History Main / HeelRaceTurn

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': In what is probably the most bizarre example of this trope, [[spoiler:the war-mongering harmsters in a way get this treatment when the cancer that killed them evolves into transmissible tumor known as the shroomor -- ''technically their descendants'' -- which eventually finds a niche in the environment, acting as a fungus-like decomposer and serving a purpose for good.]]

HeelFaceTurn on an ethnic scale. A faction allied with the enemy joins the heroes' team. A neutral people becomes convinced it has to side with the villains to survive.

* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars'', the [[CatFolk Charr]] have been at war with humans for centuries, and are portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil fodder for the players. In the [[Videogame/GuildWars2 sequel]], the Charr have overthrown [[SorcerousOverlord the Flame Legion]] signed an uneasy truce with the humans, and been PromotedToPlayable

* The frequency with which this occurs in ''Series/BabylonFive'' helps cement the show's reputation for moral complexity. The Narn Regime are the apparently "bad" guys for the first season, but after their former overlords the Centauri get power again and reconquer them they are treated as wholly sympathetic. The Centauri then pull a brief HeelRaceTurn after Londo kills the psychotic Emperor Cartagia, but apparently turn evil again in the final season, due to their government actually being taken over by a PuppeteerParasite species. It's implied in the DistantFinale that they turn good again after said species are exposed and defeated.
* ''Series/TheOrville'': [[spoiler:The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Krill]], of all races, are the first to ally with the Planetary Union when the Kaylon [[RobotWar launch their war to rid the galaxy of organic life]]. This is turned on its head when the moderate Krill Chancellor who wanted to deepen ties with the Union is ousted by a far more radical Teleya, who cancels the alliance. The [[OneGenderRace Moclans]], whose strongly misogynistic culture had already made them an uneasy ally, are finally kicked out of the Union when their government blatantly commits several crimes against other Union citizens. The Moclans then ally with the Krill out of necessity, and both soon get their hands on a stolen superweapon that can be used to wipe out the Kaylon. The Union then allies itself with ''the Kaylon'' because they think [[GenocideDilemma wiping out a sentient species goes too far]], first as a pure EnemyMine, but when a biological sacrifices herself to destroy the weapon, Kaylon Primary is so startled that he agrees to a peace treaty and even possible membership in the Union.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HamstersParadise'': In what is probably the most bizarre example of this trope, [[spoiler:the war-mongering harmsters in a way get this treatment when the cancer that killed them evolves into transmissible tumor known as the shroomor -- ''technically their descendants'' -- which eventually finds a niche in the environment, acting as a fungus-like decomposer and serving a purpose for good.]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* The [[BadFuture Dark World]] arc of the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'' has few bright spots, but this is one of them: [[HeroAntagonist Cadence]] takes control of the changelings from Chrysalis, and under [[LoveRedeems her leadership]] they go from parasites to true symbiotic lifeforms living in peace with the other races.
** [[spoiler:This ultimately occurs in the main timeline as well.]]

** Confirmed in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', where [[spoiler:firebenders and Fire Nation citizens]] are actually something of a minority among the villains even though EqualOpportunityEvil is in full effect, while [[spoiler:Fire Nation]] royalty is at least sympathetic to the protagonists even if they can't interfere in that particular incident. [[spoiler:Hiroshi Sato is Fire Nation-descended and P'li is a combustion-bender, but Amon, Unalaq, Tarrlok, Ming-Hua and Varrick are all from the Water Tribes, Zaheer is a non-bender turned airbender of unknown background, and Ghazan and Kuvira are earthbenders. Meanwhile, General Iroh - a prince of the Fire Nation - leads a United Republic fleet to Republic City's aid in the first season cliffhanger, the Fire Nation is as willing as any other to keep the Red Lotus imprisoned until Zaheer sets them free, and Fire Lord Izumi only refuses to intercede in the Earth Empire incident because she's worried about the appearance of the Fire Nation once again engaging in large-scale military action.]]
* [[spoiler:The Highbreed]] in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' second season finale, after Ben [[spoiler:ended the conflict with them peacefully by saving their species from extinction]].

* In the campaigns of both ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the Octarians are very much the enemy, with the humanoid Octolings serving as their elite troops. However, ''2''[='s=] Octo Expansion DLC not only has you play as an Octoling defector trying to make their way to Inkopolis, but [[spoiler:it's revealed in a chat log that you're far from the only Octoling defector, thanks to the Squid Sisters' Calamari Inkantation breaking DJ Octavio's hold over their minds]].

* ''Series/TheOrville'': [[spoiler:The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Krill]], of all races, are the first to ally with the Planetary Union when the Kaylon [[RobotWar launch their war to rid the galaxy of organic life]].]]

* [[spoiler:The Highbreed]] in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' finale, after Ben [[spoiler:ended the conflict with them peacefully by saving their species from extinction]].

* The Serpentine from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}} '' undergo this between "The Day Ninjago Stood Still" (when they're sealed into the tomb of the Stone Army) and Season 3. By the time the Ninja visited the tomb, Pythor was the only one who didn't redeem himself.

* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom'': The symbiotes were created by the dark god Knull to corrupt and destroy the universe, but most of them ultimately turned on their god, sealed him in the core of an artificial planet called Klyntar, and established the Agents of the Cosmos in order to maintain peace across the universe -- banishing symbiotes that backslid into evil.

* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs' ': Towards the end of "What if Tom was infested by a member of the Yeerk Peace Movement?", [[spoiler:[[SymbioticPossession Tom and Aftran]] convince all the Yeerks on Earth to stop being enslavers after they're [[YouAreInCommandNow promoted to Visser One]].]]

* The most notable example of this in ''Series/DoctorWho'' is the Ice Warriors. In the story "The Curse of Peladon", the Doctor is instantly suspicious to encounter Ice Warriors as members of TheFederation, and spends most of the story suspecting them of being secretly malevolent, but is finally forced to accept that the culture has, indeed, become more peaceful and altruistic. The next (and last twentieth-century) Ice Warrior story "The Monster of Peladon" then has the revelation that the Ice Warriors in it really '''are''' the villains as a shock twist, but the bad guys are explicitly identified as a RenegadeSplinterFaction who want to revive the old ruthlessly xenophobic ways. The first twenty-first-century episode to feature them, "Cold War", had an Ice Warrior as a villain, but it was set in the twentieth century well before any of the other TV Ice Warrior stories, and depicted the character has a NobleDemon whose conflict with the human characters was due to equally-xenophobic mutual suspicion rather than unprovoked malevolence.

* The [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Zerg]] in ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', thanks to their queen Kerrigan [[TookALevelInKindness regaining part of her humanity]]. To say they actually become good guys is a bit of a stretch (they still express interest in [[YouWillBeAssimilated assimilating other species]], and [[TheBeastmaster Kerrigan pretty much is keeping them on a leash]]), but at least they do join force with the good guys, and are on their way to help save the Universe against [[BigBad Amon]] by the end of the game. [[spoiler:After Amon's defeat and Kerrigan's [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence departure as a Xel'Naga]], their new Queen, Zagara, seems satisfied with controlling the systems around their hive planet Char and leaving both Protoss and Terrans alone, though how long this will last is not clarified.]]

* [[spoiler:The Changelings]] in the sixth season finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', upon realizing that [[spoiler:they can survive by ''sharing'' love instead of ''stealing'' it and constantly starving. They quickly follow the example of Thorax, ''and'' make up for their earlier kidnapping of the Royal Family and Elements of Harmony as well by freeing them with the destruction of Chrysalis' throne. [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Chrysalis]] is the only one seen to refuse. This causes them to undergo metamorphosis (much like a caterpiller to butterfly) to much more colorful and love filled creatures. In season seven, we learn there are more than a few changelings who are resistant to this new way of doing things, and prefer the "good" old days of stealing love on which to feed, but they are eventually won over by a combination of Thorax becoming more assertive and refusing to give up on them.]]

* Early in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] were simply random AlwaysChaoticEvil enemy {{Mooks}}. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', crossing over with EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, they had no real backstory beyond being standard fantasy Orcs. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'', they get more fleshed out. They're actually a subspecies of [[OurElvesAreBetter Mer (Elves)]], the "Orsimer", meaning "Pariah Folk". As such, they are in an eternal state of FightingForAHomeland while facing extreme FantasticRacism from the other races of Tamriel. Due to a CosmicRetcon[=/=]TimeCrash at the end of ''Daggerfall'' (which is an in-universe way of MergingTheBranches of its MultipleEndings in a BroadStrokes fashion), their homeland is recognized as a province of the Empire and they become citizens. Come ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' and every game after, they are fully PromotedToPlayable.

* The original 2-D games in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' portrayed the [[FishPeople Zoras]] as a common water-based enemy. From ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' onward, they were more commonly portrayed as friendly [=NPC=]s and close allies of the Royal Family of Hyrule. However, the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle]]'' games portray the [[DecompositeCharacter good and bad Zoras as separates species]].

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

** And in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', we have the Cardassians, longtime enemies of the Federation and allied to the Dominion, suddenly switching sides - ''in the middle of a major space battle'' - due to the Dominion having just informed the Cardassians they had destroyed a city and killed its two million inhabitants as reprisal for an act of the [[LaResistance Cardassian Resistance]].

* All that's known about the Vortigants in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' is that they're invading aliens. In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' it's revealed that they were confused and enthralled, and are now grateful for the destruction of their puppet leader. By ''Half-Life 2: Episode 1'', they gather en mass to support Gordon specifically.

* The SlaveRace Jaffa of ''Series/StargateSG1'' desert their evil alien masters en masse in the later seasons.