How to Redeem a Character

Well, time for an impromptu blog post, courtesy of boredom!

Redemption is one of the central tenants of literature, a goal that many of us have strived for in our own lives from time to time. And in fiction, redeeming a character can be a beautiful thing, a moving end to their narrative story, and a way to open up new possibilities for the story and its cast. But if done badly, it can come off as cheap, rushed, character derailment, or any other host of horrible things, and can potentially sink an entire story. So what's the line here? How do you make the bad guys good?

For the most part, good redemption stories require you to just, well, write a good story. You have to build up your characters, create a believable environment and conflict, and demonstrate the target character's moral growth and personal development as the story progresses. Only when all this is done can you truly consider a character redeemed and your story a success. However, there are a few guidelines I've figured out along the way that might point out some pitfalls to avoid:

1) Don't Rush the Redemption

When Discord was redeemed in "Keep Calm and Flutter On," it attracted a lot of complaints. But while there were some upset over what they saw as a fundamental mistake with his character, many others were simply angry with how the episode rushed said redemption. He went from manipulating Fluttershy to earn his eternal freedom to suddenly wanting her to be his friend in the last two minutes. That ultimately is not believable character growth, and thus undermined the point of the episode.

The same can be said of fanfiction. If a character is going to be redeemed, it has to be a gradual process, not something that simply happens out of the blue. For example, a lot of Trixie fics basically have her give a massive exposition dump about how horrible her life is and use it to immediately forgive her of any past transgressions. This can be at the beginning or end of a story, but either way, it drastically trivializes the entire point of said redemption by turning it into a fast-and-easy affair. This is especially bad if you show no repercussions from the character's past actions. While Luna's redemption after becoming Nightmare Moon was very fast, she was still shown having to live in the shadow of her previous transgressions and working to gain the admiration of her subjects.

Also, feel free to have the character reflect on their past and present states. Show us the emotion that goes into realizing you've been living a terrible life up to this point and have now resolved to make amends.

2) Don't Rewrite the Character

I've mentioned this one A LOT on here, but it bears repeating. The best character redemption stories do not change who the character ultimately is; they just add more aspects to them and redirect their focus in a more positive direction. For example, Trixie at the end of "Magic Duel" was still as boisterous and egocentric as ever, but she was also apologetic about the mess with the Alicorn Amulet, gave up her feud with Twilight, and ultimately parted on fairly good terms. Her core personality was the same, but she was still changed from the experience.

A lot of stories (both fanfiction and professional) unfortunately take the opposite approach, implying that a character's base personality and morality are totally linked. If a character becomes good, they change entirely instantaneously, and likewise going from good to evil. This does not happen. Change is a gradual thing, and even then, someone's personality is not guaranteed to be altered simply because they have a new outlook on life. While it might happen, it'll take more than a paragraph for that to occur.

3) The Eviller the Character, the Harder the Redemption

This is a "Duh" moment, but it still bears repeating. Antagonists can generally be scaled based on the actions we see them do, and the more overtly cruel and evil their behavior, the more difficult it will be to convince the audience that they deserve a second chance. That's why if your story will eventually feature redemption, you have to account for everything that occurs both in the series and in the fanfic, and if you unwittingly go too far in one direction, you won't be able to come back and make them good without leaving a lot of people scratching their heads.

In terms of the series, Trixie and Gilda would be very much on the low end of the scale. Their major crimes are mostly being jerks (although Trixie also has enslavement to contend with), and thus they can believably be redeemed. Same thing with characters like Flim/Flam and, arguably, Lightning Dust. Nightmare Moon is interesting is that her actions place her at the far end, but Word of God explains a lot of Luna's behavior away with demonic possession, so she gets knocked back down a lot. Discord...we're not getting into. That leave Chrysalis and Sombra at the far end, especially if you include the former's appearances in the comics as evidence. Sombra was pretty much just an evil monster even before he was turned to smoke, and Chrysalis...well, she apparently murders a lovecat in from of the CMC just to shut them up.

4) Positive Traits do not a Redemption Make

This one requires more explanation. One of the most common ways of saying a character is "not so bad" is to give them some virtues in addition to their vices. For example, a villain might eat puppies and blow up orphanages, but is incredibly loyal to their followers and loves animals. The problem is that the positive traits do not cancel out the villain's actions, nor do they serve as justification for why they should be redeemed later on. Simply having some shreds of decency doesn't make you good, it makes you human.

When you redeem a character, it's not just a matter of giving them someone to love or some positive attributes. You have to also realign their moral compass so that they start following good-oriented beliefs and doing decent things for the world. You have to show them acting like decent people while turning away from the same negative actions that got them into the mess to begin with. Simply saying that a character values loyalty or competency or someone to give them egg salad sandwiches every day does not make them an immediate candidate for redemption; it just makes them a bit more complex.

5) The Character Must be Interesting to Begin With

Well, this one needs no explanation. The readers must be invested in the character and want to see them become better people first. If the audience doesn't care, then the story simply has no emotional weight, and thus becomes meaningless. In the confines of the show, compare Discord and Sombra. Both characters have done purely evil things, but Discord was such a captivating character that many writers did go out to redeem him and fans wanted to see more of him. Sombra, on the other hand, was a dull character, and thus doesn't get anywhere near the same amount of attention. So make sure the character entices our imagination and makes us want to see them more.

And besides that, just make sure you write a good story. All these guidelines? They're just there to help you out. Redeeming a character isn't the easiest thing in the world, but if you do it right, it's one of the most rewarding.