Villains, bullies, Jerkasses, robots, otherworldly beings, aliens, they are very unlike us. In many cases, it's wondered if they even have the same emotions as we have.
Villains are villains precisely because they do bad things. They have a busy schedule of kicking the dog, slaughtering their own people, betraying their allies, and generally being rotten, usually For the Evulz.
Robots might seem to be emotionless automatons, merely obeying the instructions of a master.
Many an alien seems baffled by our emotions, asking What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?
And then something happens. Maybe they decided out of nowhere to Pet the Dog. Maybe they realize that they really DO remember who they killed and when, when they would have sworn that they never even bothered to remember that stuff. They might have a Somber Backstory Revelation that provides their Freudian Excuse, and for the audience, it might actually BE an excuse (even if the story treats it as Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse).
There are also moments when The Stoic and The Spock will demonstrate that they are Not So Stoic after all. Similarly, a Jerkass or bully who was previously a one-note, one-dimensional character whose sole purpose was to antagonize the protagonist, can be revealed to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, or at the very least be operating under Even Evil Has Standards or Everyone Has Standards.
It might only be a one-off moment, or it might be Depending on the Writer. Or, in some cases, it could be a bit of Foreshadowing that shows us Cracks in the Icy Façade and is followed by a Heel–Face Turn.
However, that isn't always the case. Sometimes learning that the villain has human frailties and desires only serves to make them more dangerous. A villain driven by past abuses may be too far gone to come back, and a villain yearning for The Lost Lenore might stop at nothing to get her back, the rest of the universe be damned.
If the moment literally turns them human, it's Humanity Ensues, which may overlap. Can overlap with Sympathy for the Devil and Humanizing Tears.
Supertrope to Alas, Poor Villain which is when this happens while they are dying, and to Monster Is a Mommy. Also a Super-Trope to Pet the Dog.
Compare Likable Villain and Villains Out Shopping. See also Death Means Humanity, when a non-human character's death serves to humanize them.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You: Shizuka’s mother is first seen in a brief flashback in Chapter 3, where she smacks her daughter and berates her for her struggle to speak like a normal person. Later in Chapter 134, she confiscates Shizuka’s phone after finding out she’s been using a text-to-speech app to “talk” for her, and when Rentarou confronts her about this in the next chapter, it’s revealed that she was mainly concerned about how Shizuka would function in the real world after she was gone. What finally starts her realizing how forceful she was is when Shizuka tells her how happy she is with Rentarou, who explained that Shizuka never told her that she wanted to be like everyone else. After this, she returns Shizuka’s phone to her and starts making efforts to form a genuine bond with her daughter.
- Black Cat: After Creed Diskenth, who has by this point been portrayed as a complete and utter psycho with a Villainous Crush on Train Heartnet, is defeated, flashbacks are shown of him living as a poor, abused child. In the present, with Eve removing his nanomachines and reverting him back to a powerless human, Creed desperately begs to keep his power or at least get a Mercy Kill, only for Train, who has had more than enough of his evil, to deny him either.
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Many of the Demons have their backstories and personalities revealed during (or before) their defeat, showing why they became such monsters. Additionally, Nezuko Kamado manages to overcome her Demonic side when her brother Tanjiro calls her name in order to stop her attack at the start.
- Hunter × Hunter: Hisoka Morow, a vile Monster Clown with an almost pathological need to fight and kill people, mentions in a conversation with Machi (who's sewing him up after his last battle) that he named his two special techniques after his favorite brands of candy and chewing gum when he was young. Despite all evidence, even Hisoka used to be a kid with a sweet tooth once.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016): When Link first meets Ganondorf, the hero suggests that they return the Triforce to the gods, and that Ganondorf may be able to save his soul and find some other way of life besides being Hyrule's doomed villain that way. Ganondorf seems briefly shocked, but ultimately laughs it off and continues his plan.
Ganondorf: You're the first person to ever say that to me.
- The Mystical Laws: Tathagata Killer is presented as a tyrant who goes on an imperialistic campaign to unite the world by purging the world of religion and spirituality, even going as far as exterminating entire families for having a single religious member or text. However, it's hinted he wasn't always like this as the scenes centering on his right-hand woman, Leika Chan/Princess Theta of Vega reveal he had sorrow in his eyes. This is confirmed after the climax when Theta and a resurrected Shou check up on him after the demon possessing him has been defeated. When Tathagata takes off his mask and starts monologuing about how he's not a person, a flashback reveals Tathagata was conceived through genetic manipulation and put through torturous tests to make him a "perfect human". However, he repents at his last moments when Shou reassures him that he's a "child of Buddha" like any other person of Earth.
- Space Battleship Yamato 2199: The updated series goes a long way towards humanizing the Gamillans.
- Redof Hiss, second in command of the Gamillon Empire, had once given the order for the execution of General Dommel, believing he had taken part in the conspiracy to kill Deslar, and doesn't apologize to Dommel when Deslar proves to have faked his own death to ferret out the real subversive elements. However, when the Yamato has breached the capital, Hiss spots a young Zaltzian girl named Hilde lying on the floor, nearly trampled by the fleeing citizens, and he stops to collect her, despite Gamillans having been shown to show utter contempt for the Zaltzians throughout the series. And when the Yamato saves Gamillon from Deslar's Colony Drop, Hiss is the one to tell Starsha, furious at humans for making a Wave-Motion Gun with the technology she gave them, that it was that same gun that had enabled the humans to save their own worst enemies, and as far as Hiss is concerned, there is no further enmity with Earth.
- Wolf Frakken, a Blood Knight who enjoys hunting his prey, is shown to be incensed when a Gamillon warden on a prison planet is beating a loyal Zaltzian soldier for merely trying to carry out his assigned mission. Frakken was a second away from belting the warden himself but is spared having to do so by Yuki Mori, whom the Gamillans have confused for Yurisha of Iscandar, by simply saying that as a Princess of Iscandar, she wants the Zaltzian, Nolan, to accompany her. Frakken also takes in the displaced Yabu, who proves to be a useful asset on his ship, though they think Yabu is Zaltzian.
- Even Deslar himself, who is shown to be far more dangerous than the original series' version, shows moments of humanity. When a Zaltzian crew commanded by Schultz is killed trying to combat the Yamato, Deslar orders all of the war dead to be given a two rank posthumous promotion, and to give their families Honorary Gamillan status, making them equals to Gamillans in their society.
- On the human side, there's Itou, a Smug Snake and somewhat xenophobic. He was put on the Yamato as a plant to execute a mutiny and enact the "Izumo Plan" to resettle humanity on another world, rather than reach Iscandar for the Cosmo Reverse System. He also believes, incorrectly but not without cause, that Yuki and Yurisha are one in the same. So when he and Yurisha are on a Gamillan prison planet, and she sees Itou pointing a gun in her direction, there is concern, until he shoots the guy coming up behind her. He then blasts off her manacles and asks her to return the favor. Itou seems to accept that Yurisha has the best interests of humanity at heart, and when he is suddenly and mortally wounded, he begs her to make sure that humanity is saved.
Comic Books
- The Killing Joke gives us a potential backstory for The Joker (who admits that it may or may not be true, as even he doesn't remember for sure) that shows he was driven mad by "One bad day". Batman, trying to avoid the inevitable final conflict between them, senses that he might be able to offer The Joker a chance at redemption and rehabilitation. Joker rejects the offer, but it is noted that he does so sadly, then tells Batman a joke that he feels reflects the situation, about two inmates trying to escape an asylum, and one makes the jump, but the other is too scared. So the first one says he'll shine his flashlight over the gap and his compatriot can walk across the beam. The second man declares, "Are you crazy? You'll turn the beam off when I'm halfway across."
- Secret Wars (2015): Whether Doctor Doom is a Complete Monster or a Noble Demon is a case of Depending on the Writer, but in the Secret Wars event from 2015, after he has cobbled together remnants of various worlds to create a vestige of reality and taken up the mantle of godhood, he privately muses to Susan Storm, now his wife, that he might be the one flaw in the world, and the audience is shown for the first time the scarred and ruined visage behind the mask, badly damaged, but human and pitiable.
Fan Works
- Climbing Out: While Starscream serves as the Big Bad of the fic, it's revealed in Chapter 13 that Airachnid killed his husband before the events of Transformers One. One of the reasons why he and the High Guard so readily joined Megatron was that he helped bring down Sentinel and Airachnid's regime.
- Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty: Frieza is portrayed as the same sadistic and ruthless tyrant he is in canon, often killing or maiming his subordinates for the slightest infraction. However, when he picks up that Ginyu, one of his longest-serving and most loyal soldiers, is distraught over Guldo's death, he promises to lend any spare wish from the Namekian Dragon Balls to wish Guldo back to life after his wish for immortality.
- Empathy: Professor Robert Callaghan does everything that he does in canon, not caring what he has to do or who he has to hurt to meet his goal. However, here he's been Forced into Evil by the Gorg and his Dragon, Smek. Abigail was kidnapped by the Boov (who've been enslaved by the Gorg), and the Gorg is forcing Callaghan to help him with his plans in exchange for his daughter's safety. Even though his actions are hard to forgive, Callaghan's obvious sadness for his daughter and distress at the situation he's in is heartbreaking.
- In The Keys Stand Alone: The Hard World, although not a thoroughgoing example of “evil,” Jeft is a petty, vengeful Jerkass to the point where Ikaly dislikes him so much (especially because of his nasty attitude toward the four) that she willingly joins a small coalition of “insiders” to defeat him. However, at the Climax, when Jeft is finally defeated and revealed as his nerdy, feeble self, he bursts into frightened tears when confronted by everyone—and this humanizes him enough that the four don’t have the heart to yell at him any more.
- Discussed earlier by Durothé when she offers to show the four the city where the alien gamers are residing, and is a bit concerned that the four might start to dislike them less because most of them are human or humanoid. However, she also mentions that she’s never felt that way because even the humans among them are just too alien by her standards. And the four definitely don't dislike them less!
- The inverse is mentioned by Dyonmaditi when, playing his gaming character Theecat, he speaks with Ringo and realizes that this is no game character but a real person who doesn’t belong in the Con Fusion. Dyonmaditi immediately wants to know more about the four and the reason they’re in the game in the first place. He ultimately joins Ikaly in the coalition.
- The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf is a huge, loud, crass Barbarian Hero, but after he invites Tyrion to a Drinking Contest they bond over being betrayed and losing their loves. Unfortunately, the friendship is completely one-sided on the Wolf's part, who seems persuaded Tyrion is a great warrior (when all his kills have been situational), and Tyrion is very much embarrassed by it. The Wolf is also shown to avert Forgotten Fallen Friend by bringing a few dark elf sacrifices to a friend's burial site so he can use them in the afterlife.
- Spider-Ninja:
- Norman Osborn is as cold, ruthless, and money/power-hungry here as ever. But he truly loves his son, Harry, and tries to keep him safe from the world while also trying to keep up a good relationship with him.
- The Green Goblin is a sadistic serial killer who intends to control New York's criminal underground and is willing to hurt/torture/kill anyone he has to in order to get what he wants... but, as he tells the Shredder, committing Revenge by Proxy is taking things way too far (a far cry from his canon self).
The Green Goblin: You should know that the Green Goblin doesn't approve of people who go after their enemies' children. You don't ever make it personal. - A Thing of Vikings:
- In the course of her infiltration of the Berserkers, Toiréasa learns that Dagur (who she was sent to kill) is more of a Reluctant Psycho than the Ax-Crazy Blood Knight everyone thinks he is, may not have deliberately murdered his father, and even doesn't fully control the Berserkers. As she falls In Love with the Mark, she becomes his Morality Pet and enables the beginning of his redemption arc. It helps that he has a Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain dynamic with his Number Two, Savage, who's also The Starscream to Dagur.
- Drago's POV gives the audience insight into his struggles with leading the Pechenegs, especially rebellions from those who resent him as a foreigner. He also genuinely cares for his friends Khursa and the Kagan, and his wife Kelebek. He's still a brutal warlord who enslaves dragons and wants to Take Over the World, but he doesn't do things For the Evulz.
- In With Strings Attached, the Hunter starts off as a major-league Jerkass, filled with happy memories of bloodlust and slaughter, and contemptuous of the “little” four. They can’t stand him but are stuck traveling with him, because only he knows the way to the third part of the Vasyn. However, after watching the four interact with one another and displaying deep love and friendship despite their moments of annoyance and impatience with one another, he surprises Paul by sitting with him and confessing how unhappy and friendless he really is. This starts him on his journey to Heel–Face Turn, and he ultimately becomes the best friend they make in the book.
- Your Alicorn Is in Another Castle: Bowser of all characters gets this in this fic. He explains to Twilight Sparkle that his purpose in life is to kidnap princesses (explaining to her that it's basically his Cutie Mark). He tried to avoid it and have a normal life, even getting married and having a child. However, he found that he was planning out kidnappings in his sleep and that the more he fought his destiny, the crazier he became. He scared his wife into leaving, taking their child with her. Bowser is visibly saddened by the memory, clearly having loved his family.
Films — Animated
- Beauty and the Beast (1991): The Beast, when we first meet him, is a roaring monster who terrifies his servants and locks Maurice up for trespassing. However, when Belle offers to take her father's place, he's shown to be shocked that she'd be willing to do such a thing and is later shown to be saddened/ashamed when he finds her crying afterward. This is the start of many moments that show the Beast isn't as bad as he seems.
- A Bug's Life: Despite coming close to killing his own brother Molt out of frustration multiple times, Hopper never even hurts him due to having promised his mother on her deathbed that he wouldn’t kill Molt.
- Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation: Dark Heart accidentally strikes Christy with his power while lashing out at the Care Bears, and immediately has a My God, What Have I Done? moment. He assumes his human form, cradling Christy and demanding of the Care Bears "What good are your love, your feelings, if they cannot save this child?" The Care Bears proceed to chant "We care.", prompting Dark Heart to join in, and eventually the audience too, at which point Humanity Ensues.
- Cars 1: Doc Hudson spends most of the movie treating Lightning McQueen like he's nothing but trouble and even sets him up to fail with a race on a dirt track. However, after Lightning both learns a few lessons in humility and learns that Doc is his hero, the Hudson Hornet, he learns why Doc is so bitter: during a race in 1954, he got into a serious crash. After weeks of repairs and physical therapy, he tried to return to the racing world... only for his sponsors to dump him. This moment tells both McQueen and the audience why the old car is so bitter.
- The Little Mermaid (1989): During the final battle, Ursula tries to hit Eric with a spell. Ariel throws off her aim enough that she accidentally hits Flotsam and Jetsam, her pet moray eels. She has a moment of utter horror as she cries for her babies and cradles their remains in her hands. It's implied that this is what sends her over the edge and causes her to focus on nothing more than killing Ariel.
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, has been a brutish thug throughout the entire film, having his enemies beaten down, and engaging in an experiment to breach dimensions that runs the risk of collapsing the multiverse. Then we learn why. His wife and son were killed in a car crash, fleeing from him after watching him beating on his world's Spider-Man, and he's trying to get them back, by abducting versions of them from another world. It makes him no less dangerous, brutish, and possibly makes him all the more determined. But as his world's Spidey had tried to warn him earlier in the film, and as his own foray across the dimensional barrier suggests, his brutish, thuggish lifestyle drove his wife and son to this end in EVERY dimension, and there are no versions of them who don’t leave him because of how he is.
- Transformers One: While Sentinel Prime is the Big Bad of the film, he has a moment of this when he admits that Orion Pax and D-16's antics at the race were Actually Pretty Funny. Unfortunately for the duo, though, Darkwing didn't.
Films — Live-Action
- The Amazing Spider-Man 1: After he loses Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson ends up confronting Peter Parker at school who, expecting to be bullied again, slams him against a locker, but Flash is paying him sympathies and even doesn't hold Peter angrily lashing out against him.
- By the Sword: After fighting The Atoner Suba in a vicious duel after learning that he killed Villard Sr. in a past duel, Villard Jr. is ultimately overpowered. Finally grasping the magnitude of killing someone and realizing that he wasn't Born in the Wrong Century, Villard Jr. breaks his sword and concedes the match in a broken voice.
- Downfall: Hitler, believe it or not. He's humanized when he's shown crying, realizing that his closest allies (except Goebbels) have refused to carry out his last orders. Speer defies him by refusing to raze Berlin to the ground.
- The Mask: Dorian Tyrell is close to his henchman, Freeze, and when he’s mortally wounded during a shootout at the bank he intended to rob, he attempts to offer Freeze a cigarette, only for Freeze to die before he could light it. Dorian is genuinely distraught about losing one of his henchmen and furiously attempts to interrogate Stanley when another henchman identifies him as the one who ruined the bank heist.
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show: After Riff Raff tells Dr. Frank N Furter that they're returning to Transylvania, Frank launches into a song describing his desire to return home, and while he has done nothing to earn any sort of redemption, Brad and Janet find themselves sympathizing with him. However, Riff Raff meant that he and Magenta were returning, and then proceeds to shoot Frank dead.
- Return of the Jedi: After appearing in two films as the seemingly unfeeling instrument of the Empire, Vader and Luke's meeing on Endor leads Vader to confess that he believes it is too late for him, when his son offers him a chance for redemption. Revealing for the first time a glimpse at the broken man behind the mask, and the tragic nature of his fall which would define the series.
Literature
- The Accursed Kings: Louis X is presented as a hopelessly Inadequate Inheritor, a young man serving as one of the inspirations for Joffrey Baratheon. Unlike Joffrey, we get a Sympathetic P.O.V. that shows Louis is profoundly insecure and deeply aware of how unsuited he is for the job, and never truly recovers from his wife's adultery (it's also stated that his first time was an Attempted Rape on a palace servant that turned into Pity Sex; he bungled it up that badly).
- The Apothecary Diaries: The high-ranking eunuch Jinshi initially comes across as very smug and manipulative in his interactions with others, with his newest "pet" Maomao finding him especially insufferable for being visibly amused as he bosses her around. But then he finds out that Maomao's freckles are actually makeup she puts on "to avoid getting dragged down a back alley". She then tells him that some men still tried to do that when she still lived in the pleasure district, and that one day when getting the ingredients for the fake freckles she was kidnapped and sold as a servant at the imperial palace. Jinshi is visibly disturbed by the whole story, and when she's done he bows and apologizes to Maomao for what she went through.
- Reign of the Seven Spellblades: Ophelia Salvadori in volume 2 (episode 8). For all that she's a succubus-blooded Serial Rapist, she's still ultimately human and gets lonely living a solitary life in the labyrinth. Oliver runs into her when she's in a good mood and they're able to have a civil conversation: it comes out that among other things she has a sweet tooth and sometimes still comes up to the cafeteria for the pumpkin pie. She's acquainted with Shannon Sherwood for much the same reason, probably helped by their Commonality Connection of both having been forced to bear children for familial obligations. She also ruminates a bit on her past as an ex-member of the Campus Watch, and then subtly tries to warn Oliver away from the labyrinth for the next while, Foreshadowing her being consumed by the spell and kidnapping seventeen other students at the end of the book, which drives the plot of volume 3.
- Sphere: When the team investigating the crashed ship make contact with a consciousness in the titular Sphere, it identifies itself as "Jerry", and indicates that it's "happy". This alarms Norman, the psychiatrist assigned to the mission, to no small end, because, as he points out, "Jerry" has proven to be very powerful. "Jerry" is also an emotional being that has been cooped up and isolated for 300 years, give or take. Norman points out it would be better if "Jerry" were emotionless, because if "Jerry" is happy, what happens if "Jerry" becomes unhappy? It turns out there is no "Jerry", it's a subconscious manifestation of mathematician Harry's psyche after he went into the Sphere and gained psychic powers. And he's not the only one.
- The Tyrant Baru Cormorant: Tain Shir, previously portrayed as a grim, unstoppable killing machine like the Terminator, laughs at a joke she reads in a letter, demonstrating she has a pretty normal sense of humor. Later, when she makes common cause with Baru, her attempt at explaining her backstory is a disjointed list of events that happened to her in no particular order, ending with an almost apologetic "I don't tell stories often" with a bewildered look on her face. She closes back up when Baru tries to press her for more information, reminding her that Shir is still the killing machine at her core, but it's proof she at least used to be human.
- A Wind in the Door: Principal Jenkins, first introduced in A Wrinkle in Time, was antagonistic to Meg Murray in the first book, and seemingly antagonistic to Charles Wallace in the second. However, it is revealed in a story that Meg recalls her Love Interest Calvin O'Keefe relating to her, that Jenkins once saw that Calvin was wearing a pair of falling apart old women's shoes because his mother couldn't afford anything else for him. Jenkins called Calvin into the office and presented him with a pair of shoes, saying they were old and he didn't need them anymore, and Calvin notes that they were actually brand new and that Jenkins had just scuffed them up a bit to avoid having it look like he'd gone out of his way to buy new shoes for Calvin.
Live-Action TV
- In the Grand Finale of Blackadder Goes Forth, the order is given for a big push, sending hundreds of English soldiers to certain death in hopes of capturing a few more feet of territory. After spending much of the season smugly pissing on Blackadder and his men from the comfort of the command center, Captain Darling learns that he's being transferred to Blackadder's unit, effectively sending him to his death. As he prepares to die alongside his former nemesis, all Darling can do is mutter ruefully about how he thought he'd make it out of the war, go back to his old job, and marry his girlfriend, and it's now hitting him that he's not going to do any of those things.
"Made a note in my diary on the way here. Simply says: 'Bugger.'"
- The Boys: While Homelander is a Narcissistic Jerk with a Heart of Jerk with very few (if any) redeeming qualities, his love for his son Ryan is real (albeit corrupted in that Homelander sees Ryan as an extension of himself). Some of the only moments of Homelander being a decent person on screen are moments he shares with Ryan (except for when he throws him off of a roof to try and get him to fly).
- Doctor Who:
- "The Witch's Familiar", The Doctor has come to see a dying Davros, and Davros, the man who created the Omnicidal Maniacs that are the Daleks, opens his eyes for the first time in the series run, not using the artificial eye in his forehead for the first time. And in that moment, one of The Doctor's oldest and most ruthless foes isn't some freakish alien overlord, but instead is a dying old man. An evil dying old man to be sure, but a person and not a monster.
- In "The Lie Of The Land", Missy realizes, and weeps as she realizes that she does know the names of everyone she, as The Master, has killed over her long, long life.
- House of Anubis: At the beginning of season 1, Patricia immediately assumed that the new arrival, Nina, was somehow responsible for her best friend's sudden disappearance, and she took to bullying her for it. For the entire premier, she was portrayed as nothing more than a cruel, stubborn, irrational Jerkass, whose torment of Nina grew pointlessly sadistic. This lasted until a particular scene a few episodes later, in which she was having a legitimate break-down over the prospect that her friend may have been murdered by their housefather — with the police themselves seemingly being involved as well. It was at this moment that her isolation and pain became obvious, and being ignored by her own mother in a call for help was the icing on the cake. Suddenly, while Patricia was still portrayed as someone with anger issues and an irrational hatred of Nina, she was also being spun into a sympathetic Anti-Hero with legitimate reasons to be concerned, and with no true allies in her corner. This portrayal would persist until she and Nina were finally able to set aside their differences and work together, with Patricia ultimately becoming one of Nina's closest friends and joining Sibuna permanently.
- Kamen Rider:
- Kamen Rider Gaim: It's in a flashback, but it's shown that Ryoma did at one point care about Takatora to the point of actually being concerned when it looked like Takatora was injured in an experiment. It ends up being an inversion though, as by the present day Ryoma views Takatora with nothing more than disdain for not sharing his ideals and eventually backstabs him when he becomes too much of an inconvenience.
- Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Kuroto Dan spends the first half of the show a deranged megalomaniac who shows no remorse for his misdeeds. In the second half however, the heroes learn he loves his mom and was at least partially motivated by a desire to revive her. Coupled with him going out of his way to save Poppy, it marks the beginning of his transition from a villain to an Aloof Ally of CR. The "Another Ending" films have him revert to being a villain again, though he's at least still trying to help CR save all those lost to Game Disease, in his own way.
- Kamen Rider Build: The NEW WORLD: Cross-Z movie gives a brief one to Evolt of all characters, where he seems to genuinely lament not being able to stop his older brother from devouring his home world. He may be a Planet Eater bent on destroying everything in the universe, but you can't help but feel at least a little bit sorry for him. He also gets something akin to an Alas, Poor Villain moment later on, using his final moments to toss Ryuga a Fullbottle he needs to stop Killbus and letting out a weak "Ciao" right before his demise.
- Kamen Rider Zero-One: After Ai-chan coaxes Gai Amatsu into revealing the Tragic Backstory that transformed him into the Hate Sink that created The Ark that's been plaguing the heroes, Satellite There replicates the robot dog Thouser loved in his youth. Upon the toy's activation, several concerning text blurbs about Gai's emotional state pop up while it's scanning him, all of which show that he feels worthless; having internalized all of the abuse his dad heaped onto him as a child. The stoic villain then hugs the toy and promptly breaks down into genuine remorse. This sparks a Heel–Face Turn that stuns The Ark — surprised that such a horrible person like Gai could actually change.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
- Galadriel is an ancient elf, princess and Knight Templar on a mission to destroy Sauron and has no patience for anyone, human or elf, that gets in her way. When she meets the human refugee and shipwreck survivor on a raft she’s at first fixated on the fact that he’s seen orcs. When he talks about his home being ashes, she softens and says she grieves for him.
- Adar is a corrupted elf and the progenitor of the orcs who is shown as ruthless and uncaring of any elf or human he must harm to achieve his goals. However, he gets a literal “humanizing” moment when he puts on one of the elven rings of power and reverts back to his elf form. He chooses to remove the ring and revert back to his corrupted form because he is committed to being leader to the orcs and finding them a home where they can live in peace, which is even more “humanizing” than his transformation.
- Sauron gets quite a few of these in the first season when he is disguised as Halbrand. He tells Galadriel that he only wishes to live in peace, apologizes to Galadriel for killing her brother and expresses what could be a genuine desire for repentance. But ultimately, he reverts back to evil.
- Night Court: Dan Fielding is initially portrayed as a narcissistic, self-serving, Deadpan Snarker of a Jerkass, and a Casanova Wannabe. However, there were a few moments that served to humanize him, and reveal that he was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- "Married Alive", Dan begins to fall for a homely but wealthy woman, even turning down an offer of $50,000 from the girl's father to end the engagement. Everyone assumes that Dan is only interested in her for her money, and Dan acknowledges that he understands why they feel that way, then gives a speech about how she actually makes his life better.
Dan: You know that crazy stuff that we all carry around inside of us? That stuff that eats little holes in your brain and churns at your insides? That stuff that you know you cannot possibly tell another living human being? ...I can tell her. And she listens, and she understands. And she says, "It's all right. It's... all... right." ...and, it is. Poof! Just like your magic, Harry! She makes my problems disappear! My anxieties subside. God's in His Heaven, and all is right in the world. There's nowhere to go but up! Look for the silver lining! Don't give up the ship! And I'll be damned if that's not what each and every one of us'' is looking for. And I happened to find mine, so the best of luck to the rest of you.
- "Hello, Goodbye", Dan somberly explains to Christine, with none of his usual snark, that Selma was a bailiff who died a few months ago who Bull was close to. Harry and Christine go to try and get coffee and food to help sober Bull up after he drowned his sorrows for Selma, and instruct Dan to keep Bull from leaving. Bull tries to leave, and tells Dan to get out of the way. Dan, knowing he has no chance against the bailiff, stands his ground, no quips, no snide remarks, merely saying "I have my instructions."
- "Married Alive", Dan begins to fall for a homely but wealthy woman, even turning down an offer of $50,000 from the girl's father to end the engagement. Everyone assumes that Dan is only interested in her for her money, and Dan acknowledges that he understands why they feel that way, then gives a speech about how she actually makes his life better.
- Pulang Araw: Having been a Hate Sink who has more than once committed numerous war crimes (including summary executions and P.O.W. Abuse on soldiers, resistance fighters, and civilians), Captain Akio Watanabe shows that he isn't as cold-blooded of a killer when his long-time friend Hiroshi Tanaka sides against the IJA. This is no thanks to their superior officer, Col. Yuta Saitoh, being a corrupt tyrant who has turned Manila and the nearby provinces into an authoritarian Police State. When Hiroshi is physically tortured by Saitoh and other Kempeitai soldiers in Fort Santiago, Watanabe is reluctant to take part, clearly staying by the sides and hiding his disgust towards his superior officer. Later, despite shooting Julio Borromeo in the arm for speaking out against the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Watanabe doesn't coldly execute the poor old man, instead giving him medical treatment (although he does imprison him and does briefly give the man Cold-Blooded Torture for his troubles, albeit still refusing to execute him).
- Star Trek
- Star Trek: The Original Series: "Balance Of Terror". The Romulans are initially represented only by their ship, a Bird-of-Prey that can strike hard and fast and then vanish. Then we're shown the ship interior, with the Romulan commander lamenting that their successful test will encourage their Praetor to launch a new war, which will undoubtedly kill many in their ranks "for the glory of the Empire". Small wonder he and Kirk view one another as a Worthy Opponent.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation:
- "Déjà Q" has Q forcibly turned human by his own people as punishment for his destructive, haphazard lifestyle. It's done nothing to improve his ego or arrogance. Nothing, that is, until Data is nearly killed saving Q from a group of energy beings known as the Calamarain. Q tells Data that it was noble of him, but that he wouldn't have done the same in reverse, then immediately puts the lie to that statement by stealing a shuttlecraft so the Calamarain will target him instead of the Enterprise. A fellow member of the Continuum sees this and realizes Q was doing something selfless, and thus restores his powers. Q responds with gratitude, ending the crisis the Enterprise crew were trying to resolve with a snap of his fingers, and giving Data a moment of laughter and joy as a sign of gratitude for his actions. From that point on in the series, though still a pest, Q is more of The Gadfly than a threat.
- "All Good Things..." seems to restore Q to the role of villain from the first episode, telling Picard that the trial the crew were under never ended. He gives Picard a complex temporal puzzle to solve, which Picard is able to do. Picard realizes, though, that Q had been providing a helping hand through the whole ordeal. Q explains that the ordeal was his doing, a directive from the Continuum. But helping out, Q sheepishly admits, had been his own idea.
- Star Trek: Picard: In the series 2 finale, Picard's group are not happy to see Q, and even suggest attacking him. Q says in his current weakened state, they might actually be able to kill him, but him sending them home definitely will. Then Picard takes a moment to hug Q, putting all of the enmity between them to rest once and for all. Q is hesitant for a moment, but then returns the hug, showing that he has grown in his time spent with humanity.
- Yellowjackets: In "It Chooses" Misty chastises Mari for acting like a brat while helping Lottie, who can't use the bedpan unassisted. Mari then tries to carry the bedpan down the ladder and drops it, spilling the contents everywhere. She starts crying to herself. It reminds the audience that even though Mari may be a jerk, she is only a scared teenager who is quickly running out of hope, just like the others.
Radio
- Adventures in Odyssey: Bart Rathbone is a scheming man who is frequently shown to engage in many a "get-rich-quick" scheme, usually to the detriment of the citizens of Odyssey. While he will donate money to various social events, it's always with the understanding that he expects the publicity to benefit his business. He is easily one of the most disliked men in the entire town. But when a tornado destroys his home and business, one of his neighbors, a girl named Mandy Straussburg, a young but earnest Christian, is determined to help them. She sells a doll of hers to Jack Allen, explaining the purpose to him. Allen, also a devout Christian, is impressed by the girl's determination to help someone like Bart and goes on the radio to remind people that despite the enmity the town has with Bart, he's still a person who needs help, and donates a large amount to help Bart and his family rebuild. As part of the show's theme that no one is irredeemable, Bart goes to Jack Allen, secretly buys Mandy's doll back, and pays for it to be restored, before mailing it anonymously to Mandy.
Video Games
- Fire Emblem Engage:
- Zephia, the sadistic leader of the Four Hounds, spends most of the game showing no compunction against torturing/killing to get what she wants, torturing her own underlings for their failures, and using increasingly extreme methods to bury Veyle's "defect" personality. Following the chapter just prior to her death near the end of the game, she admits to Griss (the only surviving Hound still on her side) that she only follows Sombron because, as two of the last remaining Draconic Humanoids, she hopes that he will provide her with a child so that she can be a mother. She's viewed the Four Hounds as her adoptive children this entire time and has a genuine moment of peace when, as they both lay dying, Griss calls her "mother". Just prior to her death, she has a mild Heel–Face Turn, using the last of her magic to create a crystal that allows Alear and co. to go back in time out of spite to Sombron for not fulfilling his promise to her.
- Sombron, the Big Bad himself, has caused countless deaths and atrocities first in the Dragon War 1,000 years in the past and again after reawaking now, including the murder of his own children if he deems them to be "defects". Through 99% of the game, he's treated as a destructive Evil Overlord with no redeeming qualities. Just prior to the Final Battle, however, he reveals that he was exiled to this world (Elyos) as a child following a war in his home world where his family was slaughtered. He was accompanied only by the "Zero Emblem", which became his only friend but abandoned him after Sombron came into the care of some villagers. Sombron believes it left because it thought he was weak, but Alear argues that it left when he was safe/happy. (We don't get a definitive answer in the game.) Either way, he seeks to use the power of the emblems to leave Elyos to search for the Zero Emblem. It's surprisingly humanizing that he started all of this essentially to reunite with a lost friend.
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: During his final confrontation with Link on top of the underwater tower, Ganondorf is uncharacteristically somber as he recalls that there was a time when all he wanted was the peaceful and prosperous Kingdom of Hyrule, and reflects on the fact that the home and people he used to lead centuries ago are a distant memory now. Ultimately, Ganondorf decides that he's already lived too long and done too much to turn back, and engages Link anyway.
- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code: Makoto Kagutsuchi is largely a cold and manipulative jerk of a CEO throughout the game and even goes on a ridiculous Motive Rant about how the terrible things that he does are justified because it's for the sake of other people, even after Yuma exposes him as his homunculus, at which point he doubles down on being a cold, limitless jerk. However, the end of his boss battle has him begging for someone to help him out of his burden regarding Kanai Ward after continuing to double down during his final fight with Yuma, showing that he really isn't a psychopath in spite of how unceremoniously awful he actually is and is only focused on his goals for protection.
- In Portal, GLaDOS, the computer system running the tests you're being subjected to starts off sounding like a possibly pre-recorded voice. After the tests are over she tries to incinerate you, and after Chell escapes, begins becoming increasingly snarky and mean and it's revealed she murdered the other humans present in the lab out of good old-fashioned spite. The intent being to invert 2001: A Space Odyssey by having the "uh-oh" moment be a computer that starts acting human, rather than a computer that acts less human, and making this a rare example of humanising moments making it clear a character is evil. The sequel further confirms she's actually a human, unwillingly uploaded to a computer.
- Xenoblade Chronicles: In the original game, Klaus in his completed form is depicted as as a delusional narcissist, said to have shattered his original reality for no reason beyond curiosity. When the sequel depicts the same events, we see a far more desperate man acting out of preservation for himself and a world he appears to genuinely care about, even if his narcissism remains a factor.
Web Animation
- Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City: Throughout most of her appearances in Season 1, Raspberry Tart was portrayed as a complete Alpha Bitch who would constantly scheme against Strawberry Shortcake to try and drive her out of the Berryworks. This all changes in "New Year's Wish", where she and Strawberry find out that they both believe in the idea of New Years wishes. It shows a more emotionally vulnerable side to Raspberry than initially let on, and also marks the first step to her eventual Heel–Face Turn at the end of Season 1.
Western Animation
- Amphibia: King Andrias is, after posing as a cheerful old man, established to be a heartless and monstrous villain who stabs Marcy, a teenage girl who trusted him and saw him as a friend, through the chest. Then in the episode "Olivia and Yunan," he looks away in discomfort when Marcy is possessed by the Core, the first hint that he's not quite as in on the villainy as the audience has been led to believe.
- Arcane: Silco is initially established as a fairly generic villain with few redeeming qualities, the closest he gets to being sympathetic being when he has a traumatic flashback as Vander tries to kill him. Then at the end of act 1, Powder, having lost her entire family, been (seemingly) abandoned by her sister, and being completely alone in the world desperately grabs him for comfort. Silco is briefly confused, before returning the hug and assuring Powder that they will show everyone who hurt her. The following two acts treat him as a much more sympathetic character, showing that his empathy for Powder was completely genuine.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Long Feng is presented as a duplicitous individual who, through the Dai Li, reduced the Earth King to his puppet and engaged in many underhanded tactics in the name of preserving order in Ba Sing Se. Upon being found out and imprisoned for treason, he then conspires with Azula to stage a coup against the Earth King and his generals. After Azula succeeds, Feng announces that he's double crossing her, before ordering the Dai Li to arrest her, only to find himself ignored. Azula then gives a speech about how she can see in his eyes how he was born from nothing and had to claw his way to the top, but that he lacks "the divine right to rule" while making it clear that she's the one in control now. Dejected, Feng bows before Azula while conceding that she's beaten him at his own game, to which she retorts that he was never a player.
- DuckTales (2017): While many of the show's antagonists are Card Carrying Villains, a few of them have moments that make them sympathetic or more understandable in the eyes of the viewers. This is best shown in the episode "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck", where it's explored how some of Scrooge's enemies became his enemies in the first place. Glomgold's and Ma Beagle's Freudian Excuses are pretty weak, but Magica De Spell reveals that Scrooge accidentally got her twin brother Poe turned into an ordinary raven, causing her to lose him forever. Even Louie and Scrooge himself admit that was a pretty cold thing to do.
- For most of Hazbin Hotel, Adam is presented as nothing but a bloodthirsty, sexist bully who only seems to care about himself. However, when he's killed by Nifty, he spends his final moments smiling at Lute, showing that, despite his countless flaws, he at least cared about her.
- Invader Zim:
- In "Walk of Doom", Zim gets mad at GIR when he gets them hopelessly lost on the other side of the city. He takes a moment to yell at GIR for being foolish, and GIR wells up in tears. Zim, seeing this, retracts and says that he realizes GIR didn't mean to get them lost and knows what he did wrong, and that they should focus more on getting home.
- In "Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy", Zim takes GIR’s huge collection of rubber pigs to use in a plan to kill Dib. GIR is reluctant to give them up, but Zim insists. However, when GIR’s eyes tear up, Zim lets GIR keep most of them and only takes a few of them.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- In his first appearance, Discord was a threat to all of Equestria. But Celstia believes he is not irredeemable, and asks the Mane Six to help with that. Fluttershy hits upon a plan, showering Discord with friendship and kindness. Discord of course is attempting to play her and says he'll resolve a problem he's caused if she will promise to never use her Element of Harmony to turn him to stone again. She agrees, and Discord keeps the letter of his promise to stop the flooding he'd caused, but not the spirit of the promise, as he now freezes over Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy tells him she's not his friend, and Discord realizes that her friendship actually DID mean something to him, so he relents and restores everything to normal.
- Discord has another such moment when he invites Fluttershy to a tea party in his realm. He tries to turn his home into something normal, which proves detrimental to him. After Fluttershy saves him by restoring the chaos of his world, she asks him why, and he shows a degree of vulnerability, saying that she and he together "don't make sense to anypony else." Fluttershy agrees, but adds, "But we make sense to me."
- The Spectacular Spider-Man:
- School bully, Flash Thompson, regularly gives Peter Parker a hard time (especially after Liz Allan starts getting interested in Peter). But at the end of the first season, he yells at Peter for shutting out the people he cares about when they're just trying to help him (unaware that the symbiote has been manipulating Peter's personality). In the next episode, when Peter has freed himself from the symbiote's influence, he finds Flash and thanks him. Rather than blow him off, he accepts Peter's thanks graciously. Later on, he also proves himself a fair athlete when he, after learning that Harry was playing football while "juiced", is the one to report the team and takes credit for it so Harry won't be hated by the rest of the team.
Peter: Flash. You gave me a pretty hard time the other day.Flash: Just the other day? I must be slipping. [Starts walking away]Peter: [sincerely] Thanks for the reality check.Flash: [stops, turns and smiles] Don't mention it.
- Glory Grant. She's one of the popular kids at Midtown and associates with people like Flash and Sally Avril. However, there are several moments where she calls out her friends when they're being bullies. She even goes with Harry Osborn, a former unpopular kid, to the school formal. That said, she's still often a bystander when someone is being ignored or mistreated, often only spending time with fellow popular people.
- Sally Avril. She's a stereotypical blonde Alpha Bitch head cheerleader, constantly complains when an unpopular kid spends time with them, and once laughed in Peter's face when he tried to ask her out. But in the episode "Probable Cause", when it seems like Peter's been killed in an explosion, she's visibly horrified and worries about whether or not he's okay (while also realizing that her friend/Peter's girlfriend Liz will be crushed). When Peter is revealed to be alive and well, she hugs him before yelling at him for scaring her, admitting that she doesn't like Peter but she doesn't want him dead.
- Max Dillon/Electro is a Card-Carrying Villain and Psychopathic Manchild for most of the series. But in his first appearance, he's a normal man who was injured/transformed in a terrible accident. He admits to his friend, Eddie Brock, that he's terrified by what's happened to him and saddened that everything he wanted out of life is no longer possible.
- School bully, Flash Thompson, regularly gives Peter Parker a hard time (especially after Liz Allan starts getting interested in Peter). But at the end of the first season, he yells at Peter for shutting out the people he cares about when they're just trying to help him (unaware that the symbiote has been manipulating Peter's personality). In the next episode, when Peter has freed himself from the symbiote's influence, he finds Flash and thanks him. Rather than blow him off, he accepts Peter's thanks graciously. Later on, he also proves himself a fair athlete when he, after learning that Harry was playing football while "juiced", is the one to report the team and takes credit for it so Harry won't be hated by the rest of the team.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels both give Maul numerous moments to show that, while he's committed many unforgivable crimes, he still has feelings and a soul. The strongest relationship he ever had was his relationship with his brother Savage, who was killed by Darth Sidious in cold blood. In the sequel series, he takes an interest in Ezra Bridger, and treats him like something of a favorite student (despite the fact that Ezra makes it clear he doesn't want to be a Sith and is horrified by some of Maul's past deeds). While he never regrets his actions or does anything to try and redeem himself, the moments Maul has with Savage and Ezra show that he isn't completely soulless.
Maul: [horrified] Brother...
