Trope Talk: Reformed Villains

Everybody loves a villain, or so I've been told. But in my experience, everybody REALLY loves a character that USED to be a villain and got BETTER. Today we'll be talking about some of those lovely people, how they got where they are today, and of course, all the fabulous ways an enterprising writer can toy with such a character and use their unique brand of tragedy to bend their audience's emotions to their whim.

BEFORE YOU ASK: Since about four separate people in my life brought him up, Darth Vader is not in this video because his redemption happened by way of him dying. "Redemption Equals Death" is actually a separate trope from this one - this is about villains AFTER they reform into heroes, not villains that do one heroic thing before dying.

Noteworthy examples used: Prince Zuko, Prince Vegeta (a lot of princes started off evil I guess), honorable mentions go to Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist and roughly two-thirds of the cast of Fairy Tail.

Who's your favorite former-archnemesis-turned-weird-family-member? Let me know!

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[RoseDeleca]

My favorite thing about reformed villains is when they spend at least one or two episodes wondering how they didn't beat the heroes when their such goddamn idiots.

[katelynpringle]

Nickelodeon: So what route are you planning on going for Zuko.
ATLA Writers: All of them.
Nickelodeon: What . . . . what do ya mean al-
ATLA Writers: *ALL OF THEM*

[rowanmiller]

“Zuko, look! It’s your honor!”

“Where?”

Brilliant.

[fistofthebrownstar]

"Somebody get this kid a hug, a nap, a hot meal, and a god damn friend" Truly Zuko in a nutshell!

[iceylimeade]

“But wait! There’s someone you forgot to convince! It’s your audience”

*No, it’s Katara*

[forshor]

You missed something in Zukos motivation for becoming good. His father wants to burn a continent full of people to ashes, people Zuko lived amongst and was treated with decency by, more decency than his own people ever showed him.

So a little push.

[AlbertFingernoodle]

Most times: “hey remember that time you tried to kill us?”
DBZ: “hey remember that time you killed us?”

[bluelightstudios]

I knew she was gonna mention zuko, he is like the

king of reformed villains... or the firelord of reformed villains

[dehavillandvampire]

'A military uniform that incorporates a skull might not belong to the armies of good'

"Hans are we the Baddies?"

[AaronRotenberg]

7:06 - "that blood loss is suspiciously rusty water under the bridge"

This might be my favorite mixed metaphor ever.

[Halinspark]

We need a story where the villain gets redeemed, only to have to fight the now fallen hero at the end. Ideally, we'll be too focused on the villain redemption to notice the signs in the hero until a second viewing. Imagine suddenly realizing Ed Elric became the bad guy when we weren't looking, and we had to root for Envy to kill him. It would be twisting the whole knifeblock if done right.

[wildharpy]

"So you see, we're trying to overthrow an evil god before she eats the sun."
"...I just wanted your wallet"

[AmericanArchon]

"But there's someone you forgot to convince...it's your audience."

The audience? Screw that guy, he owes me $5.

[JackRackam]

A reformed villain? Oh man, like Zuko! I hope she'll mention Zuko
"Let's take Prince Zuko as an example"
Hell yeah

[BrianaMichelleMeyer]

It’s 2020 and I still will never shut up over Zuko’s development. His entire arc is literally the best arc. I love him so much.

[luckyct]

The myth of consensual Joining the Good Guys:

Reformed Villain: "I consent!"
Good Guy Gang: "I consent!"
The Audience: "I don't!"

Isn't there somebody you forgot to ask?

[TheStartrek]

You forgot to mention that villains always have the best songs.

[BDeerhead]

"...getting the evil gunk scrubbed off by a friendship laser..."
Dear God I can't believe how accurate that description was.

[pixwool]

Villain: You see... I was treated terribly by my family!

Hero: What does that have to do with those 50 orphans you killed?

Villain: Well, the thing is... shit.

[hamburgersandwich]

You know who was the best villain with layers, evil plans, and great fight scenes







Dr. Doofenshmirtz