Since there was no understanding of why Kylo went dark, it was harder to bring him back. That doesn’t translate into destroying planets and taking over the galaxy. I kept waiting for one of the films to show us why he turned evil, but the best they could manage is that he had a falling out with his uncle. That certainly made Kylo Ren’s situation worse. Sometimes, this problem stems from not understanding why a character was evil in the first place. More likely, they won’t seem like a real person at all, just a contrived extension of the author’s will.

At best the character will seem flaky and untethered, switching sides whenever the wind changes direction. That means they need an even stronger reason to turn good otherwise, it won’t be believable. Whether it’s personal gain, ideology, or a twisted view of the greater good, few people go to the trouble of being a bad guy without a strong motivation. If a villain is on Team Evil and doing evil things, they must have a reason. Maybe his mom sent him a Force message? We’ll never know. In The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren turns good because… actually I don’t know why. In Willow, Sorsha abandons her mother and the forces of darkness because there’s a moderately cute boy on Team Good. I guess he had no other reason to save billions of people. In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the titular Silver Surfer decides to save Earth because Sue reminds him of his wife. That’s hardly a groundbreaking statement, but it’s one that a lot of storytellers struggle with. This may sound basic, but there must be a strong reason for a villain to turn good. That means we can do a much better job of bringing our bad guys to Team Good if we just look out for these recurring problems. Audiences really don’t like it if a villain is redeemed too easily, and they will not hesitate to make their displeasure known.įortunately, a lot of redemption-arc mistakes get repeated over and over again. Not only is it easy to fumble a redemption arc, but the consequences for doing so are high.

I can’t think of another trope that professional storytellers are so likely to mess up, and if it’s that bad for the pros, you can imagine what a difficult time less experienced writers have. Redemption arcs are also extremely difficult. From classics like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings to more recent hits like The Legend of Korra and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, we love to watch or read about a bad guy turning good. Redemption arcs are an incredibly popular trope in storytelling.

Mass effect redemption summary