Heroes who have been villains at
the start are among the deepest and most dynamic fictional characters ever. Sometimes, there is still some moral
ambiguity in them as they still struggle with doing heroic things – something
opposite from their former nature. Sometimes, they still carry some characteristics
of their former villain selves that either help or hinder them in their new
lives’ duties. Usually, former villains end up as an anti-hero instead of a
straight-up hero when they switch allegiance to the good guys’ side, and since anti-heroes
usually have more charm than heroes, we are greatly interested with this kind
of characters. Moreover, we find these
characters more interesting because we are all suckers for good redemption
stories.
There are plenty of such
characters. And it took some time of
evaluating before I picked up my ten. I
chose the 10 that used to be significant villains. Significant
enough that it gave a great dramatic impact and delightful shock when they had
a change of heart.
10.) THE TERMINATOR
In the year 2029, Machines had
already taken over the world after an artificial intelligence network called
Skynet was able to become self-aware.
Skynet catered in a nuclear holocaust to wipe out most of mankind. The remnants of humanity are merely fighting
a resistance battle against the reigning Machines. This is the setting where the Terminators are
created. They are cyborgs – machine in
interior, but with a human covering (earlier models mostly have the appearance
of Arnold Schwarzenegger). They are
programmed to infiltrate the human resistance and commit assassination. They are highly strong, adaptable and
formidable.
In the first Terminator film, the Terminator (T-101 or T-800… I’m confused) was
the antagonist. He was sent back in time
to kill Sarah Connor, who was going to be the mother of John Connor, the
resistance leader of the future. A human
resistance fighter, Kyle Reese, was sent back in time as well by the human
resistance to protect Sarah. Eventually,
Kyle and Sarah, in spite of the extreme difficulty of the task, were able to
destroy the Terminator but with the cost of Kyle’s life. Then in the second Terminator film, in a delightful twist, the Terminator is now the
hero. He was sent back in time to protect
a young John Connor from a more advanced Terminator, the T-1000.
Technically, the Terminator in
the second film was different from the first film’s. The first unit had been destroyed already at
the first film. This second one was of
the same model (or if it was not, at least shared the same appearance) as the
first but had been reprogrammed to protect young John. Still, the essence of the character was the
same. And I found it awesome that the
same badassery the Terminator exerted in attempting to kill Sarah in the first
film, he now exerted in protecting young John and taking down the T-1000.
Another Terminator – different
unit, same model – was also the protector of John as a young adult in the third Terminator film.
As a villain, the Terminator was
as emotionless, apathetic, and ruthless as a killing machine should be. But as a hero, though he remains apathetic
and cold, there is some tinge of humanity in him as he demonstrated some human
strong will (or stubbornness) and some hint of sympathy for humans.
9.) DINOBOT
Dinobot was a protagonist for
most of Beast Wars. But he was, at the
first episode, part of the bad guys – the Predacons. One episode might be not too long a time to
appreciate a character changing sides, but it was enough for me with Dinobot. Prior to watching the pilot, there were some
promos. And, from these, one can have
some understanding of the basic premise.
Robots with animal disguises.
Mammals were the good guys, while dinosaurs and insects were the bad
guys. But, wait. There’s a brief scene where a raptor was
standing side by side with the good guys!
This made me really, really curious with that particular character. Thus, jumpstarting my interest with Dinobot,
who would become my most favorite Beast Wars character next to Rattrap.
In the first episode, Dinobot
challenges Megatron for leadership of the Predacons, but he was blasted away by
Scorponok. Later on, he would find the Maximals’ camp and challenged Optimus
Primal in a duel for leadership. In the
duel, Primal lost his footing, giving Dinobot the opportunity to easily defeat
him, but he refused to do so because he deemed it dishonorable to win in such
way. From this, we see that though
Dinobot had been with the bad guys, he is different from them because he is an
honorable warrior. The Predacons then
made a surprise attack, interrupting further developments in the duel. Optimus Primal would save Dinobot during the
ambush, and from then on, Dinobot began fighting alongside the Maximals.
Dinobot proved himself to be a
very invaluable comrade to the Maximals with his cunning, strength, battle
skills, and knowledge about his former Predacon companions. He showed throughout the show, that despite
having Predacon origins, he is honorable and not treacherous. Though he still finds himself at odds with
the Maximal’s moral code sometimes, being an anti-hero with anti-hero mentality
in the midst of heroes with hero mentalities.
In his most heroic deed later on
the show, he would sacrifice his life to protect ancestors of humankind from
genocide at the hands of the Predacons.
He would singlehandedly beat them but would receive heavy damage, thus,
causing his death. His touching final
words were, “Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along
with the good and let me be judged accordingly. The rest is silence.”
8.) VEGETA
Dragon Ball Z has two interesting “villain-to-hero” characters in
Piccolo and Vegeta. Piccolo was first
introduced as a demon (but later on, was revealed to be an alien from Namek)
and a villain. But later on, he would
find himself joining Goku and friends in forming the Z Fighters, to fight
bigger threats. He would even become the
trainer of Goku’s son, Gohan, and would develop such a strong bond with him
that he would even be a greater father figure to him than Goku, the actual
father. He would even sacrifice his life
to protect Gohan. All this done by a
“demon”. Piccolo’s character development
is very interesting indeed, but Vegeta’s is better.
Dragon Ball Z has been around some time before I encountered
it. Thus, it was already established
that Vegeta is going to join the Z Fighters.
With this being common knowledge, it lessens – if not totally
obliterating – the impact of Vegeta’s transition from a major villain to a
hero. With this as factor, Vegeta is
only number 8. In fact, I even considered
skipping Vegeta altogether in this list.
But Vegeta needs to be in this list.
Solely because – despite missing my top 10 favorite anime characters list – he is one of my favorite anime characters.
Vegeta is extremely arrogant,
hotheaded, overconfident, and full of bitterness. He is very proud of his Saiyan heritage and
has a superiority complex because of it.
When he was a villain, he was a ruthless killer and can massacre without
batting an eye. All the heinous things
that Vegeta ever did can be traced to his obsession for power and his desire to
have revenge on Frieza, who destroyed his homeworld. He wants to be the most powerful warrior in
the universe so he can defeat Frieza. After
suffering defeat at the hands of Frieza, before dying, Vegeta revealed to Goku that
he blames Frieza for what he had become, giving him no choice but to be cruel
and implied that he would have not been so if not for the bitterness,
vengeance, and hate in his heart for Frieza.
Vegeta would be resurrected by
the Dragon Balls (along with other of Frieza’s victims) and from that point on,
the character would soften up and would no longer desire conquering the universe,
though he still retained his arrogance and obsession for becoming a powerful
warrior, especially after he saw Goku turning into a Super Saiyan. From then on, Vegeta would have some jealousy
and animosity for Goku and his obsession would shift to becoming stronger in
order to beat Goku (instead of becoming stronger to destroy Frieza and conquer
the universe).
Vegeta would become part of the Z
Fighters. But he remains arrogant and
self-centered even when he’s now part of the good guys. He still obsessed on becoming powerful and
beating Goku. Nonetheless, his change
into a better and moral person was gradual.
He started to show signs of humility, fighting for noble reasons instead
of for his own pride, and learning to care for others. He would even start a family with Bulma,
though Bulma and Vegeta’s relationship was like Vegeta’s moral journey: gradual
and not immediate.
Vegeta would have his relapse to
villainy when he was possessed by Babidi’s Majin mind control power. Though, he would be able to fight off
Babidi’s commands, Vegeta’s desire to fight and defeat Goku is too strong and
wanted to try his new powers against him. He would
provoke Goku into fighting him by killing innocent people. Goku and Majin Vegeta had an evenly-matched,
glorious, and brutal combat, while the energy from their fight was being absorbed by
Babidi to revive the slumbering Majin Buu.
After realizing that Majin Buu was released, Goku discontinued the fight
with Vegeta and convinced him that they should go stop Majin Buu. Majin Vegeta seemingly agreed, but when Goku
turned his back, the former knocked the latter unconscious. Vegeta wanted to redeem himself from the
faults he had in the past by beating Majin Buu alone. But no matter how much powerful Vegeta’s
blows were, Majin Buu stood invincible.
And in a sequence that showed Vegeta finally showing that he had
changed, after hugging and leaving final words to his son, Trunks, he decided
to create a nuke-like explosion by self-destructing and destroying Majin Buu
with him. This heroic sacrifice,
however, fails to completely destroy Buu.
Nonetheless, we finally saw a Vegeta who knows how to care for others and
is ready to die for them. A resurrected
Vegeta would mastermind the defeat of Kid Buu later on.
7.) GAJEEL REDFOX
Gajeel was initially a villain on
the manga/anime Fairy Tail. He was a former member of Phantom Lord, and
as an S-class mage for it, he spearheaded the war against Fairy Tail. He was brutal and cruel, and doesn’t care
about injuring anybody – regardless of being a female or an ally – if he or she
is on his way.
Introduced as a very dark
character, one wouldn’t expect Gajeel to become one of the good guys. But after Phantom Lord was disbanded and
Gajeel’s former co-guild member, Juvia, joined Fairy Tail, Makarov (guild
master of Fairy Tail) offered Gajeel membership in his desire to guide the
latter in the right path. Gajeel would
join Fairy Tail, and, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t welcomed initially by the other
members because of the awful things he had done to Fairy Tail as a Phantom Lord
member. Aside from that, it was even
implied that Gajeel hadn’t lost his evil ways at all and had only joined Fairy
Tail so he can have his revenge on them when it was shown that he was serving
as a spy for the dark guild Raven Tail.
Gajeel’s start as a Fairy Tail member had been very rocky indeed. However, eventually, members would warm up to
him as he showed great dedication to Fairy Tail and a sincere desire to have
good comradeship with the others (though he said that he doesn’t need friends). It was also revealed later on that Gajeel was
working as a double agent for Makarov and wasn’t really betraying Fairy
Tail.
Gajeel’s character would lighten
up after becoming one of the good guys. He became good natured and showed a humorous side, though still
remaining quick-tempered. He learned to
be extremely loyal to Fairy Tail and embraced the guild’s family philosophy. He became very protective of his guildmates,
especially to Levy (who he had attacked and tortured mercilessly when he was
still a villain).
6.), 5.), & 4.) XANXUS, BYAKURAN, and MUKURO ROKUDO
The manga/anime Katekyo! Hitman Reborn has a knack of
making former villains become allies of the protagonists. And it is done in a way as mindblowingly
unexpected as possible. These villains,
during their run as antagonists, are portrayed as very villainous – with no
hint of friendliness or likability in them – that when they become
protagonists, it will definitely give some shock. Their strong personalities remain, but there
is a strong sense of “lightening up” as well as a shedding off of their
villainous flavor.
The first major antagonist of the
series is Mukuro Rokudo, a very powerful illusionist. He led his Kokuyo Gang against Tsunayoshi
Sawada (the main protagonist) and his friends due to their hatred for the Mafia.
Mukuro’s aim – and he repeatedly claimed it is still his aim even when he became
Tsuna’s ally – is to possess the body of Tsuna.
Mukuro, despite having a playful
smile on his face most of the time, is very apathetic and ruthless. In fact, it seems he doesn’t even care for
his subordinates (though, he actually does) since he refer to them as merely “toys”
or “tools” to get his goals. As an
illusionist, he can create very realistic illusions that can greatly affect and
damage his opponents. Aside from the
generic illusion-creating powers, he also possess a variety of powers initially
(he will gain more abilities after becoming Vongola’s Mist Guardian) including
mind control, body possession, and summoning deadly animals.
After getting defeated by Tsuna,
Mukuro and his subordinates were captured and imprisoned by the Vindice. In a jail break from the Vindice Prison,
Mukuro sacrificed himself as bait so that his subordinates can escape. Mukuro, however, was thrown into the
unbreakable lowest level cell. This development
showed that Mukuro does care for his comrades.
Later on, Tsuna’s father approached Mukuro and offered Vongola
protection for his comrades, and in exchange, Mukuro should become the Mist
Guardian for Tsuna’s Mafia Famiglia.
Mukuro agreed.
It was already established before
that Mukuro can possess somebody’s body and use it as a vessel to manifest his
person. But it was a surprise to
discover that Mukuro can do this while locked up like this:
So, far away locked up in prison,
he would share the position of Vongola Mist Guardian with Chrome Dokuro (who
lacks internal organs and is dependent to Mukuro to create an illusion of
internal organs for her), who he will possess and use as vessel when he is
needed… or, rather, if he wants to.
This development greatly blew me
away. That this powerful antagonist
would become a subordinate to the main character! (Note: At the present,
Mukuro is now free from his Vindice cell.
It’s not yet established if he would remain as Vongola Mist Guardian or
Chrome will solely have the position.)
Mukuro maintains that his goals
are still the same; however, he (with his gang) remains an ally and is un-hostile
(even has some tinge of loyalty) to Tsuna and the Vongola.
This was the first time that a
main antagonist became an ally in Hitman
Reborn. But though this is the most
dramatic “enemy-to-ally” development (and my most favorite), this isn’t the
last (nor the most surprising).
The second of such is with Xanxus,
the leader of Varia. Varia is Vongola’s
elite independent assassination squad.
They won’t accept any mission that has a 90% chance of success, since
they would only take missions that are said to be impossible for humans to
accomplish. Xanxus deemed himself worthy
of becoming the 10th boss of Vongola, not Tsuna. Thus, Xanxus challenged Tsuna for the Vongola
throne. The Varia members were initially
more powerful than Tsuna and his Guardians.
But, in the end, they prevailed over Varia.
Xanxus, along with the Varia, was
oozing with infamy when he was an antagonist.
He was brutal, arrogant, devious, and ambitious. His powerful abilities, similar to the 2nd
boss of Vongola (Flame of Wrath) and 7th boss of Vongola (X-Guns), are very
compatible with his personality.
After their defeat, I presumed
that if ever such a villainous bunch such as Varia comes back, they would
remain villains. I was so wrong. In the
next arc they appeared on (Future Arc), they were allies of Tsuna and his Mafia
Famiglia. Xanxus claimed that in spite
of internal conflicts within Vongola – between Tsuna’s faction and his – the
Vongola Famiglia will be united against outside forces that dare to attack them. This showed that Xanxus has fierce loyalty
for the Vongola.
From then on, like Mukuro, Xanxus
would insist that his goals are still the same (i.e. taking control of Vongola
and killing Tsuna) but, like Mukuro and his gang, Xanxus and Varia are
currently allied to Tsuna and his Famiglia. The Varia, sans Xanxus, even attended
Tsuna’s inheritance ceremony to become the 10th boss of Vongola and
seemed to be in friendly terms with them.
Still, the most surprising
“enemy-to-ally” development is that of Byakuran, the villain of the Future Arc
(Tsuna and friends were sent 10 years to the future). Byakuran has a cheerful, playful disposition,
but as a villain, he was cunning, cruel, and manipulative. He managed to be in contact with all the
Byakurans across the different parallel universes and he managed to conquer all
timelines! His goal was to possess the
Ultimate Power, and part of his plans to achieve it was to exterminate the
Vongola Famiglia and its allies and friends.
He also released a special radiation in the atmosphere to kill all
Arcobalenos. Indeed, he is so ruthless
that he has no reservations in killing aplenty to get his goals. Because of these things, it appears that
Byakuran is an “ultimate villain” in Katekyo!
Hitman Reborn with his schemes and goals in a higher league than what
Mukuro and Xanxus ever had.
After Tsuna (with his friends)
was transported to the future, he and his allies would eventually beat Byakuran
and his Six Funeral Wreaths (all ended up getting killed). With Byakuran dead, I never expected his
return. But return he did. In his first appearance after the Future Arc,
he was seen healing Tsuna’s Rain Guardian, Yamamoto. Later, it was revealed that the present’s Byakuran
and his Six Funeral Wreaths are actually all alive, since those that died in
the events of the Future Arc belonged in a future alternate timeline. This was a surprise already. But more surprising was how Byakuran (after shown
to be seemingly being in good terms with Yuni, considering that Byakuran was
Yuni’s enemy in the Future Arc) offered to ally himself with Tsuna! I – along with Tsuna and friends – was verily
suspicious of Byakuran since he was an extremely major villain. But it was established later on that this
Byakuran indeed had a sincere change of heart.
Mindblowing! Mukuro and Xanxus,
as villainous as they can be, were never portrayed as being such merciless, mass-killing,
evil schemer for world domination as Byakuran.
But here is Byakuran now, like the major antagonists Mukuro and Xanxus
before him, being more supportive to the good guys.
These three major antagonists in
the past are now currently significant allies of Tsuna. Not only they answered to Tsuna’s requests,
but they are now currently also working together!
Indeed, it’s not unlikely for
anime villains becoming allies of the main character/s during its story’s run,
but Hitman Reborn expertly presented
its arcs’ villains with the appearance of pure evilness that one would never
expect they would ever become part of
the good guys. It was done so well that
I was surprised by this “enemy-to-ally” developments three times.
The precise ranking here is in
the order of Xanxus (no. 6), Byakuran (no. 5), and Mukuro (no. 4).
3.) RED HULK
General Thunderbolt Ross has been
an iconic Hulk antagonist throughout comic book history. But he was
never really a super villain. He merely
believes he is doing his duty to his country by destroying a major threat like the
Hulk. This is a valid reason, in a way, though misleadingly motivated. However,
his obsession to destroy the Hulk made him blinded by his rage, leading him to
use brutal and unethical methods.
He only became a straight-up
super villain when he became the Red Hulk.
It happens that Ross, despite his hate for the Hulk, is envious of the
brute power that the Hulk possesses.
Thus, when offered to become Red Hulk by the Intelligencia, Ross jumped
into the opportunity so that he would be able to combat the Hulk head-to-head. Initially, the identity of the Red Hulk was a
secret to the comic book readers and characters. No one knows who the Red Hulk is for most of
his run as a supervillain.
Red Hulk is one heck of a badass
supervillain. The Hulk and other heroes
always had a tough time in fighting him.
Not only does he have the same brutish strength the Hulk has but his
intelligence remains when in Red Hulk form, therefore, making him a lethal combination
of brains and brawns. He is also more
aggressive and dangerous than the Hulk since the Red Hulk lusts for power and has no problem with
taking life. Aside from that, he also
possesses the power to absorb energies and power to enhance his own, and to emit
heat energy from his eyes. Unlike the
Hulk, who grows stronger and stronger as he gets angrier, the Red Hulk’s
strength level is consistent (thus he is weaker than a very enraged Hulk in
terms of physical strength) but the heat energy he emits grows hotter and
hotter whenever he gets angrier instead.
This heat can scorch everything the Red Hulk touches and, at high
levels, it would appear that the he is covered in flames. However, the downside to this powerful
ability is that the Red Hulk can overheat which causes heat exhaustion. His energy absorption ability also has a downside
since it burns out his ability to return to human form.
Eventually, the Hulk would defeat
Red Hulk, leading to his imprisonment.
Once Ross regained his sanity back, Steve Rogers (Captain America), at
the request of Bruce Banner (alter-ego of the Hulk), offered him redemption by
asking him to join the Avengers. He
accepted, and though his teammates didn’t trust him, they do have great faith
in their leader, Captain America, that his membership to the Avengers was not
protested.
The Red Hulk received mixed
reception from comic book fans. Some
liked him, some didn’t. I’m –obviously –
part of those that adored the Red Hulk and his character development. He’s one good piece of redemption story in
comic books. As an Avenger, he proved to
be a very invaluable and powerful ally.
In fact, I believe he is a better fit for the Avengers than the Hulk
himself. The Hulk was never a team
player. While the Red Hulk – retaining
the intelligence of General Ross – is a calculative, smart, and tactical
combatant and leader. Thus, he is a better team player than the Hulk
because of his experience as a soldier.
Moreover, sans Captain America, the Red Hulk is the best man to manage a
group of superheroes to execute harmoniously with efficient, calculated
military precision:
I am not saying that the Red Hulk
is more interesting than the Hulk.
No. But I believe that the Red Hulk
is one of the best characters Marvel created in the 21st century, if
not the best.
2.) MAGNETO
There’s no other X-Men villain
that is more iconic than Magneto. Even
in the movie, he was the hands down choice to become the main villain. Magneto, with his unlimited control of all
forms of magnetism, is one of the most powerful mutants in the world, making him
a very dangerous adversary to the X-Men.
But, nowadays? He is the
right-hand man of Cyclops, leader of a more expanded X-Men.
Magneto was a firm believer of
mutant superiority. Thus, he aimed to
lead mutants to take over the world. This
made him at odds with his former bestfriend, Charles Xavier (Prof. X), who – in
contrast with Magneto’s vision – dreams of a peaceful co-existence between
mutants and humans. This is the central
reason why Magneto and his followers have been for a long time locked in battle
with Prof. X and the X-Men.
But after the results of M-Day
(where most mutants lost their powers, including Magneto, though he was able to
regain it), Magneto decided to re-evaluate his methods and make peace and team-up
with Cyclops and the X-Men. He stated
that he admires Cyclops for making all mutants stand united, something that he and
Prof. X failed to accomplish. Magneto believed
that joining the X-Men is the best way to save mutant kind. From then on, Magneto seemed to have a change
of heart, and became a loyal member to the X-Men. Despite being more powerful to Cyclops, he
readily accepted being his subordinate.
Really mindblowing how the most
prominent X-Men villain would eventually become an X-Man himself. And I really love seeing Cyclops looking like
a swag mafia boss with Magneto and Emma Frost (who, let me point out, I feel
strongly as a better, more interesting love interest for Cyclops than Jean
Grey) always by his side.
Also, it’s amusing when this
happened before the X-Men started clashing with the Avengers:
All made possible because Magneto
is now reformed.
Comic books are like professional
wrestling, it isn’t unlikely for characters to switch sides and then switch
sides again. Over and over again. Magneto had become an ally to the X-Men for several times already in the past, but would always return back to his villainous ways. But, this time, I’m really hoping Magneto will stay as
an X-Man for good.
1.) VENOM
Venom is one of my most favorite comic book characters. When he was
bonded with Eddie Brock (and, later, Marc Gargan), he was a premium Spidey supervillain
and a murderous vigilante. I am fond of
the character already as it was. But
more so with these recent developments on Venom: he has a cooler look (but can
still revert to his monstrous appearance), he has guns, and now an Avenger!!!
Flash Thompson (Peter Parker’s
buddy) became the new Venom host when he signed in on Project Rebirth, which intended
to use the Venom symbiote (after being taken away from Marc Gargan after his capture)
for the government’s black ops missions.
Flash lost both his legs in the war in Iraq, but the Venom symbiote
provided legs for him as well as the usual Venom powers (enhanced strength,
agility, speed, reflexes, and durability; ability to change form and
appearance; limited shape-shifting) which include Spider-Man-copied powers (web-slinging,
wall crawling, etc.). However, Flash can
only bind with the symbiote for a maximum of 48 hours, and need to be separated
from it after that duration or else the symbiote would completely gain control
of him. Whenever the symbiote takes over, Flash goes
berserk, reverting to the original monstrous Venom appearance.
Captain America, being head of
the nation’s security, decided to shut down Project Rebirth and confiscate the
symbiote from Flash. But Flash went AWOL
with the Venom symbiote. He needed the
Venum symbiote to do a mission for Jack O’Lantern, or else, he’ll kill Betty
(Flash’s girlfriend) and his family. Red
Hulk was sent by Captain America to capture Venom.
After Venom was brought in,
Captain America, aware of Flash’s heroic deeds, decided to allow Flash to continue as Venom under his supervision and made him a member of the Secret
Avengers – the Avengers’ black ops team.
I really, really like this new
Venom. I like him more than the Eddie
Brock Venom. And I wish this present version
of Venom would remain as the status quo forever.
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