History Main / DefectingForLove

** Athrun Zala from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' is from the "empire" that is opposing the protagonist for most of the series (not that the Earth Federation is exactly "good") and is pretty ignorant of what the top brass are really doing. In the end, he does oppose what they are doing and ultimately "betrays" and fights against them. He and Cagalli were in a similar situation. They were both from mostly opposing sides, they met as enemies, Athrun took her a prisoner, which led to them getting to know one another and found that they like each other.

* Selene in ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' is a vampire who hunts werewolves until she falls in love with a werewolf/vampire hybrid and starts to question whether what she has been told by the elder vampires was ever true (like who started the war, why, and who killed her mortal family).

* [[NaiveEverygirl Amelia]] from ''FireEmblem: The Sacred Stones,'' although she's a minor character. She's a fresh recruit from the Grado Empire and one of the three characters that can make her pull a HeelFaceTurn is a cavalier who works for the Renais army, Franz, whom she can marry later via supports.
** Actually, FireEmblemJugdral used the trope [[OlderThanTheyThink much earlier]] (and [[SubvertedTrope turned it a bit into its head]]). The brothers [[ChivalrousPervert Johan]] and [[HotBlooded Johalva]] are both smitten with [[ActionGirl Larcei]] (or her {{Expy}} Radney), and if she manages to speak to one of them, she can recruit him into [[TheHero Seliph]]'s group. Though the subversion comes in that she cannot recruit ''both'', as the other will take it as rejection and fight against the group.

* Selene in ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' is a vampire who hunts werewolves until she falls in love with werewolf/vampire hybrid and starts to question whether what she has been told by the elder vampires was ever true (like who started the war, why, and who killed her mortal family).

* Sorsha in ''Film{{Willow}}'' betrays her Evil Queen mother and joins the heroes out of love for Madmartigan.

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* Happens many times in the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' film series. It was {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film{{Thunderball}}'' by Fiona Volpe, who didn't do it.

* Sorsha in ''{{Willow}}'' betrays her Evil Queen mother and joins the heroes out of love for Madmartigan.
* Happens many times in the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' film series. It was {{Lampshaded}} in ''{{Thunderball}}'' by Fiona Volpe, who didn't do it.

* [[spoiler:Shiori aka Luna aka the fake Asuna]] from ''MahouSenseiNegima'' who makes a HeelFaceTurn after falling for Negi. In a subversion, she ''still'' loves and cares for her boss, Fate Averruncus. [[spoiler: Ironically, Fate ''does'' pull a HeelFaceTurn with a side dish of GoodIsNotNice. ''And'' has pretty much all but stated that [[HoYay he's in love]] [[EvenTheGuysWantHim with Negi too]], thus Fate would likely be the ur-example in the series if he was a female. (Sextum doesn't count.)]]

* Blackarachnia [[DefectingForLove defected for love]] during the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''.

* Ironically, Romeo is DefectingForLove and/or [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Dictator's Handsome Son]] for Juliet in the ReVision anime ''RomeoXJuliet''. Since Lord Montague is the dictator of Neo Verona and Juliet has been on the run after the Capulets were wiped out...

** Actually, FireEmblemJugdral used the trope [[OlderThanTheyThink much earlier]] (and [[Subverted turn it a bit into its head]]). The brothers [[ChivalrousPervert Johan]] and [[HotBlooded Johalva]] are both smitten with [[ActionGirl Larcei]] (or her {{Expy}} Radney), and if she manages to speak to one of them, she can recruit him into Seliph's group. Though the subversion comes in that she cannot recruit ''both'', as the other will take it as rejection and fight against the group.

This character will most likely never be evil, only misguided or manipulated. Since they are essentially [[PunchclockVillain an ordinary citizen]] of TheEmpire, they sometimes also serve to humanize their average citizen. While almost AlwaysFemale, males can just as easily fulfill the same role.

* In ''SpaceRunawayIdeon'', [[TheCutie kind-hearted Karala Ajiba]] came from the Buff Clan, and fell in love with [[TeamDad human soldier Bes Jordan]] whilst both their races investigated a site containing a powerful mecha. A war was triggered by a simple case of fear and she decided to remain with the humans. And typically in Tomino's anime, [[spoiler: Karala and Bes didn't have a happy ending and she was shot in the face [[CainAndAbel by her vengeful sister Harulu]], a while after revealing she was pregnant.]]

** Hilde Schbeiker from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' deserts OZ and ends up living with Duo Maxwell.

* Happens many times in the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' film series. It was ''Lampshaded'' in Thunderball by Fiona Volpe, who didn't do it.

* Happens many times in the ''Series/JamesBond'' film series. It was ''Lampshaded'' in Thunderball by Fiona Volpe, who didn't do it.

* In ''SpaceRunawayIdeon'', [[TheCutie kind-hearted Karala Ajiba]] came from the Buff Clan, and fell in love with [[TeamDad human soldier Bes Jordan]] whilst both their races investigated a sight containing a powerful mecha. A war was triggered by a simple case of fear and she decided to remain with the humans. And typically in Tomino's anime, [[spoiler: Karala and Bes didn't have a happy ending and she was shot in the face [[CainAndAbel by her vengeful sister Harulu]], a while after revealing she was pregnant.]]

* In ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', Freder is the son of the semi-evil Capitalist overlord, and Maria is a young Socialist reformer. It turns out okay, though.

* Kyle Katarn of the ''[[StarWars Dark Forces]]'' video games. In the backstory, Katarn is not unlike Luke Skywalker--a young FarmBoy who dreams of going to the Imperial Academy. Unlike Luke, though, he gets to, and becomes a promising officer. After meeting Rebel operative Jan Ors, though, finding out her secret, and letting her go... well, the rest was history.

** Hilde Schbeiker from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' deserts OZ and ends up living with Duo Maxwell, earning her the everlasting hatred of the yaoi fangirls.

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* Aeryn Sun in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. She doesn't so much switch sides as get kicked out of her side for being in too close proximity to escaped prisoners and an unknown species of alien.
** Actually she gets the boot for questioning BigBad Crais' version of events (that John Crichton deliberately destroyed the Prowler flown by Crais' brother). The No Fraternisation with Aliens rule was just an excuse.

* Chakotay and especially B'Elanna Torres from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' fit this trope. They were part of the [[LaResistance Maquis]] until they got stuck on a [[TheFederation Federation]] space ship and joined the crew.
* Cara from ''LegendOfTheSeeker'' is ordered to capture [[ChosenOne Richard]] but he persuades her to help him defeat [[BigBad Darken Rahl]]. They don't fall in love though.
* Deconstructed and later reconstructed with with [[DarkMagicalGirl Faith]] on ''Series/{{Angel}}'': She starts out as a good guy on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' then joins the ''BigBad'' and finally teams up with the heroes again when Angel shows her ''ThePowerOfFriendship''/Optimistic-Existentialism.

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* Um, perhaps [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Juliet Capulet]] [[CaptainObvious should be worthy of mention]]?
* Hope Cladwell in ''{{Urinetown}}''.
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* Elly from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' is a classic defection for love.
* Vivian from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' is a HighHeelFaceTurn [[ShesAManInJapan in the U.S. version, where she's female.]]
* [[TheHero Isaac]] and crew from GoldenSun and The Lost Age are a strange inversion in that they begin on the heroes side and end on the villains side. Of course after they reveal that Felix and crew weren't [[DarkIsNotEvil evil to begin with at all,]] just condescending, mean, and vague about their motives. From Felix' point of view Isaac was an [[LightIsNotGood unwitting villain in the first game by trying to stop them.]] Adding the romantic element at least Isaac is confirmed in GoldenSunDarkDawn to have married Jenna, Felix' sister.
* Sheena from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''. In a variation, it's Colette, her rival LoveInterest for TheHero, that makes her start to rethink her opposition to the party.
* Celes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is in some ways a spiritual predecessor of Elly.
** Celes had already rebelled against the Empire (and was imprisoned for it) when she joins the plot, and her eventual falling for Locke does not affect her standing with the Empire.
* Beatrix from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''.
* Anise Azeat from ''[[VideoGame/GalaxyAngel Galaxy Angel II]]''. However, while the player can end up with her in the games, outside canon goes with [[FirstGirlWins Apricot]] as the winning girl.
* A rare Montague Counterpart is Kyle Katarn of the ''[[StarWars Dark Forces]]'' video games. In the backstory, Katarn is not unlike Luke Skywalker--a young FarmBoy who dreams of going to the Imperial Academy. Unlike Luke, though, he gets to, and becomes a promising officer. After meeting Rebel operative Jan Ors, though, finding out her secret, and letting her go... well, the rest was history.

* This trope fits Shelke, from the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' spin-off ''Dirge of Cerberus'', like her mako-infused spandex suit. Dead parents, kidnapped and trained to be a lethal member of the Tsviets, reluctantly joins the hero [[spoiler: after her sister Shalua sacrificed herself to save her from being killed off by Azul the Cerulean]], lolicon-ish hints with protagonist...yup.
* Trishka in VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}.

* Elena of ''YggdraUnion''. She manages to not become the lead male character's love interest, though--possibly because the game's playable character is female and Elena's HeelFaceTurn comes about halfway through it.
* Amanda in JackKeane
* Karin of ''ShadowHearts: Covenant''.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'''s Jaina Proudmoore. She doesn't actually defect, as such, but she's probably the most sympathetic Alliance commander toward the Horde for at least two expansions, and her relationship with Horde Warchief Thrall is (probably at most, despite the hopes and wishes of the vast majority of shippers) one of friendship.

* Gilgamesh Wulfenbach to Agatha in the webcomic ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' is a male example (Montague Counterpart?), although so far he has yet to [[CallingTheOldManOut "Deny [his] father and refuse [his] name"]] - which might be just as well since we're still [[AntiVillain not entirely sure]] Baron Wulfenbach is ''wrong.''

* Zuko from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is one of the few male examples in fiction.
* Both Dinobot and Blackarachnia [[DefectingForLove defected for love]] during the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. Even though Dinobot was brought back from the dead as a bad guy the two were never on the same team at the same time. At least, not long enough to hold a conversation.
** Blackarachnia is an example of this trope, Dinobot wasn't a love interest to anyone.
* Adora (''[[WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra]]'') was kidnapped by Hordak as a baby and raised to be a captain in the Horde. Unfortunately, for some reason he decided to raise her as a good person with a sense of justice...

* Caiera, the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk's eventual love interest in the storyline ''PlanetHulk.'' Unlike most examples, she was well aware of the fact that her boss was a piece of work, and her working for him was not entirely willing.
** She wasn't unwilling, just misled. She believed he really was meant to be the savior of their world (specifically from the Spikes) and that thus UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans. When she found out that [[spoiler:he had been in control of the Spikes all along, using them instill fear and enforce obedience, there was no more utopia left to justify and she changed sides to the new Messiah figure with some integrity.]]
** She's also significantly more loyal to him in the AnimatedAdaptation, there because [[IOweYouMyLife he won her loyalty by saving her life]], whether as in the comic he saves her but then immediately enslaves her.
* Julie-Su is this to Knuckles in Archie's ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' comics.

* Averted in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Elsa, an otherwise obvious defections not only fails to end up with the hero, but suffers a (deserved) KarmicDeath.
** Elsa's death seemed to have been more of a case of TooDumbToLive, as she avoided any major ShootTheDog moments in the movie, and only died because she tried to take the Grail after being explicitly told that doing so would be very bad.

* Jay, the childhood friend of Shua in ''Sky Blue''.
* Many [[Film/JamesBond Bond Girls]] are like this, particularly Pussy Galore in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''.
* Yelena in ''XXx'' mostly fits this trope, though her backstory is a bit more complicated.

* Freya in ''Film/{{Outlander}}''
* Dana in ''CampRock 2''. She is the daughter of the rival camp's owner
* Sorsha in ''{{Film/Willow}}''. She is the daughter of evil Queen/Sorceress Bavmorda.

* Lale of ''TheAssassinsOfTamurin''.
* [[ActionMom Mara Jade]] of the ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' was this to Luke. She still hated Luke when she first met him, not to mention it took nearly ten years to realize that she's in love with him.
** ''FateOfTheJedi'': OK, we don't know if Vestara will be this, but at least Ben tries to turn her into.
*** Let's take a look at what Vestara does in ''Vortex'', shall we? [[spoiler: She saves Luke and Ben from the Sith, ''twice''. And then, after [[YouCantGoHomeAgain she alienates her father and the rest of the sith by killing Lord Taalon, who was "too high above her station"]], she decides to stick around and help them out.]]
* This is the whole point of ''Son of the Mob'' by Creator/GordonKorman. (Her dad's an [=FBI=] agent, his dad's the head of the mafia.)

* Aina Sahalin in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam'' ends up in this role, though in the end she doesn't so much join the Feds with Shiro as much as they both quit being soldiers entirely. Which is probably for the best; Shiro is suspected as being a spy because of the relationship, and Aina probably isn't too popular with Zeon bigwigs after the stunt her older brother pulled.
** An argument could be made for ''Shiro'' being ''Aina's'' DefectingForLove because he fulfills the "doesn't know the BigBad personally" part better than she does, as he is a grunt while she is part of a relatively high up family as well as the main villain's sister. Also, Shiro is the one who gets chewed out by his superiors (and branded a traitor by some) for the entire thing while only one of the two characters on Aina's side aware of it is harsh (her brother, predictably enough). AcePilot, BadassNormal, and AFatherToHisMen Norris Packard (who is something of a father figure to Aina, complete with fighting Shiro to see if he's worthy) is much more sympathetic to Aina and Shiro's plight than most of the other characters, so in a way Shiro also fulfills the "berated by his fellows" part better than her.
*** Also he's the one with the [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark childhood incident.]] Well, not childhood per say, but "dark past incident".
** Also about as good as their could expect, considering that, this being ''Gundam'', most defections and/or their would-be significant others usually end up ''dead''. sometimes at the hands of the other (whether they know it or not). [[spoiler: Poor Christina and Bernie from 0080...]]
* Hilde Schbeiker from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' definitely fits this trope. She deserts OZ and ends up living with Duo Maxwell, earning her the everlasting hatred of the yaoi fangirls.
** [[spoiler: Soma Peiris, to Allelujah Haptism]] in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. [[spoiler: Which triggers her HeelFaceTurn.]]
*** [[spoiler: At least they become a BattleCouple and survive the series. [[TearJerker Lyle/Lockon 2 and Anew, OTOH...]].]]
* San in ''PrincessMononoke'' fills part of this requirement, as she and Ashitake start out on opposite sides but finally converge. She just won't stick around [[spoiler: because he's a human and humans killed her 'mother']]
* Apollonius in the backstory of ''GenesisOfAquarion''.
* Not sure if Athrun Zala from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' would count. He's the 2nd main male character but he and Cagalli were in a similar situation. They were both from mostly opposing sides, they met as enemies, Athrun took her a prisoner, which led to them getting to know one another and found that they like each other.
** Athrun is also from the "empire" that is opposing the protagonist for most of the series (not that the Earth Federation is exactly "good") and is pretty ignorant of what the top brass are really doing. In the end, he does oppose what they are doing and ultimately "betrays" and fights against them.
** Stella in the sequel ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' definitely counts. Of course, she never switches side, but she wouldn't fight against her love if she had the slightest control.
* All of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' is basically about this: there is a bunch of misguided (predominantly female) souls, who are not truly evil, just not knowing any other purposes in life, who get into a fight with Team Nanoha. Nanoha, being, well, Nanoha, proceeds to [[DefeatMeansFriendship dish out massive ordnance friendship]], and the lost souls suddenly discover that Team Nanoha has cookies, free hugs for everyone, and secure jobs at TSAB. And by the next season, all of them join Team Nanoha themselves.

* Myria Parino ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS that's my spelling and I'm sticking to it]]) in ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' (and ''{{Robotech}}''), who went as far as to get herself shrunk down to human size to hunt down the Human pilot who dueled her, and ended up marrying him after a knife fight.
** In TheMovie, things go a little differently. He gets trapped on her ship when it leaves while they're still in their first battle, but things still turn out all right: He later shows up having been ''macronized'' to match her, becoming a ''Montague Counterpart'', and they're fighting side by side, happy as can be.

** [[spoiler: If we count the... weird "spirit scene" in the very end of ''Be Invoked'', Bes and Karala ''did'' get their happy ending. Or better said, their ''souls'' did. [[MindScrew Yes, it's complicated]].]]

* ''{{X1999}}'' pretty much pulls a GenderFlip of this between [[GenkiGirl Yuzuriha Nekoi]] and [[GentleGiant Shiyu Kusanagi]], in that ''he'' starts off as working for the antagonistic Dragons of Earth but eventually switches sides out of love for Yuzuriha and even ''lives'' to enjoy his newfound happiness.

* Ironically, Romeo is the CapuletCounterpart and/or [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Dictator's Handsome Son]] for Juliet in the ReVision anime ''RomeoXJuliet''. Since Lord Montague is the dictator of Neo Verona and Juliet has been on the run after the Capulets were wiped out...

** An argument could be made for ''Shiro'' being ''Aina's'' CapuletCounterpart because he fulfills the "doesn't know the BigBad personally" part better than she does, as he is a grunt while she is part of a relatively high up family as well as the main villain's sister. Also, Shiro is the one who gets chewed out by his superiors (and branded a traitor by some) for the entire thing while only one of the two characters on Aina's side aware of it is harsh (her brother, predictably enough). AcePilot, BadassNormal, and AFatherToHisMen Norris Packard (who is something of a father figure to Aina, complete with fighting Shiro to see if he's worthy) is much more sympathetic to Aina and Shiro's plight than most of the other characters, so in a way Shiro also fulfills the "berated by his fellows" part better than her.

** Also about as good as their could expect, considering that, this being ''Gundam'', most Capulet Counterparts and/or their would-be significant others usually end up ''dead''. sometimes at the hands of the other (whether they know it or not). [[spoiler: Poor Christina and Bernie from 0080...]]

* Averted in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Elsa, an otherwise obvious Capulet Counterpart not only fails to end up with the hero, but suffers a (deserved) KarmicDeath.

* Elly from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' is a classic Capulet Counterpart.
* Vivian from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' is a non-romantic Capulet Counterpart [[ShesAManInJapan in the U.S. version, where she's female.]]

* Both Dinobot and Blackarachnia became {{Capulet Counterpart}}s during the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. Even though Dinobot was brought back from the dead as a bad guy the two were never on the same team at the same time. At least, not long enough to hold a conversation.