History Main / HourglassPlot

** At the end of ''The Teal Mask'', Ogerpon asks to join the player on their journey... prompting Kieran, who has been a fanboy of "the ogre" since before the truth came to light, to selfishly challenge the player to the "right" to catch her, irregardless of Ogerpon's own feelings. Come ''The Indigo Disk'', Kieran - [[FromNobodyToNightmare now the Champion of the Blueberry Academy]], with Pokémon at levels on par with ''[[WorldsStrongestWarrior Red]]'' - is ruling the BB League with an iron fist and making enemies out of everyone ([[MonsAsCharacterization human and Pokémon alike]]) in his desperate efforts to get strong enough to defeat the player out of spite.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}},'' {{SelfDemonstrating/Wheatley}} begins as Chell (the player)'s friend, guiding her along, and helping her to defeat SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS, the computer in charge of the facility, who is trying to kill Chell. Halfway through the game, though, Chell replaces [=GLaDOS=] with Wheatley and Wheatley subsequently decides to try to kill Chell, and [=GLaDOS=], running off a potato, accompanies Chell and helps her defeat Wheatley.

Compare: PrinceAndPauper, PerspectiveReversal, FullCircleRevolution, SwappedRoles, BecameTheirOwnAntithesis for when there's only one character and no corresponding switch, FreakyFridayFlip for an especially literal case, JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites for when there is no justification for it, and PerspectiveFlip for when it's a {{retcon}} instead of a plot development. Compare and contrast: IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim and YouKillItYouBoughtIt. CaretakerReversal is a subtrope.

*** This now ''also'' applies to [[spoiler: Eren and Reiner, as Eren is seen as the villain by everyone who isn't on the same side of the main characters. Reiner, and the rest of Marley, are only viewed in a negative light by the main characters. Eren points this trope out to Reiner, saying "I'm the same as you".]]

*** Also has this with [[spoiler: his actual half-brother, Zeke Yeager and his father Grisha Yeager.]] Eren was regarded as one of the key opponents against the Beast Titan, the true threat beyond the walls, and the latter tried to save Eren from being 'brainwashed' by [[spoiler: their father into committing for his cause]], while not knowing Eren joined the fight from his own will. After the TimeSkip, [[spoiler: Eren reveals himself to be the one actually manipulating his father, making him massacre the Reiss Family and feeding himself to Eren, but also reveals himself as the true threat by releasing the Wall Titans, but Grisha also begs Zeke to stop him from destroying the world, which Zeke listens to.]]

* Happens in Ruby and Sapphire's shared backstory in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures''. It turns out that the wild and boisterous Sapphire used to be feminine and demure, while the [[CampStraight flamboyant]] Ruby used to be more rambuctious and adventurous. However after a traumatic incident (which both had forgotten about), the pair pretty much switch personalities, becoming the MasculineGirlFeminineBoy pair they're known as today.

* In ''Anime/TheTatamiGalaxy'', for most of the series, the UnluckyEverydude protagonist is caught in a GroundhogDayLoop, and in every episode, Ozu, a screwball (who is illustrated to look somewhat "demonic"), arranges things so that the protagonist fails to achieve (often romantic) success, and looks bad. Eventually, it is revealed that Ozu's antics are motivated by a combination of his own romantic pursuits and genuine friendship toward the protagonist, and the protagonist has an epiphany wherein he rethinks some of his own behavior and realizes that Ozu is a true friend. At the end of the series, Ozu (now illustrated as normal looking) seeks the protagonist's aid for his romantic troubles, and the protagonist assumes Ozu's former role of good-natured troll.

** The first season starts with Ai hunted down by the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technologies before captured/saved by Yusaku and teaming up to fight the two groups. The final season has [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn Ai turncoat and become the final villain]] while Café Nagi, the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technologies team up to stop him and Yusaku was the one to end his life]].
** Early in the series, Yusaku was a {{Jerkass}} loner obsessed with revenge while pushing away any potential allies while Ai starts off friendlier and goofy, but is untrustworthy and not taken seriously by everyone. [[spoiler:Season 3 reverses this: Ai acts similar to early Yusaku as he becomes revenge-driven for his late friends and shuts down everyone's attempts to stop him. Yusaku, in the other hand, became friendlier, has opened up with his allies and realized that revenge is not the best way to go. It further helps that Ai tells Roboppi to shut up a couple times as a CallBack to what Yusaku would often say to Ai early on.]]

* ''Comicbook/TheBigKahn'' begins with Avi as TheDutifulSon, a rabbi set up to take over his father's pulpit, while Lea as the rebellious one who's mostly abandoned religion. The revelations about their father causes Avi to start questioning his beliefs while Lea begins to warm up to Jewish observance.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Rorscharch and Ozymandias exchange positions at the end. The latter calls the former a right-wing loony and the former regards him as a liberal hypocrite. As a young man, Rorscharch wrote gushingly about Harry Truman's decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the wisdom of WellIntentionedExtremist thinking. But he's horrified [[spoiler: when Ozymandias comes around to it, and does it for real. Rorscharch's code is all about the rules. In his mind, Truman had authority to do what was needed, since he was President of the US and Commander-in-Chief while Ozymandias did not have any authority to do something similar.]]

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/44607043/chapters/113113180 Bitter Victory]]'' has Lila replace Marinette as class president, only to learn that everybody expects her to bend over backwards catering to their every demand, no matter how last-minute or implausible their requests are. She eventually realizes that Marinette actually ''tricked'' her, giving her [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine a taste of her own tactics]], complete with smugly gloating when Lila confronts her.
* ''Fanfic/{{the high road|MiraculousLadybug}}'': By the climax, Adrien, Alya, Nino and the rest of Marinette's classmates find themselves in the same position Marinette was originally in: fully aware that Lila is a ManipulativeBitch who's been taking advantage of everyone, but unable to convince her biggest victim of the AwfulTruth.

** In ''Chloé's Lament'', Chloé wishes to [[RoleSwapAU trade lives with Marinette]], [[WrongGenreSavvy expecting this to kick in]] by completely swapping their positions. However, she refused to consider that their ''personalities'' would remain the same, and that their peers didn't simply hate her for being the Mayor's daughter; they hated her for being a SpoiledBrat. So while Chloé ends up as the daughter of a baker while Marinette's mother becomes the mayor of Paris in [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy this new reality]], she finds that she's ''still'' HatedByAll... and isn't able to hide behind her father's connections anymore.
* ''Fanfic/LilasLament'', the RecursiveFanfiction for ''The Lament Series'', flips the roles of Marinette and Adrien around. In the original universe, Marinette [[CassandraTruth tried to expose]] Lila's deceit while Adrien advocated for her to 'take the high road' and let her lies go unchallenged, naively believing Lila was good deep down. In the new reality created by Lila's Wish, Adrien is no longer an ExtremeDoormat, and calls her out on her claims. By contrast, Marinette believes that Lila is a LonelyRichKid whose deceptions are born out of insecurity, and tries to convince him to stand down.
* ''Fanfic/MiraculousLadybugSaltShots'': ''Bitter Victory'' uses this for a bit of LaserGuidedKarma when Lila's manipulations convince the class to turn upon Marinette and kick her out of her position as the class representative, installing Lila as her replacement. She swiftly learns that it's an utterly thankless duty: everybody expects her to arrange everything by herself, with Mme. Bustier doing [[AdultsAreUseless absolutely nothing to support her]] and scolding her for not living up to their expectations. She eventually realizes that Marinette ''tricked her'' into taking over, giving her [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine a taste of her own medicine]], and Marinette takes a moment to [[JustBetweenYouAndMe taunt her]] just like Lila had.

* ''Fanfic/OneForAllAndEightForTheNinth'': Bakugou's flashy Quirk made him incredibly popular at all of his schools, while Izuku was at the bottom of the pecking order... up until U.A., which has no tolerance for the sort of bigotry that ran rampant at Aldera Middle School. Now Izuku's the popular, well-liked one while Bakugou's stuck on the low end of the totem pole.

** At first, Kakashi treats his genin team dismissively, letting them misinterpret his neglect as [[SecretTestOfCharacter 'encouraging their independence']] and ignoring all critiques of how he's handling them. After his HeelRealization, their positions are flipped: Kakashi's desperately trying to correct his mistakes, but Shino and Sakura ignore his criticism and insist they [[NeverMyFault did nothing wrong]].

* ''Fanfic/RigTheGameRoyal'': Akira Kurusu was once treated as a pariah in Shujin for a criminal record he undeservedly received. In the new world, he's the Vice-President of the student council and is widely popular among the student body, even becoming the face of the same school that once ostracized him.

* Both ''Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' films have this trope in spades. In high school, Schmidt was an unassuming nerd who was bullied by the cool bully Jenko. After becoming friends and partners, they are sent undercover as high school students where they at first retain their initial behaviors from before. However, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome with their new classmates: Schmidt is now seen as cool because of his pleasing and studious nature while Jenko's care-free attitude is a turn-off for the more responsibly-minded generation he has to mingle in. In doing so, he falls in with the nerd crowd and becomes an outcast himself.

* In ''Film/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|2002}}'', after [[EtTuBrute betraying his best friend]], Fernand is set up with a beautiful wife and an inherited fortune and noble title, while Dantes is locked away in a prison for 16 years. After his escape and subsequent execution of his [[ThePlan plans for revenge]], Dantes is now the one with titular noble title, beautiful woman, and nigh-limitless fortune, with Fernand's fortune completely lost, his woman gone, and under threat of imminent arrest for murder and conspiracy.

* At the end of ''Creep'', the female lead has taken the place of the homeless girl she saw begging at Charing Cross Underground station.

* ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'': Todd and Neil's arcs. At the beginning of the film, [[ShrinkingViolet Todd is shy, timid and hesitant to get involved with Keating's philosophy]], while the outgoing Neil is the group's leader, determined to "seize the day" and is the one encouraging and supporting Todd. By the end of the film, [[spoiler:it's ''Neil'' who is unable to stand up to the pressure on him by his father and tragically commits suicide, while ''Todd'' finds his voice, leads the boys to defy the school, and is ultimately the one to live out Keating's teaching.]]
* ''Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory'': The movie starts with White starring a Globo Gym ad on TV and Peter watching it and ends with Peter starring an Average Joe's Gym ad on TV and White watching it. In both cases, the person watching it looks and acts like a slob.
* In the beginning of ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', Loki is portrayed as the more ruthless and reckless, wanting to go on one more divinely righteous killing spree before re-entering heaven, while Bartleby is the one who feels compassion for the humans and is more reserved. However, halfway through Bartleby snaps and becomes an OmnicidalManiac bent on killing everyone, and it is Loki who is attempting to hold him back.

* ''Film/TheFly1986'' involves a LoveTriangle in which the two male corners of it undergo this. At the beginning, Seth is sweet, timid, kind, and respectful to Veronica, while her ex-lover/editor Stathis is a [[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Guy]] stalking and attempting to manipulate her into reviving their relationship. But then Seth has a TeleporterAccident (which indirectly stems from Stathis's treachery) that turns him into a human-insect hybrid undergoing a SlowTransformation on both physical and mental levels. The result is that by the end, Stathis is the one doing his best to help and protect Veronica while respecting her wishes, while Seth goes mad and becomes a literal and metaphorical monster who [[spoiler: maims and almost murders Stathis and tries to fuse himself with Ronnie and their unborn child, whom only he wants to keep]]. This is a rare example of the trope in which the two men barely interact with each other; after Stathis's introductory scene they don't meet each other again until the climax/denouement, though each is aware of the other person's evolving role in Veronica's life. Moreover, Seth '''knows''' he is becoming the villain by the end but cannot stave off the SplitPersonalityTakeover, making matters that much more tragic.

* ''Film/HostelPartII'': Timid, passive, apparently kind, and aggressively [[HenpeckedHusband henpecked]] Stuart is contrasted against his confident, alpha male friend and co-worker Todd. Todd enjoys flirting with the women and relishes the idea of getting to torture a woman to death. However, when he comes face-to-face with Whitney and is about to do just that, he has a HeelFaceTurn and immediately regrets his actions and wants out. He accidentally maims her and is horrified and tries to leave. Stuart, on the other hand, becomes increasingly more sadistic as he gets into torturing Beth, and even [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil tries to rape her.]]

* ''{{Film/Pet}}'': The film begins with a disaffected man becoming infatuated with a beautiful writer he claims to have known in high school, going from EndearinglyDorky to DoggedNiceGuy to StalkerWithACrush, leading to his kidnapping her and [[EnvironmentalSymbolism locking her in a cage under the animal shelter where he works.]] Then halfway through the movie, he tells her he read her notebook, a stylized journal detailing confessions of her ''murders''. Plural. He wants to "save" her, but she is reluctant to change and pushes in return, telling him that somewhere deep inside, he's like her. She escapes confinement, but by the end of the movie, she seems convinced that he is her soulmate. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue reveals that she is happily back with her ex, Eric, and is keeping him locked up in a nearby warehouse, visiting him to with [[BreadEggsMilkSquick food, affection,]] and ColdBloodedTorture whenever her murderous impulses rise up.
* In ''Film/{{Primer}}'', Aaron starts off as a family man and rather risk-averse (note the scenes where he worries about needing eye protection and warns his wife against using the first batch of ice from the new fridge). Abe starts off unmarried and rather more devil-may-care. Over the course of the film, access to a TimeTravel-powered ResetButton makes Aaron become more aggressive and willing to take risks, and he eventually leaves his family. Abe, on the other hand, becomes increasingly worried about the side-effects of time travel and oddly protective of Aaron's family.

* Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/{{Silence}}'' features this dynamic between Fr. Rodrigues and Kichijiro. At the start the former is a brave and courageous priest and the latter is a DirtyCoward apostate penitent [[spoiler:who betrays him repeatedly. Rodrigues frequently feels that his duty to pardon Kichijiro repeatedly is insane, yet in the end after he has apostatized, it is Kichijiro [[RestoredMyFaithInHumanity who restores Rodrigues']] (now hidden) faith by asking for confession, and on account of the fact that he's more inept at hiding crucifixes than the apostate Rodrigues, he ends up attaining martyrdom while Rodrigues dies as an apostate sellout. In effect, the seeming Judas becomes a Christ-figure while the man who starts out wanting to be Jesus, and resembling him, ends up becoming Judas]].

* ''Film/{{Thoroughbreds}}'': Former best friends Lily and Amanda. Lily is an apparently extremely empathic and kind, albeit image-conscious, teenage girl who is thrown into a tailspin when her bullying stepfather Mark plans to send her away to a bad boarding-school. Amanda is a resolute underachiever and a sociopath with a bad reputation and no feelings who is awaiting trial for animal cruelty. However, as the film progresses, Amanda learns that Lily is far from perfect - she got thrown out of school for plagiarism and is lying about her prestigious internship. While Amanda is guilty of animal cruelty, it actually resulted from a botched attempt to [[MercyKill euthanize]] her horse. Finally, Lily tells Amanda that she doesn't think her life is worth living since she doesn't have emotions, roofies her, and then brutally murders Mark and frames her for it. Lily also gets away with everything and inherits Mark's vast fortune, but emerges from the experience icy-cold. Amanda, meanwhile, goes to a psychiatric hospital where she genuinely enjoys herself and is shown reminiscing with genuine happiness about her and Lily's past as kids.

* In ''Film/WhatAboutBob'', Bob Wiley starts off all-but-paralyzed by his various neuroses, while Dr. Leo Marvin is a psychiatrist who's just published a best-selling self-help book. Bob's interactions with the Marvin family helps him overcome his fears and learn to interact with normal society--eventually marrying Leo's sister, becoming a psychiatrist himself, and authoring his own book. Leo, meanwhile, becomes increasingly irritated and unhinged in response to Bob (in part because he feared that Bob was replacing him in his family's affections) and ends up catatonic. Though seeing Bob's and his sister's wedding apparently cures him.

* When ''Literature/AnansiBoys'' starts, Fat Charlie and Spider are PolarOppositeTwins; Charlie is a mundane, responsible, dull ButtMonkey -- while Spider is a RealityWarper confident carefree party animal who is everything Charlie never had the chance to be and more (To the point that [[spoiler: Spider isn't actually Fat Charlie's brother, but [[LiteralSplitPersonality his magical trickster side literally severed out of him]]]]. And while [[NonIndicativeName Fat Charlie isn't actually fat]], he is kind of soft, and Spider is slimmer than he is. As the story goes, Charlie becomes more confident and bold and more in-touch with his half-god side -- while Spider learns about responsibility and caring for others and gets to experience being basically powerless for the first time in his life. By the end of the story they are on more-or-less equal footing, but with Charlie being the more confident twin and the more powerful RealityWarper (due to his affinity to MagicMusic). By the end, Spider settles down and starts running a restaurant, growing fatter in the process. While Charlie becomes a singer and grows thinner. A case of Hourglass Plot where although the characters still switch places, their situation is less extreme compared to the initial one.

* In ''Literature/BestServedCold'', Monza is introduced as a cruel and amoral borderline VillainProtagonist and in pursuing revenge on the men who betrayed her and killed her brother, enlists the help of BarbarianHero Shivers who had left his home in the North as part of a quest to leave his old life behind and become a better man. Initially, Monza belittles Shivers' scruples and acts as TheCorrupter, but as the story progresses, Monza starts to feel guilt and flashbacks reveal that she isn't/wasn't such a bad person in the first place, while at the same time, Shivers increasingly loses interest in reform and his status as TokenGoodTeammate is increasingly called into question. This comes to a head after the two are captured and torturers [[EyeScream burn out Shivers' eye]]. Ultimately, Shivers ends up as a cruel BloodKnight who revels in violence, and betrays Monza, whereas Monza ends up as a hard but fair ruler who spares Shivers because of deep regret of her earlier contempt toward his scruples, which she now embraces.

* Used light-heartedly in the A.A. Milne poem "Twice Times". There are two little bears, a bad one and a good one..."And then quite suddenly (just like Us)/One got Better and the Other got Wuss." Milne then reveals that he's using this as an allegory, since he just realized that his son has finally learned all his times tables, while he's getting so old that he can no longer remember where he put anything.

** Since the entire show follows two different timelines at once, with the first one starting [[HowWeGotHere where the other is going to end]], Oliver manages to have one of these ''with himsef''. In the current timeline, we see him grow from a [[NinetiesAntiHero merciless, homicidal vigilante]] to a [[TheCape true hero.]] Meanwhile, in the flashback timeline, we see him gradually change from an amiable UpperClassTwit into a [[ForegoneConclusion merciless, homicidal vigilante.]]
** The Lance sisters are a straighter example. In the flashbacks, Sara was a HardDrinkingPartyGirl having an affair with her sister's boyfriend, leading to her supposed death in the ''Queen Gambit'''s sinking, while Laurel starts the series as a responsible district attorney and TeamMom who helped her family through their grief. By Season 2, Sara came back as a trained assassin and reunites with her family, while Laurel becomes addicted to alcohol and drugs, gets fired from her job, initially refused to reconcile with Sara and [[NeverMyFault starts blaming everyone else for her problems.]] When Sara gets KilledOffForReal in Season 3, Laurel becomes even more reckless trying to be a vigilante herself to honor her sister's memory. After Sara came BackFromTheDead in Season 4 thanks to the Lazarus Pit, [[spoiler:Laurel is tragically killed by [[BigBad Damien Dahrk]] months later, leaving Sara to mourn her sister.]]
* The Narn and the Centauri in ''Series/BabylonFive'' are caught in an apparently endless cycle of invasion, occupation, liberation and revenge. G'Kar starts out as the arrogant jerk seeking power and advancement while Londo is humbled and accepting of his position in life and the lack of any real power. A couple seasons later G'Kar is humbled and powerless while Londo has become one of the most powerful men in the Centauri Empire with the arrogance to match it. By the end of the series they start flipping again though they lose their arrogance for good.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Kim and Jimmy undergo this in the Season 4 and 5 finales. In Season 4, Kim is quietly shocked and horrified when Jimmy decides to legally adopt the title "Saul Goodman" while practicing law (Saul Goodman being his psuedonym to safeguard his identity in scams), with Jimmy doing the finger gun pose. In the finale of Season 5, [[spoiler:Kim proposes a scheme to defraud Howard (which is very unlike how we saw her earlier) with Jimmy even trying to dissuade her from following through, leaving him quietly shocked and horrified, complete with Kim doing the finger gun pose.]]

* In ''Series/{{Carnivale}}'' Brother Justin is a preacher who slowly turns to the darkside upon the realization that he is TheAntiChrist, and also suffers from an unfortunate case of BadPowersBadPeople. Ben, an escaped criminal on the lam from the law, makes a parallel journey as he comes into his own powers as the Messiah.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Rachel and Monica. In the series' back story, Rachel was a RichBitch and engaged to marry an equally wealthy guy, while Monica was a FormerlyFat poorly-paid assistant chef who thought she'd die alone. During the series Rachel breaks off her engagement, works as a waitress and has a lot of disastrous boyfriends, while Monica works her way up the chef ranks -- despite a rough, unemployed patch in the middle -- and builds a stable, fulfilling relationship. By Season 9, Rachel is a single mother, working a good but not exceptional fashion job and has a series of failed relationships (and a marriage) under her belt. Monica is an Executive Chef at one of New York's most prestigious restaurants and is HappilyMarried to her best friend. Things do improve for Rachel by the end of the series, but the contrast is still there.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Tyrion Lannister, the man described by his own father as the "least of the Lannisters", ends up becoming the most universally liked of the family by the time of Season 7, the only one liked by the rival factions of House Targaryen and House Stark, and acts in the series finale in the Dragonpit Summit as the linchpin of Westeros.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' played this with Rory and Jess. In early seasons, Rory is a hardworking, honours student, bound for an Ivy League, aiming to pursue journalism and the golden child of her family, while Jess is a high school drop out with zero life ambitions, his mom kicked him out and he's at odds with his uncle. Come Season 6, Rory has dropped out of college, abandoned her career dreams, and is estranged from her mother, while Jess is a successful author, runs a publishing house with friends, and is closer to his uncle than ever before. Luckily though, Jess's transformation is exactly what Rory needs to get her life together.
* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Between Corlys Velaryon and his wife Rhaenys. For much of the first season, Corlys was the ambitious one who wanted to achieve high positions at court and put his heirs on the Iron Throne, while Rhaenys was more reluctant. By the time of this season finale, Corlys's brush with death has made him change his tune: he wishes to declare neutrality so he and Rhaenys can retire in peace. Meanwhile Rhaenys, who was previously distrustful of Rhaenyra and her obviously illegitimate "Velaryon" sons, respects Rhaenyra's conduct in the wake of Viserys's death (especially compared to the Hightowers, who immediately imprisoned Rhaenys and moved to overturn the succession) and encourages Corlys to protect their grandchildren. [[spoiler:The two jointly declare their support for Rhaenyra.]]

* Over the course of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', Guinevere and Morgana swap places. Gwen is [[ShrinkingViolet shy serving girl]] whilst Morgana is the confident ward of the king. Gwen dislikes Prince Arthur, whilst [[SlapSlapKiss Morgana flirts with him]]. Fastforward four seasons and Guinevere is TheHighQueen of Camelot, married to Myth/KingArthur, whilst Morgana is living in a hovel, stewing in bitterness and hate for her former family.
* ''Series/MrRobot'': Elliot Alderson and Dominique Dipierro. Both were mentally ill people who suffered from social anxiety and depression and had difficulty developing relationships, but Elliot is a hacker who kickstarted 5/9 and struggled with his mental disorders while Dominique is an FBI agent who is determined to take down fsociety and the Dark Army despite her depression. [[spoiler: Come Season 3, Dominique ends up getting forced into becoming a mole for the Dark Army and is headed towards a downward spiral and Elliot becomes determined in taking them down.]]

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The penultimate episode of the television series, "Principal For A Day", has Miss Brooks appointed principal and Mr. Conklin become a History (not English) teacher. Because StatusQuoIsGod, their respective positions are restored at the end. Neither seem to learn much from the episode. Miss Brooks enjoys herself thoroughly, and other than adding feminine touches to her office and spending some quality time with [[LoveInterest Mr. Boynton]] doesn't abuse her power. Mr. Conklin's temporary humility, and appreciativeness to Miss Brooks' giving him the teaching position, is cast off as soon as he becomes principal again. It helps that Mr. Conklin is a pompous JerkWithAHeartOfGold than an outright villain.

* ''Series/ShadowAndBone'': Nina and Matthias's subplot. They meet aboard a ship where Matthias's people have taken Nina captive; Nina is justifiably spiteful towards him. When the ship capsizes in a storm the two are thrown together by a need to survive and develop feelings for each other. However, at the end, [[spoiler:Nina has claimed that Matthias is a slaver to stop him from being executed by Grisha, and so the two end up on a ship bound for Ketterdam. This time however, it is Nina on the other side of the bars, and Matthias reacts with hatred and anger when he sees her, believing that none of their interactions were real.]]

** Lex and Lionel Luthor. At the beginning of the series, Lex was Clark's friend and ally and Lionel was the MagnificentBastard. Overtime, Lex begins a descent as Lionel redeems himself.

** At the start of the series Sam has ''almost'' managed to [[RefusalOfTheCall escape]] his hunter upbringing in favour of a [[IJustWantToBeNormal normal life]], when he's dragged back to the hunt by Dean, who idolises [[WellDoneSonGuy their father]] and argues that a normal life is for chumps. Over the course of the first five seasons (which is to say, the arc of the show as originally plotted), Sam gets increasingly militant in the fight against evil, while Dean gets increasingly heartsick and tired of the whole thing. The SeriesFauxnale at the end of Season 5 sees [[spoiler:Sam is giving up not just his life but his eternal afterlife to put Lucifer back in his cage and averting the apocalypse, and Dean retiring to a peaceful life with his girlfriend and her son.]] Since the series didn't end there, [[BackFromTheDead neither of those things]] [[TenMinuteRetirement lasted for very long,]] and by season eight the brothers had arguably switched places ''again'', but that's another story.

* ''Series/WhyWomenKill'' has this in spades with the characters of Rita and Alma. [[spoiler: At the start of season 2, Rita is an immoral VillainWithBadPublicity who has good looks, money and shallow but numerous friendships with rich socialites like herself. She does wish her rich, emotionally abusive husband would die so she could move with her gigolo, whom she worries may not truly love her. Meanwhile, Alma is a dutiful and frumpy middle-class housewife who lives a life of boring drudgery but her husband and daughter love her deeply and she quickly makes a real friend when she tries to get out. By episode 9, Rita is TheScapegoat for the murder of Rita's husband and revealed her affair, meaning she's ostarcised by all and she loses her money, status, {{FalseFriend}}s and fancy clothes. However, Rita has changed worldview and both her gigolo and her maid/cousin have proven that they actually love her, which she now values and wants to reciprocate. Even if that realisation might have come to late and she may lose them both, she at least has solid moral basis on which to rebuild her life. Meanwhile, Alma has gotten everything Rita once had. At the cost of her OnlyFriend, her husband and now either her daughter or her daughter's marriage. And the cops are onto her.]]

* This is a big part of the plot of Shaw's ''Theatre/TheDevilsDisciple''. Richard Dudgeon is introduced as a n'er-do-well who has his opposite in the Rev. Anthony Andersen, a philanthropic clergyman. The plot is set in motion when British soldiers come to arrest Andersen for treason and Dudgeon takes his place. Ultimately, Dudgeon's nobility and Andersen's weakness are revealed, and at the end of the story, Dudgeon is established as heroic (and much less seedy than he initially appeared), and Andersen has renounced religion and become a BloodKnight revolutionary. The trope is exaggerated, as Andersen asserts that since he has taken Dudgeon's place, Dudgeon must become a clergyman and take-up with Anderson's wife.

* The play ''Theatre/PacificOvertures'' has two friends, one a samurai and the other a peasant with knowledge of the West, who wind up exchanging places. The samurai is made an ambassador of sorts with the foreign powers as Japan is forcibly opened to trade, and he becomes increasingly westernized in his dress and actions. Meanwhile the peasant, angry at the way Western powers are exploiting Japan, becomes a hardcore anti-West reactionary after being promoted to the samurai class. Tragedy ensues.
* In Harold Pinter's "A Slight Ache" a middle-class couple invite a tramp into their home; by the end of the play, the husband and the tramp have exchanged places.
* Alma Winemiller and John Buchanan Jr., two main characters of ''Summer and Smoke'' by Creator/TennesseeWilliams, swap their views on sexual freedom. Prim and neurotic minister's daughter Alma ends up desperately propositioning to the young doctor John, with who she's been in love since childhood, but he, having grown out of his hedonistic ways, rejects her. At the end of the play he's engaged to Alma's young pupil and she's about to go to the seedy casino with a traveling salesman that she just met.
* In Shakespeare's ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', Antonio saved Sebastian's life after a horrific storm, when they were both mired in a strange country. Antonio grew very close to Sebastian, and even got into a duel in Sebastian's defense. When Antonio was placed under arrest by Orsino, his old rival, he expected that Sebastian would help him out -- only for Sebastian to act like he's never met Antonio before. Antonio is heartbroken -- but [[spoiler: fortunately he had really met Sebastian's HalfIdenticalTwin, and the ''real'' Sebastian is perfectly happy to help Antonio once he finds him again.]]

** Delita and Ramza in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', who serve as foils to each other throughout most of the game. By the end of the story, [[spoiler: Ramza has abandoned his ties to the nobility entirely, while Delita has assumed the highest position of power within the aristocracy.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII''. [[spoiler: The game opens with Abby brutally murdering Joel while a helpless Ellie begs for her to stop. Then, over the course of the story, Ellie's quest for vengeance results in death and destruction, while Abby, realizing that her revenge didn't change anything, gradually redeems herself through helping Yara and Lev. By the time we reach the climax of the story, both women have changed dramatically. Abby no longer wants to fight, and Ellie has to ''threaten to kill a child'' to coax her into doing so.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' features one of these; a rich man and a very poor man both have their daughters kidnapped, and the circumstances surrounding their return swaps them over. When you first arrive on Windfall Island, Mila's father is a snooty collector of expensive vases who resides in an opulent mansion, while Maggie's father is a timid beggar who pleads for anyone passing by to rescue his daughter. When the pirates return the girls, they extort Mila's father out of his fortune, leaving the newly-reunited family destitute and living on the street; the experience humbles Mila's father and teaches him that there are more important things than money. Meanwhile, Maggie's father manages to make a killing off the rare Skull Necklaces that Maggie brought back with her, allowing them to move into the newly-vacated mansion; in the process, he becomes an arrogant snob who turns his nose up at everyone else and throws temper tantrums when the postman tries to deliver mail to his house.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', a pair of {{housewife}} [=NPCs=] in the Shibuya subway station undergo this change over the course of the game. The Arrogant Housewife's husband is fairly successful compared to the Modest Housewife's husband, so the former loves rubbing that fact in the latter's face. However, over the course of the game, the Modest Housewife's fortune's improve until she's renamed the Not-So-Modest Housewife, while the Arrogant Housewife's husband eventually loses his job. By the end of the game, the now Not-So-Arrogant Housewife announces that she's moving in with her parents and tries to maintain her dignity, while the Not-So-Modest Housewife is pleased with herself.

* In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', this happens with Nick and Ki when it comes to trusting others after the events of ''Surreptitious Machinations'', in which Trudy manipulates Nick into helping her in her attempt to take over the world, but is foiled when Ki helps Nick see the truth. Some time later, a woman named Trish(or rather, her EvilCounterpart from a parallel universe) tries to seduce Nick, and when he and Ki later meet up with the real Trish, the fake Trish tries to kill her and claims that she has multiple personality disorder. Nick, having come to regret his gullibility, is now the one who's [[ProperlyParanoid rightfully suspicious of Trish]]. Ki, however, has come to realize the value of trusting others after realizing that Trudy isn't entirely bad (since she couldn't bring herself to kill Nick), and decides to give Trish a chance.

** Jayce with Heimerdinger and Victor in season 1. In Act 1, after an explosion at his lab and the reveal of his unauthorized use of magic stones, Jayce loses everything by orders of the Piltover council, lead by Heimerdinger. In despair, he attempts suicide near the river border between Piltover and Zaun, before being stopped by Victor, who tells him he was right and convinces him to prove it by going behind the council's back, renewing his hope. Come Act III and Jayce is now leading the council, having personally ousted Heimerdinger, who loses everything but finds new purpose after meeting Ekko on the Piltover and Zaun river border. At same time, Victor, wracked with guilt after his unauthorized experiment had tragic consequences, attempts to kill himself in the exact same spot Jayce once tried, before being stopped by Jayce himself, who admits Victor was right and convinces him to fix the problems they face by working with the Council.

** This happens to Zuko and Azula as well. Azula had always been in her father's favor; a remorseless, sadistic killing machine, expert chessmaster, and flawless fire-bender while Zuko was TheUnfavorite NobleDemon whose conscience made him too much of an outcast in the family. Zuko is eventually exiled from the Fire Nation and left longing for his father's acceptance, turning into an IneffectualSympatheticVillain after his many failures to catch Aang. [[spoiler: Zuko's character development helps him get over his torment over being neglected by his father, and an expert in fire-bending, and with Aang's help he winds up taking the throne to end the war and become a celebrated leader. Azula, meanwhile, is brushed off by her father and tossed aside when he begins his ploy for global conquest, and after being confronted by her deeply repressed conscience, manifesting as a hallucination of her mother, Azula regresses into a pitiful, insane child. She's eventually confined to a madhouse, tormented by her deeply delusional belief that her mother never loved her as much as Zuko. Even when her mother later apologizes for abandoning her children, Azula still refuses to acknowledge her mother's love for her.]]
** Aang and Zuko are this to the previous Avatar (and one of Zuko's great grandfathers), Roku, and the Fire Lord (another one of Zuko's great grandfathers), Sozin, who started the 100 year war and perpetrated the Airbender genocide. As boys Roku and Sozin [[WeUsedToBeFriends were best friends]] but began drifting apart when Roku got back home from a decade spent mastering the other elements and Sozin became the Fire Lord. At Roku's wedding reception, Sozin (the best man) pulled him aside and wanted him to be his partner in imperialism. Roku told him no and to never bring it up ever again. Sozin started going behind his back and when Roku found out, he kicked Sozin's ass but told him he'd spare him on account of their past friendship. From that point on they were enemies. [[spoiler:It culminated with Sozin [[MurderByInaction leaving Roku to the mercy of an erupting volcano]] because with Roku out of the way, he'd be able to TakeOverTheWorld. He committed the genocide about twelve years later. Aang and Zuko started off as enemies or as Uncle Iroh puts it, "their relationship started off a little rocky" who grew to be best friends who together led the world into the more peaceful era of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. ]]

* Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow share one in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades''. After Snake Eyes is accused of poisoning Hard Master, Snake Eyes is forced to flee his family with the Arashikage and life as a ronin which sets him on the path of joining the Joes. Meanwhile, Storm Shadow becomes de facto leader of the clan with his uncle's death. Towards the end of the series, he realizes that he was indirectly responsible for Hard Master's death and exiles himself from the clan, while Snake Eyes is absolved and moves on with his new adopted family.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In Episode 209, Stumpy is saddled with watching [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling his little sister Nombril]] for the day. [[AttentionWhore Nombril]] keeps trying to get his attention with exaggerated gestures while Stumpy, who is fed up of Nombril constantly interfering with his activities, ignores her and pretends he doesn't even know who she is. Later in the episode, Stumpy annoys Nombril, causing her to start ignoring him. The episode ends with Stumpy desperately trying to get Nombril's attention while she gives him the cold shoulder, saying she doesn't talk to "strangers".
* ''WesternAnimation/KidCosmic'': "Kid Cosmic and the Epic Fail" and "Kid Cosmic and the Soul Kroshing Loss" are two separate episodes that have parallel plots. [[spoiler:Kid/Jo both leave their team behind, believing that they can fight the ArcVillain without help from their friends. They take all the Cosmic Stones they have to fight the bad guy, but in the end they suffer a crushing defeat and end up losing all the stones by the end of it.]]

** The short "WesternAnimation/TreeForTwo" begins with BullyBulldog Spike being fawned over by smaller dog Chester. The two encounter Sylvester and chase him, cornering him in an alley. Unfortunately, an escaped panther is hiding there, and whenever Spike tries to get Sylvester, the panther attacks him. Neither Spike nor Chester are aware of the panther, so Spike thinks it was Sylvester who beat him, while Chester, who is able to beat Sylvester easily, doesn't understand why his hero can be defeated by a puny cat. By the end of the cartoon their roles have been reversed, with Chester as the tough guy and Spike as the adulating {{fanboy}}.

** During the 3 years of the Clone Wars, Anakin's Padawan, Ashoka Tano, is hot blooded and impulsive, while Luminara Unduli's Padawan, Bariss Offee, is calm, collected, and quiet, studying the whole Geonosian hive to help the Republic triumph at the Second Battle of Geonosis by destroying the reactivated droid factory. By the 3rd and final year of the war, however, Ashoka is the enlightened and wisened one, due to learning the conflict isn't always black and white, even seeing her future self during her, Anakin, and Obi-Wan's time on Mortis, Bariss has become the hot blooded and violent Padawan, haven fallen to the Dark Side and bombed the Jedi Temple in a misguided plan to convince the public that the Jedi were an army fighting for the Dark Side, while framing Ashoka in the process.
** This also applies to the Clones as well, most prominent in Rex and Jesse of the 501st Legion. Rex is initially a hard wired soldier loyal to the Republic, always following orders and is initially dismissive of clones that desert the war effort or don't follow orders, but has a good bond with Anakin and Ashoka. Jesse is also initially a soldier who's cynical of the Republic but is kind, has a sense of humor, and is willing to bend the rules if it benefits the Republic in the long run. However, as the war goes on, Rex eventually questions if winning the Clone Wars is really worth it, and has his loyalty shaken when Pong Krell tricks the 501st Legion and the 212th Attack Battalion fight each other, Ashoka being framed by Bariss and being chased by the Coruscant Guard on Commander Fox's orders, and Fives, a fellow 501st clone soldier, gunned down by Fox because he was squealing about the Clones' true purpose that would've derailed the war effort, and upon being told to execute Order 66, realized Five was telling the truth and tells Ashoka to find him to help free him from his inhibitor chip. By contrast, Jesse goes through the same stuff Rex went through in the pilot movie during the Siege of Mandalore, and during Order 66, his inhibitor chip activates and he attempts to kill Rex when the former is freed from his own chip as well as Ashoka, despite the latter not being a Jedi.

** The [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E15KeystoneMotel first time]] we see Ruby and Sapphire break apart from Garnet, Ruby was livid and Sapphire was calm when dealing with Pearl lying to them about fusion, because Sapphire was able to see the outcome with her future vision that time. However, [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E19NowWereOnlyFallingApart after]] they discover [[spoiler:Rose was Pink Diamond the whole time]], they break apart again, and Sapphire, unlike Ruby, is absolutely ''livid'' that [[spoiler:"Rose" lied to them for millennia,]] to the point where she runs away in tears.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Day", Wander is asleep and Sylvia has to find a way to escape Lord Hater and his {{Mooks}} while also keeping Wander asleep. This causes Sylvia to feel tired and needing some much needed rest, while Wander has a lot of energy after being asleep, leading into the events of "The Night", where Sylvia is asleep and Wander has to make sure she stays asleep, first from mundane things such as crickets to three of Lord Hater's Mooks trying to capture the two (who are also kind enough to keep Sylvia asleep). The first scene of each segment also serves as the last scene of the opposite.

* ''Fanfic/TruthAndConsequences'': At the start of the series, Ladybug and Chat Noir [[TheResenter resent each other]] for their places in the status quo: Ladybug was forced to bear TheChainsOfCommanding while Chat Noir often proved to be TheLoad, due to Master Fu focusing primarily on training her as his successor. This led to her struggling under the weight of her responsibilities while Chat Noir was regarded by Paris as a NoRespectGuy. By the time of the sequel, ''Mending Warped Designs'', their positions have swapped: Marinette has spent three years [[IJustWantToBeNormal living the normal life]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor she longed for]], and returns to find she can't quite fit back into the Miraculous Team, LockedOutOfTheLoop and left on the fringes. Meanwhile, Adrien has earned the regard of Paris as one of its most experienced heroes, but [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest his experiences]] have left him bitter and [[IWorkAlone distancing himself]] from his would-be teammates.

** At the start of the series, protagonist Izuku Midoriya is a massive case of TheChewToy who gets mocked by everyone for his dream of attending [[HeroAcademy U.A.]], because he [[MuggleBornOfMages doesn't have a Quirk]]; meanwhile, his [[WeUsedToBeFriends ex-friend]]/[[TheBully bully]] Bakugo has [[StuffBlowingUp a powerful Quirk]] and is praised by all. When they actually do get into U.A., however, Izuku has [[SuperEmpowering gained a Quirk]] and makes a ton of friends for his kind personality, determination, and strategic mindset. Meanwhile, everyone sees [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Bakugo in a very mixed light at best]], and at his worst as an antisocial JerkAss, with his Quirk [[NormalFishInATinyPond being seen as only mildly impressive]] amongst the equally impressive quirks of his classmates.

** At the start of the series, protagonist Izuku Midoriya is a massive case of TheChewToy who gets mocked by everyone for his dream of attending [[SuperheroSchool U.A.]], because he [[MuggleBornOfMages doesn't have a Quirk]]; meanwhile, his [[WeUsedToBeFriends ex-friend]]/[[TheBully bully]] Bakugo has [[StuffBlowingUp a powerful Quirk]] and is praised by all. When they actually do get into U.A., however, Izuku has [[SuperEmpowering gained a Quirk]] and makes a ton of friends for his kind personality, determination, and strategic mindset. Meanwhile, everyone sees [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Bakugo in a very mixed light at best]], and at his worst as an antisocial JerkAss, with his Quirk [[NormalFishInATinyPond being seen as only mildly impressive]] amongst the equally impressive quirks of his classmates.