seymour Krelborn realizes what he's aided and abetted for a little fame and a shot at the woman of his dreams. Confronting [[Man-Eating Plant|Audrey 2]] he damns them both, [[Not So Different|"You're a monster, and so am I!"]] {{spoiler|He is then [[Downer Ending|promptly eaten]].}}

* Valjean and Javert in ''[[Les Misérables (theatre)|Les Misérables]]'' - see Literature, above, although the episodes with Petit Gervais and Marius are sometimes omitted, the realizations following directly from the Bishop's undeserved gift to Valjean and Valjean's decision to spare Javert. Here, with Javert having been upgraded from "recurring nuisance" to "deuteragonist," an explicit parallel is drawn, Javert having a solo that's a [[Dark Reprise]] of Valjean's.

 

== Video Games ==

* This is how the [[Talking the Monster to Death]] solution to the [[Big Bad]] works in the original ''[[Fallout]]''. Once you prove to him that his plan could not work and [[Utopia Justifies the Means|the Utopia that would Justify The Means can't exist]], he realizes that he's simply been doing evil and is [[Driven to Suicide]] by the revelation.

* Also in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', Joshua Graham, co-founder of [[The Horde|Caesar's Legion]] underwent this after his attempted execution. After he [[Implacable Man|survived]], he became a Mormon once again (albeit very [[Kill'Em All|militant]]) and rejoined his church.

{{quote|'''Eden:''' Perhaps...Perhaps there ''is'' a problem. I--I am unsure how to proceed.}}

* If you spare {{spoiler|Loghain}} in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' and increase his approval, he will eventually go through one of these. His last words {{spoiler|if you allow him to slay the Archdemon}} make it clear that he knows his past actions are unforgivable, and all he wants is a chance to atone for them.

* In ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'', Yasha spent the last 12,000 years going along with the plans of the same people who killed his sister and his brother-in-law, enslaved his niece, and regularly slaughter people for their souls. All for the sake of the "cause"—preventing the complete destruction of humanity at the hands of the Gohma. He justified it by believing with all his might that it truly was the only way to save humanity in the long run. Confronting Asura again and seeing how much power he's attained ''without'' mass human sacrifice helps Yasha realize that Deus' plan ''isn't'' the only way to save the world. When Asura calls Yasha and the other Deities fools for killing ''seven trillion people'' as part of their plan to "save" the world, Yasha agrees.

 

* In ''[[Tsukihime]]'', Akiha route, you can, at one point, kill Ciel ({{spoiler|thus, failing her test of Shiki's humanity}}), prompting Shiki to assume he IS a natural-born killer, after all, and give in to [[The Dark Side]]. Needless to say, it's a bad ending game over.

** Part of Kohaku's route {{spoiler|has her realize much quicker than in Hisui's route that maaaaybe she should have picked a different hobby than plotting the utter annihilation of the Tohno family, even if Makihasa wasn't [[Complete Monster|the world's nicest guy after his Inversion Impulse began]].}}

** Also, in the fifth case, Edgeworth finds that {{spoiler|he's already guilty of using forged evidence, and the forged evidence was used to give a death sentance to a serial killer.}} He wasn't aware of it at the time ({{spoiler|he himself didn't forge the evidence, and he was convinced at the time that it was the real deal}}), but it really came to bite him in the ass when people found it out and started to call him out on it. Even when they find out {{spoiler|who forged the eivdence and why, sort of clearing his name a bit}}, he couldn't forgive himself for it...and it's implied that {{spoiler|it's one of the many things that pushes him to leave the prosecutors office for a year, leaving what appears to be a suicide note}}.

* In [[Katawa Shoujo]], in Act 4 of Shizune's route, {{spoiler|she realizes that she has been taking those closest to her for granted and pushing people close to her away. She thus resolves to, with Hisao's help, repair her friendship with Misha, and also says she will be less competitive in the future}}.

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Exiern]]'', Tiffany hates Theresa for several bad reasons: They are both under a [[Gender Bender]] spell (and Theresa doesn't share Tiffany's whiny attitude about it), the guy Tiffany tries to tell herself she's not in love with seem interested in Theresa, and they (Tiffany & Theresa) are equally bigoted against each other's culture. After [[Love Interest|Denver]] give her the appropriate "[[What the Hell, Hero?]]", Tiffany finally realize what a bitch she has been to Theresa. See page illustration above.

* Subversion: Cale'anon of ''[[Looking for Group]]'' believes he has turned evil {{spoiler|after killing a little boy}} and tries to act accordingly, but really, he [[Poke the Poodle|isn't made of the right (or wrong) stuff]].

* Parodied in ''[[Ansem Retort]]''.

** At one point, Gil Wulfenbach goes into a huge rant about how he always tries to be a [[Nice Guy]] but all that does is make people think that [[Extreme Doormat|he is weak and that they can take advantage of him,]] and so the only time he can make people listen to reason is by beating the crap out of them first. And then he realises, to his horror: "This must be how my father feels ''all the time!'' "

* ''[[8-Bit Theater]]'' example:

** Ironically, Sarda doesn't seem to realize or care that he is the one that enabled them to do so much damage in the first place. Stable time loops are delicious like that.

* Though not a villain, [[The Japanese Beetle]] had a moment where he realized he's a creep, and set about [[Character Development|trying to become a decent person and a real hero]].

Don said nothing.

"You never would listen to me about Royal ideals," Slately said, frowning. "Honor, sacrifice, dignity, decorum, station...loyalty, bravery... You were too polite to me, Don. You couldn't simply say I was no Royal ideal myself."'' }}

* ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'': [[Dark Action Girl|Sal's]] fall from grace has led her to retrieve an [[Amplifier Artifact]] which she is [[Moral Event Horizon|poised to use to destroy about 2/3rds of the world with]]. Walky brings her back from the brink by presenting her with her ex-boyfriend Danny, who is pretty much the only person she will still let herself care about. Her tough-girl persona collides with her desire for Danny to think well of her and [[Villainous BSOD|she collapses into a crying heap in Danny's arms]]. Afterwards, she becomes [[The Atoner]] for the next few story arcs, resolving to willingly serve out her prison sentence [[Play-Along Prisoner|despite her superpowers meaning she can escape whenever she wants]].

** Her Heel Realization is illustrated by having Sal's hair, which had fallen over her left eye and covered it during her entire [[Dark Action Girl]] phase [[Good Hair, Evil Hair|to illustrate how she wasn't letting herself see everything going on around her]], [[Expository Hairstyle Change|falling away from her face as she sees and recognizes Danny's presence]].

* ''[[Bobwhite]]'', during a summer story arc, Cleo realizes, [http://www.bobwhitecomics.com/?webcomic_post=20090707 "I'm such a terrible employee that I made a child cry."]

 

== Web Original ==

* Cracked.com offers a helpful list of [http://www.cracked.com/article_15021_5-signs-that-youre-villain-in-hollywood-action-movie.html 5 Signs That You're The Villain In An Action Movie], including details like acknowledging one's own [[Red Right Hand]] and the possibility of being an [[Evil Brit]].

* The ''Escapist'' series ''Doraleous and Associates'' had an episode where the titular heroes-for-hire realized they were working for the bad guys. They immediately switched sides.

* The original Dove was a vigilante crimefighter from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' who was active between 1989 and 1995. He considered himself a hero helping to defend ordinary people from street criminals. His usual modus operandi was to hunt any criminal whom he thought "got away with it"; that is, whenever he disagreed with a "not guilty" verdict. When captured, he was confronted with the fact that he wasn't a defender of the public, but rather just another serial killer and the idea horrified him to the point that he hung himself while awaiting trial.

* Phase of the [[Whateley Universe]] is a fourteen-year-old who was kicked out of the richest family on the planet, the Goodkinds, when he turned into a mutant: the Goodkinds are notoriously anti-mutant, supporting the [[Knight Templar|Knights of Purity]] and the semi-governmental Mutant Commission Office (MCO). Goodkinds, including the boy Phase used to be, have supported the MCO with billions of dollars over the years. Phase has defended the MCO to his new (mutant) friends at [[Super-Hero School|Whateley Academy]], even though there are rumors that the MCO has kidnapped hundreds of young mutants who were never seen again. In "Ayla and the Grinch", Phase has to face the fact that the MCO really ''has'' been kidnapping, and "disappearing", young mutants, and he is partly responsible, since he helped fund the MCO.

** "Now the nightmare's real; now Dr. Horrible is here...."

 

== Western Animation ==

* In ''[[Megas XLR]]'', Coop tries to protect the Earth, though it's usually his fault, and he does far more damage than anyone else. The S-Force and ''their'' evil nemesis, [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Ender]], spend an entire episode pointing this out to him (aptly titled ''The Bad Guy''), and nearly everyone else does at some point. In the series finale, {{spoiler|an AU version of him actually ''was'' the bad guy. It was intended to be revealed at some point that he created the Glorft on accident, too.}}

* In an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' where Stewie {{spoiler|has learned he is actually a masochist as he tries to goad Lois to hit him}} he says, "Dear Lord, I really do have problems don't I?" and we agree.

* In ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', after [[In Love with the Mark|falling for Kiara]] and hearing Simba's side of Scar's death, Kovu finishes [[Becoming the Mask]] and gets a [[My God, What Have I Done?|My God What Did I Almost Do]] moment, deciding not to go through with the assassination plot he had been sent to do. [[Evil Matriarch|His mother]] didn't like this.

* Not an easy process for Zuko of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', but he eventually gets there: "[[Heel Face Turn|I'm good now]]. I mean, I thought I was good before, but now I realize I was bad..."

* In the episode "Secret of my Excess" of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' Spike's draconic hoarding instinct triggers and he starts going through dragon puberty, growing to prodigious size and snatching everything he likes the look of. Then Rarity snaps at him when he tries to steal the wrong necklace (one made with a stone he gave her, after painstakingly "ripening" it with intent to ''eat it'' himself) and he realizes that not only does his beloved Rarity literally not recognize him anymore, she hates what he's become, and the Heel Realization is so powerful it actually ''reverses the puberty'' and he shrinks back down do his familiar size.

** Fluttershy in "Putting Your Hoof Down." After becoming more and more violent and then proceeding to tell off her own friends and make them cry, after looking into a puddle and seeing her own rage face she's horrified at what she's become.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Narrative Devices]]

[[Category:Internal Conflict Tropes]]

[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]

[[Category:Redemption Tropes]]