High Heel Face Turn: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
When the [[Heel Face Turn]] meets [[The Smurfette Principle]]
It isn't always because she falls in love with [[The Hero]], although this is the most frequent version. [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]] may come into play as well; the simple fact that she isn't mown down like all the other [[Mooks]] may help her make up her mind that the side of good isn't so terrible after all. In other cases she's [[Good All Along]] but was initially attracted by the villain's charms before getting in over her head.
Compare and contrast [[Females Are More Innocent]] - that trope is about males being held responsible for getting a female villain ''into'' her life of evil (consider the old phrase "Behind every bitch, there's a bastard who made her that way"), while this trope is about resonspibility falling on a man to bring a female villain ''out'' of her life of evil. [[The Smurfette Principle]] factor is also really important here, because on her own, she would simply be an example of a sympathetic character making the right choice. But when she's surrounded by male minions and only male minions, that's when the [[Unfortunate Implications]] start to arise because it raises the question of why the male minions aren't also offered a shot at redemption. The only real answer to that question comes from the idea that men don't (or shouldn't) have feelings aside from fury and urges to kill, so our hero doesn't have to bother with them, while the female minions are exceptional since they're seen as emotional creatures by default.
'''Note: This trope is not just for any [[Heel Face Turn]] that happens to involve a
{{examples}}
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** ''[[Zeta Gundam|Zeta]]'' has Four Murasame and Rosamia Badam fall in love with Kamille, Reccoa falling in love with the villain, and Sarah falling in love [[Star-Crossed Lovers|with Katz]] AND the villain. Note, none of them actually switch sides but Reccoa. {{spoiler|Everyone just mentioned dies, except Kamille, who ends up mind raped into almost catatonia and turned into [[The Ophelia]] until the end of ZZ. Unless you count [[The Movie]].}}
* Sizer of ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' probably counts.
* Chane Laforet of the Lemures, in ''[[Baccano!]]''. Of course, her comrades were planning to kill her in the end, and it could be argued that she remained true to the groups ''original'' purpose (protecting her father)...
** Heck, she was three quarters of the way through turning before the show even started, and her whole team knew it.
* ''[[One Piece]]''
** Perona
** Baby-5 wasn't the only female member of the Donquixote Pirates, but was the only one to reform, becoming an ally of the Straw Hats by the end of the Dressrosa Arc. Possibly a case of [[Love Redeems]] as her shift seems to happen after soon after meeting Sai, whom she eventually marries.
** Boa Hancock was the only female member of the Warlords of the Sea, and introduced as a cruel woman, her very first scene showing her kicking a kitten for no reason. Eventually, after falling in love with Luffy, she was upgraded to [[Anti-Hero]] status.
** Even the two female regulars among the main cast were initially [[Anti-Villain]] types at least. Robin was initially (during the Arabasta Arc) a member of Crocodile's crew, but still something of a [[Friendly Enemy]] to the Straw Hats, helping them covertly during the Arc. She became a full member of the crew after Luffy saved her when she lost her will to live. Nami, on the other hand, had been planning to double-cross and rob them for a long time in order to pay Arlong (a loan shark who had enslaved her villaige) turning into a true ally after the Straw Hats confronted Arlong and beat him to a pulp.
* In ''[[GetBackers]]'', a ''lot'' of the female villainesses are this.
* {{spoiler|Guren}}, one of the few major female filler antagonists in ''[[Naruto]]'', does a High Heel Face Turn after {{spoiler|coming to love Yukimaru, and cooperates with Naruto to ensure his safety}}. Unfortunately, {{spoiler|she apparently dies protecting him. Or not.}}
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*** {{spoiler|Konan averts this, actually. It was ''Pein'' who was convinced to pull a [[Heel Face Turn]], not her. Konan was only ever loyal to Pein, so ''she'' never actually switched sides.}}
* ''[[Fresh Pretty Cure]]'': Setsuna Higashi goes from the [[The Smurfette Principle|sole female member of an evil organization]] (Eas) to [[Sixth Ranger|Fourth Ranger]] to the Cures (Cure Passion) in episode 23. This helps her in episode 25 when she has to battle an impersonator of her former self.
** However, then said organization has ''another'' female member take Eas' place. This time the trope is subverted, as this female stays evil to her demise, and the two males make [[Heel Face Turn
* ''[[Suite Pretty Cure]]'': Siren, the villains' second-in-command, exits the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]] in episode 22 and becomes Cure Beat. Unlike Setsuna, Siren used to be a good person and had spent a few episodes [[Brainwashed]], making her turn to heroism even more inevitable.
* In the ''[[Utawarerumono]]'' anime, Touka of the Evenkuruga tribe is the only woman fighting on the side of Kucca Kecca, and the only one to later join the protagonist.
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* In the [[Green Lantern]]/[[Green Arrow]] teamup "Hard-Traveling Heroes II", Crackshot does this with barely a thought. Her boss is kind of weirding her out, Green Arrow's really hot, what's to consider?
* In ''[[Batman]]'' #4, Queenie, a member of the Joker's gang, became the first criminal to deduce that Bruce Wayne was Batman and ended up falling for him. [[Status Quo Is God|She later took a bullet intended for the crime fighter]].
** Indeed, it seems a high percentage of female villains in Batman's comic are more likely to at least become [[Anti Hero]]s or enter into [[Enemy Mine]] alliances with the Dark Knight. [[Catwoman]], [[Harley Quinn]] and Poison Ivy, and Talia al Ghul have all had bouts of this.
* Diamondback (Rachel Leighton) was sent by the Serpent Society to help capture [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]. Though she did not immediately abandon her mercenary ways, she fell in love with Cap and helped him escape. They later formed a romantic relationship. The other three female members of the Society - Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda - are still criminals, but far more likely to side with Cap and the Avengers if it's a choice between that and their crueler enemies like the Red Skull.
* In a feminist variation, [[Golden Age]] [[Wonder Woman]] stories often had her make extra effort to redeem female opponents, far more effort than she would extend to a male baddie. And she often succeeded. Even Paula Von Gunther, a Nazi and one of Diana's main archnemeses at the time, saw the light eventually.
* Very few female [[X-Men]] villains stay villains. The Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Marrow, Emma Frost, Sage, Danger, Frenzy, and Callisto were all X-Men or [[X Factor]] villains who became good guys. Mystique and Lady Mastermind were also X-Men villains who became X-Men, although [[Heel Face Revolving Door|it didn't take]] (though Mystique is usually portrayed as redeemable and willing to do what she thinks is the right thing). The X-Men have had male villains change sides - Quicksilver turned hero when his twin sister the Scarlet Witch did, though she's always portrayed as the more heroic of the two (unless she's having mental problems, in which case it's portrayed as not her fault) - but not as many. And when you consider that they have more male villains but fewer male villains-turned-hero, you can see this trope in full effect.
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** ''[[Goldfinger]]'': Pussy Galore. [[Sex Face Turn|Bond's Epic Goods turn her straight]] (or at least bi)]], apparently!
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and subverted in ''[[Thunderball]]'' with [[Nebulous Evil Organization|SPECTRE's]] "Black Widow" Fiona Volpe, who warns Bond not to expect that from her. Bond, probably because he's a bed-hopping bastard, actually shrugs this off with "Well, you can't win them all". Volpe is actually the first Bond girl this doesn't work on, but it turned out he wasn't actually trying it on her in the first place.
** Inverted in ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'' where Bond sleeps with inept CIA agent Rosie Carver...
{{quote|'''Bond''': [[Jerkass|I certanly wouldn't have killed you before.]]}}
* ''[[The Fast and the Furious]]'':
** Gisele in the fourth movie.
** Zig-zagged in the fifth movie with {{spoiler|Officer Neves. It seems like she'll end up in this role throughout most of the film, but both her ''and'' Hobbs end up joining forces with Toretto. She doesn't assist them in actually stealing the money, but does meet up with Dom again after the fact}}.
* Happens with Galaxy agent Gila in the James Bond parody ''[[Our Man Flint]]''.
* Eve Teschmacher in the 1978 ''[[Superman (film)|Superman]]'' movie. Granted, Lex Luthor is so horrible to both of his henchpeople throughout the movie that the only reason Otis didn't betray him too was because he was too stupid to realize just how much Lex hated him. The last straw for Miss Teschmacher, meanwhile, involved [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones|siccing a missile on her mother's hometown of Hackensack, NJ]] - this led her to save Superman's life in exchange for his stopping that missile.
* Kitty Kowalski in ''[[Superman Returns]]''.{{context}}
▲* Mirage in ''[[The Incredibles]]''; another example where the villain pushes her too far.
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/sarahdouglasp2/beastmaster2.html Lyranna] from ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101412/ Beastmaster 2]''.
* Subverted in ''Creature from Haunted Sea'': the main character repeatedly tries to get the girl to turn good, but she's not interested.
* Sala, in [[The Movie]] of ''[[The Phantom (film)|The Phantom]]''. Little explanation is given, it seems to happen purely because the Laws of Trope demand it. Though she does seem awfully protective [[Les Yay|of her female companion]].
* Eve Kendall in ''[[North by Northwest]]''.
*
* Averted in the Straight-to-DVD release ''[[Green Lantern: First Flight|Green Lantern First Flight]]'', where, despite Boodika not being anywhere near as evil as the [[Big Bad]] Sinestro who she has allied herself with, she still ends up dying via impalement when Hal tricks her into shooting an energy rod to make it explode.
* In the last of ''[[The Naked Gun]]'' films, Tanya Peters (Anna Nicole Smith) is the moll for a gang of terrorist assassins. After spending some time with the film's hero, Lieutenant Frank Drebin (who has gone undercover as an extra member of the gang), she apparently has a change of heart. She reveals where the gang leader has planted a bomb to Frank....and then suffers from [[Redemption Equals Death|Redemption Equals Suck]] when {{spoiler|Frank discovers that "she" is a transsexual}}.
* In Disney's ''[[Condorman]]'', [[KGB]] spy Natalia is a [[Defector From Commie Land]], but she insists on doing so only to the titular "top secret agent", who is actually a bumbling comic book writer. [[Hilarity Ensues]] when he's forced to actually do all the spy stuff he dreams of in order to rescue her, but it's his naive charm that won Natalia's heart in the first place and helped prompt her defection.
* {{spoiler|Kayla}} from ''[[X-Men
* Inverted in ''[[Spy Kids]]''.{{context}}
* Trudy Chacon in ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' is the only one of the soldiers who does a [[Heel Face Turn]]: the other characters who turn are either scientists or Jake Sully who (very literally) [[Going Native|Go Native]], but Trudy is simply one grunt amongst hundreds. While she does spend more time with the main cast getting Aesops and stuff, it certainly comes off as this.
* Yelena in ''[[XXX]]'', though it's later played with, as the [[Genre Savvy]]
== Literature ==
* {{spoiler|Nicci}} in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series, though {{spoiler|this is more about Richard changing her view on life than his sheer manliness, though that did help a little}}.
* Michael Stackpole of the [[X Wing Series]] books and comics is good at subverting this. All of his villains are more or less equally evil, including [[Manipulative Bastard|Ysanne Isard]], [[Femme Fatale|Leona Tavira]], and [[The Mole]], Erisi Dlart. Isard is the [[Big Bad]], but she's not insane in the main series, just ruthless and calculating. Several people pull [[Heel Face Turn
** The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Star Wars EU]] also had a minor case in the [[The Courtship of Princess Leia|Witches of Dathomir]], it's shown that the form of the dark side used by the witches leaves them disfigured. It overloads their bodies and causes blood vessels near the skin to burst, so any of the witches that are less disfigured, and prettier, would theoretically be easier to return from the dark side. This of course leads to [[Unfortunate Implications]] like [[Beauty Equals Goodness]].
** And let's not forget about Mara Jade, either (at least her falling for Luke seems to have happened a few years after her turn).
* Happens rather frequently in Leslie Charteris' [[The Saint]] novels.
* In the ''[[Fablehaven]]'' series, {{spoiler|Vanessa}} is one of the only villains to do a [[Heel Face Turn]].
* Zig-Zagged with [[The Dark Chick|Diana]] from [[Gone (novel)]]. Throughout the series, she's probably the least outwardly loyal Coates kid, sometimes to the point of sabotaging their plans, but is the only one that actually cares about [[Big Bad|Caine]]. She stays even after {{spoiler|Drake's and Jack's}} [[Heel Face Turn
* In [[John Carter of Mars]], [[Daddy's Little Villain|Phaidor]] is the only named female [[God Guise|Thern]], and also the only named Thern to do a [[Heel Face Turn]]. {{spoiler|Notably, of the four main villains in the third book- the other three being [[Priest King|Matai Shang]] (her dad), [[Revenge Before Reason|Thurid]], and [[Evil Overlord|Salensus Oll]]- while all four die, she's the only girl and the only one to die ''repentant''}}.
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** Utterly averted in [[The Movie]], though.
* The writers of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' seemed incapable of thinking women could be evil. Even villainesses tended to get the [[Gaussian Girl|soft-focused-cheesy-musiced-hey-it's-a-hot-girl]] treatment. Women who did do bad things were typically portrayed as naive and/or misguided and therefore more deserving of pity than blame. Prime examples of this are Lt. Marla McGivers and Dr. Janice Lester. Due to [[Values Dissonance]], modern-day viewers tend to take rather less kindly to these characters than was intended.
** What about Sylvia in "Catspaw"? Not only is she an unmitigated villainess, she
** Notably, the episode "Friday's Child" was originally scripted with Eleen handing her own newborn child over to the bad guys in an effort to save herself and then getting killed anyway as they only wanted the baby in the first place. Roddenberry vetoed this because he believed all women would be maternal. Note the writer of this episode was a woman, so apparently he thought he knew her own sex better than she did.
* Female villains in ''[[Power Rangers]]'' generally need to take a [[One-Winged Angel]] form in order to be destroyed. Notable [[Averted Trope|aversions]] include [[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue|Vypra]], [[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Miratrix]], and...yeah, especially since Miratrix was [[Disney Death|just trapped in a crystal,]] much like Kamdor prior to PROO. Notable examples of being played straight include [[Power Rangers Mystic Force|Itassis]] ''and'' [[Power Rangers Mystic Force|Necrolai]]/{{spoiler|Leelee's [[Hot Mom]] Nikki}}, both of whom were redeemed at the end. The same applies to their counterparts in ''[[Mahou Sentai Magiranger]]''.
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** To a lesser degree were Mara and Kapri from [[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]. They were really more spoiled than evil.
** {{spoiler|[[Power Rangers Samurai]] seems well on its way to doing it again.}}
** This even applies to Rita Repulsa the very first [[Big Bad]] of the franchise. While both she and Lord Zedd were purged of evil in "Countdown to Destruction", she was the only one who seemed to do anything later, ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'', where she appeared as the leader of the Mystic Ones. She also gave the Rangers their link to the Morphing Grid, along with other important aid from time to time.
* In ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' the Sheriff sends a spy into Bonchurch in order to get information on Robin from the newly appointed Earl: Much. Tellingly called [[Meaningful Name|Eve]], she ends up falling for Much and admitting everything.
* This often (but not always) happens in the [[Batman (TV series)|1966 Batman]].
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* Veronica Palmer in [[Better Off Ted]], described in one episode as being the only female in upper management at the evil organization Veridian Dynamics, uses her position in several episodes to subvert company plans, either directly or by manipulating one of her underlings. And, although clearly sociopathic if not a bit insane, Veronica is consistently depicted as the far lesser of the evils in the rare occasion that upper management is seen.
* Ros Myers was in the inner circle of the Collingwood Cabal from the two-part premiere of [[Spooks]] series five, alongside her [[MI 6]] boss Collingwood, her father Sir Jocelyn (the financier of the group's attempted coup d'etat), and newspaper mogul Paul Millington, who's been skewing his headlines to ensure maximum panic (and by extension, support for the "antiterrorism" measures upon which their planned police state will be built). She's quite appalled after Collingwood decides to pull the trigger on an assassination of the Home Minister and a staged airplane collision over London despite a presumed negotiation with Harry Pearce and his supporters, where he promised a short truce. Ros promptly texts Adam Carter to warn him of the assassination attempt, and spends the second part of the premiere passing intel of the Cabal's actions to Section D, before quitting Six and joining [[MI 5]] at the end of the episode.
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', much like the Doctor himself, [[Big Bad|the Master]] has had many incarnations over the years, and the one that came the closest to truly reforming was Missy, the Master's first - and to date only - female incarnation. Missy was the only one who seemed legitimately helpful and interested in redemption, but sadly was killed by her predecessor before succeeding, with the Doctor never even knowing she had wanted to help - leading to the next incarnation being just as evil as all the others.
== Theatre ==
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*** [[Older Than They Think|Mara Jade]], anybody?
* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'': Identical to the above example, there's one hot female elf, one insane bald male human, and one ancient and really ugly lizardwoman. Guess which you can redeem?
** The Shadows of Undrentide-Hordes of the Underdark campaign arc mostly averts this. No [[Heel Face Turn
* In the second of the ''[[Baten Kaitos]]'' series, Baelheit's little girl, {{spoiler|Milly}} straight out defies him when the trio finally faces off against him in is floating empire. She pretty much confesses her love for Sagi in her sidequest just before this boss battle.
* Indicators are that the ''[[City of Heroes]]'' update, ''Going Rogue'', will have an example of this in demon-summoner Desdemona's background. She seems to be the likely contact for Villains seeking to turn Hero.
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* Trish in the first ''[[Devil May Cry]]''.
* Vivian in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' decides to leave her sisters and join Mario after figuring that her sister Beldam is just too damn mean. It should be noted that she is the only one of her sisters who is even remotely attractive... and [[She's a Man In Japan|is actually male in Japan]].
* As it would seem, in ''[[
* As found out in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', {{spoiler|Maria Thorpe}}.
* Surprisingly, ''gender flipped'' in the second half of [[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.]] The brothers Johan and Johalva are both in love with Lakche (or her [[Expy]] Radney) and one of them can be persuaded to pull this by her and join the heroes. The other will go [[Woman Scorned|man scorned]] and she'll have to kill him.
** And in the first generation there's Prince Jamuka, who has feelings for Adean the Priestess and she can convince him to join sides... and later he can marry either her or her twin sister Briggid.
** Also, it's more often than not ''averted'' in its original form. More than once you'll have a [[Dark Magical Girl]] [[Anti-Villain]] with an [[Undying Loyalty]] to an enemy, but she won't be likely to switch sides for the heroes's love or friendship. {{spoiler|Selena Fluorspar from [[Fire Emblem:
* {{spoiler|Subverted}} in [[Fire Emblem Blazing Sword]]. The bad guys consist of the [[Big Bad]], two [[Anti-Villain]] brothers who only serve their organisation out of the loyalty they had before it was corrupted, a seemingly [[Complete Monster]] male assassin who kills {{spoiler|Matthew's love interest, Leila}}, a [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bitch]], said woman's loyal female underling, and a powerful female Morph who believes her only purpose is to serve the [[Big Bad]]. Who gets redemption? {{spoiler|The assassin. Via the [[Manipulative Bitch]]'s [[Dark Magical Girl]] daughter, who pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]] ''first'' and brings him along. (Genderflipped example, then?).}}
* Possibly played straight in [[Fire Emblem Sword of Seals]] with {{spoiler|Idoun}}, but only {{spoiler|In the best ending}}. She was {{spoiler|under [[Mind Control]]}}, anyway.
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== Western Animation ==
* In the ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'' television movie ''Operation: Jet Fusion'', Jet Fusion tries to invoke this trope on Beautiful Gorgeous, Prof. Calamitous's daughter. It seems to work eventually, as the two are later set to get married - except it turns out Jet's being mind controlled, and Beautiful Gorgeous is ''still'' unwilling to change.
* In ''[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers]]'', [[The Dragon|Pete's lieutenant
▲* In ''[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers]]'', [[The Dragon|Pete's lieutenant, Clarebelle Cow,]] betrays him when she falls in love with Goofy... In SONG no less! "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrqYk65uBqM Chains of Love]"
* Jinx from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', the sole female of the HIVE Five group, ends up joining the Titans in the end.
* ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'':
** Rogue
* Blackarachnia from ''[[Beast Wars]]'' once she gets involved with Silverbolt (although Megatron trying to [[Ret-Gone|create a future in which she didn't exist]] didn't help any, either).
* Averted in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' with Shego, who massively subverts the trope at the end of at least two episodes which look like they're heading in this direction. However, that doesn't stop her from taking part in numerous [[Enemy Mine
** Not to mention it's revealed she had done a [[Face Heel Turn]] in her background, inverting this trope, since she was the only female in her heroic [[Sibling Team]].
* Megara from ''[[Hercules (
* Mai and Ty Lee, part of Azula's [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', have a [[Heel Face Turn]] some episodes before the finale. Azula on the other hand, stays evil all the way to the end, and though she shows a human side in the [[Grand Finale]], it's [[Villainous Breakdown|not a pretty one.]]
* In ''[[Wolverine and the X-Men]]'', {{spoiler|Emma Frost betrays the Inner Circle out of a combination of her love for Cyclops and the fact that hanging around with the X-men has caused her to grow a conscience, and, of course, the practical reason that the Inner Circle kept switching up their plans without telling her, making her feel like a betrayal was coming}}. This trope is averted by the Inner Circle's ''other'' female member, Selene, however; she's portrayed as an entirely unrepentent sadist and schemer throughout.
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* In ''[[Generator Rex]]'', {{spoiler|BOTH female members of the Pack, Circe and Breach, end up changing sides thanks to Rex's influence on them.}}
* In the ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' episode "Injustice for All (part 2)", [[Batman]] convinces [[Wonder Woman|Cheetah]] to sell out the Injustice Gang to the Justice League, which earns her a [[Redemption Equals Death]] ([[Unexplained Recovery|though she gets better]]). Subverted when it turns out she didn't, and the real traitor was Ultra Humanite, who didn't want to be there in the first place.
* The League of Flesh and Blood in ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'' were three androids - two male and one female - with bad cases of [[Pinocchio Syndrome]]. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, Ming offered to help them become human, a process that required stealing the bodies of Rick, Jedda, and Kshin. The android gal was the one who came to her senses and turned against her comrades, eventually making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save the three teens.
{{reflist}}
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