Adaptational Heroism

A story is re-written and/or adapted. The main writer, either to suit the story better or because some would like to see the characters of the story act a little bit more heroic, decides to grant an otherwise generic, apathetic, or downright nasty character a bit of a lighter shade, or even lift them up to full hero status.

It could happen to either a formerly ambiguous character who decides to "take up the sword" and fight for the good guys, or one of the villains. Perhaps an enemy commander who in the original version was merely a one-dimensional obstacle for the heroes; yet in this adaptation, he would rather give up instead of fighting the heroes, lets them through, with small snippets of backstory showing that he secretly defied The Emperor's orders numerous times in order to save lives in the past. Or it could be bigger fish such as the enemy general; before, he was a ruthless person who would stop at nothing. In the adaptation he could turn out to be a Noble Demon whose main concern is leading his men to battle, avoiding the death of innocents if possible, and even though he does still fight the heroes he agrees to a fair fight and backs down once defeated, unlike in the original where he feigns defeat and stabs one of the heroes in the back.

Sometimes the changes made contribute positively to the story, showing formerly unseen heroic sides to characters. Other times it could come across as too deliberate to try and make a character more likeable, which of course can backfire. Maybe people liked the fact that the evil commander was reveling in his cruel deeds, his uninspired character being something amusing about him. On the other hand, The General could've been an Ensemble Darkhorse in the fanbase and a lot of fans were happy to see his character taken to new heights, rather than merely being portrayed as a stereotypical bad guy. Simply put, it can swing both ways.

In short, it's when a character is made more heroic or friendly in an adaptation.

This trope is the opposite of Adaptational Villainy. See also Historical Hero Upgrade, which is the same thing applied to a historical figure.

Examples of Adaptational Heroism include:

Multiple Media

Conan is this. In the original works of Robert E. Howard, he can't truly be called a hero, being very self-absorbed and selfish with questionable morals; the times he did do heroic deeds gave him a Byronic Hero's role at best. The more modern version - who would occasionally take up heroic actions on his own - didn't come along until after Howard's death, with augmented popularity due to the striking artwork by Frank Frazetta.
Sweeny Todd gets this in many adaptations. In the original novel, he was a Serial Killer who murdered rich folks so he could rob them, and had little motivation other than that. Modern adaptations often make him an Anti-Villain whose evil deeds are at least slightly justified, such as in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, where he is out for revenge against a judge who unjustly convicted him in order to adopt and ultimately marry Todd's daughter. Yeah, Todd is very often the lesser evil in such versions.

Anime and Manga

Fred Abberline in the first anime adaptation of Black Butler is possibly the most good-hearted and purely heroic character among the cast, while in the manga he seems to be developing into something more like an Anti-Hero willing to let his hands get dirty in the name of good. This is a case of Overtook the Manga. When the first anime was made, the manga had not yet given Abberline, a minor character, much in the way of a personality.
- The same sort of process was responsible for how Undertaker's true character is dramatically different between the manga and the anime. In the anime he is good and kindly, but in the manga after a Reveal he becomes a major villain. In both cases he turns out to be a powerful old Shinigami though.
Shampoo from Ranma ½ went from a manipulative bitch with no problems killing Akane in the manga (not unlike many of Ranma's female suitors) to a Friendly Rival to Akane with few qualms about her methods but considerably less killer instinct.
In the original manga of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yugi's Super-Powered Alter Ego is at best a Sociopathic Hero and often seems more like a Super Powered Evil Side. However, in the anime adaptation, he's pretty much all-hero.
In the Sailor Moon manga, Nephrite is no better than the other three Generals serving Beryl. In the 1992 anime adaptation, he starts out as something of an Anti-Villain, falls for Usagi's friend Naru, and is redeemed by love; he dies from wounds suffered saving Naru from the other generals.

Fan Works

Any character who benefits from a case of Draco in Leather Pants can get upgraded all the way to a Byronic Hero or better.

Film

Bard in Peter Jackson's version of The Hobbit goes from a captain of the guard who is not important enough to be mentioned in the story before his big heroic deed of killing the dragon Smaug to a heroic freedom fighter whose big moment from the book was made considerably more impressively heroic and who then proceeds to even more action hero stuff not found in the book.
In the Shrek movies, The Big Bad Wolf is close friends with the Three Little Pigs; he can still huff and puff as well as he used to, able to blow down a house — or a squad of the villain's mooks — with ease.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken; not just Ruby, all krakens are given a bad rap by humans who think they're vicious sea monsters, which popular culture depicts them as. They are, in fact, noble warriors who protect humans from actual terrors of the deep, which includes mermaids.
James Bond is this in film. Even the chauvinist version of him portrayed by Sean Connery had far more scruples than 007 in the original novels, who was a Nominal Hero at best and Villain Protagonist at worst. While many of the film's versions of his relations with women bordered on Questionable Consent, the original Bond had no compuctions about blatant rape. Indeed, Flemming's intent on writing The Spy Who Loved Me (the film adaptation of which having a plot that was only vaguely similar) was to discourage readers from viewing Bond as someone who should be admired.
In Street Fighter, Balrog is a hero and a friend of Chun Li and E. Honda. Played straight with Dee-Jay and Zangief, who were portrayed as lackeys of M. Bison (although the latter does a Heel Face Turn at the end).
Nicholai Ginovaef in Resident Evil Apocalypse; the human antagonist in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, he becomes a good guy in this movie.

Literature

In the X-Wing Rogue Squadron series, one of the main characters is put on trial for being a spy and traitor. In the original, abridged, audio books the plot point that one of the judges, an intelligence officer, knew he was innocent, at least of this particular crime, but let the trial continue to lure out the real traitor is cut, and the finale where this deception is publicly revealed to save the defendant's public reputation is kept in a way that makes it seem like said officer made it up on the spot for the sake of PR (even though he didn't have to), rather than confirming he's willing to put an innocent man through hell and public scorn in a case of pragmatism over morality.

Western Animation

Hercules:
- Both Zeus and Hera are far more benevolent in the series than they were in mythology, showing a great deal of concern for the welfare of mortals. Given the target audience, Zeus notorious reputation as philander and rake is omitted.
- Aphrodite is portrayed as a benign entity who encourages the concept that True Beauty Is on the Inside, a stark contrast to the lustful temptress she is in mythology.