Redeemed

This category is for villains who are no longer evil, which can entail joining their former heroic enemies or simply giving up on their evil cause (whatever it may be). Certain villains have died to achieve redemption, such as Billy Hargrove, Darth Vader, King Olly, Hazel Rainart, Kenji, Lelouch vi Britannia, Humpty Alexander Dumpty, Darren Cross, Viggo Grimborn, Luke Castellan, Daniel Kon, Rolo Lamperouge, Morro, Emerl, E-102 Gamma, Strange Supreme, Jinu, Hawk Moth, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Sonic Cinematic Universe).

Others have live on as good guys, in which case they will confess their actions to the heroes and have their criminal records cleared such as Zuko, Rose, Lust, Silver Surfer, Ericka and Abraham Van Helsing, Harumi, Argos, Nathalie Sancoeur, Choso, A-Train, Skales, T-1001, Mirage, Shadybug, Claw Noir, Knock Out, Emerald Sustrai, Gemerl, Gazai Gamma, Vetvix, Terra, Valerie Grey, and Leonard Burne.

This is usually due to villains feeling sorry for their past actions or the fact that they never wanted to be villains. Whatever the case, however, their status as villains still holds retroactively, as their activities while on the side of evil are vital to the plot.

In the best cases, a redeemed villain can even go on to become Pure Good, Good examples are Android 16, AAARRRGGHH!!!, Ice Emperor, Black Lady (Manga and Crystal), Gentle Criminal, The Collector, Minion, N (Murder Drones), Oliver Grayson, The Puppet, Pokey Minch (Novelization), Purple (Animator vs. Animation), Riku, Sae Niijima, Philomela Sargant, and Flash. However, this very rarely happens as most villains often retain some of their more unpleasant character traits (unless they happen to lose them over the course of character development). If this is the case, then they generally shouldn't be on here.

There are several ways a villain can redeem themselves including:

• Snapping out of a possessed or brainwashed state and deciding to aid the hero who freed them. The villain is a hypnotized, brainwashed or possessed pawn who does not know they are being controlled until they are freed. Grateful to whatever hero freed them, they ally with them. Astronema, Baroness, Crunch Bandicoot, Cyrax, Billy Hargrove, Angor Rot, Alie Peters, Taskmaster, Winter Soldier, Sindel, and The Missing Children are great examples.
• Being exposed to a messiah or pure good type of hero who helps them see their errors. Usually done with delusional villains, tragic villains, honorable villains, insecure villains, in love villains, or affable villains (the villain can also have all those traits) who believe they are doing right or just want to be loved. The hero reveals to them that their actions are actually causing harm, or tries to comfort them. The individual chooses their desire for righteousness over what they have done and/or decides the hero had helped them see what they were doing was wrong and becomes a hero. Flowey, Mitsuaki Gamou, Gaara, Count Bleck, Discord, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight glimmer, Suguru Niragi, Trixie Lulamoon, Te Kā, Namaari, Monster Steven, King of Sorrow, Space Bandits, Doctor Octopus, and Lord Business are good examples.
  • Remorseful heroes: in this sub-scenario, usually in more light-hearted media and if the villains are affable, in love and/or just plain jerks, the HEROES are the ones who apologize to the villain for provoking them into their evil ways, the villains forgive them and stop being evil. Example: Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny rush back to Harrods in London to apologize to Thomas McGregor for tormenting him ever since his arrival at the McGregor manor and framing him for blowing up their burrow. Thomas, in turned, forgave them while making amends for some of his actions against them.
• Choosing honor before evil. An honorable villain decides that their own honor, or the honor of something or someone else, is more important than what they are doing and decide to abandon their evil actions. Often done with supporting antagonists who have rigid moral codes or value the lives of lower-ranking minions, such as King Bulblin or Romeo.
• Becoming friends with someone and deciding to help them over being evil, such as Axel who had planned on betraying Organization XIII with Saïx, but over time built a friendship with two other members, Roxas and Xion, and decided he was happier being with them rather than plotting with Saïx, The latter himself having become remorseful of his past actions secretly helps bring back the former's friends with the help of Vexen, Abomination, after his duel with the Hulk at Harlem, he has been put in prison for his crimes, during his imprisonment he was able to change after meeting with Wong during a cage fight they had and was able to change for the better and Pupa after Justin and Ryan did their terrible interrogation on him of finding out what's in the crates from Mossi Kasic, it's revealed he hates Mossi and he'll tell the duo everything that he knows and helps them with their case. After Mossi's arrest and defeat, he becomes good friends with them and becomes their informant on patrol with them. Piccolo Jr. sacrificed his life for Gohan, realizing that Gohan was an outstanding student and a best friend towards him.
• Choosing their family over evil. Done with protective villains who have families and care for them. They realize that their actions are actually hurting their spouses, children, siblings, or any other relatives in their family and decide to stop being evil for their sake. Examples are Darth Vader, Stanley Pines, Felonious Gru, Spectra Phantom, Omni-Man, A-Train, Vergil, Zane Truesdale, Mandarin, Sandman, Michael De Santa, Endeavor, Prowler, Martin Brenner, Saul Goodman, John Marston, Maxwell Lord, Hawk Moth, Daniel Kon, Rolo Lamperouge, Tommy Angelo, Sunday, and Choso.
• Betrayed by their fellow villainous allies/bosses, which made them choose to turn to the good side. After the said villain antagonizes the hero and their deed succeeds, their allies/bosses dump them or try to kill them straightaway, either way, the said villain escapes. Having seen the error of their ways (and in a worst case scenario, they are hunted down by the Big Bad or their former ally which left them with no option but to join the heroes to survive), they choose to turn to the good side by joining forces with heroes. Armando Aretas, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Bad Cop, Tempest Shadow, Alain, Eret, Wild Knuckles, XL, Owen Shaw, Storm Shadow, Berdly, and Janja are examples.
• Retirement of being evil: These villains chose to retire from villainy because they realized that living as a good guy or an average person is better than their previous life as evildoers. Megamind, Ghost, Jesse Pinkman, Agent Red, Mugg-1N5, Jimmy Hopkins, Niko Bellic, Queen Maeve, Roman Roy, Moloch, Spooky, and Professor Bedlam are good examples.
• Learning the lesson of being evil from another villain: Usually a Necessary Evil, a Monger or, in the worst of cases, a Purely Evil villain; in other words, they experience a case of "getting a taste of your own medicine", which leads them to understand that what they are doing is very bad and they feel horrified, disgusted and terribly bad for the actions of the latter villain and try to redeem themselves and fight against them (a similar but somewhat different case to Evil Vs. Evil). In the end of the battle (usually in the end of the very battle/episode/movie or in sequels), they will try to join the heroes and search for the pardon of everyone they had become enemies to. Shadow the Hedgehog, Commander Mozar, Kaede Manyuda, Zuko, A-Train, Peacemaker, Catra, Jasper and Horace, LeFou, Cobalt Blue, Damien Darhk, Lucy, and Selina are good examples.
• Realizing that their actions are evil: in some cases, villains assume they are on the side of good, honestly unaware of the true repercussions of their actions. Examples include Bill Foster, Noah Kaiba, and Elphaba Thropp.

Also, these kinds of villains are the polar opposite of Fallen Heroes (though sometimes they can be both Darth Vader and his grandson, Kylo Ren, being examples).

Notes[]

• HIGHLY IMPORTANT NOTE: Pure Evil villains have NO CHANCE OF ANY REDEMPTION, as they are completely irredeemable, no matter the circumstances UNLESS in the following cases:
  • A Possessed/Brainwashed Redeemed hero can be made to look Pure Evil in a flashback or remnants of their evil actions in order to make the audience and reader initially think they are different people, which can make the twist that they are the same person more shocking to both the audience and the Possessed/Brainwashed Redeemed hero when they learn the horrific things they've done, retconning their Pure Evil status away.
  • If a villain who was once considered Pure Evil does eventually redeem themselves, then that means that they were never Pure Evil in the first place as those types of villains are known for being irredeemable. Even then, such cases are very rare as most formerly Pure Evil villains merely become kinder people instead of better people.
    • Although some current Pure Evil villains might go through character development let alone any change, they still can NEVER POSSESS ANY REDEEMING QUALITIES WHATSOEVER, otherwise they'd no longer be considered Pure Evil. Even if said villains DO or DID possess some redeeming qualities at one point in their lives, they would've eventually lost ALL OF THEM over the course of character development, making most instances of these changes for the worst.
  • In addition, Pure Evil Villains who temporarily join the heroes' side out of PRAGMATIC and SELF-SERVING needs, but still retain their villainous way, can NEVER count as Redeemed, Remorseful or On & Off. It's highly possible that these kinds of villains WILL slip back into their evil ways once their needs are fulfilled; this also counts for non-Pure Evil villains who will also slip back into their evil ways WITHOUT officially redeeming themselves (e.g. Frieza, Slade, Blood Stalk, Vilgax, Cipher, Eobard Thawne, Red Skull, Shang Tsung, Raishan, Megatron, Utrom Shredder, Cassandra Nova and The Maker).
• There is a far rarer chance for Sadistic villains to fully redeem themselves, though given their overall tendencies, if they still retain their sadistic traits in terms of being overall bloodthirsty, they cannot be Pure Good due to these characters being FAR TOO LETHAL to qualify, even if they're more or less nicer to the heroes.
• Furthermore, villains who simply lost their memories due to brainwashing or magical events do not always count as Redeemed either (e.g. Light Yagami, Preston, Gilderoy Lockhart, Darkrai, the Earl of Lemongrab, Raiden the Moon King, Pride, Dracula (Castlevania), Norman Osborn, Suguru Kamoshida, Darkstalker, Uncle Gumbald, Maximus I.Q., and Doctor Octopus' Tentacles). They must regain their memories and atone for their crimes if such cases happen (Scaramouche (Genshin Impact)). If they aren't aware of their evil memories and "redeem" themselves, then they are not truly redeemed.
• Villains who permanently retire from villainy because they have been accomplished all their goals, are forced to, or simply being pragmatic; without atoning for their actions, DO NOT COUNT as Redeemed (e.g. Chloé Bourgeois) and some (such as Arthur Walsh and Marlo Stanfield) can even be Pure Evil. And if they aren't punished, they can become Karma Houdinis.
• Additionally, if the villain is currently in an On & Off status, they are NOT redeemed unless they've stayed good right up to the very end of the story because the part of the story that they appear in is not complete, so it is best practice to wait until it is complete to consider adding the category to the villain. Furthermore, villains who only partially redeem themselves due a slight shift in their motivations over time from evil to good, but still remain fundamentally villainous because of their methods or incentives or whose heroism is too short-lived and inadequate to be considered redemption, are also not redeemed (e.g. Death, Walter White, Rob, Anubias Jimmy, Merle Dixon, Bryce Walker, Tomura Shigaraki, Shredder (TMNT 2012), and Maxime Le Mal).
• Likewise, it's impossible for a Redeemed character to revert back to their evil ways unless they are Possessed/Brainwashed by another villain (or villains), but even so, they will STAY Redeemed unless they switch sides constantly.
• Redeemed villains can't be Karma Houdinis since they've discovered redemption and no longer committed misdeeds regardless of if their redemption seems forced. However, it should be noted that redeemed villains can still become Imprisoned, even if they were fully forgiven of their misdeeds.
• A villain betraying another villain doesn't always redeem a villain. If a traitor is actually redeemed, they have to become heroes, apologize for their actions or stop being evil (e.g. Darth Vader, Rinzler and Jinu). If a villain betrays/attacks the other villain and doesn't do anything else, they cannot be considered redeemed (e.g. Mr. Tweedy, Arne's Demon, Boss Wolf, Eddie Caputo, the Hyena Clan, Solf J. Kimblee, Hunch, Golden Freddy (Films), Brutus & Nero, Dr. Applecheek, Bowser, DJ Octavio, Dr. Neo Cortex, Hernán Cortés, the Straycatchers, Jason Voorhees, Nightmares (Rise of the Guardians), The Scarecrow, Paul "Dibs" Plutzker, Headless Horseman, the Friends on the Other Side, Medusa, Gigantomachia, Helga Katrina Sinclair, Shredder (TMNT 2012), Sirens (Ice Age), Dr. Eggman, Pet Buster, Gabi, Philip (Wallace and Gromit), Nana (Madagascar), Carface Carruthers, and Rattlesnake Jake). They should go under Traitors, Evil vs. Evil, Pawns, and/or Scapegoat instead of this category.
• Villains who fully redeemed themselves only at the end of their villainy doesn't mean they're always genuine heroes, even if they don't have a page in the Heroes Wiki (e.g. Kylo Ren, Monstars, Li'l Gideon, Jeff Fungus, Grace Goodwin, Gabby Gabby, The Bensons, Eugene Francis, Soldier Sam, Mike (Sing), The Missing Children (Films), Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Sonic Cinematic Universe), Jinu, Daniel Kon, Bowler Hat Guy, Melvin (Chicken Little), Tina (Chicken Little), Ragely J. Snarlingtooth, Altitooth, Punguari, Whitey, Nolan and Roland, and Marge Malone).
• Do not add Remorseful villains under this category, as remorseful villains have yet to achieve redemption, whereas redeemed villains have already moved on from their villainy and felt remorse for their actions.
• Likewise, certain villains who redeem themselves, but only do in non-canonical appearances should also not be added to this category (e.g. Creek, Stinky Pete, Burgermeister Meisterburger, Elsa Schneider, Randall Boggs, Derek Lucks, Vincent, Tighten, Gale (Angry Birds), and Deimos). They should go under Type Dependent on Version, Status Dependent on Version, and/or Status Dependent upon Players' Choice instead.
• Real-life Wrestlers can and will NEVER be Redeemed as they are constantly On & Off, meaning that villain Wrestlers who HAVE "Redeemed" themselves can and will always pull a face-heel turn (this also applies to hero Wrestlers who suddenly pull a 180 to surprise the audience).

External Links[]

• Redeemed Villains on the Heroes Wiki