Heel Realization: Difference between revisions

* A pretty funny example from ''[[Machete]]''. One of the [[Mook|Mooks]] has an epiphany, telling his coworkers that "I've been watching the boss, and the boss is a real scumbag." That same Mook, when confronted by Machete shortly thereafter, promptly quits his job and gives Machete his gun.

* In ''[[The Elephant Man]]'', Dr. Treves is shaken by the Head Nurse's observation that the arrangement he set up for John Merrick, which include receiving respectable callers, means he is still being treated as a freak on display, albeit in a high class cushy style.

* James Norrington of the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' films realized only too late what side he was on in allying himself with Beckett, and promptly sought to [[Heroic Sacrifice|make amends]].

* Undercover news reporter Babe Bennett has one in ''[[Mr. Deeds]]'' when she finds herself falling in love with Deeds after lying to him in order to gather information to slander him with.

* ''[[Falling Down]]'' with Michael Douglas has this exchange near the end, after the [[Villain Protagonist]] [[Ubermensch]] is confronted by the retiring detective (well, sergeant) {{spoiler|[[Retirony|who lives!]]}}

'''Bill Foster:''' How did that happen? }}

* In ''[[American Beauty]]'', the middle-aged protagonist spends the majority of the movie fantasizing about a slutty teenager, and even starts working out to impress her. But when he finally gets a chance to fulfill the fantasy, he realizes that statutory rape laws are there for a reason: {{spoiler|She's just as insecure and immature as any other teenager, and is actually still a virgin.}} He opts to be a [[Chaste Hero]], not that [[Redemption Equals Death|it helps much]].

* ''[[Bjarnfredarson]]'' is all about this ''finally'' happening to the titular character, who failed to realise this over three whole series of comedy.

* 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.

 

 

* This is the [[Title Drop|source of the title]] of ''[[I Am Legend]]''. {{spoiler|The protagonist is indiscriminately killing the vampires who have reformed and learned to control their urges and realizes at the end he has become a monster to ''them''}}.

* In [[Harry Turtledove]]'s [[Alternate History]] ''[[Worldwar]]'' series, this happens to [[Those Wacky Nazis|Panzer Commander of the Wehrmacht]] Heinrich Jäger when an old Jewish man shows him the bullet hole in his neck and tells him the story of how he got it. Heinrich had heard the rumors before then, but he hadn't believed in them. The third book sums it up nicely:

Soldiers didn't commonly had to make that distinction. Jäger hadn't worried about it, not until he had found out how the Germans dealt with Jews in the east. Since then, he hadn't been able to look away. He knew what sort of disaster awaited the world if the [[Alien Invasion|Lizards]] won the war. Like Skorzeny, he was willing to do just about anything to keep that from happening. Unlike the SS man, he wasn't willing to believe that everything he did was fine and virtuous.<br />

That made for another subtle distinction, but he clung to it. }}

* Valjean in ''[[Les Misérables]]'' had his [[Heel Realization]] after unthinkingly robbing a small child, right after [[The Messiah|Bishop Myriel]] had given him everything he'd owned, which got him to [[The Atoner|start taking his oath to the bishop seriously]], and, well... [[Doorstopper|you know the rest]]. Much later, Javert has his own [[Heel Realization]] when he sees Valjean's honest intent to save Marius shortly after having himself been spared by him, and realizes that the world isn't as black-and-white as he'd meant to believe; he [[Driven to Suicide|doesn't take it as well]].

* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] [[The Professor]] Aronnax is truly happy to travel in the Nautilus making submarine research, but after he witness Captain Nemo crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]], Aronnax realizes the true price of his travels with Captain Nemo:

* ''[[In Death]]'': There is this one lawyer in ''Ceremony In Death'' who defends one of the Satanic cult leaders that Eve is trying to take down. This lawyer happens to be a cult member himself. When Eve shows crime scene photos of a murdered cult member, the cult leader acts all "Meh", and the lawyer can only sit there and stare at the photos. Eve pretty much tips him off that she knows about his involvement and that he should think long and hard about what to do next. Later, when the lawyer is by himself, he ends up experiencing a [[Heel Realization]], where he realizes that ever since he joined the cult he's been having blackouts...and in one of those blackouts, the cult member in the photos was murdered in a sacrifice! Who knows what else happened in those blackouts? He ends realizing that he is in big trouble, and decides to pull a [[Heel Face Turn]]...only to get murdered shortly afterwards.

* "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield is about the main character, Laura, having one of these and realizing how unbelievably shallow her life is.

* The gang in [[Angel]] have kindof a [[Will They or Won't They?]] relationship with this trope in season 5.

* Iris Crowe in ''[[Carnivale]]'', tells her foster-father Norman Balthus that she knows she's evil:

* ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'' had a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEle_DLDg9Y sketch involving a pair of Nazis starting to wonder if they were the bad guys]: the were, after all, wearing black uniforms with skulls on them.

* In ''[[The Middleman]]'' episode "The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown", {{spoiler|former Middleman}} Guy Goddard realizes that he's the villain when he finds himself saying the villainous [[Once an Episode]] [[Catch Phrase]] "My plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity."

* Nicely played out in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Waltz", although some fans feel it began Dukat's [[Motive Decay|descent]] into a more [[Ax Crazy|simplistic villainy]]. Upon being asked by the hero to justify his occupation of Bajor, Dukat's calm rationalizations gradually give way to a rant about the Bajorans' lack of gratitude for his mercy, until he answers Sisko's sarcastic "you should have killed them all" with an excited "yes! Yes, that's right, isn't it? I knew it. I've always known it. I should have killed every last one of them. I should have turned their planet into a graveyard the likes of which the Galaxy has never seen! I should have killed them all." When he later makes his escape, he's dropped the claim of being a misunderstood hero that he'd always made before, and becomes an unapologetic, nihilistic villain for the rest of the series - one of the few examples where a character recognizes his villainy and actually [[Card-Carrying Villain|embraces it]].

** Tomin has one early in "The Ark of Truth". The Priors have a collective one after the Ark is opened.

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' has an odd version in season five when Dean realizes where his current path leads after he's sent into the future and [[Future Me Scares Me|meets himself.]]

'''Dean:''' What a ''dick''. }}

** The moment at the end of season four after Sam has killed Lilith and Ruby revealed {{spoiler|that Lilith ''was'' the final seal, not the one who was going to break the final seal,}} is Sam's [[Downplayed Trope|moment]] when he realizes he's just an [[Unwitting Pawn]] who [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|screwed up big time]] {{spoiler|and brought about the apocalypse}}. [[Heroic BSOD|His face]] during Ruby's triumphal and extremely ill-advised [[Evil Gloating|monologue]] conveys complete devastation. He's barely even paying attention when he and Dean subsequently kill Ruby.

* In ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'', the agents of SD-6 are ''not'' happy to learn they've been working for the enemy all along.

* Third Season of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' features Jessie realizing that he's 'the bad guy'

'''Jesse:''' I'm the bad guy. }}

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' had a truly shocking one in "Journey's End", from a frigging '' {{spoiler|[[Complete Monster|Dalek]]}}'' no less.

** The Doctor himself had one in "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 E16 The Waters of Mars|The Waters of Mars]]" after Adelaide Brooks calls him out on his [[What the Hell, Hero?|megalomania regarding time itself]]. Ten's descent into madness, and then his realization at what he's done once {{spoiler|Adelaide [[Heroic Sacrifice|kills herself]] to protect the time stream}} is painful to watch, but [[David Tennant|Tennant's]] performance remains nothing short of magnificent.

** How about this one, from a ''Dalek'' to the ''Doctor''!

* Sebastian the Vorlon Inquisitor in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' had such a realization about {{spoiler|his "reform" project for which he was "remembered only as [[Jack the Ripper|Jack" (the Ripper)]]}}.

'''Sebastian:''' I was found by the Vorlons. They showed me the terrible depth of my mistake, my crimes, my presumption. I have done 400 years of penance in their service. A job for which they said I was ideally suited. Now, perhaps, they will finally let me die. }}

** Also from ''[[Babylon 5]]'', Zack Allan. He was originally enticed into joining [[Black Shirt|Nightwatch]] because of the extra pay it offered, but as he noticed Nightwatch get more and more oppressive, he began to resent his decision. Still, he stayed in and simply strove to involve himself as little as possible. Finally, as Nightwatch tries to take over the station, he lets slip that a bunch of Narns are coming in to replace them. The leader of the local Nightwatch musters every hand possible to capture them.{{spoiler|..putting all of them in one single secure location [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|which Zack promptly has sealed]]. After both sides having told him he had done the right thing, it's only ''at this point'' that he feels he can believe it.}}

* 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.

Forgive me for what I have been. }}

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

Well, [[Elite Zombie|technically I am]]<br />

I guess I am. }}

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

Oh fuck it! I'm a monster! I admit it! }}

* "I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion.

[[Jerkass Facade|I hid behind anger, held back the tears]]<br />

It was me against the world, I was sure that I'd win<br />

I was wrong, I realise now that I was wrong }}

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

Who only fought to protect his young. }}

 

* ''[[Xenosaga]]'' has Canaan, who actually does this ''twice'': first as Lactis during the cellphone game ''Pied Piper'', then a hundred years later during ''Xenosaga III: [[Also Sprach Zarathustra]]'' as Canaan. Both times, {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death]]. Reincarnation is fun, kids.}}

* [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=198344&site=pcg This] "[[Let's Play]]" of ''[[Galactic Civilizations]] 2'' was intended to be a peaceful attempt at attaining galactic superiority through advanced culture. Half way through comes the realization that something has gone terribly wrong:

* At the end of ''[[Mass Effect]]'', it's possible to talk {{spoiler|[[The Dragon|Saren Arterius]] into this, making him realize that he's been [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] all of this time. After this, he proceeds to [[Driven to Suicide|take a pistol and shoot himself]], thanking Shepard with his last words.}} This is approached somewhat differently than usual, as he's already figured out he's the bad guy, but thought it [[Necessarily Evil|to be the only way for anyone to survive the Reaper invasion]]. The player's contribution is to get him to realize that that's the [[Mind Control|indoctrination]] talking.

** Of course, anyone who has read the ''Mass Effect: Revelation'' prequel book will know that he was an asshole with an agenda even before his {{spoiler|indoctrination}}. He would abuse his {{spoiler|Spectre}} status and openly lie to prevent Anderson from becoming the first human Spectre.

* 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.

** One way of [[Talking the Monster to Death]] in ''Fallout 3'' is to confront [[President Evil|President]] [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Eden]] about [[Logic Bomb|his cricular thinking]]. You then tell him to self-destruct.

* 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.

* Cecil in ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' is loyal to his king at the start of the game, having been raised like a son by him. However, he draws the line when he's [[Unwitting Pawn|unwittingly used]] to [[Kick the Dog|burn down an entire village of innocent summoners.]] The next part of the game involves him trying to [[The Atoner|atone]] for the awful things he did as a Dark Knight in Baron's service.

* Inducing this in the game is how you win ''You Find Yourself In A Room''. If you mention hatred or anger as emotions you will be better off without, the game realizes that it is not the superior emotionless being it thought, as it it is ''filled with hatred and anger.'' [[Villainous BSOD|This drives it into a despair in which it simply lets you go, finding no more meaning in its tortures.]]

* In ''[[Back to The Future]]: The Game'', {{spoiler|Edna Strickland}} is hit with one of these in the fifth episode, after admitting that {{spoiler|she accidentally burned Hill Valley to the ground when trying to destroy a saloon in the 1800s.}}

* In ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', Trish is a demon sent to lure Dante to his doom. He shrugs off her attempts to take his life, and even goes so far as to save her from a falling column -- and then calls her a devil and tells her that he only spared her because she looks like his mother. Trish's stricken look at that moment speaks volumes.

* 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.

* 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]]''.

'''Axel:''' Wow, we're [[Jerkass|assholes]]. }}

* Parodied in ''[[Girl Genius]]''.

[[Beat Panel|[beat]]]<br />

'''Agatha:''' -And you know what? ''I can work with that!'' }}

** 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 (Webcomic)|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]].

* Parson arrives at this fairly quickly after arriving in [[Erfworld]] (what with his side having all the classic evil minions like dwagons, gobwins, twolls, and giant spidews), but gets chewed out by his new boss and told that the whole "Good Guys/ Bad Guys" concept is just stupid. Comes up again after the climax of the Battle of Gobwin Knob, when the full impact of his plans and actions (tens of thousands of Erfworlders are DEAD) hits Parson and he has to wonder how much he was influenced by the spell that summoned him and how much by his own free will and genuine desire to command a battle.

** King Slately, too.

"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."'' }}

* In ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', after spending most of an arc in denial ("I am a good man!"), Bulgak finally realizes that he is [http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-11-24 "a selfish, damned fool."]

== Western Animation ==

* Played with thoroughly (perhaps enough to count as a deconstruction) in one episode of ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' where Dr. Killinger, a villain adviser who previously made massive changes/improvements to both The Monarch's villain career and personal life, shows up to advise Dr Venture. Killinger saves Venture Industries and helps Venture face his numerous childhood issues, especially about his father, but at the end produces two papers, one of which would officially make Venture a [[Super Villain]], the other would dismiss Killinger and the "[[A Worldwide Punomenon|Venchemen]]" that Killinger had assembled to be Venture's army of [[Mooks]]. The semi-sociopathic Venture eventually chooses not to become a villain, but is left deeply shaken by the whole encounter.

'''Brock:''' (pauses, then rocks his hand in a "kind of" gesture) Ehhhh..... }}

* In the final regular episode of ''[[Daria]]'', Daria has a painful flashback memory about a loud argument her parents had over her. At this, Daria is wracked with guilt that she had been an unfair burden to her parent when she thought she was being herself. However, her parents make it clear that as much as they tried to encourage a more social attitude from her, they also accepted that her loner and iconoclastic ways were worth the price to have a daughter who is admirably intelligent, perceptive and principled.

* 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 film version of ''[[All-Star Superman (film)|All Star Superman]]'', [[Lex Luthor]] has one of his only heel realizations in any continuity after he finally ''gets it''. What is "it"? ''Everything''.

'''Superman:''' "If it had ''mattered'' to you, Luthor, you could have saved the world years ago."<br />

'''Luthor:''' "... you're right." }}

* In "The Glass Princess", an episode of the original ''[[My Little Pony]]'', [[Vain Sorceress|Porcina]] has been turning Ponyland and the ponies there into glass at the encouragement of her [[Dragon with an Agenda|Raptorian minions]]. But when confronted by some of the ponies face-to-face, she can't do it. She had only been able to do it to the others because they didn't seem real through her scrying glass, and ends up seeing the error of her ways.

* In ''[[Gargoyles]]'', Demona comes oh-so-close to hitting this multiple times, but always turns it into an [[Ignored Epiphany]] at the last second. John Canmore winds up doing the same.

* 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.