History ThenLetMeBeEvil / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries:'' [[BaseBreakingCharacter Fans are divided]] on how sympathetic [[spoiler:Varian]] really is for his FaceHeelTurn, but it is clear that he at least sees himself this way.

* While [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Viren]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' was probably never a truly good and honorable person, there was no reason to see him as a villain. But [[DesignatedHero Harrow]], unwilling to take responsibility for his own actions, berates and humiliates Viren, forcing him to kneel before him. Considering that for years Viren did whatever it took to mitigate the damage of Harrow's actions, and they were both old friends even, this act of Harrow's is particularly repugnant. So you can almost understand Viren's fall to the dark side. And quite a few viewers weren't too upset that Harrow [[AssholeVictim was killed by elven assassins]].

* Barely averted in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''. After the Gargoyles heroically fought to protect Castle Wyvern and the refugees inside from the barbarian hordes, Lexington, Brooklyn, and Broadway are treated with disdain and called monsters by the very people they risked their lives to protect. They conclude that if the humans are going to treat them as monsters, "Then perhaps we'd better live up to the name", and they begin to advance menacingly on the refugees. Luckily Goliath stops them before they do...whatever terrible thing they were planning to do.
** Most likely a good-natured spooking. But you know, slippery slope and all that. A better example would be Demona: Humans not giving the clan respect? Horrific past experience [[spoiler:with your very evil future self]] getting you down? Kill 'em all!!

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Wasp was originally an Autobot-in-training until Bumblebee accidentally had him arrested for being mistaken as a Decepticon spy, while letting the real spy, [[spoiler: Longarm Prime]](Shockwave's alter-ego) escape. As a result, Wasp vows revenge on Bumblebee and plots to kill him by becoming a Decepticon himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen97'': Throughout the first season, Magneto made an honest attempt to honor Professor Xavier's last request and work towards a world in which humans and mutants can peacefully co-exist: even if humanity could not accept humankind, Magneto would at least accept them respecting their right to live seperately in their own nation on Genosha. Then Bastion and Sinister, along with collaborators in world governments, unleash a Tri-Sentinel and the Prime Sentinels on an unsuspecting world, targeting mutants and using "shock and awe" tactics to basically force humanity into a state of apathy, while Magneto is captured and ForcedToWatch as Bastion's manipulation of information turns public opinion against mutants. He finally breaks under the pressure and, after being released by a collaborator who underwent a HeelFaceTurn, immediately flew to the North Pole and unleashed a global {{EMP}}. While this shuts down the Prime Sentinels, it also paralyzes global infrastructure. Wolverine is quick to call this out for what it is: a [[ThisMeansWar declaration of war]].

* The Ice King from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' resorts to this at times when his more diplomatic attempts backfire. Then again, considering he is often still trying to kidnap princesses...

** There's some implication that Cartman himself is a case of this. In "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", the South Park kids start hurling their fat-bashing onto Clyde (since Clyde is apparently the second-fattest kid in town) while Cartman is in prison and Clyde eventually snaps under the abuse to the point where he starts acting like Cartman. Also, Cartman in the first four seasons was no where near as bad as he would be later on, being merely an unpopular (if somewhat spoiled and bratty) kid who was often made fun of for his weight. In fact, Cartman's shift into his current psychopathic self culminated in "Scott Tenorman Must Die", where Scott Tenorman's repeated bullying caused Cartman to resort to murder.

** The poster girl for this trope is undoubtedly [[Characters/MiraculousLadybugChloeBourgeois Chloé Bourgeois]]. While it was already spurred on from being TheFriendNobodyLikes for so long and having an absolute monster of a mother. After numerous attempts to work with Ladybug and even [[spoiler:resisting an akuma]], Ladybug never answers the call and this partially caused Chloe to [[spoiler:commit a [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel Turn]] and work with Hawkmoth]]. It ends up getting her kicked off the team (supposedly) permanently. Many say she's responsible for her own actions, but there's also a fair bunch who blame Ladybug for her [[NiceJobBreakingItHero glaring ineptitude]] in handling the situation. So perhaps her actions [[VillainHasAPoint weren't as unreasonable]] as one would think.

* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', ComicBook/MrFreeze after having a new body constructed for him, decides to make amends for his previous misdeeds all those decades ago. Not many were convinced, and he even set up a charity to help the victims of his past crimes after one of them tried to kill him. Then his body starts failing, and [[spoiler:his doctor/girlfriend decides to dissect him to see what went wrong, because her boss was hoping to use the same technology to make a new body for ''him''. Freeze escapes, and goes back to revenge again, killing his traitorous girlfriend, and planning to blow up the Wayne-Powers compound, threatening to kill hundreds more, with him along with it]]. While in the animated movie ''Sub Zero'', which took place decades earlier, Freeze had finally achieved his goal of saving the life of his wife and seemed to have undergone a HeelFaceTurn as a result of that (he also tells Batman and co. to save some children rather than save him when he is badly injured on an exploding oil rig) in the following series, ''The New Batman Adventures'', his body is falling apart, and he decides that even though his wife is alive and happy, if he can't be happy with her he is going to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery make the lives of everyone in Gotham as miserable as possible]]. It's understandable if Freeze isn't wholly trusted.

* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', ComicBook/MrFreeze after having a new body constructed for him, decides to make amends for his previous misdeeds all those decades ago. Not many were convinced, and he even set up a charity to help the victims of his past crimes after one of them tried to kill him. Then his body starts failing, and [[spoiler:his doctor/girlfriend decides to try and knock him unconscious and use his organs to see what went wrong. Freeze barely survives, and goes back to revenge again, killing his traitorous girlfriend, and planning to blow up the Wayne-Powers compound, threatening to kill hundreds more, with him along with it]]. While in the animated movie ''Sub Zero'', which took place decades earlier, Freeze had finally achieved his goal of saving the life of his wife and seemed to have undergone a HeelFaceTurn as a result of that (he also tells Batman and co. to save some children rather than save him when he is badly injured on an exploding oil rig) in the following series, ''The New Batman Adventures'', his body is falling apart, and he decides that even though his wife is alive and happy, if he can't be happy with her he is going to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery make the lives of everyone in Gotham as miserable as possible]]. It's understandable if Freeze isn't wholly trusted.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', this is ultimately the trigger for Azula's actions throughout the series. She believed that her mother rejected her as a monster and preferred her brother Zuko. So she dedicated herself to becoming DaddysLittleVillain, proving to both her Mother and Zuko that she doesn't need their love, as being feared is the only thing that matters. It backfires on her tragically, resulting in an epic VillainousBreakdown.

** In the episode "Harley's Holiday", former [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]] minion [[VillainousHarlequin Harley Quinn]] passes her competency hearing at Arkham Asylum and vows to live an honest life. Unfortunately, on her first day out, a series of mishaps to her still-healing sanity to snap and push her back toward villainy: "I tried to be good. I really did. But if that's not good enough, fine!" What makes it even worse is that the first incident, which led to all of the others, wasn't even Harley's fault (a sales clerk forgot to remove an anti-shoplifting device from a dress she bought, and the sight of a guard approaching her was enough to trigger a panic attack). Though Batman does bring her back to Arkham, he goes out of his way to keep from harming her, explaining that he [[NotSoDifferentRemark knows what it's like]] to rebuild a life after tragedy. He even gives Harley back her new dress as a peace offering, and she's genuinely touched by his kindness.

* While Viren from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' was probably never a truly good and honorable person, there was no reason to see him as a villain. But [[DesignatedHero Harrow]], unwilling to take responsibility for his own actions, berates and humiliates Viren, forcing him to kneel before him. Considering that for years Viren did whatever it took to mitigate the damage of Harrow's actions, and they were both old friends even, this act of Harrow's is particularly repugnant. So you can almost understand Viren's fall to the dark side. And quite a few viewers weren't too upset that Harrow [[AssholeVictim was killed by elven assassins]].

** In the episode "Brian: Portrait of a Dog", a homeless Brian tries begging a guy for change, but the guy assumes that he is crazy. Brian gets pissed off and shows him just how a crazy dog acts.

** The poster girl for this trope is undoubtedly Chloe Bourgeois. While it was already spurred on from being TheFriendNobodyLikes for so long and having an absolute monster of a mother. After numerous attempts to work with Ladybug and even [[spoiler:resisting an akuma]], Ladybug never answers the call and this partially caused Chloe to [[spoiler:commit a [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel Turn]] and work with Hawkmoth]]. It ends up getting her kicked off the team (supposedly) permanently. Many say she's responsible for her own actions, but there's also a fair bunch who blame Ladybug for her [[NiceJobBreakingItHero glaring ineptitude]] in handling the situation. So perhaps her actions [[VillainHasAPoint weren't as unreasonable]] as one would think.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In the GrandFinale special "Last Day of Summer", Vanessa discusses this trope to identify why Doof keeps claiming he's evil. Specifically, she says that he only feels he needs to be evil because of [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood his extensive line of emotionally-scarring backstories]] making him feel he should, rather than a genuine desire to be. [[spoiler:She's right, and Doof makes a HeelFaceTurn.]]

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] on ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' with the character [[spoiler:Lapis Lazuli]]. She is a refugee from the Gem race's Homeworld who has befriended Steven on Earth, but is horrified of being associated with Earth's own Gems, the show's heroes, [[NeverBeHurtAgain lest she be caught up in another war]]. Near the end of Season 5, she finally [[spoiler:pulls off a BigDamnHeroes moment against [[BigBadDuumvirate Blue and Yellow Diamond]]]], reasoning that if Homeworld will punish her like a Crystal Gem anyway, she may as well embrace ThePowerOfFriendship.

-->"They want '[[DarkerAndEdgier grim and gritty]]', huh? ''Happy to play the part...''" ''(EvilLaugh)''

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': "Operation S.L.U.M.B.E.R."'s DownerEnding is done via Numbuh 12 betraying the others, saying that she’s about to turn 13 and knew that she’d end up allying with the teens sooner or later. So she decided to join a little sooner, stealing the Code Module and making an escape with the other teens.

* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', ComicBook/MrFreeze after having a new body constructed for him, decides to make amends for his previous misdeeds all those decades ago. Not many were convinced, and he even set up a charity to help the victims of his past crimes after one of them tried to kill him. Then his body starts failing, and [[spoiler:his doctor/girlfriend decides to try and knock him unconscious and use his organs to see what went wrong. Freeze barely survives, and goes back to revenge again, killing his traitorous girlfriend, and planning to blow up the Wayne-Powers compound, threatening to kill hundreds more, with him along with it]]. While in the animated movie ''Sub Zero'', which took place decades earlier, Freeze had finally achieved his goal of saving the life of his wife and seemed to have undergone a HeelFaceTurn as a result of that (he also tells Batman and co. to save some children rather than save him when he is badly injured on an exploding oil rig) in the following series, ''The New Batman Adventures'', his body is falling apart, and he decides that even though his wife is alive and happy, if he can't be happy with her he is going to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery make the lives of everyone in Gotham as miserable as possible]], culminating in a KillEmAll plot. It's understandable if Freeze isn't wholly trusted.