History Main / EvenEvilCanBeLoved

* ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'': While he is ultimately redeemed at the end of the series, for the time Sasuke spent as the villain rival to Naruto, his former teammates still cared about him and was devoted to bringing him back home.

* In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'', Icara [[spoiler:the White Witch]] reveals to the Source Hunters that the game's apparent BigBad, the Conduit, is her own estranged sister [[spoiler:Leandra]]. Icara blames herself for the Conduit's StartOfDarkness and begs the Source Hunters to find the means of restoring their long-severed PsychicLink so she can attempt to redeem her.

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework, Dennis’s dad didn’t hate him; he just wanted to raise his son in is image of what a man should be. [[spoiler:He vows to avenge Dennis,]] and honors the protagonist’s request not to contact him or his friends ever again because of his (supposed) friendship with Dennis.

* Percy -- a blatantly good guy (if a sometimes misguided one) -- tends to have this sort of relationship with Diesel 10 and his QuirkyMinibossSquad in later episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'', while the other engines generally loathe them to the point of FantasticRacism. It only gets exploited in "Day Of The Diesels" though they show their gratitude when he helps out Sidney in "The Missing Christmas Tree Decorations".

* The final mission of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' involves [[KnightTemplar Edgar Ross]] being hunted down [[spoiler:by Jack Marston in revenge for him killing his father, John]]. During this mission, the player learns Ross' whereabouts by interrogating Ross' loving wife and his brother. Both of them end up showing off a slightly more humanizing side to Ross, that he never shows on his own, and even inadvertently reveal that he's NotSoDifferent from John in certain ways.

* The title character's mission in ''Manga/{{Enma}}'' (no, not Anime/HellGirl) mission is to punish evildoers across time and space by ''pulling out their entire skeleton'', minus as many bones as there were people who still loved them. One tyrant who was working thousands of slaves to death building the TowerOfBabel had a single finger bone left when it turned out [[spoiler:he was still loved by his son, for whose sake he built that tower in the first place]].

* Dewey Novak, the BigBad of ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', is hands-down the most evil and unsympathetic character in the entire series, yet Holland, who's [[CainAndAbel both his brother and his nemesis]], still loves him because they were family. [[spoiler:When Dewey dies, Holland is one of the only non-villainous characters who mourns him and laments his madness.]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Makarov loves, or at the very least still has faith in, his wayward son Ivan (who he exiled from the guild for recklessly endangering his comrades) and his grandson Laxus (who he banished for similar reasons, though only in the latter case do we see him break down in tears over it). The difference is that Laxus [[HeelRealization sees the error in his ways]] and returns those feelings, while Ivan [[ShutUpKirk seems to find the idea that Makarov has faith in him disgusting]], a fact Laxus calls his old man out on.
-->'''Laxus''': Hurts, huh? After everything you've done, the old geezer still managed to have a little faith in you...'cause you're his son.

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris. Iris genuinely loves Dahlia, despite the fact that Dahlia was TheSociopath, and that she more than once asked her to help in her criminal activities. Iris knows the kind of person Dahlia is (or rather, was, since she's tried and convicted for murder in the first case of the third game, and comes back as a spirit in the final case) but pities her nonetheless, wishing that their father had dropped the both of them off at Kurain temple when they were kids instead of just Iris, so Dahlia too would have found a mother figure in Sister Bikini to replace their [[EvilMatriach power-hungry mother who never really loved them]]. She believes that if Dahlia had been treated with love growing up, she wouldn't have become so cruel, callous, and vindictive. She tells Phoenix that Dahlia was always strong, independent, and never once complained about her horrible lot in life.]]

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris. Iris genuinely loves Dahlia, despite the fact that Dahlia was TheSociopath, and that she more than once asked her to help in her criminal activities. Iris knows the kind of person Dahlia is (or rather, was, since she's tried and convicted for murder in the first case of the third game, and comes back as a spirit in the final case) but pities her nonetheless, wishing that their father had dropped the both of them off at Kurain temple when they were kids instead of just Iris, so Dahlia too would have found a mother figure in Sister Bikini to replace their [[EvilMatriach power-hungry mother who never really loved them]]. She figures that if Dahlia had known a loving environment growing up, she wouldn't have become so cruel, callous, and vindictive. She tells Phoenix that Dahlia was always strong, independent, and never once complained about her horrible lot in life.]]

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris. Iris genuinely loves Dahlia, despite the fact that Dahlia was TheSociopath, and that she more than once asked her to help in her criminal activities. Iris knows the kind of person Dahlia is (or rather, was, since she's tried and convicted for murder in the first case of the third game, and comes back as a spirit in the final case) but pities her nonetheless, wishing that their father had dropped the both of them off at Kurain temple when they were kids instead of just Iris, so Dahlia too would have found a mother figure in Sister Bikini to replace their [[EvilMatriach power-hungry mother who never really loved them]]; she figures that if Dahlia had known a loving environment growing up, she wouldn't have become so cruel, callous, and vindictive. She tells Phoenix that Dahlia was always strong, independent, and never once complained about her horrible lot in life.]]

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris. Iris genuinely loves Dahlia, despite the fact that Dahlia didn't really love her back, that she was TheSociopath, and that she more than once asked her to help in her criminal activities. Iris knows the kind of person Dahlia is (or rather, was, since she's tried and convicted for murder in the first case of the third game, and comes back as a spirit in the final case) but pities her nonetheless, wishing that their father had dropped the both of them off at Kurain temple when they were kids instead of just Iris, so Dahlia too would have found a mother figure in Sister Bikini to replace their [[EvilMatriach power-hungry mother who never really loved them]]; she figures that if Dahlia had known a loving environment growing up, she wouldn't have become so cruel, callous, and vindictive. She tells Phoenix that Dahlia was always strong, independent, and never once complained about her horrible lot in life.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Azula, despite all of her evil actions, was still loved by her mother Ursa. Azula continually tries to deny this, claiming Ursa only ever thought of her as a monster, but the subconscious knowledge that her mother really did love her in spite of her behavior winds up being a major factor in Azula's [[SanitySlippage descent into madness]]. In later comics, Zuko is willing to try to make amends; but given Azula's mental state isn't stable enough to try to reciprocate, much less Zuko handling the issue very poorly the first time around; the two got driven further apart.

** [[TheHero Adora]] still clearly cares about [[EvilFormerFriend Catra]], even as Catra continues down her spiral, continually offering her second chances even after Catra tries to kill her. [[spoiler:It's a major oh-shit moment when Adora finally concludes that [[BeyondRedemption trying to redeem Catra is just wasting her time and dulling her edge]], and it takes Catra trying to end the world to push Adora that far, and even then Adora cannot bring herself to hate Catra and ultimately does love her in spite of everything.]]

* In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' novel ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles'', the escaped SerialKiller Seldon is still loved by his older sister Elisa. Upon seeing Elisa's completely heartbroken reaction after Seldon is accidentally killed by the Hound, Watson comments, [[LampshadeHanging "Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him."]] Although Watson doesn't make the connection explicit, this tells us something about the villain of the novel, whose death at the end is mourned by nobody; the one woman who might have been expected to mourn him seems positively glad he's gone [[spoiler:and in fact helped to bring about his death]].

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris. Iris genuinely loves Dahlia, despite the fact that Dahlia didn't really love her back, that she was TheSociopath, and that she more than once asked her to help in her criminal activities. Iris knows the kind of person Dahlia is (or rather, was, since she's tried and convicted for murder in the first case of the third game, and comes back as a spirit in the final case0 but pities her, wishing that their father had dropped the both of them off at Kurain temple when they were kids, instead of just Iris, so Dahlia would have found a mother figure in Sister Bikini to replace their [[EvilMatriach power-hungry mother who never really loved them]]; she figures that if Dahlia had known a loving environment growing up, she wouldn't have become so cruel, callous, and vindictive. She tells Phoenix that Dahlia was always strong, independent, and never once complained about her horrible lot in life.]]

* During DC's One Year Later event, several minor ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villains were killed off, one of them a mutated biologist named Orca. During the storyline, it's revealed that Orca was married to a normal human, who's interviewed by the police regarding the circumstances around her death. While a little humor is taken from the relationship (the man remarking that he had a thing for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orca_batman.jpg big women]]), the pain of loss is treated seriously.

* SelfDemonstrating/SuperboyPrime: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. When Superboy-Prime finally comes home, he is shocked to discover that his parents and girlfriend read ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'', ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' - Legion of 3 Worlds, and are now terrified of him. It is implied that he killed Laurie Lemmon and his parents let him live with them out of fear. While he becomes more possessive and controlling of his parents, he still wants them to love him. However, it is clear that all the love they had for him has been replaced by fear. This is best shown in Adventure Comics #4, when Superboy-Prime demands that his parents take him to Jet's Comics, as it was a matter of life and death. They do as he commands, and along the way his father, Jerry Kent, begs Prime not to hurt them. Prime asks why in the world they would think that he would hurt them. His father points out what he had done to Laurie, to which Prime responds that he had done it because she didn't like him anymore. Prime then asks Naomi, his mother, if she loves him, to which she replies that she is terrified of him. Upon arriving at Jet's Comics, Prime tells Naomi he loves her, apparently ignoring her previous comment. When Prime leaves the car, Naomi tells Jerry to drive away, to anywhere. Jerry refuses, pointing out that he would just find them like he did last time.

* Sibling example in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' with [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris]]. The latter genuinely loved her sister despite her ''reeeally'' long list of crimes. There is also Dahlia and Phoenix which [[spoiler: is an unusual subversion. Phoenix ''thought'' he was neck-deep in love with Dahlia but in fact he barely knew her, meeting her only twice when she was alive [[ItMakesSenseInContext and once when wasn't]]. The person he actually fell in love with was her NiceGirl [[PolarOppositeTwins twin sister]] Iris.]]

* Elan in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has an exceptional amount of empathy for his evil twin brother Nale, despite Nale being an unrepentant CardCarryingVillain with almost no redeeming qualities who repeatedly threatens Elan's and his friends' lives. That they were SeparatedAtBirth, with Nale [[FreudianExcuse raised]] by their FauxAffablyEvil megalomaniac nutcase of a father, makes Elan question whether they would have grown up in each other's roles if their positions had been reversed. [[spoiler:When Nale is murdered in front of him, Elan is devastated.]] In fact, Nale's ''only'' redeeming quality is his surprisingly sincere [[UnholyMatrimony relationship]] with the [[HornyDevils succubus Sabine]] who was originally sent to him to guide him into deeper evil, but genuinely fell in love with him. [[spoiler:When Nale is murdered, Sabine's reaction is ''unbridled vengeful fury!'']]

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', a still-entirely-soulless Spike was partially humanized in season 5 by Dawn developing a [[BigBrotherInstinct brotherly]] OddFriendship with him. She frequently affirms that she thinks he's cool, is generally the only Scooby who openly likes his company, and is horrified when he is severely injured by the season BigBad because he protected her.