What makes a good redemption arc? It’s a well-worn trope because, when done well, it can make for one of the strongest character arcs on a series. The characters on this list provide great examples of redemption arcs done right on television, which provides seasons worth of character development that can take characters from villains to heroes.
While some of the more commonly-explored territory of redemption arcs tend to follow men (gotta love a good Bad Boy), the female characters on this list provide some more complex approaches to the classic redemption arc. Whether they started out as evil vampires, assassins, tyrants, or school bullies, all of these characters ended their story with much more nuance than they started with.
Damon Salvatore - The Vampire Diaries
Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) is introduced as the main antagonist in Season 1 ofThe Vampire Diaries. Despite doing some pretty evil stuff in the name of revenge against his brother, Damon is a character who has always been motivated by love. His return to Mystic Falls is in an effort to free Katherine Pierce (Nina Dobrev), and even his actions against Stefan (Paul Wesley) are driven by his feeling betrayed by the brother he loves.
Things start to really change for Damon when he falls in love with Elena. Gradually, he gives up on his plots and becomes less of a threat and eventually, part of the team. Elena slowly starts to return his feelings after everything he does for her. Damon not only becomes worthy of the heroine’s affections, but he becomes a better brother. He also becomes best friends with the town vampire hunter Alaric (Matthew Davis).
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Elizabeth Jennings - The Americans
Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) is introduced as a KGB agent deep undercover in the United States during the Cold War. She cares about doing what she believes is right by her country more than anything else, and is willing to cross any line for Russia. She marries another agent, Philip (Matthew Rhys), and the two start a family as part of their cover. As a wife and a mother, Elizabeth is complicated. The fact is, there isn’t anything Elizabeth would put above her country, and that occasionally causes friction between her and her family. Still, there’s no denying that she loves her children and Philip.
Elizabeth is often shown to be in direct contrast to Philip, despite both holding the same job. While the strain of all the murdering that comes with the job starts to show on Philip, Elizabeth is much more relentless in her obedience to “the cause.” Philip often wants to quit or slow down, and while Elizabeth is supportive of this, she clearly judges him for what she perceives as weakness. Season 6 changes things, as Elizabeth is working alone for the first time.The Americansis a series less interested in Good vs. Evil, and more invested in exploring the spaces in between. Yet, the journey she goes on during the final season shows her doing something she’s never done before: going against her country and deciding for herself that there are some lines she will not cross.
Peter - The Great
The Greatbegins with Catherine (Elle Fanning) heading to Russia to marry Emperor Peter (Nicolas Hoult). Her romantic ideas about marriage are dashed when she meets her husband, who is cartoonishly cruel and misogynist. When she tries to leave, he casually considers having her killed. His cruelty inspires Catherine to plan the coup that would result in his abdication, and her being crowned sole Empress of Russia.
Peter’s cruelty seems to stem from his childhood and his sheer ignorance and stupidity. Catherine starts to rub off on him, and he shows more kindness and restraint. Even so, he continues to be violent and easily swayed by those around him. In Season 2, his ruthlessness and Catherine’s come face to face, as they each vie for the throne. However, Peter genuinely falls in love with Catherine, and decides he doesn’t want the throne. He really tries to be a better person, and in doing so creates a touching and imperfect love story between them.
Spike - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Spike (James Marsters) comes to Sunnydale as a “Big Bad” with his longtime girlfriend, the equally evil Drusilla (Juliet Landau). He poses an immediate threat to Buffy (Sarah Michelle Geller), as he’s killed not one but two Slayers in the past. But meeting Buffy gradually changed things for Spike. Once they entered into a tentative alliance, Drusilla realized that Spike maybe wasn’t evil enough for her anymore. Once he was captured by the Initiative and implanted with a chip in his brain that prevented him from harming humans, he was officially on the road to redemption, whether he knew it yet or not.
Once he realized he was in love with Buffy, everything changed for Spike. In his own strange, soulless way, he tried harder and harder to do good. The two eventually have an affair, which Buffy ends when she realizes she’s only using Spike, as she can’t love him the way he loves her. When Spike crosses a major line in an attempt to win her back, he realizes what he has to do to truly be good. He travels to the underworld to undergo extensive torture in order to retrieve his soul before returning to Sunnydale. During the final season of the show, he and Buffy grow closer, as he’s finally become someone worthy of her affections.
Steve Harrington - Stranger Things
In the first season ofStranger Things, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) is the most popular guy in school, and he’s just starting to see Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). Though he does seem to genuinely care about her, going against the popular crowd to date her, he’s also very selfish and dismissive of Nancy’s feelings and concerns, especially when her friend goes missing after a party at his house.
Aside from not being a great boyfriend, Steve’s a bully, especially to Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). Nancy eventually has enough of Steve’s increasingly awful behavior, and they break up. It would have been easy to have Steve be just another jerk that gives the gang a hard time, but the finale of Season 1 flips that script in a really fun way. He comes to apologize to Nancy and Jonathan as they’re in the middle of a fight with the Demogorgon, and he almost leaves. Instead, he gets his hero moment, charging back into the Byers’ house to pick up his weapon of choice (thebaseball bat) and help Nancy and Jonathan.
Villanelle - Killing Eve
Villanelle (Jodie Comer) is introduced as an assassin for an organization known as The Twelve. She’s tracked by Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), who’s attracted to her beauty and the danger and excitement she represents. Villanelle is attracted to Eve as well; the latter physically resembles Villanelle’s first love, and she enjoys the game of cat and mouse they share. Despite being a killer who enjoys the kill, Villanelle is something of a romantic who craves domesticity with the woman who’s been tracking her.
Villanelle starts to do what she can to be worthy of Eve, but she’s not exactly in the know of what “good” behavior looks like at this point. So, she teams up with the good guys, tries to leave The Twelve, and even tries her hand at finding religion. But Villanelle struggles with frequent relapses into her old ways, perhaps because her motivations for change are driven by a desire for someone else. This makes Villanelle’s redemption arc, which should wrap up in the show’s final season, fascinating and unique.
Zuko - Avatar: The Last Airbender
When we first meet Zuko (Dante Basco), it’s clear that redemption is in the cards for him; he’s just a 13-year-old kid trying to impress his dad. Sure, he’s the main villain of Season 1, chasing down Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), Katara (Mae Whitman), and Sokka (Jack De Sena) in an attempt to bring the Avatar to his father, the ruler of the Fire Nation.
Over time and with help from his uncle Iroh (Mako), Zuko realizes that he’ll never earn his father’s respect and, furthermore, that trying to do so isn’t even worth it. Zuko tentatively starts to help the gang, and, though they don’t trust him at first, he eventually becomes a full member of Aang’s team in the first against the Fire Nation. Zuko is even the one who helps Aang master his fire bending, the last bending skill he has to master before the big finale. So, really, Aang couldn’t have done it without Zuko.
