“Being a villain is not nice. Being nice is much nicer. » (Jesus)
Ok this quote may be wrong, but it’s probably what some movie and series characters thought who ended up coming out of their darkness to turn to the camp of good. It’s a fairly recurrent spring in fiction, and often we get much more attached to these villains who have become good big nice people than to those who were nice from the start. Here are a few (12, if I counted correctly):
1. Steve Harrington in Stranger Things
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In season 1, Steve is a little jerk who likes to harass nerds and who takes his nerves on Jonathan, the weird high school photographer. Finally, he gets his girlfriend Nancy stung by Jonathan (who gave him a wank) and he becomes nice to fight monsters. Because yes, when monsters attack your city, in the end you put things into perspective a bit.
2. Michael in The Good Place
Michael is the architect of the “good place”, this false paradise which was in fact a “bad place” (hell therefore), because Michael was in reality a big bad guy. Yes, when you haven’t seen the series, it’s complicated to understand. But regardless, Michael ended up giving up his torture experiments on the good guys to join them in figuring out how to send people to the real good place again. I got a migraine just writing this.
3. James Ford / Sawyer in Lost
At the start of Lost, Sawyer is a little prick who decides to play it solo on the camp of the survivors and who scams everyone a little while hurling insults at them that are not super friendly. But after falling in love with Kate, he got back on track and even sacrificed himself like a BG by jumping out of the chopper to save fuel. Isn’t that a good hero?
4. Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones
Well, let’s continue on the BG blondes with Jaime, who went from “big fat who throws kids off the top of a tower” to “sensitive guy who defends his former enemies of Winterfell”, and all thanks to Brienne who learned that you could be something other than a jerk. It saved him from being among the worst fdp of Game of Thrones.
5. Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z
When Vegeta arrives in DBZ, he’s THE super-powerful big bad that Goku will have to fight, and we learn that he has incidentally already killed billions of people. But like just about every guy who gets in Goku’s way, he’s going to take a beating eventually. Vegeta will then become a simple rival of Goku, then his friend, then he will start a small family and start knitting. (Okay the ending is wrong).
6. Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Basically, the vampire Spike arrives in Sunnydale in order to kill Buffy. Not very nice, you will agree. But that was without counting on the arrival of another villain, Angel, whom Spike hates even more than Buffy. As a result, our little platinum blond guy will prefer to fight Angel with the good guys, and he will even become much nicer after falling in love with Buffy. Oh, love…………………………….
7. Cordelia in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Well, we could also have told you about Angel, but we’re going to talk about Cordelia, too often forgotten (and who was one of my first celebrity crushes). Cordelia, at the start of the series, is the typical high school plague, the popular and mean cheerleader who likes to pick on losers. And then by dint of rubbing shoulders with Buffy and her friends, she will end up helping them fight true evil. Afterwards, she opened a detective agency with Angel in the vampire spin-off series. Nice conversion.
8. Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2
So there the redemption is a little more subtle: Draco Malfoy, the stalker little prick turned Death Eater ended up gently turning his back in the latest films. First he pretended not to recognize Harry when he was brought into his living room, which probably saved his life, and then he took off with his parents at the end of the battle. of Hogwarts instead of standing by Voldemort’s side. The guy was also a bit of a coward, but who wouldn’t be when you know you’re going to get your ass kicked by the Chosen One and his friends?
9. Cable in Deadpool 2
Here, everything was a story of lack of communication. When Cable arrives from the future to stop Rusty from becoming evil, he comes face to face with Deadpool who wants to stop him from killing Rusty, who was still nice at the time. Inevitably, a misunderstanding like that does not help to create a beautiful friendship. But after a few fights, the guys end up talking calmly, and we understand that Cable has a big heart like that. Morality: before hitting you on the face, talk a little.
10. Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi
Well, in reality, Darth Vader is a good guy who became mean then became nice again a few minutes before his death. But before, when there were only Episodes IV, V, and VI, he was just a villain getting nice through his son Luke and turning on his master Palpatine. Oh yeah.
11. Cheryl Blossom in Riverdale
And here is yet another insufferable and manipulative mean cheerleader who ultimately turns out to be vulnerable and sensitive. A classic TV series.
12. Sauron in The Lord of the Rings
Do you remember at the end, when Sauron comes to see Frodo who wakes up without his bed to give him a hug? And then when he drinks shots with the hobbits in the Shire? And when we see him dancing naked on a table? What a jolly fellow this Sauron.
