Majin Vegeta

The character above is Vegeta, who is a character from Dragon Ball Z.  He started as an enemy and eventually moved his way into ally.  At several points in the series, his pride gets the best of him and he lets the newer bad guys get stronger because he wants a real challenge.  So, it isn’t a surprise that at one point, he goes evil again in order to get something that he really wants.  Won’t go into full spoiler territory, but the point is that he doesn’t fall by accident.  He does so on purpose.

Ever since I rewatched the episodes with my son, I’ve been wondering about how people would react to a hero falling from grace on purpose.  Vegeta still has a lot of fans, including myself.  I see it as a facet of his character that shows he is still incredibly flawed and hasn’t shed all of his darker nature.  That’s just me though.  I know others have turned on the character and remain hating him even to this day.  Some people expect their heroes to be above falling into darkness, so they don’t forgive.  I expect to see a variety of reactions in the comments because of this too.

I think a hero falling from grace on purpose can be a great character development event, but you have to be careful with it.  There has to be a sensible reason for them to do so beyond it makes the story more interesting.  Having an established desire that is now within their grasp helps.  It can be something they are willing to turn evil for, especially if they believe getting it will be beneficial to everyone.  This could mean that they don’t even realize they’ve gone off the heroic path.  I like this idea because it maintains a path to redemption for when or if you want them to go back to the other side.  Seems like I’m going on about my balancing act concepts again.

The extent of the betrayal is important as well.  If a hero falls by eradicating a bunch of other heroes for their own gain, they probably won’t be welcomed back by the survivors and readers.  Really depends on the world and how the author pulls it off, but most people won’t get back on a murderers side.  Leaving a former ally to die is a safer option since they aren’t doing the deed and are giving a chance of survival.  Of course, this is all with simplicity in mind.  You can make it incredibly complicated, which many tend to do because purposely falling from grace is a big decision.  At least, it should be.

Something that I like with how they did Vegeta’s fall was that there was a lot of foreshadowing.  It wasn’t blatant either.  You couldn’t really sense what was coming until it was officially noted.  Then, you look back and see signs that him turning was always a possibility.  It didn’t go exactly as one would expect, but you could see that there was something ‘off’ about Vegeta even when he seemed fine.  A glare here, a verbal barb there, and a few initially benign internal thoughts, which you don’t notice unless you already know what’s going to happen.  That or you’ve been expected him to become a villain again the whole time.  Anyway, build up could be a key component to an effect fall from grace being done on purpose.

Finally, I think there should be something understandable in the decision.  Not so much agreeable, but understandable.  This is a fine line to walk.  Most people think understanding means agreeing.  Yet, you can still see how a character might decide to fall without thinking they did the right thing.  It works for their personality and development even if you wouldn’t do it.  Not every choice is a good in and many can cause people, both real and fictional, to go backwards.  Again, we come to making sure that you establish flaws within this character.  This can be exploited and made to explain how this action isn’t a far step from what they might do.

So, what do you think about characters falling from grace on purpose?