Do You Consider a Character a Hero or Villain Depending On The Journey or The Conclusion of a Story

How they end up at the end.

Anakin from star wars is a good example. Starts off good quite literally falls to dark side.

Explanations are appreciated since this can go from the basis of grouping anti-heroes with heroes which may make this chose more difficult. It's up to you!

If anyone could quote this tag list, I'd really appreciate it since my tags don't work.

@nevesytneves@vishop_@cocacolaman@skywalker95@boc@ursaber@jedisympathiz3r: @combo-man@ghostodoofus2@indomitableregal@Penguin-Dust@ursaber@killbilly@takenstew22@rikr2@mrsyg@eslay03@irohz@darkthunder@waezi2@dshipp17@johnbrief@stealthgrey@life_without_progress@tobeymaguire84@referee@thor-parker@johanliebert123@blaze-@kairan1979@ready_4_madness@entropy_aegis@eto@randybutternubs@hulk_like_fire@professorrespect@happylife1996@darthsuper@wolverinebatmanftw@jaggernutt@faradaysloth@steve40l@factg@baldur_odinson@nerise@spareheadone@haikyuu444@sirkaboom15@superprimetime

Thanks! Darth Vader is who came to mind for this topic where he could go either way but taking in the prequels into consideration, I can see that.

Their actions through their journey will tell who they are. I think the first option come closer.

Who they are at the end.

In what way? Is it talking about how heroic said here was throughout the story? What they are considered as?

The ends do not justify the means, so it’s the journey that matters more. “It all worked out in the end” does not negate the suffering that led to the resolution.

@antebellum: Thanks again! Hey, what's your new avatar?

It's all right, it's Doflamingo from One Piece.

You'd only vote for option 1 if you don't believe in the idea of redemption. Everybody has committed villainous acts in their life, those acts do not define who we are since people have the capacity for change.

@antebellum: Thanks!

I agree that ends don't justify the mean, and "It all worked out in the end" does not negate the suffering, but can you elaborate how that applies to the end of the character's journey?

Justice still may needed to be served so a character might have to go to jail or even get the death penalty, but if he or she is still remorseful and truly seeks reconciliation, I don't think the ends justify the means applies to the character's spiritual journey toward redemption since I think all that evil the character committed as villain could have made it so much more difficult for the character to be redeemed since the character could be so attached to sin, but are you just saying that from a narrative perspective, even if a character may end up a hero, there's so much evil done throughout the narrative that the character is still the villain of the piece?

How does that apply to a hero? Because if a character lives a virtuous, self-sacrificial life giving everything to everyone throughout the entire story, but in the last 5 minutes of the story decided to commit mass genocide and set up torture camps, is that character still a hero?

That's why I voted where the character ends up.

But I'd appreciate your thoughts.

A nice mixture. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be

@Penguin-Dust said:

The problem with that statement is that the damage resulting from the means is inherently factored into the end. You seem to be operating under the assumption that suffering is undesirable for your justification, but surely that would mean it would be more desirable to have less suffering than more suffering, overall, no?