On & Off

Characters who sometimes act as villains and sometimes they don't. Typically, this means that they "switch sides" (i.e. go back and forth) more than twice. Many of these villains also appear in Hero Fandom as anti-heroes.

This may also include villains that, after they complete their goals, move on without remorse, as they do nothing to make up for what they did and were merely successful in their goals, then removed or retired themselves from the action (e.g. the Hatbox Ghost, Takato Keisuke, etc.)

Note

• These villains can never be redeemed as On & Off villains still have tendencies to switch sides and commit evil actions. However, they can be redeemed if they finally stop switching sides, or if they were explicitly shown redeeming. An example is Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who redeemed themselves by the end of their movie but have reverted to being antagonists/neutral characters in some future appearances.
• These villains do not necessarily need to switch directly between good or bad. Sometimes, they are more neutral.
• Also, none of these characters are Pure Evil because there is no break in the Pure Evil villain's villainy.
  • Though some of these villains may never fully redeem themselves; they are never Pure Evil, even if sometimes they come very close.
  • On & Off villains can still do very horrible acts or even cross the Moral Event Horizon, however. A good example of such a villain is Eric Cartman.
  • In addition, Pure Evil Villains who have joined or temporarily join the heroes' side out of PRAGMATIC and SELF-SERVING needs but still retains their villainous way, can NEVER count as On & Off. Either some of them have already returned into evil or it's highly likely these kinds of villains WILL drop their hero facade ways once their needs are fulfilled (e.g. Shang Tsung, Sōsuke Aizen, Caesar Clown, Makuta Teridax, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, Slade, Frieza, Evolt, Bill Cipher, Alpha, Lucifer and Reed Richards).