While the protagonists get all the glory and are the story’s focus, antagonists and villains are the plot’s driving force. With conflicting goals or just downright evil motives, villains are some of the most interesting and dynamic characters created. From Darth Vader to the Joker, villains are usually much more complex and can make a story ten times better just because of their presence.
However, sometimes a villain is at their best when not a villain. Redeeming a villain can be very difficult to do; it needs to beearned and not forced. Otherwise, it completely sabotages the character and plot, with fans losing interest. The villain needs to have a realistic turning point and have theredemption match the sinsthey’ve committed. However, if done correctly, these villains can not only become heroes but some of the best-written and most likable characters in fiction.
‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’
Serving as a secondary threat to Ed and Al inFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Scar is a villain who hunts down and kills random state alchemists. As an Ishvalan, he witnessed the genocide of his people at the hands of Amestris and the alchemists. Enraged by the loss of his family and people, Scar vows to take revenge on every single alchemist, whether they were involved in the Civil War or not. However, this rage involved innocent people, including Winry’s parents.
While many fans can understand the killing based on the tragedy, his actions are still taken with ill intent, especially when it involves people who didn’t do anything wrong. The start of his arc happens when he comes face to face with the girl whose parents he killed, which gives him an outlook on himself and who his true enemies are. With this change of heart, he indirectly helps the crew whileshowing his positive traits to get fans to like him. Ultimately, he faces the person who is mainly responsible for his pain and becomes likable throughout the long journey. However,he still has some work to doto be fully redeemed in asatisfying ending to the anime.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
9Theon Greyjoy
‘Game of Thrones’
Game of Thronesis a series brimming with hateable characters, and at one point, it included Theon Greyjoy. Adopted by the Starks, Theon eventually betrays them and takes Winterfell for his father. Furthermore, he kills two random kids after losing Bran and Rickon. His character is also easy to hate, and his cowardly and duplicitous nature makes him one of the worst characters in the show.
However,Game of Thronesmade some perfect changesto the character, helping his arc by having his deeds more impactful and therefore helping redeem him even further. After his capture, Ramsay Bolton completely wipes away his previous arrogant and egotistical character, now becoming Reek. Through the torture, he slowly realizes who he truly is and helps Sansa escape before saving his sister and helping her take the Ironborn throne. His redemption from an arrogant brat to a noble savior helped make him another fantastic character in the show.
Game Of Thrones
WATCH ON MAX
Fans were introduced to the soulless villain and quickly became hated. The character was well-known for theoverly graphic killing of a fan-favorite character. From that point on, Negan was everyone’s least favorite character, with the hate only growing after seeing what other merciless things he did. Having coerced multiple women into marrying him, fans thought there was no way the writers could redeem him, butThe Walking Deadsurprised fans.
Negan’s redemption has been verypolarizing among fans, with some enjoying the turnaround and some feeling he didn’t earn it or that his killing Glenn was simply unforgivable. His redemption arc began after the Savior War when he was imprisoned and had time to reflect on his actions after being spared. During his time in and out of prison, heperformed multiple noble acts, such as saving Judith and Dog, protecting Hershel from the commonwealth, and finally attempting to sacrifice himself. He finally realized, after having his wife at someone else’s mercy, the pain he inflicted and wasfinally redeemed.
The Walking Dead
7Steve Harrington
‘Stranger Things’
Stranger Thingsintroduced fans to a cliché high school bully who was completely dismissive of others' feelings and only focused on girls. He was an all-around jerk, from being rude to Nancy and breaking Jonathan’s camera. However, his character quickly turned around after discovering the upside down. Still, his redemption arc would continue for a couple of seasons to not only redeem the character but make him one of the best in the series.
Steve’s redemption arc worked so well becausehe was never irredeemable, and even in low moments, he showed signs of being a good person. After accepting his situation with Nancy, he could fully grow into his own person. From having a healthy platonic relationship with Robin to forming one of thebest duos inStranger Thingswith Dustin, Steve becameone of the best characterson the show, completing his arc from one of the most hated to one of the more respected characters in the series.
Stranger Things
‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’
Introduced as the big bad inBuffy The Vampire Slayer, Spike vows to burn Sunnydale to the ground, establishing himself as pure evil. Before this, he had already killed a couple of slayers, but he slowly began to change after remaining in the show because of his popularity. He helps Buffy out a bit and also falls in love with her, serving as the turning point for Spike.
Spike’s well-executed redemption arc is partly whyBuffy The Vampire Slayeris so rewatchable. It is a phenomenaltale of love and sacrifice. After The Initiative implanted a chip into his brain to stop him from harming humans, he started to do more good deeds. This, paired with his love for Buffy, gave him a new perspective and a wholesome goal, which concludes with hissacrifice to save the world, ultimately finishing his redemption arc.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Avengersintroduced the immensely popular character as the main villain, with devious tricks and a sly personality. In some movies, Loki is shown in a better light later on, but he used to be a real piece of work. Theperfectly castTom Hiddlestonembodies the character’s bad and good aspects, putting on a believable performance no matter where Loki’s motives swayed.
While the character did receive some redemption in the movies, theLokiTV show gave fans much moredepth into the characterand his turn to good. His scheming ways are still there, but he slowly focuses on actually protecting the world, with Mobius and Sylvie helping the character truly care about other people.Lokiconcludes with the titular character selflessly becoming the center of the Nexus, ultimatelysaving the world with zero recognition. With multiple redemptions of different versions of the character,Loki is fully redeemed, no matter which variant.
4Johnny Lawrence
‘Cobra Kai’
Carrying on the iconic story ofKarate Kid,Cobra Kaifocuses on the pathetic life of Johnny Lawrence, who is now in his 30s and has nothing to live for. Johnny makes Daniel LaRusso’s life a living hell with constant bullying, beatings, and sabotaging of his romantic life. While the character shows some signs of humanity at the end of the movie, Johnny won’t be fully redeemed untilCobra Kai.
Down in the dumps, Johnny decides to bring back Cobra Kai after his reintroduction to karate after beating up some punks. His petty old rivalry with Daniel tests his journey of redemption. However,through his students, he finally learns what matters to him and how to make amends, even if he goes back and forth from time to time.Johnny is the best character inCobra Kaibecause of his growth and overcoming the toxic nature of his past.
‘Dragon Ball Z’
Becoming one of the most iconic faces in anime, Vegeta was first introduced inDragon Ball Zas a villain. He quickly showed signs of being a ruthless villain by destroying an entire planet and murdering his teammate, Nappa. This set up the climactic battle between him and Goku, where Goku would say there’s good in Vegeta. Obviously, he saw something in Vegeta that fans didn’t.
When fans think of a redemption arc in anime, none top Vegeta, who went from anarrogant villain to the deuteragonistof theDragon Ballfranchise. Most fans thought he would be another side villain, but after sticking around, fans started to warm up to the character after showing some heroic deeds. After being humbled by Cell, Vegeta’s killer instinct just goes away, and over the course of the series, he organically becomes part of the team and one of thebest characters inDragon Ball.
Dragon Ball Z
2Jaime Lannister
Game of Thronesis known for subverting common tropes to deliver a unique and unpredictable fantasy that can create unlikable or likable characters out of anyone. They do just that with Jaime, who was introduced through his incestuous relationship with his sister and promptly paralyzed Bran Stark. His arrogant nature and villainous actions quickly made fans hate him and pray for his downfall every second he was on-screen.
However, instead of giving the character justice,Game of Thronescreates an incredibly complex characterafter all of Jaime’s power is stripped. Without his hand, he can no longer fight like he used to, forcing him to adopt new tactics that ultimately make him a better person. He joins Brienne on her quest to save Sansa and Arya, whoacts as a character foiland helps Jaime develop. His removal from the toxic Cersei finally gave him the chance to be redeemed. However,Season 8 butchered his arcand had him falling back into the same person he was.
Watch On Max
‘The Last Airbender’
Part of thehorribly dysfunctional family, Zukois forced on an impossible quest to track down the Avatar, who has been missing for hundreds of years. His need for approval and innate rage pushes him to disregard others and burn down villages on his quest. However,Avatar: The Last Airbendertakes fans on a journey with the character to discover who he truly is and what he can do right.
Who else would have the greatest redemption arc other than Zuko, who fans widely consider to have thebest character development in all of fiction. The best part of his arc is thatit takes a long time.Fans see glimpses of good here and there, but the show expertly shows how hard it is to change entirely. However, with the guidance of Iroh, he helped Aang learn fire bending and toppling the Fire Nation. He ultimatelycompletes his redemption in a final battle with Azula, a foil to his character, whom he could have ended up like.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
KEEP READING:‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6’s Best Charaxcter Isn’t Daniel or Johnny
