These journeys are sometimes long, spanning decades of character development and changing editorial staffs. Sometimes the flips are one-offs, contained to a single story or even a single alternate dimension. Either way, these changes are fascinating stories in redemption. They make readers wonder about the former villains intentions, waiting for the con to be revealed. These characters also pose the question: What is a hero? Are heroes defined by their pasts, by the bodies laid in their path? Are they the decisions they make moment to moment? If a character (or real person) has done terrible things for a long time, what does it take to be seen as a hero? It is often how those very questions weigh on the character that make for the best stories. Without further delay, here are 11 of the best comics villains becoming heroes, whether for a fleeting moment or for the rest of continuity (so far). Heroes going back is a trope overdone at this point. Villains turning into heroes, however, is often a slow and compelling process. No matter what someone has done, we always hope for redemption. These were some of the best. Over time, she earned her way into the Bat-family, eventually earning the mantle of Batgirl after saving Commissioner Gordon’s life in No Man’s Land. While still a brilliant fighter, she’s learned empathy, speech and writing, and how to be a hero, even finding her own place outside of Bruce Wayne’s circle. She certainly didn’t start that way. And that’s when the Deadpool we know today emerged. He’s funny and irreverent. He can carry on long conversations with himself, his own zombie head, or us readers. Is he a hero? Sometimes? That’s a far cry from his villainous origins. Then came Generation X. Following the Phalanx Covenant storyline, Emma started her own school for young mutants, bringing in Banshee to help to help teach. Her newfound alliance with heroic mutants led to a long-time romance with Cyclops and her involvement on many X-Men teams. She still keeps that ice-cold edge, and has even rejoined the Hellfire Club in recent years. While the story isn’t canon, White Night challenges whether Batman makes Gotham City better or worse by his actions. Bruce’s inability to accept that Jack Napier is truly the man he claims to be and not Joker running a grift pushes Gotham further and further toward madness. While I won’t give away the story, this hero turn for Joker is incredible. Over the years, though, good and evil have become more nuanced in comics. As a result, the ethical standpoints of Xavier and Magneto have become more muddled, more entwined, and have even reversed at certain points. He’s still Machiavellian in his pursuit of protecting mutants, but now that puts him on the side of heroes more often than that of villains. It’s not an entirely original concept: villains can look a lot like heroes when the fate of the world is at stake. Who do you steal from or enthrall if the world is destroyed? Max Damage is sort of like that, though his story developed him as a much more complicated character and an unusual hero in bleak times. What follows is a fascinating exploration of a villain seeing what it takes and what it’s like to be a hero. What begins as a self-serving attempt to prove how inferior Peter was grows into Otto becoming a true hero in Peter’s body, at least for a while. She didn’t start that way. Rogue first appeared as an opponent of Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers, now known as Captain Marvel), permanently absorbing those incredible powers and memories. When she moved over to the X-Men titles, she was part of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Mutants. She was never an evil person, though, so it didn’t take long before she saw the X-Men as the better choice of friends. They didn’t like each other, get along, or even work well together. They each had their own agenda, but they were all under Amanda Waller’s thumb. Through all of that, though, they start to find, or at least discover, their consciences. Like in the recent movie, they eventually choose right, even if not for the right reasons. Catman, Deadshot, Cheshire, Rag Doll, Parademon, and Scandal Savage weren’t an organized team. They weren’t even friends in the beginning, but they grew into a family of misfits finding their way in the world, often aligned with DC’s towering superheroes.
