Chronic Villainy: Difference between revisions

[[Rule of Drama|However, something eventually goes wrong]]. Maybe they start having blackouts, and can't remember what they've been doing. Maybe they get visited by an old comrade who forces them back into crime. The voices in their head may resume their chorus. Or maybe they see their old nemesis and just ''have'' to test them, for old times sake...Ultimately, their returning obsessions become too much, and they can't resist them any more. They give in, and they eventually fall back into their self-destructive, villainous lifestyle.

 

 

 

Contrast [[The Farmer and the Viper]], where a villain is given this same opportunity...and twists that goodness into a torment for the one who offered them redemption. Often, villains who try (and fail) to reform have some [[Idiosyncrazy]].

{{examples}}

 

* The Crown Prince of this is [[Batman]]'s the Riddler, who has reformed countless times, only to fall back into crime due to obsessing over beating the Bat. However, this trope still applies to a large portion of Batman's rogues gallery, most prominently, Two-Face (who is probably a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|close second]] to the Riddler), The Ventriloquist, Mr. Freeze, and Harley Quinn. The second version, of a character whose power makes them evil and slowly returns them to villainy, is present in Man Bat and certain incarnations of Clayface.

** One comic book for the recent "The Batman" animated series had The Riddler asking Batman for help, because the Joker had kidnapped his favorite staff member at Arkham. But The Riddler couldn't just ''ask'', he sent riddles, because it's his mental condition to do so, whether committing crimes or not.

** This compulsion goes all the way back to the 1960's [[Adam West]] ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' tv show. In one episode, Riddler's girlfriend asks him why he even bothers with riddles since Batman always figures them out. Riddler answers that the only reason he even ''became'' a criminal is so he could use riddles to stump Batman. Without riddles, he says, crime would be pointless.

** The Joker underwent a Riddler Reform in "Going Sane", a [[Story Arc]] from the comic ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight''. The only times where he's ever been indicated to reform are when he thinks Batman's dead. When Batman ends up alive, he returns.

** As such, ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' had a couple of these. There was a noirish episode involving Two-Face in which this was the [[Twist Ending]], and, of course, one involving The Riddler (aptly named "Riddler's Reform", the original suggested title for this trope) in which he gave up a fortune because he couldn't get past his obsessions.

*** What's particularly tragic about that episode is that he gets a human body, and for no explicable reason, gets his ice powers back. However, Mr. Freeze has a history of tragedy in the [[DCAU]], and while his [[Backstory]] gave him depth, his later appearances in the ''The New [[Batman]] [[Superman]] Adventures'' made him a bit of a [[Butt Monkey]]. In ''[[Batman and Mister Freeze Sub Zero]]'', his wife is revived and cured of her illness. What happens? It turns out his body is rapidly decaying, and soon, all that's left of him is his head.

** Harley Quinn got such an episode. Over the course of it, she gets better, and finally realizes that the Joker doesn't care about her (after being left for dead by him) but sees a card that says "Get well soon - J" and instantly snaps back. (If you know the character, it's ''not'' an [[Ass Pull]].)

** One [[Silver Age]] story had Abra Kadabra brainwash the governor into pardoning him, and then attempting to form a legitimate career as a puppeteer. However, the show he did was a sort of (extremely amateurish) parody of the Flash, who had a really oversensitive reaction to how popular it was and so decided to get intense in his war on crime, making him popular enough that the inhabitants of Central City (who are apparently all simpletons) stopped coming to the puppet show, so Abra Kadabra [[Puppet Permutation|turned the Flash into a puppet]] and used him in the show.

** The Cluemaster, a minor Batman villain compelled to leave clues at the scenes of his crimes, was one of Arkham's few success stories. Unfortunately, he was cured of the compulsion to leave clues behind, not of a desire to steal things. His main claim to fame is being the father of Stephanie Brown {{spoiler|and, later, Robin and [[Batgirl 2009]]}}.

* The [[Spider-Man|Sandman]], [[I Am Not Shazam|no, not that one]], reformed somewhere in the '80s after going through [[Body Horror]], and became a reserve Avenger and joined [[Silver Sable]]'s Wildpack for a while. Then John Byrne got his mitts on him again, and had the Wizard [[Retcon|hypnotize him into his "proper" personality]], then he nearly turned good in an early 2000 Peter Parker: Spider-Man comic in which he split into four different Sandmen (and one Sandwoman), but at the end of the story, his evil side takes over his good side, and his good side, [[It Makes Sense in Context|outside of the main body collaboration]], dies.

* [[The Bronze Age of Comic Books]] [[Superman]] story "Luthor Unleashed" has Lex suffer one painful defeat too many at Superman's hands, and decides to throw in the towel. He retires to the alien planet where he had once taken a wife (whom he had, till then, shamefully neglected) and tries to settle down to be a model citizen there. He even has a child. But despite his best efforts, he can't stop obsessing over the fact that Superman beat him. He finally builds a suit of [[Powered Armor]] in anticipation of Superman tracking him down, but then uses it to relieve his tensions by using it to wreak havoc on his new home, becoming its first [[Super Villain]]. Superman does indeed arrive, and in the ensuing fight, Lex accidentally detonates a powerful [[Applied Phlebotinum|gizmo]] and blows up the planet, killing his wife and infant son. He blames Superman and ends up more obsessed with his destruction than ever before.

* [[Spider-Man|Eddie Brock]], the former Venom, even after being separated from the symbiote. While trying to be a hero as Anti-Venom, {{spoiler|he discovered that his benefactor, Mr. Li, was the [[Super Villain]] Mr. Negative}}. He was so disillusioned that he now struggles with homicidal urges. Bets are open as to how long it will take for him to become Venom proper again. Not to mention all the times he went back and forth between being a villain and an [[Anti-Hero]] as the regular Venom.

** ''[[Spider-Man]]'' villain [[Norman Osborn]] has not reformed, but to the general public, it appears he has. However, nobody who actually knows him expects it to last, since everyone thinks he is going to have a [[Villainous Breakdown]] and go into a more overt form of this trope.

 

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** Spike from the [[Buffy Verse]] flickers like a moral strobe light. Dark: the punk vampire based on Sid Vicious, his original form. Light: helps Buffy [[Save the World]] from Angelus because he likes it here and because he loves Drusilla. Dark: has Angel tortured for a [[Phlebotinum]] ring. Light: has [[Restraining Bolt|a chip in his brain]] that stops him hurting people, but helps Buffy because he can still attack other demons. Dark: drives a wedge between Buffy and her friends ([[Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S4/E20 The Yoko Factor|The Yoko Factor]]) and kidnaps a doctor to get the chip removed. Light: falls in love with Buffy and goes back to fighting on her side; cries when she dies. Dark: takes sexual advantage of the risen Buffy's depression; tries to rape her when she comes to her senses. Light: gets his soul back, fights on Buffy's side again. Dark: used as a sleeper agent by The First. Light: saves the world at the cost of his own life. Dark: becomes a ghost and tries to rob Angel of his prophesied redemption. Light: takes over Angel's former job of helping the helpless; ends up fighting with Angel in the last battle. I count 11 toggles of the good/evil switch.

* Arvin Sloane from ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' appears to go straight a few times (though whether the attempts were genuine is debatable) but he inevitably has to get involved with the prophecies of Rambaldi that he has an obsession with. One particularly disturbing scene has a [[Mook]] who states that Rambaldi's ultimate plan was to become immortal, causing Sloane to snap at his shallowness and beat him to death. (While that season showed that Rambaldi's plan was far more than immortality, the next season showed that a key part of it ''was'' immortality, which Sloane pursued with disturbing gusto.)

 

== Western Animation ==

{{quote|'''The Flash:''' James... You're off your meds, aren't you?

'''The Trickster:''' I ''am''? [Looking at his suit] Well, what do you know... }}

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', we have Jet, a character with [[Freudian Excuse|justified obsessions]] with taking down the Fire Nation, and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|incredibly unjustified actions]] towards that aim. Eventually, he decides to stop and [[I Just Want to Be Normal|try to live a normal life]] as a refugee. However, {{spoiler|upon discovering that Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation (they were technically lying about being escaped Earth Kingdom POW's, but were still harmless nonetheless), [[Cassandra Truth|his attempts to convince others of this fall on deaf ears]], and his obsessions get the better of him, eventually resulting in him openly attacking them in a crowded shop, getting arrested, Brainwashed, [[Brainwashed and Crazy|sent to kill the Avatar]], and eventually [[Killed Off for Real]].}} Ouch.

* A ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episode had him befriending Plankton. Everything seemed fine until Plankton steals a krabby patty.

* [[The Movie]] of ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' portrayed this trope tragically with the Delightful Children. The brainwashing Father put them under is so incredibly powerful and rooted deep into them that any attempts to undo it would be temporary at best, and they'll morph back into their evil selves. They literally cannot be good because they are forever under Father's influence.

* Yuck, Yin and Yang's [[Evil Twin]] from ''[[Yin Yang Yo!|Yin Yang Yo]]'', ends up succumbing to this due to a particularly vicious case of [[Reformed but Rejected]] from the two, culminating in beating him senseless at his unveiling of a statue dedicated to their new friendship, destroying the statue in the process.

* In one ''[[Tuff Puppy]]'' episode, Snaptrap falls in love with Dudley's mom and quits D.O.O.M. and joins T.U.F.F. for her. However, he has trouble with the whole "good guys don't steal" thing, and he keeps letting all the bad guys get away.

[[Category:Arch Enemy]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Corruption Tropes]]