Corruption to Near Pure Evil or Pure Evil covers the type of Fallen Heroes who can become Pure Evil (Rank 1 -) or Near Pure Evil (Rank 2 -). Depending on the actions committed by the character and their mindset as they commit their crimes, they can become a Fallen Hero who can become exceptionally evil.
Overview[]
To become Pure Evil or Near Pure Evil, the fallen hero can’t obviously be Pure Good or Near Pure Good, since these rankings are mutually exclusive.
The highest ranking a fallen hero can have after their fall from heroism is Inconsistently Admirable.
Inconsistently Admirable characters are as admirable and can compete with the heroic acts of a Pure Good hero meaning that these characters need to make substantial efforts during their corruption. Heroic Benchmarks, while not as admirable as IAs, still need to make these efforts.
These efforts are typically less substantial than the ones a redeemed villain needs to make to become NPG or PG.
Heroes who have only done Standard Heroism don’t need to make particular efforts since the heinous acts they need to commit to be PE would easily overshadow their past heroism.
Transition from IA, HB or SG to NPE or PE[]
- The character would need to make it abundantly clear that they have disavowed any virtuous traits they once had. This is especially in the instance of the character transition to being Pure Evil.
- The character would need to commit crimes heinous enough to surpass the heinous standards of the story and in general. Their crimes have to be exceptional enough to make them stand out from most characters in the series and they cannot let up on their evil deeds or hold back.
- The character would, in many cases, be a traitor who has turned their back on their former comrades for their own self interest.
- The character’s transition to villainy would need to be for purely selfish motives. The character cannot turn to villainy for a noble cause nor can their turn to villainy be the result of external factors like suffering from a tragedy or have their moral agency damaged. The character is often motivated by their ego being damaged in some way or general pettiness.
- In similar cases, the character would have to have notable corrupting qualities before they fell. For instance, the character would show signs of being abnormally violent and/or showing signs of apathy, sadism, egotism or psychopathy/sociopathy.
- After falling from being a hero, the character is satisfied with their change and shows no remorse. In most cases, the character would justify their heinous acts and the petty or selfish reason for becoming a fallen hero. This is notably the case for fallen heroes who become Pure Evil.
- Its made abundantly clear through the narrative that the fallen hero is no longer a hero. These characters are often personal enemies of those they betrayed and are a provoker to them.
- The character spends a significant amount of time in the story as a villain enough to meet the screen time criterion.
Notes[]
- Characters would need to meet the criteria for Pure Evil or Near Pure Evil to qualify.
- A character suffering or nearly suffering a traumatic experience would likely not be able to transition to being Pure Evil even if they surpass both of the heinous standards. This is due to the fact that the trauma they had experienced have compromised them. Characters who transition to being Pure Evil usually do not have trauma and if they were subjected through something terrible, the character would make it clear that the terrible experience itself is not the reason for why they turn to villainy. Instead, they would acknowledge that their selfish motives are their reason.
- These characters depend on their writing and character development. This would include their characterization after they have become fallen heroes.