Most movies have a clear-cut protagonist and antagonist. The bad guy does something bad, the good guy struggles a bit and then saves the day by bringing the bad guy down. Fans love it — it's always satisfying to see good triumph over evil.
While that formula works extremely well, sometimes fans love a good redemption story just as much. Narratives that incorporate these elements remind viewers that humans are complex beings, and they bring hope that not all people are inherently bad. Sometimes, it's nice to remember that even the worst people still have good in them. There will be spoilers ahead for each film mentioned.
10 Miranda Priestly — The Devil Wears Prada
In The Devil Wears Prada, aspiring journalist Andrea "Andy" Sachs gets a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, hoping to use the opportunity to become a reporter. Priestly is a savage fashion designer and the editor-in-chief of a popular fashion magazine. She earns the title of "devil."
Andy, once she realizes she is adopting the cutthroat attitude Miranda employs, quits in a fit of rage. However, Andy lands a job with another magazine, she is shocked to learn Miranda left a glowing recommendation. Despite her demanding, ruthless demeanor, Miranda appreciates Andy's hard work, redeeming herself in the end.
9 Gru — Despicable Me
Gru and Vector are two super villains competing to be the top bad guy. After Gru is embarrassed by the younger, smarter Vector, Gru decides to steal the moon to cement his legacy. He pretends to be a lonely, widowed doctor to adopt three orphan girls and use them to break into Vector's house.
Gru intends to get rid of Margo, Edith and Agnes after obtaining a shrink ray, but finds that he truly loves the girls after all. After Gru shrinks and steals the moon, he discovers that Vector is holding the girls hostage in exchange for the moon. When Vector doesn't hold up his end of the deal, Gru rescues his daughters from Vector's fleeing ship like a true father and hero.
8 Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus — Spider-Man
In Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, Alfred Molina portrayed one of Spider-Man's greatest villains: Doctor Octopus. Dr. Otto Octavius is a nuclear scientist, friend, and mentor to Peter Parker until a fusion power experiment goes awry and causes his robotic A.I. arms to fuse with his body. Like Peter Parker, the accident results in superhuman strength. Unlike Parker though, Doc Ock's arms gain sentience and corrupt his mind.
Obsessed with completing the experiment, Doctor Octopus robs a bank to fund the project, sabotages a subway train, and colludes with Harry Osborn to kill Spider-Man. As the nuclear reaction from the second experiment begins to threaten New York City, however, Peter gets through to his friend, allowing Otto to regain control and sacrifice himself.
7 Kylo Ren — Star Wars
All of the Star Wars films explore the Light and Dark side of The Force through the lens of the Skywalker family. In the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren is the main foil to Rey. His despicable actions include killing all the Jedi in Luke Skywalker's academy, assassinating Snoke to take his place as head of the First Order, and murdering his own father.
Destroying innocent lives in his misguided attempt to follow his grandfather's footsteps, Kylo's turn for redemption came as he sacrificed himself to bring Rey back from the dead. Some argue that Kylo did it only because he had feelings for her, but the fact remains that he saved her.
6 Deckard Shaw — The Fast & Furious
The Fast & Furious franchise began as an underground street racing series that have morphed into action spy thrillers featuring indestructible characters and fast cars. In Fast & Furious 7, Deckard Shaw seeks revenge on Dominic Toretto and his crew for capturing his younger brother, Owen Shaw, and rendering him comatose. The elder Shaw's actions range from blowing up Dom's Los Angeles home and apparently killing Han during a race in Tokyo.
In The Fate of the Furious, the Shaw brothers put aside their differences with Dom's crew to fight a greater enemy: Cipher. Deckard's redemption comes when he infiltrates Cipher's plane and rescues Dom's baby. In a grand gesture of forgiveness, Shaw was invited to participate in Dom's traditional family cookout.
5 Loki — Marvel
Introduced to the MCU in Thor, Loki is the god of mischief and adopted brother of Thor. His arc begins with him scheming his way to the throne of Asgard and banishing his brother to Earth. Loki gains command of the Chitauri army and uses it to unleash the army on New York City. He is then locked away in an Asgardian prison after being defeated by the Avengers.
Having faced his past, Loki begins to show signs of redemption by helping Thor take down Algrim and Malekith in Thor: The Dark World and defeating their estranged sister, Hela, in Thor: Ragnarok. Finally, Loki sacrifices himself in Avengers: Infinity War to save his brother in his most redeeming moment.
4 Boromir — Lord Of The Rings
Boromir was a warrior for Gondor, and one of nine who were tasked with taking the One Ring to Mount Doom. However, unlike the rest of the fellowship, Boromir believed it would be better to keep the ring and use it to defeat Sauon rather than destroy it. He tried to take the ring from Frodo, and after he failed, Frodo fled. This caused the group to split up and search for Frodo in a panic.
Boromir was fatally wounded by a group of orcs after saving hobbits Merry and Pippin. As he lay dying, Boromir confessed to Aragorn that it wasn't him, but the ring that was corrupting his mind.
3 The Grinch — How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Whether it was the 1966 animated television special, the 2000 live-action film starring Jim Carrey, or the 2018 computer animated film, this classic Dr. Seuss story tells the same tale of the small town of Whoville and a green creature named The Grinch. The Grinch, living in a cave in Mt. Crumpit after being bullied as an orphan in Whoville, grew to despise the Whovians and their love for Christmas.
The Grinch hatches a plan to steal all the presents and decorations in a sleigh. He nearly succeeds in throwing it over Mt. Crumpit until a young Cindy Lou Who helps him realize that it isn't Christmas he hated, but rather his own loneliness. As the sleigh begins to fall, The Grinch saves it at the last moment and returns everything to Whoville.
2 Severus Snape — Harry Potter
Severus Snape was the Potions master and later the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. His cold demeanor to Harry throughout the series was born from a hatred of his father, James Potter, who Harry bore a strong resemblance to. A servant of Lord Voldemort, Snape murdered Headmaster Albus Dumbledore after Draco Malfoy could not bring himself to do it.
It wasn't until after Voldemort killed Snape in an attempt to bear the Elder Wand that Snape's true intentions were revealed. The revelation that Snape was a double agent for Dumbledore and the fact that his love for Lily motivated him to protect Harry did more than enough to redeem him, so much so that Harry's son was named after him.
1 Darth Vader — Star Wars
Darth Vader's story is told over the course of six films. Anakin's began as a young boy on Tatooine, proclaimed the "Chosen One," destined to bring balance to the force. However, Anakin was manipulated by Senator Palpatine into believing his wife would die in childbirth and Palpatine could teach him how to cheat death. This led Anakin to betray the Jedi Order, murdering many Jedi Masters and Padawans. Fully turned to the Dark Side, Anakin was now Darth Vader.
In Return of the Jedi, Vader is confronted with choosing the Light or Dark Side. As Palpatine tortures Luke in an attempt to allure him to the Dark Side, Anakin hears his son's cries for help. Vader kills the Emperor and finally fulfills the Chosen One prophecy. While his grandson's own story would follow a similar path, Darth Vader did more to redeem himself and proved to Luke that Palpatine hadn't completely indoctrinated him.