Redemption in Villains

I’ve noticed recently across all media that villains are suddenly being excused or even accepted after doing some truly awful stuff. I don’t know if it’s me but the rise of the villain redemption is leaving this sour taste in my mouth.

Here’s a few examples- The Homeworld Gems from Steven Universe, She-Ra’s Catra, Disney’s Curella, Kylo Ren from Star Wars, Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Doctor Octopus from Spider Man 2 and etc.

Now the severity of their villainous acts vary from murder to wiping out reality, but the fact of the matter is- they did some bad stuff why are we excusing or accepting these villains? I’m so sorry Kylo Ren but rushed “I’m a good guy now” in the last half of a movie isn’t going to do it for me. With Starkiller Base you killed billions of people and you would have killed more. So why are we applauding a sloppy redemption and being like “That poor dark prince. All he needed was love.” No. All he needed was better writers. If you’re going to commit murder on a genocidal scale, commit to being your baddest self while doing it. Who cares if Luke tried to kill you? That was years ago. Who cares if you’re one part of the soulmate with the blandest protagonist in the galaxy? Let the man be bad, clever, and manipulative. Wouldn’t it have been better if he was Rey’s little weakness? If he called to the dark side that was a part of her? God they really had no idea how to handle Ben Solo huh.

Ever since Zuko from Avatar decided to do the right thing, we were suddenly surrounded by villains wanting to cash in on that trend. Unlike Zuko, most of these people did not deserve it. You have to remember for him to go against his nation and the Fire Lord, was going against his best interest. Which was good writing. And it took to the final season for his arc to complete. Not the second half of the last episode.

On the other side of the scale you have Catra from She-Ra who wanted to erase reality, totally kill everyone. And yet by the end we’re supposed to cheer her on as she worked towards her redemption and got herself a girlfriend. This was possibly the most toxic relationship I’ve ever seen. This wasn’t just flirting with disaster, this was a disaster. I don’t care what your excuse is, I do not understand the happy ever after she got. Could someone explain it to me where “true love” doesn’t factor into the response. True love does not erase the past. Hurting the person you love is never a good excuse no matter if you’re abused, it’s all you know, or you’re treated that way.

These hastily constructed, contrived, “I’m a good person now” just reeks of bad writing. I’m not saying a person is completely irredeemable. I’m saying if they’re up there with Hitler maybe there shouldn’t be a redemption.

Anyway, is anyone else getting sick of this? Or are you gobbling it up by the spoon fulls? Let me know in the comments.