Protagonist's Journey to Villain: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Those who have tasted the light of goodness and justice and turned away make the foulest villains."''|'''''[[Dungeons and Dragons]] Third Edition''' Dungeon Master's Guide'', on fallen paladins who become [[Black Knight|Blackguards]].}}

The '''Protagonist's Journey To Villain''' is a plot in which the protagonist, who starts out well intentioned, turns into a monster. In other words, it's the making of the [[Villain Protagonist]]. Sometimes this plot can be backstory, perhaps overlapping with [[Start of Darkness]].

== [[Anime]] &and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' is this for Light. He starts off just killing dangerous criminals, but it's only a few episodes before he convinces himself that [[Utopia Justifies the Means|since his intentions are noble]], and the police are trying to stop him, it's perfectly acceptable to murder them as well. And from there, things go [[From Bad to Worse]].

* This happens to Michi in [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s original ''[[Metropolis (Animeanime)|Metropolis]]'' manga.

* The first half of the third season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' is this for protagonist Judai. He doesn't remain a villain for long, but comes out the situation an almost completely different character.

* ''[[Chirin no Suzu (Anime)|Chirin no Suzu]]'' has this happen to Chirin. A cute little lamb grows up and turns into a murdering demonic ram.

* This trope is the body of the story in ''[[Ga -Rei Zero]]''.

* In ''[[Code Geass Mao of the Deliverance (Fanfic)|Code Geass: Mao of the Deliverance]]'', Mao's frustration, growing insanity and desperation twist him into a much more manipulative and brutal person. Later chapters, however, appear to hint at a moral recovery.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130214093309/http://flummery.livejournal.com/26300.html This] quite amazing fanvid about the [[Doctor Who (TV)|Tenth Doctor]]. The scariest part is that the song (which is also an example of this trope) actually does fit his canon personality to a T.

* Harvey Dent / Two-Face in ''[[The Dark Knight]]''.

* Fred C. Dobbs in ''[[The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Film)|The Treasure of the Sierra Madre]]''. He starts off as our main character, but our allegiance gradually switches to his partners as he comes down with [[Gold Fever]] and eventually goes bad.

{{quote| '''Mark Zuckerberg''': I'm not a bad guy. <br />

'''Marylin Delpy''': I know that. When there's emotional testimony, I assume that 85% of it is exaggeration. <br />

'''Mark Zuckerberg''': And the other fifteen? <br />

* Washizu in ''[[Throne of Blood (Film)|Throne of Blood]]''. Since the film is based on ''[[Macbeth (Theatre)|Macbeth]]'', this is not a surprise.

* Kane in ''[[Citizen Kane (Film)|Citizen Kane]]''.

* ''[[My Best FriendsFriend's Wedding]]'' is a rom-com variation of this, although the film is clever enough to hide it under the usual Julia Roberts tropes for the first half of the film.

* ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'' trilogy is all about Michael Corleone's transformation from [[White Sheep]] of a crime family to its ruthless leader, and subsequent doomed attempts to [[The Atoner|atone]]. Initially he's not supposed to be involved in the family business at all, as his father genuinely wants someone in the next generation to leave their criminal past behind, but Michael is drawn in in order to protect him from assassination and ends up being the only real candidate to succeed him. He starts out promising his wife that he too intends to make the family legitimate, and his justification for everything is that he's protecting his family. But it turns out he thinks the best way to do that is by consolidating his power and taking out all his enemies in one fell swoop, {{spoiler|who happen to include his brother-in-law}}. The second movie takes the paradox further -- nowfurther—now the enemies he's wiping out are {{spoiler|a terminally ill man who's no threat to him anyway and, famously, his own brother}}, and in the meantime his coldness and the violence that surrounds him have driven his wife and children away. The third film has him as a tragic figure realizing that he can't undo what he's done and that the future of the family is out of his hands, and eventually receiving the ultimate poetic punishment: {{spoiler|seeing his daughter killed by a bullet meant for him}}.

* ''[[Wicked (Literaturenovel)|Wicked]]'' is the Wicked Witch of the West's descent into madness and evil.

* Feanor's whole arc in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' is his descent from hero to [[Anti-Hero]] to psychotic, obsessive [[Villain Protagonist]].

* In the ''[[Mistborn]]'' trilogy by [[Brandon Sanderson]] this is the supposed backstory. A thousand years ago a champion, the 'Hero of Ages' rose up to defeat an (unspecified) evil known only as 'The Deepness' but upon his victory he took possession of the world as its Lord Ruler.

{{quote| "For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible."}}

** The heroes of this story find an old logbook written by the man who would become the Lord Ruler which shows how he began his quest as a humble, earnest man trying to save the world. In the end the truth becomes far more complicated as the Lord Ruler's motivations are slowly revealed throughout the trilogy. The short version is that {{spoiler|the hero, Alendi, was duped by prophecies being altered by Ruin, an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] deity trapped in the Well of Ascension who would be released if the hero reached the Well and "released" the power. When the scholar who originally prophesized the hero learned the truth, he had his allies pose as guides and murder Alendi when he reached the Well. Then one of the guides named Rashek took the power in the Well and kept it, keeping Ruin trapped and becoming the Lord Ruler. He was driven insane over time by Ruin, becoming a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] [[Evil Overlord]]}}.

* The ''[[Transformers: Trans TechTransTech]]'' story "I, Lowtech" is the first-person perspective story of a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] trying to figure out why he seems to [[Grand Theft Me|no longer be in his real body]]. While he was not exactly ''good'' to start off with, he ''was'' (technically) law-abiding and never caused direct harm. Until a combo of his first violent act done in self-defense and nobody taking his claims of a body swap seriously makes him realize [[Evil Feels Good]]/[[Evil Is Easy]] and causes him to start going insane and degenerating into a rampaging serial killer who kills just because it's convenient/for revenge.

* Clandish "Cybomec" Consto in ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'', not exactly a good guy to begin with, [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|goes completely off the rails after seeing visions of Mezzelwradd]]. He begins as a burdened-down corrupt cop, and degenerates into a serial killer - before degenerating further into full-blown terrorism.

* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' is about Walter White's descent from [[Anti-Villain]] to [[Villain Protagonist]]. Series creator Vince Gilligan stated that his goal with Walter is to turn [[Goodbye, Mr. Chips|Mr. Chips]] into [[Scarface]].

* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Theatretheatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''. A barber framed and transported for life for a crime he did not commit by a corrupt judge who wanted his beautiful wife for himself, he returns to London, finds out what happened to his wife and daughter in the meantime {{spoiler|though he turns out to have been lied to about the former by Mrs. Lovett, who led him to believe that his wife was dead}}, and seeks revenge against the judge, leaving a trail of blood and death in his wake that would ultimately lead to him becoming the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

* The alliance campaign of ''[[War CraftWarcraft|Warcraft 3]]'' does this with prince Arthas and the [[Trauma Conga Line]] that leads to him becoming The Lich King.

* Sarah Kerrigan's plot-arc from ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]'' could basically be described as "heroic moral center" to "[[Brainwashed and Crazy]] [[The Dragon|Dragon]]" to "[[Big Bad]] in her own right".

** ''Starcraft 2'' {{spoiler|appears to have retconed this so that the brain-washing was practically another person. It's generally implied that Sarah Kerrigan is not the same person as the Queen of Blades, and that her infestation had left the good Sarah trapped inside her own mind.}}

* The ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' prequel games - ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater|MGS3]]'', ''[[Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops|Portable Ops]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker|Peace Walker]]'' - are this for Naked Snake/Big Boss.

* ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]]'''s first ''Heroes' Chronicles'' campaign details the rise and fall of Tarnum, a barbarian whose only goal is to free his people from the tyrannical rule of the Bracadan wizards to re-establish the glorious barbarian empire of old. Throughout the campaign, various events cause him to grow more paranoid and ruthless, with the tipping point being his poisoning of all his generals, whom he suspected of treachery. He is eventually ended by King Rion Gryphonheart, the first Erathian king, in a [[Combat Byby Champion]]. The remaining campaigns detail his redemption after he is not admitted to the barbarian afterlife. His final redemption comes in the barbarian campaign of ''Heroes of Might and Magic IV'', where he guides a young barbarian named Waerjak in uniting the scattered tribes in a story mirroring his own, minus this trope.

* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne (Video Game)|Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne]]'', the entire game serves as this {{spoiler|if you choose the True Demon Ending}}.

* ''[[DoctorDr. HorriblesHorrible's Sing -Along Blog]]'' serves this purpose for the title character.

[[Category:ProtagonistCorruption Journey To VillainTropes]]