Hero Turned Villain Stories In Comics Done Right

[Timothy Hunter]

The cliche of the hero turned villain is one of the most despised tropes in comic book fandom and has resulted in some of the most loathed storylines in comics:

Emerald Twilight (Hal Jordan
Avengers Disassembled (Scarlet Witch)
Heroes in Crisis (Wally West)
Planet X (Xorn)
Cassandra Cain turns evil
Countdown to Infinite Crisis (Maxwell Lord)
Infinite Crisis (Superboy Prime and Alexander Luthor)
Countdown (Mary Marvel)

What are some examples of beloved heroes turning into villains on their own accord that were well recieved by fans?

[FFJamie94]

Harry Osborne as the Green Goblin is considered to be a classic.

[K7P5V]

Here's My Top (3) Three Faves:

1. Sinestro





2. Jason Todd





3. Angel/Archangel

[DrNewGod]

Ultimate Vision
Image.jpg
You could see something was wrong, but didn't fully see it coming.

[CSTowle]

I thought Hal Jordan snapping when his home city was destroyed was one of the most logical versions of the death/injury/reboot/replacement trends of DC in the early '90s. He reacted the way he should have reacted. Not the way you'd expect a guy who'd been around for 30 years to act, because we sort of know on a meta level that they need to keep the story going, but the reason Superman snapping after the death of Lois in "Injustice" works is because logically speaking something like that should make you snap. Even if you're the pinnacle of squeaky-clean, boy scout goody-goody.

I'd say the same for Cyclops, seeing the in-universe results of the meta impact of Disney marginalizing and killing off most of the mutant line to make way for IP they could profit from. When you see the people you love and have fought all your life to protect from a world that hates and fears them being slaughtered and marginalized and put in camps and forced to the edge you should take the gloves off. It was much better than the way they handled Wolverine in that era, as a lick-spittle to Captain America and a staunch anti-child freedom fighter advocate after a decades-long history of training young mutants personally (usually specifically barely post-pubescent girls, but we'll leave that be). It was the first time I saw Scott Summers as a relatable character rather than a necessary but ultimately boring feature of the X-Men.

[Timothy Hunter]

Harry Osborne as the Green Goblin is considered to be a classic.

That and Terra in the Judas Contract might be the most acclaimed examples of a good guy turns bad story.

[Riv86672]

All 3 of K7P5V‘s examples are ones I think were done well.

Terra And Hal Jordan were superb.
Superboy Prime was pretty good, despite his eventual overexposure and Flanderization.

Nothing from Marvel is really jumping out at me right now, other than Hindsight Lad.
His mental state and betrayal of the New Warriors after the Stamford incident was believable and very easy to dislike.

[babyblob]

I always liked Superboy Prime. I felt bad for him. His own universe was destoryed and he snapped and wanted to get back no matter what it took. At the end of the day he was just a scared person who wanted nothing more then to go home. A lot of people can relate to that.

[green_garnish]

Harry Osborn is the only correct answer. Mary Marvel was just an excuse for female superhero fight porn, Alexander Luthor was just a poor plot device. Just imagine how much better the multiverse would be if he was still good.

[Riv86672]

I always liked Superboy Prime. I felt bad for him. His own universe was destoryed and he snapped and wanted to get back no matter what it took. At the end of the day he was just a scared person who wanted nothing more then to go home. A lot of people can relate to that.

Bingo. He was a tragic character, initially.

[DrNewGod]

That and Terra in the Judas Contract might be the most acclaimed examples of a good guy turns bad story.

Except, Terra was never a hero. Things may have twisted her, especially in later revision, but she was created as a hideous sociopath, hiding her true nature to infiltrate the Titans.

[Chubistian]

If we count a "good guy" as hero, I think Harry Osborn is one of the best choices

Uchiha Sasuke had a great character arc from hero to villain (I didn't like his return to hero though)

Griffith from Berserk, if we count him as hero in the Golden Age (I think he was one from the perspective of the story, different from Tetsuo from Akira, that though not a villain at first, wasn't a hero either)

This might be controversial, but I really like how Thomas Wayne from the Flashpoint timeline went from anti-hero to downright villain