Adaptational Nice Guy

aka: Adaptational Nice Girl

Scorpia: Killing you with hate in the 80s, killing you with kindness in the '10s.

This trope is when a character is made nicer (or at least a bit more sympathetic) in an adaptation than they were in the source material. For instance, a character who is a Jerkass in the source material becomes a Jerk with a Heart of Gold or even a Nice Guy in the adaptation of said material.

While there may be some overlap with Adaptational Heroism, the key difference is that the character doesn't necessarily become heroic if they were villainous or neutral in the source material, and doesn't make them more heroic if they were heroic in the first place. Characters affected by this trope will generally stay on their respective alignments (whether good, evil or neutral), but they will become a bit more approachable in the adaptation.

Adaptational Sympathy, in which a villainous or disliked character is given a sympathetic backstory, may also overlap with this trope. One key difference, however, is that the character in question may not necessarily act nicer or behave in a more friendly manner in the new adaptation. They simply have more of a sympathetic Freudian Excuse backstory for their acts, without any of their sharp edges necessarily being softened. In which case the audience will have more of an understanding of why they're so hardened or evil in the present day.

Its inverse is Adaptational Jerkass.

A subtrope of Adaptation Personality Change. Compare Took a Level in Kindness (which is basically what this trope does to a character in an adaptation), Kinder and Cleaner (which this trope applies to a medium or a whole cast), and by extension contrast Took a Level in Jerkass.

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Examples:

• Anime & Manga
• Fan Works
• Films -- Live Action

Multiple Media

• Sherlock Holmes across the majority of media receives a large amount of this. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories (especially earlier ones) Holmes was characterised by his Nominal Hero tendencies and Skewed Priorities to wit solving crimes and exercising his brain with deductive reasoning is what he cares about, actual justice and safeguarding innocent lives is much further down the list of his concerns. He’s also all too happy to get as high as kite in opium when he is bored and there’s no immediate case to be solved — all of which Watson calls him out on. Even Conan Doyle got sick of Holmes’s personality flaws. The other books not written by Arthur Conan Doyle, the stage plays, radio serials, television shows, movies, comics, anime (including Lupin III) and numerous video games all generally soften Sherlock into a more Rounded Character with his genuine affection for Watson and other people from the books getting played up as well as his more outwardly heroic qualities. Even the Darker and Edgier modern day series which depicts all Holmes’ sociopathic flaws and gives him Adaptational Jerkass in how he treats Mrs Hudson and others, still regardless highlights his better nature more frequently than the original stories do.
• In Disney's Peter Pan movie, Tinker Bell is overly jealous about Peter and has a temper. To make her a more likable and more rounded protagonist, in the sequel series Disney Fairies she is a sweet Plucky Girl instead.
• Sun Wukong the Monkey King has gotten this in numerous adaptations of Journey to the West, especially more modern depictions influenced by Sun Wukong’s expies (most famously Son Goku). In the original novel, Wukong was a mix between an Awesome Ego Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy and The Trickster, being immensely full of himself and more than happy to give grief to the Jade Emperor, wage war on the heavens, and even disrespect Buddha himself before getting royally put in his place. Even when in Tang Sanzang’s servitude Sun Wukong killed wantonly when not in his master’s presence. Adaptations such as the 1996 and 2002 Hong Kong shows, Monkey, The Monkey Goes West, A Chinese Odyssey, The Forbidden Kingdom, Monkey King: Hero Is Back and Monkie Kid all soften Wukong into a merciful Boisterous Bruiser Jerk with a Heart of Gold, with some adaptations outright making him The Cape.
• Long John Silver of Treasure Island fame gets this in pretty every adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s work. In the original novel Silver though a Affably Evil Noble Demon pirate with genuinely admirable traits (like having a coloured wife in the 18th century England) is still overall a lying Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Opportunistic Bastard who kills ruthlessly and mainly used Jim Hawkins as a means to an end (even if he did respect the kid). In Treasure Island (1934), Treasure Island (1950), Treasure Island (1972), Treasure Island (1990), Muppet Treasure Island Treasure Island (1999) and Treasure Planet Silver’s likeable qualities played up to the hilt. In particular the vast majority of adaptations empathise Silver’s Parental Substitute relationship with Jim, often to incredibly heartwarming levels.
• Spider-Man:
  • In most adaptations, Peter Parker is depicted as being a much nicer person from the beginning. In the original Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run, it was quite evident that Peter was more of a typical, irritable teenager. A good guy, yes, but not an ideally pure hero. This gave a lot more weight to Peter's decision to become a hero instead of using his powers to make money after his selfishness cost him his uncle. This trope has had such an impact on how audiences view Peter, that any adaptation that deviates even slightly from it will be met with considerable dislike. A good example would be The Amazing Spider-Man which features a scene in which Peter humiliates Flash Thompson in a basketball match and accidentally breaks the net in the process.
  • Mary Jane Watson didn't start out as a particularly detestable person in the comics but she was originally written as being insensitive and callous (openly flirting with Peter while she was still in a relationship with Harry and mocking Gwen when she showed concern for Peter). These traits are often downplayed or excised completely in adaptations.
  • Gwen Stacy's initial jerkassery in the comics is often left out of adaptations. The Spectacular Spider-Man even turns her into a member of Peter's high school social circle and in The Amazing Spider-Man she is nice to Peter from the get-go.
  • While Eddie Brock is an Anti-Hero on his best days in the comics, he has regardless spent several decades trying to kill or eat Spider-Man. He's also attacked and tormented Mary Jane and Black Cat, and lest we forget eats brains for nourishment. A lot of adaptations such as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man and especially the film Venom tone down Eddie and The Symbiote’s more monstrous moments and overall make him more sympathetic and even heroic.
  • In the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, Aaron Davis, Miles Morales's uncle is introduced as a greedy bastard who only sees his nephew Miles Morales as a means to an end, and dies cursing Miles. With that said, it was a Comic Book Death, and in his second shot at life, Aaron has worked to be a better man, with varying degrees of success. Adaptations have changed this:
    • In Spider-Man: Homecoming, while still a criminal, Aaron genuinely loves Miles and informs Peter of a meeting between the Vulture's gang and Mac Gargan because he didn't want Toomes's weapons on the street where they could hurt Miles.
    • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Aaron similarly loves Miles and he becomes horrified when he realizes he's been trying to murder Miles, resulting in his boss Wilson Fisk fatally shooting him for refusing to kill Miles.
    • In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Aaron genuinely wants to reconnect with Miles and leave behind his criminal past. Every action he made from working with Krieger to locking Miles in a cell was done to prevent his nephew from potentially dying in the crossfires of Krieger and Tinkerer's turf war.
  • In the Ultimate comics, Jefferson Morales, Miles's dad, started off despising anyone with superpowers, only warming up to Miles's Spider-Man some time after learning that he is Miles. Like with Aaron, this has changed in adaptations:
    • In Marvel's Spider-Man, he's supportive of both Peter and Miles right out of the gate, though this later goes to the other side with Adaptational Villainy, as he does gain his counterparts distrust of heroes and even becomes a Composite Character, acting at the series' version of Swarm until he realizes that one of the heroes he's after is Miles — and even then, he's still arguably this as the original Swarm was literally a Nazi.
    • Spider-Man (PS4) not only sees Jeff supportive of Spidey but gladly working with him. It's also worth mentioning that in the PS4 version of the story, Jefferson supplants Peter Parker as the heroic figure who dies tragically and motivates Miles towards heroism.
    • In Into the Spider-Verse, Jefferson's dislike of Spider-Man is only due to the latter being a vigilante who interferes with Jeff's work as a cop, rather than any Fantastic Racism; he clearly feels bad about the death of his universe's Peter; and ends up willing to work with Miles's Spidey at the end.
  • Like the Joker, many versions of Norman Osborn have downplayed his worst aspects. While Osborn only became a particularly evil bastard post-The Clone Saga, even before then, he's had some skeletons in the closest, including framing Mendel Stromm.
    • While an ally of the Kingpin, Spider-Man: The Animated Series depicted Norman as a deeply-regretful absentee father and his transformation into the Green Goblin as part of a victim of circumstance.
    • Likewise, the Spider-Man Trilogy version of Osborn is more sympathetic and is a put-upon man dealing with a general and board who clearly don't like him and at least makes attempts to be a good father. Spider-Man: No Way Home however goes some way to invert this for his return, having Norman be Truer to the Text and committing horrific actions, like killing Aunt May while Peter is Forced to Watch. Although it’s still stated his evil behaviour stems mainly from his unfettered Superpowered Evil Side, whereas in the comics especially modern ones Norman was just a horrible man from the start.
    • While still a Corrupt Corporate Executive (and in this case, a Corrupt Politician as he's mayor), the Osborn of Spider-Man (PS4) not only genuinely cares for Harry, many of his actions both in the backstory and in the present were done to save the lives of first his wife, and later Harry from a disease they suffered.
    • The Osborn of Ultimate Spider-Man starts off as this as he cares about Harry, though he later becomes a case of full-blown Adaptational Heroism as both times he's the Iron Patriot, they're genuine attempts at being The Atoner as opposed to an act as in the comics.
  • Electro gets fair amount of this. In the mainline 616 universe Max Dillon is anything but a Tragic Villain, already a selfish jerkass upon receiving his Shock and Awe powers in the comics, he becomes Drunk with Power and immediately starts robbing banks and he has no qualms working for the likes of Doctor Doom and is happy to ruin Spidey’s life any way he can. He does have a few nicer moments but they are few and far between. Spider-Man: The New Animated Series however started the trend of Electro being treated more sympathetically, as this version of Max was genuinely a nice if shy young man like Peter before getting horrifically bullied and Jumping Off the Slippery Slope upon becoming a electricity Humanoid Abomination. A very similar tragic backstory is used for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with its Electro being a fan of Spidey who goes nuts after a Freak Lab Accident. Spider-Man: No Way Home which is a continuation of the TSM film even gives Max a heartwarming moment with his Peter and a happy ending after he’s defeated, despite being Truer to the Text in the film i.e a power-hungry asshole. The Spectacular Spider-Man also empathises Electro’s sympathetic status with him being genuinely upset at how he’s scaring people, even if overall his character is no less villainous as he is in the comics.
• Doctor Strange, being another Ditko creation, was quite douchey earlier on (even more so than Tony Stark) and unlike Spidey didn't really morph into a much cuddlier and nicer hero later on, with Strange's attitude being firmly Good Is Not Nice and him having a laundry list of mistakes and What the Hell, Hero? moments in the comics, from brainwashing Captain America to assisting God Doom. In the 1978 TV pilot, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, The Superhero Squad Show, Ultimate Spider-Man (2012), Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell and Marvel Future Avengers, he's a pure Big Good Gentleman Wizard who's at worst a little haughty. Played with in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Strange actually gets some Adaptational Jerkass, being far ruder to others than he is in comics, yet overall, he's still portrayed as more benevolent and doesn't perform his morally flawed comic actions. Avengers: Endgame even reveals that he was saving lives in the middle of war-torn New York before he became a magic superhero.
• The Punisher: The Punisher (2004), Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Avengers Assemble, Marvel Anime, The Superhero Squad Show, Lego Marvel Superheroes and the Netflix Marvel Cinematic Universe versions of the Punisher have all downplayed Frank Castle's more sociopathic elements. Most adaptations depict Frank as more heroic and amicable, and the 2004 film sees Frank mostly limit the people he kills to the organization that killed his family while in the Netflix shows he kills a pawn shop owner who sells child porn in Daredevil (2015) and a group of construction workers who wanted to murder a guy by burying him in cement and a group at a chop shop in his own series. The animated Spider-Man and Avengers shows soften him into a Good Is Not Nice Jerk with a Heart of Gold rather than someone barely a handful of Marvel’s heroes can even stomach being around. The animes highlight Frank’s trigger happy ruthless nature but he’s still treated as a hero alongside the other Avengers and is considerably nicer than he is in the comics. In the Lighter and Softer Superhero Squad Show and Lego Marvel Superheroes Punisher is a lighthearted parody of his usual edgy self who likens criminals to Brussel Sprouts on an otherwise perfect plate of Mac and Cheese in the former and is an environmentalist whom hates air polluting thugs in the latter.
• X-Men:
  • Most adaptations downplay or outright omit Professor X's manipulative streak and portray him as more of a saintly, benevolent father figure, in contrast to the Stern Teacher he is in the comics. He's still a father figure to most of the X-Men in the source material, albeit one that's a bit more aloof and "prickly" most of the time. They also tend to omit his infatuation with his student Jean Grey (who was underage at the time), though that plot point was largely dropped from the comics after the Silver Age, save for in the alternate universe Ultimate X Men series and the lead-up to Onslaught (where the titular villain, a Split Personality of Xavier's, showed this to Jean, much to her horror). Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the only adaptation that has been relatively Truer to the Text with Xavier in regards to him being part of The Illuminati, who are ruthless, but even then the Professor (unlike in the comics) is the Token Good Teammate, being the most compassionate and moral besides Family Man Reed Richards.
  • To a lesser extent Magneto gets this in most adaptations (with the big exception of Ultimate X Men) which emphasize his Anti-Villain and Noble Demon traits and downplay his Knight Templar brutality towards those who get in his way. Notably comics Magneto has killed numerous humans (a lot of whom were innocent) without much regret, and he’s famous for being an awful father to his children, shaping Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver into the unstable individuals they are and his treatment of his other daughter Polaris isn’t much better. In X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) and X-Men Film Series he’s much more Affably Evil (and eventually outright heroic in the film version) and in all the shows, movies and video games, Magneto more frequently joins the X-Men against a greater foe. He’s also presented as a caring father to Polaris in Wolverine and the X-Men and even protective of Quicksilver in X-Men Evolution which is a big contrast to the comics.
  • While it often overlaps with censorship against violence, Wolverine is generally less bloodthirsty and sociopathic in the majority of adaptations than he is in the comics. In the films, Hugh Jackman’s take on the Logan is particularly nicer, being quite reluctant to needlessly kill people and after getting to know them he treats his teammates much better than he usually does in the comics. X-Men: Evolution even takes away Wolvie’s attraction for Jean and his attempts to steal her away from Cyclops due to Jean getting an Age Lift into being a teenager. One exception is Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) where Logan hits on the underage Mary Jane Watson whilst inside Peter’s body, though this is due to being a direct adaptation of the Ultimate Marvel where Wolverine is far worse than his mainstream counterpart.
  • While Cyclops started out as a good person in the comics, eventually he became a ruthless extremist and even a Fallen Hero before some Character Rerailment. Pretty much every adaptation (except for Wolverine and the X-Men (2009)) takes away or downplays Scott's negative qualities with only X-Men: Dark Phoenix touching upon his darker side, but even then it's only born out of his care for Jean and doesn’t devolve into borderline villainy like the comics.
  • Mystique gets a lot of this across all X-Men media, with most adaptations not fully embracing how utterly psychotic and cruel she is in the comics, softening her to simply a ruthless Dark Action Girl at worse. While Mystique has sympathetic traits in the comics (e.g her love for her wife Destiny) they are massively outweighed by her vile actions including stabbing her allies in the back like clockwork, abusing her children (both biological and adopted) to sickening extremes, attempting and one time successfully killing one of her kids and in Worst X-Men Ever Mystique molests the protagonist Bailey Hoskins who’s explicitly a minor. In X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) and X-Men Film Series Mystique is softened to simply “bad” but is nowhere near as cruel and displays loyalty, particularly to Magneto that is non-existent in the comics. X-Men: The Animated Series is the only adaptation that details Mystique abandoning her sons Nightcrawler and Graydon, but she at least shows some regret about the former. The new timeline Fox films thanks to Executive Meddling would go the extra step of giving Mystique Adaptational Heroism due to her being played by Jennifer Lawrence fresh off The Hunger Games. Additionally, the films sidestep Mystique abandoning Kurt by just having them be Unrelated in the Adaptation.
• The protagonist of the book Logan's Run was a ruthless Consummate Professional who had no problems killing people in brutal ways, and was initially motivated to find the Runner Sanctuary in order to die a legend for destroying it. The film toned it down to being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold; Logan would use lethal force but was drafted into the job of finding Sanctuary and turned against his society when he found out that life past thirty was possible. The TV series softens the character further to a soft-spoken Hitman with a Heart who had come to be disturbed by his profession and was questioning his society well before his decision to throw his lot in with Jess.
• Hercule Poirot gets a great deal of this across the many adaptations of Agatha Christie’s books. In the novels, Poirot is characterised by his constant need to prove his intellect and rub it in people’s faces and he rarely gets personally invested in the case; eventually even Christie herself hated the personality she had created for him. The Albert Finney movie, Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh films, the anime and especially the David Suchet series all make Poirot much more amicable and less egotistical. The Suchet, Branagh, and Ustinov versions in particular get more personally invested in the cases than Poirot did in the novels, with him genuinely caring about upholding the law and bringing the wicked to justice rather than just mostly doing it to prove how smart he is.
• Batman:
  • While often depicted as a flawed Anti-Hero, Batman's abusive, controlling, manipulative personality is either severely downplayed or outright excised. This is particularly true in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Batman, Young Justice (2010) and The Batman (2022). Batman's parenting skills in particular are often much better in adaptations than in the comics where he has been shown to actually strike his kids in a fit of anger. The adaptations leave this out entirely. In the case of The Batman, Bruce was actually on-board with the formation of the Justice League from the second the Martian Manhunter informed him of it and was more willing to team up with his fellow Leaguers, as opposed to being the most reluctant about both ideas. That said, the Batman of YJ did slip more into the Manipulative Bastard of the comics in Outsiders.
  • Many versions of The Joker have had his worst attributes downplayed. Tellingly, out of these versions, the ones for The Batman and the Batman: Arkham Series are the only ones of the Jokers listed here that are currently among the many Jokers listed under Complete Monster, whereas the others don't meet the qualifications to be listed there.
    • The Suicide Squad (2016) version of the Joker actually seems to genuinely care for Harley and even pushing her out of a helicopter to save her life when he goes crashing, though Joker being Joker, he survives. Note that this was a deliberate choice made to soften the film during reshoots, as the original cut of the movie apparently depicted the Joker's treatment of Harley in a much more negative and abusive light. Birds of Prey (2020) goes some way to correct this, affirming that Joker is abusive and throws Harley out of his house, though this is still nicer treatment than the comics where Mister J has hunted down and tortured Harley for leaving him. Zack Snyder's Justice League during the Bad Future sequence, portrays Joker as having taken a Heel–Face Turn and working with Batman's resistance against Darkseid as a Retired Monster and The Atoner.
    • While he'll still lash out at Harley and leave her to rot, the Joker in The Batman isn't physically abusive to Harley and he shows her more genuine affection such as stealing a diamond the size of a softball for a Valentine's Day gift, something his DCAU counterpart would consider a waste of time. Additionally, while he's still Faux Affably Evil, he's more affable than usual.
    • The Joker seen on Batman: The Brave and the Bold genuinely respected the Weeper and wanted to team up with him; didn't seem to be abusive to Harley; and during an Enemy Mine with Batman, he (begrudgingly) saved a child.
    • While his treatment of Jason Todd in the Batman: Arkham Series was Adaptational Jerkass (he tortured Jason for months, instead of whaling on Jason with a crowbar for several minutes and blowing him up afterward), the Joker was merely content to shoot Barbara and take pictures of her. In The Killing Joke, he stripped her naked between shooting her and taking the pictures.
    • The Joker — or as he's currently known in season 1, John Doe — of all people gets this treatment in Batman: The Telltale Series. He seems to genuinely consider Bruce his friend and has Swapped Roles with Harley Quinn in that he's the one in love with her while she just finds him annoying. At the end of the second episode of the second season, if Harley is left behind, John will be visibly distressed, and demand to go back to help her.
    • Joker (2019) sees its version of the titular Clown Prince of Crime, Arthur Fleck, nowhere near as monstrous as other Jokers, starting off as a well-meaning man in a Crapsack World so damaging, it forces him to retreat into his mental issues. Additionally, outside of the Arkham doctor at the end, all of the people he killed wronged him and he even spared former co-worker Gary because he was the only one at his old job who was nice to him and Word of Saint Paul is that Sophie also survived, whereas other Jokers would've killed them both just for the hell of it.
  • Harley Quinn has gotten a colossal amount of this, thanks to becoming one of DC’s most popular characters. In her debut in Batman: The Animated Series despite episodes like “Mad Love” (which treated her sympathetically) she was still largely a unrepentant thug who had no qualms killing innocent people and when becoming a Canon Immigrant to the comics she was no less psychotic especially earlier on. Even in the New 52 which is considered the turning point for her character eventually becoming a Anti-Hero she infamously killed hundreds of children by planting bombs in hand held games (this moment was quickly swept under the rug in later comics). Harley’s TV show, the DC Animated Movie Universe, DC Comics Bombshells, DC Super Hero Girls and the DCEU generally exercise Harley’s most monstrous qualities while doubling down on her good/nicer traits.
  • Jason Todd aka Red Hood is given heaps of this, post his reintroduction in Batman Under The Red Hood. In his original resurgence in Post Crisis Jason went well beyond the Punisher-esque Pay Evil unto Evil mold and was a despicable Fallen Hero and Evil Counterpart to Batman and Nightwing being a psychotic mob boss, pimp and a cop killer so far off the deep end he was considered Beyond Redemption. Since then, the New 52 and DC Rebirth comics, Lego Batman: Family Matters, Injustice 2, Titans (2018) and Gotham Knights (2022) have all made Jason a nicer and more heroic character being at worst the "Raphael" to Dick Grayson's Leonardo. Even the adaptations that do depict Jason as a villain such as Batman: Arkham Knight and the animated adaptation of Under the Red Hood soften and remove Jason’s most extreme and amoral actions from the comic.
• Dracula has gotten a numerous amount of Adaptational Nice Guy in the countless adaptations or horror films he’s appeared in. In Bram Stoker’s original novel while Dracula had Affably Evil moments (that were mainly feigned) and Tragic Monster elements, particularly his death where Mina spotted a look of relief on the count’s face), but otherwise is still a diabolic Evil Overlord who’s cruel manipulation of Jonathan, prolonged blood-sucking torture of Lucy and an attack on Mina by forcing her to drink his blood (with the rape allegory being overt as possible) painted Dracula as a detestable villain. In a lot of comedies, like Dracula Dead and Loving It and the Monster Mash and of course the Hotel Transylvania series, he’s often a goofy and lovable character. Even the more serious Hellsing and Castlevania franchises tend to play up his likable qualities, particularly the Netflix adaptation of the former. Bram Stoker's Dracula gives him Adaptational Sympathy with his relationship with Mina who is the reincarnation of his lost love (something that’s not present in the novel). Dracula Untold went the extra step of giving both Dracula and his Real Life inspiration Vlad the Impaler (a brutal war criminal) Adaptational Heroism.
• The Phantom of the Opera:
  • The Phantom himself generally gets this or Adaptational Villainy. In the original novel by Gaston Leroux Erik alias the Phantom/Opera Ghost, while he was a Tragic Villain who ultimately let his obsession with Haunted Heroine Christine go, he was still a Psychopathic Manchild who had little regard for human life and delighted in torture and blackmail. Adaptations generally override or soften the Phantom’s villainous role, the 1943 and 1962 film versions take away his Villainous Crush on Christine and in the latter he doesn’t even kill anyone and saves Christine’s life in a Heroic Sacrifice. The wildly popular 1986 Broadway Musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber tones down the Phantom’s overtly abhorrent traits, including removing his attempt to blow up Paris if Christine rejects him, for the sake of making him a more sensual character (Webber seeing the Phantom as an Author Avatar was a factor too). The 1990 Miniseries has Charles Dance as a gentle and kind version of the Phantom who doesn’t hurt anyone. The book Maskerade by Terry Pratchett even turns the Opera Ghost into The Cowl, whilst giving all the Phantom's psychotic murderer traits to another character.
  • Although still a good guy Raoul’s Upper-Class Twit and clingy Crazy Jealous Guy manchild behaviour towards Christine in the original novel is missing in the dozens of film adaptations, musicals, reworkings on TV and the Mobile Game — being a caring Nice Guy instead. At worst he’s usually portrayed as too eager to push Christine into marrying him, yet compared to the hissy fit Raoul puts up in the book when he thinks she’s seeing another man (even calling her a wench before bursting into tears), it’s negligible. Ironically the adaptation that does try to make Raoul more flawed like he is in Leroux‘s novel: Love Never Dies actually goes too far in the opposite direction, portraying Raoul as a gambling drunk in an unhappy marriage with Christine — in contrast to the book where besides the bickering Raoul genuinely adored Christine and vice versa.
• In the original Lupin III manga from Monkey Punch, the title character was a cold-blooded murderer with a penchant for raping beautiful women. Beginning with Hayao Miyazaki's run on the original '70s TV show, Lupin has been softened to varying degrees. While he's still willing to use lethal force, it's almost always against other, WORSE criminals, and usually only in self-defense to begin with. He's also never depicted as a rapist in these adaptations, even the Darker and Edgier ones that otherwise veer a little closer to the original manga, like The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. The adaptations also have a habit of giving Lupin Pet the Dog moments where he goes out of his way to rescue innocent people who are being victimized (most famously in The Castle of Cagliostro), another trait that would’ve seemed utterly out of character in Monkey Punch's stories. The same goes for his father Lupin II in the Lupin Zero prequel. In the manga, Lupin II was a dirtbag and an implied rapist but his animated counterpart, while still a largely amoral thief, doesn't assault women and actively tries to discourage his son from following in his footsteps as a criminal.
• Lex Luthor much like Joker or Green Goblin is one of the most diabolically evil villains in comic books, in one comic Lex cured his sister Lena’s terminal illness and then immediately reinjected her, just to prove he could. A lot of adaptations tone down Luthor’s more detestable actions and even make him sympathetic to some extent.
  • In the DCAU while still a villain and leader of the Legion of Doom, Lex is still willing to work with Superman and JLA against greater threats such as Darkseid. He even pulls off a Heroic Sacrifice to stop the ruler of Apokolips, a level of selflessness that is non-existent to his comic counterpart.
  • In Smallville Lex is ironically a good friend to Clark and spends a lot of the show as a Nice Guy before eventually becoming a villain over the course of the series. It helps that most of Lex’s overt Corrupt Corporate Executive traits were given to his father Lionel Luthor instead.
  • Young Justice (2010) sees Lex Luthor start out this way, being much more affable, but much like Batman in Outsiders, the same season saw Luthor inevitably descend to the petty vindictiveness his comics counterpart is known for.
  • In Injustice: Gods Among Us Lex like in Smallville is a good friend to Superman, funds the La Résistance for Batman and acts as The Mole on evil Supes’s team preventing them from taking over the planet.
  • In the DC Animated Movie Universe while Lex starts off as a villain, much like New 52 Lex becomes a member of the Justice League and helps out against the larger threats like Doomsday and Cyborg Superman. In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War he pulls a heroic Last Stand protecting Lois and others from Parademons.
• Fantastic Four:
  • Mister Fantastic often lacks his comic counterpart's arrogance and numerous morally questionable actions as seen in Fantastic Four: The Animated Series, Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four (2015) and Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would seem like an exception with this Mr Fantastic being part of The Illuminati but even in that film Reed doesn’t display any arrogance and For Science! behaviour from the comics, being a genuinely kind man who tries to non-violently halt Scarlet Witch’s rampage by beseeching her to let the version of Wanda she's possessing go.
  • Ben Grimm aka The Thing, in the early comics by Lee and Kirby Ben is easily the most antagonistic member of the Four constantly fighting and arguing with Reed, hitting on Sue, and in general being a Conflict Ball. All this has gotten softened or exercised from the cartoons and films with Ben’s loveable cuddly Gentle Giant Boisterous Bruiser nature from later comics is his default personality and while the films particularly the 2005 and 2015 ones do highlight his initial antagonism towards Reed, it’s more justified than the comics where Ben usually had pettier reasons to squabble.
• Similar to Reed, Iron Man gets softened across the media he appears in. In the comics, Tony, thanks to Demon in a Bottle, Civil War (2006), and being part of The Illuminati has gotten an infamous reputation of being a Broken Ace and borderline fascist Anti-Hero who is still working to redeem himself. Adaptations such as Iron Man: The Animated Series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Marvel Anime, Marvel's Avengers and especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe downplay most of Tony’s antagonistic and flawed traits and make him genuinely good and often selfless.
• Ant-Man (Henry Pym) has it even worse in the comics than his aforementioned scientific peers. While he started off as a Nice Guy, creating Ultron and accidentally hitting his wife Janet fueled Hank’s mental problems and eventually turned him into a Fallen Hero, who’s even worse in The Ultimates. Thankfully most adaptations such as The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Marvel's Avengers and the MCU Ant-Man films make Hank a much nicer character. The MCU and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versions in particular drastically soften Hank’s relationship with Janet portraying it as loving rather than troubled and abusive on his part. Even the animated adaptation of the Ultimate universe Ultimate Avengers does this too, as Hank pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to protect Janet.
• The Incredible Hulk:
  • Hulk himself has naturally been subject to this in many adaptations. In the comics, while a Gentle Giant at his best, The Jolly Green Giant is still a violent monster who has caused immense destruction across the 616 universe and thanks various Conflict Balls to is often placed in an antagonistic role against the Avengers. In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Superhero Squad Show and the Marvel Cinematic Universe Hulk is a Lighter and Softer character who gets along better with his allies, particularly the Avengers whom he acts as The Big Guy for regularly, unlike the comics where Hulk (out of dislike) steers clear of them when possible. Additionally similar to Cyclops above, Hulk’s infidelity is also missing in adaptations, as he stays loyal to Betty and doesn’t cheat on her by sleeping with alien women (granted thanks to Betty being Put on a Bus, he does as Bruce have a brief relationship with Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it doesn’t go anywhere).
  • Hulk’s troubled alter ego Bruce Banner is generally a put upon Nice Guy in most adaptations like The Incredible Hulk (1977), The Incredible Hulk (1996), Hulk and the MCU. While Bruce was (and to some extent still is) a good man in the comics, modern stories have made him more an unhinged Darker and Edgier character whose mental problems, self-hatred, and cynicism have often cost him his allies and loved ones, and in the 2011 Hulk run it’s outright shown without the Hulk to vent his impulses, Bruce would be a Mad Scientist. This darker side to Bruce is of course missing in all the cartoons and films, with only Marvel's Avengers touching upon it (although there Bruce still spends the rest of the game atoning for his mistakes).
  • Betty Ross and to a lesser extent her father General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross also get this in the various adaptations. Betty started off the sweet Love Interest turned wife of Bruce, but by modern comics thanks to a Trauma Conga Line she’s an embittered Dark Action Girl who’s often at odds with her husband. Thaddeus Ross, while still a Jerkass General Ripper, was more of a J. Jonah Jameson figure originally but later comics made Ross much more atrocious with him storming his daughter’s wedding with Bruce armed with a gun and even becomes Evil Counterpart to Bruce as Red Hulk. Adaptations have greatly softened them with Betty retaining her compassionate characterisation from earlier comics (even in the Ultimate Avengers) whilst her father Ross though still an antagonistic character, gets his genuine care for Betty played up in Hulk and The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. even has Ross as Red Hulk be an ally to Bruce!
• John Constantine has gotten an inordinate amount of this in various adaptations his character (or expies of his character) have appeared in. In the Hellblazer comics (especially when written by Alan Moore) John is a Jerkass Nominal Hero who, while still a Blue-Collar Warlock, is also a grifter and The Friend Nobody Likes who is usually only ever motivated into action, if he's in danger, being blackmailed, he feels like a challenge, or he sees some material gain to be had. Constantine (2005), Constantine (2014), DC Animated Movie Universe, Justice League Action and The Sandman (2022) all make Constantine a nicer and more traditionally heroic character who is at worst a Han Solo-esque Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Notably Constantine in most adaptations doesn't ask to be paid for his work and seeks out supernatural threats, unlike the comics where he always demands money and often waits for people with demonic troubles to come knocking. Though in fairness to adaptations, DC has gradually made Constantine a Lighter and Softer character over time.
• Carol Danvers, although she was nicer in the beginning frequently comes off as abrasive at best, especially in Civil War II where she essentially became a Villain Protagonist. In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes she’s a bold Deadpan Snarker but mostly The Cape whose worse traits are downplayed, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe she’s an arrogant Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and in The Super Hero Squad Show she acts as a belligerent Da Chief to the other Avengers. However, in Marvel Future Avengers she's a modest Nice Girl and Friend to All Children. The only adaptation that's depicted her in a villainous light is X-Men: The Animated Series where she's a Mental Monster tormenting Rogue, but given Rogue had stolen Carol's power and put her in a coma while the other X-Men lock her away in Rogue's mind, she's still incredibly sympathetic.
• Both of the RoboCop cartoons, as well as RoboCop: The Series, took his approach to the titular Alex Murphy himself, being less willing to use Police Brutality (Mallardo's Police Brutality Gambit in the pilot of The Series would've been more likely to succeed given Murphy's treatment of the various criminals he dealt with on his first night as RoboCop and his interrogation of Officer Duffy) and practicing Thou Shall Not Kill (seeing as a crapton of villains, including the Vandals, "Pudface" Morgan, Mallardo himself, and the agents of D.A.R.C., lived to face Murphy again and again).
• Teen Titans:
  • While still a monster, Trigon, the demonic father of Raven, has undergone this himself:
    • Teen Titans Go!, in keeping with being a more comedic series, does show he loves Raven and is often a Friendly Enemy to the Titans, though he does hope Raven will turn around and join him.
    • DC Super Hero Girls presents Trigon in a similar light to Go, even allowing Raven to attend Super Hero High — though like the Trigon of Go, he also hopes Raven will join him.
    • The Trigon of the DC Animated Movie Universe is Truer to the Text compared to the other two (including the implication that, like in the comics, Raven is a Child by Rape), but in a twisted way, he does seem to care about Raven, including not threatening to hurt her (friends and family are a different matter) and even wished her well in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
  • Due in part to Values Dissonance, adaptations of the Teen Titans (such as Teen Titans (2003), Young Justice (2010), Teen Titans Go!, the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and Titans) usually ditch the Lovable Sex Maniac tendencies that defined Beast Boy in the 80s New Teen Titans comics, particularly his habit of groping and kissing women without their consent. At the most, the only demonstration of his lecherous side doesn't go any further than flirting.
  • Terra in the orignal comics was an unapologetically evil Sixth Ranger Traitor who was so vile that she disturbed even Deathstroke. Almost every adaptation starting from Teen Titans (2003) to DC Animated Movie Universe and Young Justice (2010) has Terra be an infinitely more sympathetic character who is at worst Forced into Evil and genuinely cares for her teammates, espeically Beast Boy. Teen Titans Go! is (initially) an exception as Terra is Truer to the Text being treacherous, manipulative, and scheming; however, as the series goes on Terra mellows into her more likeable portrayal popularised by the 2003 cartoon.
• Albert Wesker of Resident Evil, easily as diabolical Capcom villain as M. Bison, the trope image for Sinister Shades and so evil he gets away with working alongside goddamn Doctor Doom in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, gets a fair bit of this in the adaptations he appears in. In the Anderson films while still a villain, in Resident Evil: Retribution Wesker actually helps the heroes out against the larger threat of Red Queen and joins their side. In Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Wesker is a Regretful Traitor rather than the Mole in Charge Big Bad who genuinely loves Jill and sacrifices himself to save her, unlike the games namely RE5 where he only saw Jill as a fascinating puppet, and had no qualms using a torture device on her when she started to fight against his control. Resident Evil (2022) has Wesker be a loving and caring father to his Canon Foreigner daughters Billie and Jade though it's revealed this just a clone and the real Wesker is just as cruel and diabolical as he is in the games. Even Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles tie-in manga has Wesker choosing not to kill Chris and Jill along with a little girl, a level of kindness he lacks in the games.
• Star Wars Expanded Universe:
  • While still a sadistic tyrant like in the movies, Emperor Palpatine is much kinder towards his apprentice Darth Vader in the new Disney-era canon. Unlike in the now defunct Legends continuity, where Palpatine regularly tormented and inhibited Vader to keep him in line and as punishment for his failures, Palpatine in the new canon showed genuine affection towards Vader, often teaching him about Sith philosophy and encouraging Vader to reach his full potential. Even when Palpatine does endanger Vader, it was out of a desire to test Vader's abilities and improve his natural talents. While most of Palpatine's friendship is out of pragmatism as Vader proved far more badass compared to his Legends counterpart, in the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic, Palpatine called Vader his only worthy apprentice compared to both Maul and Dooku.
  • Darth Maul in the canon shows and stories holds genuine affection for his family and is overall far more sociable and honourable than his Legends counterpart, who was basically a savage animal. Indeed, during his final death in Legends, Maul was pretty much the same violent brute that he was in The Phantom Menace, while his death in canon is one in which he calmly asks Obi-Wan to avenge them both, having to come to sense of mutual respect and understanding.
  • Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader gets a lot of this both within canon and Legends. In the movies his nicer qualities barring a few moments with Obi-Wan and Padmé were an Informed Attribute and more often than not he came across as a power-hungry entitled Hot-Blooded asshole and clingy husband to Padame. In the novels, comics, animated shows (3D and 2D), video games, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Anakin is presented as a genuinely nice if troubled and aggressive man with a good sense of humour, care for his allies such as Ahsoka and the Clone troopers and a legitimate respect for his master Obi-Wan as seen in the latter’s TV series (albeit still with an unhealthy desire for victory). Even as Darth Vader while still malevolent like the original trilogy, his Pet the Dog moments and his grief for Padmé and his terrible life choices is frequently played up and he’s capable of being a Noble Demon whom loves his son rather than being purely just a Bad Boss Evil Overlord who doesn’t have a Heel Realization until the very end. One What If? comic even has him pull a Heel–Face Turn and survive, joining Luke and Leia.
  • Boba Fett gets this treatment in a multitude of adaptations from the Star Wars Legends continuity to the live-action shows. In the original trilogy he wasn’t much more than a heartless and ruthless Bounty Hunter whom even Vader had to personally instruct to play it gentle i.e not vaporise the targets. The spin-offs and expanded material given him more likeable qualities with Boba being portrayed as more honourable to the point where he eventually Took a Level in Kindness and mentored Han and Leia’s daughter Jaina or in the Disney canon becoming the Ultimate Authority Mayor of Tatoonie.
  • A lot of adaptations such as Star Wars: Droids and multiple novels and comics downplay C3-PO’s snobbish jerkass traits with him showing care to R2 far often than in the films.
  • Mace Windu is generally presented as a Good Is Not Nice Knight Templar in the prequel trilogy with very few amicable traits. The comics, novels, games and animated shows however make Windu more of a Bruiser with a Soft Center as seen in the 2003 cartoon where a bystander boy offers him a drink after his One-Man Army scene and Mace smiles at the kid and accepts it.
• Shao Kahn is one of the most brutal and violent villains in Mortal Kombat canon, who's frequently depicted as a ruthless tyrant with no regard for the people under him and a Bad Boss, pulling "You Have Failed Me" on his minions with lethal results. However, even he hasn't escaped this on occasion.
  • The infamous Downer Ending of Mortal Kombat: Conquest sees Shao Kahn express some remorse over having Kitana killed, unlike the games, where (at best) he viewed her as a tool — and the other deaths in the finale (Reptile, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Vorpax, Siro, Taja, and the Great Kung Lao), where he rubbed Raiden's face in them.
  • The Mortal Kombat Legends series sees some of his worst traits downplayed. Scorpion's Revenge sees his "You Have Failed Me" reaction to Shang Tsung merely involve having the sorcerer beaten, unlike the games where Shang Tsung had to propose another tournament to save himself from death at Shao Kahn's hands. While the sequel, Battle of the Realms, sees him decide to invade Earthrealm in spite of losing the tournament, anyway, like in other incarnations and at one point scoffed at the Elder Gods, he was willing to get permission to hold another tournament (where said scoffing took place) and go by-the-book this outing.
  • Mortal Kombat: Annihilation sees Shao Kahn's introduction involve him saying the Earth would rest in peace — intending to merely annihilate everyone instead of his usual enslavement plans.
• In the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage) comics, Splinter taught the Turtles their skills for the sole purpose of having them as a death squad for revenge against the Shredder for his murder of Hamato Yoshi and the Turtles' subsequent adventures being about dealing stuff that affected them or people they know. Every adaptation has downplayed this with Splinter training the Turtles due to seeing them as family and/or defending themselves and the Turtles themselves actively seek out crimes to stop.^note In the 1987 and 2012 series, as well as Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this can be explained away as instead of being a rat that was anthropomorphized by mutagenic ooze, Splinter was a Composite Character with a Spared by the Adaptation Yoshi, transforming into a rat-man by the ooze instead — thus no need for revenge for a murder that didn't happen until the final arc of season 4 of the 2012 series, when Splinter was killed by Shredder and the Turtles go on a rampage to kill the Shredder — and in the 2003 series, Splinter actually initially avoids telling the Turtles about what happened with Shredder to avoid them getting a desire for revenge

Asian Animation

• Wolffy in the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf spin-off Pleasant Goat Fun Class. He is still rude to the goats, but doesn't do anything nearly as evil or harmful as he does in the original show.

Comic Books

• The Black Arrow's comic-book adaptations tend to remove Dick's worst moments, such like feeling tempted to beat "John Matcham" during an argument -and stopping himself only because he does not want to be called a bully- or stealing Captain Arblaster's ship.
• Donovan Baine of Darkstalkers is a Hunter of Monsters who views all Darkstalkers as banes of humanity, even the good ones, and never hesitates to go after them. This is toned down in the comic book adaption where he initially goes after Victor von Gerdenheim but pauses after realizing that he wasn't evil after hearing the pleas of Victor's "sister" Emily. After teaming up to stop a legion of demons from attacking a near by village, Donovan continues on his way and leaves Victor alone.
• While he's still a villain, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters's take of King Ghidorah isn't as antagonistic as other incarnations. Fittingly, he sports a sized-up version of Ghidorah's design from Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!.
• In the original continuity, it's revealed that a drunk Thomas Constantine tried to force his wife into a late-term abortion, resulting in his wife and John's unborn twin to die from complications. In Hellblazer: Rise and Fall, the story starts with Mary dying just after giving birth to John with no hint that it was for any reason other than a difficult birth.
• While still antagonists, Jem and the Holograms (IDW) toned down The Misfits compared to the original Jem. Their antics are a lot less outlandish and they no longer get away with obviously criminal or career ruining things, like destroying property every other episode. While they still can be mean, the comic puts much more emphasis on their friendship and Hidden Depths. Jetta in particular also changed fom the least sympathetic Misfit who barely cared for her band to a rather nice ladette.
• Mister Miracle (2017): Funky Flashman goes from the con artist trying to use Scott for his own ends he was originally to a well-intentioned Cloudcuckoolander who genuinely wants to promote Scott and help his family.
• Spider-Man Marvel Age: JJ Jameson, while still a grumpy boss is far more benign and friendly with Peter. For example, since from the start he has no trouble admithing multiple times that Parker is a very good photographer and tends to pay the right amount for Spidey's pictures. He also cares a bit more for Betty Brant: When he sees her sad, he asks Peter to go buy her a drink to cheer her up and he isn't as mean with her as in the 616 universe. His hatred for Spidey is even downplayed, since he isn't OK with Kraven the Hunter trying to kill him, since Spidey's still a human being, even if a criminal one.
• Ultimate Marvel is infamously known for having nearly every character turned into the worst versions of themselves. However, there are a few who are much more likable than their mainstream counterparts:
  • Unlike a crapton of other characters in the universe (including Betty Brant), J. Jonah Jameson in Ultimate Spider-Man underwent this, as he was more reasonable, ultimately realizing that Spider-Man is trying to help, and starts trying to better Spidey's public image. And unlike when he learned it in Civil War, when this Jonah learned Peter is Spider-Man, he not only rehired Peter, he wanted to pay for Peter going to college and refused to act against Miles Morales.
  • In the comics, Thor was banished to Earth because Odin decided to teach him humility after Thor got too big for his britches. In the reverse of the Avengers (and X-Men) getting the Adaptational Jerkass treatment as the Ultimates, here, Thor came to Earth to help it.
  • Emma Frost in stark contrast to the rest of the mutants, gets this in Ultimate X Men. Her mainstream counterpart is extremely callous, manipulative and has very few redeeming traits even after her heel turn to good. Ultimate Universe Emma is much nicer being an Actual Pacifist, who never uses her telepathy in a harmful way. Unfortunately this did not spare her from getting needlessly killed in Ultimatum for the sake of shocking the readers.
• Turma da Mônica e Garfield: O Lápis Mágico: Compared to his normal outings, Garfield is nicer here, and he willingly helps Monica defeat Captain Fray and the lasagna monster.
• Wonder Woman (Rebirth): Barbara-Ann Minerva, aka Cheetah, goes from an amoral collector of historical artifacts who gladly gained horrific powers to a much kinder archeologist who was friends with Diana before being horrifically transformed into a Tragic Villain.
• Wonder Woman: Black and Gold: In "The Acquaintance" Circe, who is usually fantastically amoral and cruel, gets on rather well with Diana when the heroine comes to her mansion looking for Superman.

Fairy Tales

• In most versions of "The Swan Maiden", a man spies on the bathing maidens, and outright steals the most beautiful one's dress to force her into marriage. In The Brothers Grimm's "The Drummer", the male lead simply picks an apparently abandoned dress that he finds lying on the ground by the lakeside, he willingly hands it over when its owner appears to demand her property back, and he asks the woman if he can help her out.

Films — Animation

• Alice in Wonderland: In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice is trapped as a giant in the White Rabbit's house, she deliberately kicks Bill the Lizard out of the chimney when he climbs down to try to pull her out. In Disney's version, she sneezes from the chimney soot, accidentally blasting Bill out, and afterwards says "Poor Bill."
• Castor (and his absent companion Pollux) was very evil in The Dalmatians, but in Animal Soccer World, his worst traits are being arguing with Jako over the ownership of a ball, and refusing to let Krummel play on the team due to being too small.
• Batman: Under the Red Hood has two examples:
  • Red Hood is shown to have a stronger moral code. While still a fierce killer, he only goes after criminals and not innocent civilians.
  • While Black Mask is still a terrible person, he's toned down from the comics. Here, while he often punches his mooks, he's shown being quite courteous with Ms. Li, never trying to physically hurt her. Also, instead of torture, he just has a fierce temper.
• Damian Wayne in the comics is a sociopathic and arrogant brat who feels he's entitled to Bruce's favor just because he's blood, and even kills a few criminals. The Damian in Batman Unlimited: Mechs Vs. Mutants is a much nicer person, though he still has a chip on his shoulder due to being new to the role of Robin.
• Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has Damian Wayne be considerably nicer to the Ninja Turtles than in the original comic crossovers, where he was rude to them even after they bested him in combat.
• Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie:
  • George and Harold are still pranksters, but are given more heroic moments compared to their borderline-Designated Hero counterparts. That being said, they're also still Anti-Heroes who do have their less-than kindhearted moments...
  • While Mr. Krupp is still a Dean Bitterman, he is given a Freudian Excuse of secretly being lonely rather than just plain cruel like the books. George and Harold secretly set him up on a date with the lunch lady that he has a crush on during the ending, which improves his mood dramatically and even causes him to give the kids back their comics that he'd confiscated while admitting that he found them funny.
• Coraline:
  • In the book, the cat is extremely egotistical and aloof, only helping Coraline if he happened to be in the area anyway and if helping her didn't hinder him in any way. In the film, he's her Mysterious Protector and Servile Snarker, often going out of his way to watch over her, warn her against and save her from the Other Mother even when she's very rude to him.
  • The video game on the other hand, just splits the difference between the book and the movie. Coraline is considerably nicer and nowhere near as sarcastic and rude as her movie counterpart, but the cat on the other hand is much more aloof than the movie version, but still goes out its way to help her (and the player) in the end.
• DC Animated Movie Universe:
  • In Justice League: War, Billy Batson isn't as much of a Jerkass as his New 52 counterpart was at first, although he's still more mischievous and arrogant than previous incarnations.
  • In Justice League Dark and Constantine: City of Demons, John Constantine is still the same Good Is Not Nice Manipulative Bastard that he is in the comics, but here he is much more openly caring about others.
• Disney Animated Canon:
  • The Fox and the Hound: In the novel, Tod intentionally lured Chief to the tracks to be killed. In this adaptation, it was a genuine accident on his part.
  • Hercules:
    • By modern standards, the Hercules of Greek Myth wasn't exactly a paragon of heroic virtue though Values Dissonance is in play here as well. He killed more than one innocent person simply for being too close when his temper got the better of him (although he was always remorseful when this happened), and he would go stage a HUGE war for a mere verbal insult one day, although he did go to great lengths to help his friends and his deeds did the world a lot of good. The fact that his volcanic temper was usually the result of Hera's doing is also a big factor. The Hercules in this movie is a wide-eyed boy scout who doesn't have many if any, vices. The worst thing he does is lash out at Phil for trying to warn him about Meg being in league with Hades, but he immediately comes to regret that.
    • As mentioned before, most of Hercules' original flaws came from his rage curse inflicted on him by Hera, who did this out of revenge against Zeus. This is all ignored on the account of Hera being the birth mother of Hercules in this movie, and thus all animosity towards him is non-existent, instead loving him like a mother would.
  • In the original The Jungle Book, while Baloo genuinely loved Mowgli, he was a Stern Teacher to the man-cub who did not shy away from Corporal Punishment to discipline him. In Disney's The Jungle Book (1967), he's a laid-back Big Fun character who would never hurt Mowgli.
  • Pinocchio:
    • Pinocchio lacks the selfish, bratty traits of his literary counterpart.
    • Geppetto was clearly a loving father in the book, but rather mean and grumpy. Geppetto is far nicer and better tempered in the film.
    • The Talking Cricket (named Jiminy in the film) is more personable and cheerful than the stern, serious one of the book.
• The Prince of Egypt:
  • The Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus (named Rameses in adaptions after his possible Real Life counterpart) is a typical cruel tyrant in both the Bible and 1956 film. In the Dreamworks film, however, Rameses is a complex and sympathetic figure who acknowledges Moses as his adoptive brother and genuinely loves him, but out of pride and desire to live up his father’s legacy, refuses to submit to his brother’s demand to let his people go. While the rift between the brothers widens as film goes on, even during the plagues Rameses still can’t help but care for Moses and despair at how their lives have turned out. In fact, earlier drafts of the story had to be rewritten, as Rameses came off as too nice. Ironically, later adaptions of the Bible story such as Exodus: Gods and Kings would crib this more sympathetic take on Rameses.
  • God actually gets this as well. Since it’s the Old Testament, God is a vengeful, booming and angry deity as seen when He speaks to Moses through the burning bush and terrifies the Hebrew. In a change of pace from the previous adaptations, while God is harsh at first, He then embraces the cowering Moses with gentle white flames and lifts him up, speaks in a soothing and comforting voice and promises that Moses won’t be alone when he faces the Pharaoh. All in all, this God is much closer to the loving and benevolent Lighter and Softer God of the New Testament and other Gospels than the one seen in Exodus. Notably, several vengeful declarations made by Rameses in his least-sympathetic moments are lines originally spoken by God.
• The Hotel Transylvania-franchise's whole shtick is to portray iconic monsters from literature and movies as sympathetic weirdos, with Dracula being the franchise's protagonist and instead of a cruel, blood thirsty vampire count as he's usually portrayed he is the sympathetic, somewhat chaotic owner of a monster hotel who has no interest in hurting or killing people. Due to the monsters being sympathic protagonists, the third movie, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation had to turn the usually heroic monster hunter Van Helsing into a villain.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame: While still a heroic character, book Quasimodo was much more asocial and inclined to violence, displaying a softer side only toward Frollo and Esmeralda due to them being the only human beings to treat him somewhat decently. This incarnation pretty much is a Nice Guy with no resentment or animosity toward anyone.
• Eeyore in the original Winnie the Pooh books is a Deadpan Snarker and has the tendency to guilt-trip his friends into feeling sorry for him. The Disney cartoons omit this side of his personality, making him more of The Woobie.
• Big Hero 6 has GoGo Tomago. Her comic counterpart was a criminal who was forced into the team to avoid imprisonment. In the film, she is a noble and kind Action Girl who willingly joined the team, if a bit aloof and snarky.
• While still somewhat insensitive in How to Train Your Dragon, Gobber is nicer in comparison to his book counterpart, who was a great deal nastier.
• Injustice (2021): While Superman still ends up falling to evil and commits his share of evil actions, but compared to his game counterpart, he is far less evil. His game counterpart, by the end, had fallen so far Beyond Redemption that he was willing to destroy Metropolis and Gotham and kill millions simply to set an example, and kill a teenager when he dared to question his plan and is stopped by force. Superman, in this adaptation, commits far fewer crimes and nothing on the level he did in the games and comics and is far less brutal and murderous and stays a Well-Intentioned Extremist while his game counterpart eventually devolved into a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist, and ultimately realizes the error of his ways and surrenders.
• A behavioral example with Mr. Peabody in Mr. Peabody & Sherman. In the original cartoon, he was a strict and distant authority figure towards Sherman, and considered himself Sherman's master, not his father. He also treated Sherman like his pet and lowly assistant rather than his son. In the movie, while still aloof and insisting that he be reffered as "Mr. Peabody" instead of "Dad", he clearly shows he cares about Sherman, specially when we see the flashbacks set to "Beautiful Boy".
• The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy^note As a matter of fact, Snoopy may be an exaggerated case, since he spends a significant portion of the film as Chuck's wingman. This is compared to the comics, where Snoopy usually doesn't even know what Charlie Brown's name is. and the kids are certainly nicer to Charlie Brown than they were in the strips or TV specials (with the exception of Lucy, who is (initially) as much of a jerk as always).^note  Although Snoopy betrays his usual selfishness when he eats most of the cupcakes Charlie Brown made for the dance before he arrives.
• Disney Fairies: Vidia in the animated films is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who's rude at worst. In the books she's much, much meaner and is a Token Evil Teammate.
• In LEGO DC Batman: Family Matters, Jason Todd, also known as Red Hood, is no murderer, but instead more of a slacker who just wanted to be loved by Bruce Wayne. He then became Red Hood when he thought otherwise, and pulls a heel face turn to help him save Gotham when he sees the truth.
• Pinocchio (1992)
  • Pinocchio himself, since his bratty demeanor was edited out, pretty much like the Disney version.
  • The Cricket is more friendly than the stern, serious cricket of the book.
• The film version of A Silent Voice had to remove a lot of scenes and elements in order to fit the story into such a short timespan. Kawai in the manga is an Academic Alpha Bitch and a narcissist, Satoshi is a violent Bully Hunter and Ueno makes out with Shoya while he's comatoise. The film had to tone down or remove these elements.
• The Ultimate Avengers movies have several examples:
  • Captain America is essentially a Composite Character, having the appearance and backstory of his Ultimate counterpart, but with a personality much closer to the classic, mainstream Cap. Thus, he's depicted as an optimistic Cape who believes in America's ideals, rather than a sexist, racist, homophobic bully like he was in The Ultimates.
  • While the Hulk is still a menace like in the Ultimate comics, he doesn't show signs of cannibalism.
  • Like Cap, Betty Ross takes after her classic counterpart in being a Nice Girl instead of someone whose Lack of Empathy would at times disturb Nick Fury.
• White Fang (2018):
  • The titular wolf-dog from the novel endures a lot of abuse, becoming a twisted and angry animal before The Power of Love transforms him. The 2018 movie has him be more heroic, the abuse from Beauty Smith making him wary of kind humans at first before bonding quickly with Weedon Scott and his wife. He also learns from Kiche that helping the people in the Native American village brings positive reinforcement, so he works very hard to earn their trust.
  • Gray Beaver gets this too. In the novel, he's stern at best towards White Fang and beats him at worst for misbehaving. He even gives White Fang away to Beauty Smith due to being addicted to alcohol (as Beauty Smith had planned). In the 2018 movie, he's a kinder man who encourages White Fang to try his best, and he only gives White Fang to Beauty Smith (and gives away Kiche earlier) in exchange for money to save his tribe's land.
• Superman: Man of Tomorrow:
  • Parasite is usually presented as a selfish, entitled thug. This version is a Tragic Monster and performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save people.
  • While still the rude degenerate he usually is, Lobo, after telling Superman and the Martian Manhunter that he wiped out his own people, claimed he was joking. If taken at face value, then Lobo didn't commit a Genocide from the Inside. In the comics and DC Animated Universe, he very much did wipe out his own people.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie:
  • Cranky Kong. Cranky in the video games is a classic Grumpy Old Man in a perpetual foul mood, sneering down his nose at the younger Kongs, mocking their skills, and openly berating them as Inadequate Inheritors. Even the Donkey Kong Country version was a short-tempered, snarky old jerk. This iteration of Cranky, in contrast, is constantly upbeat and happy throughout most of the movie; he still acts like a jerk, but now it's more mischievous than mean-spirited. He only briefly displays anything close to the classic Cranky's... crankiness when he sees Donkey Kong showboating at the start of his duel with Mario.
  • The Biddybuds are enemies in their base game, but in the movie, several are shown walking past Mario and Toad and being handled by Mario without any hostility.
  • Bramballs were enemies in the games, but they are shown to be friendly as well, with one walking over Mario.
  • Downplayed with Foreman Spike, who's still a Jerkass, but nothing suggests that he intentionally tried to get Mario and Luigi killed when they were in his employ prior to the movie.
• In addition to Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung also got hit with this in the Mortal Kombat Legends series as at no point in either film does he pull The Starscream on Shao Kahn. Additionally, while stopping Quan Chi from freeing Shinnok would normally be Pragmatic Villainy, given Shinnok's an Omnicidal Maniac, Scorpion's Revenge also sees Shang Tsung chastise Quan Chi for betraying Shao Kahn while doing so, suggesting the idea that this version is loyal to Shao Kahn. That said, he does become The Starscream to Kano in Snow Blind.
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths: The Crime Syndicate's leader and Superman's counterpart Ultraman is still a ruthless dictator, but shows some restraint in his cruelty and mourns the death of J'onn J'onzz's Crime Syndicate counterpart J'edd J'arkus. In contrast, JLA: Earth-2 depicted Ultraman as willing to use his powers to murder people for the slightest provocations and he implies at one point that he personally killed J'onn J'onzz's Earth-3 counterpart without a shred of remorse.

Literature

• Ghostbusters: A Paranormal Picture Book (based on Ghostbusters (1984)):
  • While Peter still teases Walter about not saying the “magic word”, the book leaves out his con man antics.
  • While Walter smirks when the protagonists get suspended and rats them out to the principal, he doesn’t actively antagonise them the way he does in the movie, and at the end, he joins in on cheering for them.
  • The book also leaves out the scene of Egon (not that he was much of a jerk in the movie anyway) shoving Walter.

Live-Action TV

• 13 Reasons Why:
  • While Clay does undergo Adaptational Jerkass, he also does more in getting justice for Hannah than he did in the book.
  • Jenny Kurtz's show counterpart Sheri Holland is shown to feel genuine remorse for her actions - accidentally knocking down a Stop sign with her car, resulting in an accident later - and is one of Clay's few allies.
• Adventures in Wonderland tones down the Queen Of Hearts so that she's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold . She's still stubborn and short tempered, but she's more openly caring and willing to do the right thing.
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson: While Holmes in the original stories is on the side of justice and has and a few people he really cares about, he's still a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who tends be cold, moody, and high-handed. This series' version of Holmes is still very eccentric and has a mischievous sense of humor, but is warmer, friendlier, and less abrasive.
• Ashes of Love: Both Xu Feng and Run Yu have their personality flaws downplayed in the series and become more likeable than in the novel, though this effectively changes Run Yu's moral alignment.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
  • Sokka isn't sexist at the start of the series like his original counterpart was. His initial dismissal of Katara's waterbending is also given greater context than him thinking bending is weird, as he wants to keep his sister from getting killed by the Fire Nation for being a waterbender.
  • In the original series, Iroh has an almost-out-of-character attraction towards June to the point he willingly fakes his own paralysis just to enjoy having June's paralyzed body on top of him. Here, he only has professional respect for June and if anything, he's more disturbed when June flirts with him. On a much lighter note, he also doesn't commit the small act of theft he performed in that same episode.
  • Incredibly downplayed but still noticeable with this version of Fire Lord Ozai.
    • His conditional love is more flexible compared to his animated counterpart. Unlike in the original series where he considers Zuko nothing more than a disgrace until he's led to believe Zuko killed Aang, he's willing to acknowledge his determination and considers Zuko even locating Aang an accomplishment. Granted, he said that in deliberate context of Azula's own accomplishment, so he may have just been doing that to provoke her.
    • Unlike his animated counterpart, he doesn't immediately exile Zuko after their Agni Kai. In fact, it's implied that this version of Ozai initially considered burning off half his son's face to be punishment enough. It's only after hearing a freshly-scarred Zuko verbally refute his Social Darwinism to his face that Ozai finally banishes his son and gives him the seemingly impossible mission to capture the Avatar.
    • On that note, whereas the animated version of Ozai cruelly burns Zuko without any signs of remorse, this version is shown having an almost pained expression as he does so, as if he viewed his actions as cruel but a necessity. He also takes time to visit Zuko's bedside, and compliment him for his apparent resilience, and seems to offer him sincere advice about Zuko's compassion being a weakness.
    • He also actually has the decency to offer condolences to Iroh at Lu Ten's funeral, while Ozai in the original series just used Lu Ten's death to try to convince his father that Iroh wasn't fit to inherit the throne.
  • Marginally. Azula's still a devoted servant to her father, willing to help him kill attempted traitors while smirking as they die and set her brother up for a fall, but she's not quite as personally unpleasant; when Zuko gets his face burned, she's not smiling. Likewise, Mai and Ty Lee seem to actually be in her company of their own free will, and not because of threat of something unspeakably horrible happening to them otherwise.
  • Unlike the animated version, Jet never tries to destroy an entire village as revenge against the Fire Nation, and his main goal is instead to kill King Bumi and his associates during the former's meeting with Sai.
  • Being transposed to Omashu, Sai the Mechanist hasn't obliviously remodelled / desecrated the Northern Air Temple.
  • Cartoon Hahn is a disrespectful jerk and an arrogant rival of Sokka's for Yue's heart. Here, he is nothing but respectful towards Sokka and his experience actually fighting Fire Nation soldiers, and accepts Yue's breaking of their betrothal with good grace, even if he is clearly disappointed. He also seems to genuinely care about Yue, whereas his animated counterpart was more interested in the "perks" that would come with marrying her.
• Babylon Berlin: While still a somewhat abrasive Cowboy Cop, Gereon is much less of a self-serving, ambitious and manipulative ladder-climber than in the novels. In particular, the early relationship between Charlotte and Gereon is flipped on its head - instead of Gereon seducing Charlotte to use her as a source of information on a murder investigation, Charlotte is blackmailed by Bruno to inform on Gereon's investigation.
• The Boys (2019): The Supes are generally more personable than in the comic, where they're all deeply unpleasant.
  • Hell, even Vought qualifies. In the comics, they were willing to do anything and everything to monopolize the military-industrial complex with their superheroes, up to and including attempting to assassinate the President of the United States. In the show, however, the CEO Stan Edgar ^note who essentially adopts James Stillwell's role in the comics is content with the massive media empire they run and sees having supes in the military as nothing more than Homelander and Madelyn's Vanity Project. However things take a turn in Season 3 after Homelander performs a hostile takeover.
  • Da Chief Raynor was a Token Evil Teammate to the team in the comic, while in the show she's Demoted to Extra and comes off as a Reasonable Authority Figure.
  • In the comics, Billy's father beat his wife and kids simply because he could. In the show, he's still an abusive monster but never laid a hand on his wife and tries to justify hitting his boys by saying it was Tough Love to make them strong enough to handle the world. He shows no remorse over Butcher's brother Lenny being Driven to Suicide though, instead lamenting that he wasn't tougher.
  • M.M.'s wife Monique was a drug-addled hag who starred in a porn film alongside her own daughter to feed her habit, leading to her being murdered by Billy. In the show she's an actual human being and Amicable Exes with M.M., only leaving him because the Boys' crusade made it too dangerous for them to be together.
  • Starlight's ex-boyfriend Supersonic cheated on her in the comic, which she walked in on after her Sexual Extortion, adding to her Trauma Conga Line. In the show, he's a Nice Guy and Amicable Exes with her before becoming a Sacrificial Lion.
• Cowboy Bebop (2021): In the anime, Spike famously hates "kids, animals, and women with attitude" and even suggests eating Ein at one point. In the live-action Netflix adaptation, his first reaction to Ein is to go into Cuteness Proximity and starts gushing about how awesome dogs are. He's also generally nicer to other people and even empathizes with some of his bounties rather than simply trying to catch them and haul them in.
• Daredevil (2015): In the comics, Bullseye is an absolute psychopath who can't go a single scene without showing off some misogyny, racism and/or casual violence. In the Netflix adaptation, Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter has severe psychological problems, but he's actually pleasant to all but the worst of people (Wilson Fisk), though this sociopathy begins to rear its head after he begins committing murders for Fisk.
• Dear White People: Kurt in the film was a Jerkass who frequently expressed racist and homophobic statements with pride. In the series version, while still a huge dick and the originator behind the blackface party, his overt racism and and homophobia is absent and is just as horrified as everyone else by the campus police pulling a gun on Reggie at the party. He also tries to reach out to Sam to work together on a statement against the incident and in the Season 1 finale, delivers an Armor-Piercing Question to her about the effectiveness of her outrage-driven tactics. In Season 2, he's come around to understanding what the black students have gone through.
• Dexter: In the books, Dexter Morgan views Rita as more like a pet and he doesn't really care about anyone except for maybe Debra and children in general. In the TV series, he grows to love Rita and cares a great deal for the people around him. He also kills his victims a lot quicker instead of torturing them like in the books.
• In the Dirk Gently novels, Dirk is a fundamentally a conman, with the only justification he can offer being that none of his clients ever actually pay his exhorbitant expenses, and the fact he's right about everything is of considerably annoyance to him. He also has a desire to solve mysteries, but mostly for their own sake, and is not above flat-out lying to a potential client if it's the only way he'll be hired for one that looks interesting. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, he's a lot ditzier, but seems to be primarily motivated by a desire to help people. Possibly because he's more in tune with his powers; Book Dirk hates any suggestion that he's a Not-So-Phony Psychic, and if he thought the universe "wanted" him to be in the right place to sort things out, would probably refuse to do so out of spite.
• Game of Thrones:
  • Sansa Stark doesn't do things like calling Arya cruel names, such as "Horse-face", the way she did in the novels.
  • Septa Mordane is much less stern towards the Stark girls, and any time she reprimands them it's shown as justified. The show also gives her a Dying Moment of Awesome where she heads off four Lannister guards to get Sansa to safety when they start massacring Stark servants.
  • While Barristan Selmy was always a decent person, in the books he despised Jaime for being the Kingslayer and thought "he should switch that white cloak for a black one". In Season 1, he shares a mentor-student Friendship Moment with Jaime in which the younger knight hero-worships him and Selmy compliments him on being a Child Prodigy.
  • Tywin Lannister is The Chessmaster Pragmatic Villain Jerkass who mistreats his own children in both versions, but his scenes with Arya in Harrenhal in the show bring out a softer and paternal side that's not present in the books. Also, Book!Tywin is an all-out misogynist who locks Cersei out of the Small Council because she's a woman. In the show he's still dismissive of her, but when she accuses him of sexism, he says he distrusts her not because she's a woman, but because she's a fool.
  • Arya Stark has warmer relationships with Gendry, Hot Pie and even Sandor Clegane than she does in the books.
  • Loras Tyrell is much more mild-mannered and level-headed than the arrogant hothead of the books, as shown by his sympathy for Sansa and his intention to be a decent husband instead of simply treating her with empty chivalry as in the novels.
  • His sister, Margaery Tyrell, became nicer and friendlier to Sansa in the show where after her planned engagement to Loras was foiled by Tywin, who decided to have her wed to Tyrion. Margaery comforted her and reassures her that marrying Tyrion might not be bad. However, her book counterpart shuns Sansa after the plot to marry her to one of her brothers fell through out of political necessity (though still feeling bad for her), with only her Adapted Out middle brother, Garlan the Gallant, continuing to interact with her in a meaningful way.
  • Daenerys Targaryen never holds any grudges against the Starks in the show unlike in the books where she considers Ned Stark's as "the Usurper's dog". She also condemns what her father, Aerys the Mad King, did to Rickard and Brandon Stark and tells Jon Snow that she won't be like her father to the point of expressing sympathy to Jon for losing his two half-brothers (or cousins) much like how she felt for losing her own two brothers. In the books, she has a limited view about her father and when Barristan tries to tell her about him, she refuses to listen until she's in a better mood.
• Gotham
  • Victor Zsasz as an Affably Evil merc for Carmine Falcone and the Penguin rather than the homicidal Ax-Crazy maniac of the comics.
  • The show's incarnation of Poison Ivy is a much nicer Genki Girl, if a bit dumb, instead of the human hating vamp that she is in most of her other incarnations. Then again this version of Ivy is still just a child. Her second self-induced age-up leaves her very similar to the comic book original.
  • Downplayed with Professor Pyg, who targets the corrupt cops of the GCPD, but mere as an excuse to indulge his twisted fantasies.
• Guest from the Future, compared to One Hundred Years Ahead, on which it is based, has several examples:
  • Alice in the book is reserved, abrasive and hesitant to trust Yulia, often quarrels with the latter, and shows off at school (though the last part is due to Culture Clash rather than a genuine desire to boast – in Alice’s time, pupils are encouraged to be much more active during lessons than in 1976). Alice in the series is an angelic All-Loving Heroine who quickly becomes close friends with Yulia and never quarrels with anyone; though she still shocks everyone with her knowledge at the lessons, she only does it when asked directly by the teacher.
  • Maria Pavlovna is a no-nonsense Battleaxe Nurse in the book and a tender-hearted, friendly woman in the series.
  • Marta Skryl is a very persistent gym coach who sees Alice as a future sports champion rather than a person and refuses to listen to her when she says she doesn’t want a career in sports. In the series, she’s still all that, but she also gets to personally throw one of the villains out of the window, accept the fact that Alice isn’t going to stay in the past and win medals, and part with the girl on friendly terms.
• The Hexer: Humans from episode 7, "Dolina Kwiatów" ("The Valley of Flowers") in the storyline taken from The Edge of the World. In the short story, the human settlers are nice for the standards of the setting, but that's about it. In the episode, they are genuinely good and friendly people that would gladly help the free elves still living in the area, if only the elves weren't so proud to flat-out refuse the help. This is done intentionally, to drive point home just how haughty and stubborn the elves are. The humans also don't want the "devil" killed, just for Geralt to talk some reason into him and if that won't work, simply scare him away from their fields.
• In Kamen Rider Ryuki, Ren is one of the first cynical Secondary Riders to be introduced, and as such he refuses to be friendly with Shinji because they are both in a brutal There Can Be Only One tournament, meaning that they would eventually have to fight each other. In the American adaptation Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Len is much friendlier than his Japanese counterpart and becomes The Mentor to Kit.
• Legion:
  • In the comics, David Haller is a highly unstable Person of Mass Destruction with a multiple personality disorder who has telepathically killed people on a whim. In the show, David is much calmer, more rational and more approachable, and when he's not being Mind Raped by the Shadow King, displays a benevolent attitude and compassion for his friends and loved ones. He's even capable of outright heroism, unlike his comic book counterpart.
  • Carrying on a tradition that started with the X-Men Film Series, Charles Xavier is a sympathetic Nice Guy who lacks the unpleasant Good Is Not Nice and Manipulative Bastard traits of the original comic character.
• In The Mandalorian Season 2 Boba Fett who’s previously been portrayed as a ruthless Bounty Hunter, willingly aids the titular character against the larger threat of The Empire and promises to help retrieve his adoptive son Grogu out of gratitude. Although in Star Wars Legends Boba eventually Took a Level in Kindness as well so it isn’t exactly out of character.
• I Not Stupid has a TV series which repeats most of the movie's plot threads, while applying this trope to Boon Hock's cousin Chong-Ming. In the movie Chong-Ming is The Bully who constantly makes fun of the main trio for being "class idiots", instigates a fight with the trio (which leads to Boon Hock's friend, Kwok Pin, getting reprimanded by the discipline teacher) and leaves the movie without a trace for reasons unknown. In the TV series Chong-Ming had a subplot where it turns out he's constantly pressured by his mother to excel in his studies and gains a bit of Break the Haughty after he failed his own exams, only to be comforted by Terry, one of the trio he frequently picks on. He's a lot less smug later on and when the school asks for volunteers for a blood drive to save Kwok Pin's mother from leukemia, Chong-Ming is the first upper-class students to volunteer (while his blood is incompatible at the end, at least he tried to save the mother of one of his bullying victims, unlike his film counterpart).
• In Once Upon a Time, when the character of Gaston is actually fleshed out, he's not a womanizing Egomaniac Hunter, but an adventurous nobleman who's much nicer to Belle and her father than he is in the original. His strife with Belle is caused by his being willing to kill an ogre youth without finding out if it actually has ill will, and after she leaves for Rumplestiltskin's castle and even after his death he clearly regrets it and wants to reconcile with her.
• One Piece (2023):
  • In the manga, Luffy makes fun of Koby and hits him due to finding him annoying, as well as beats him up to fake hostility so as to get the Marines to allow Koby to join them. In this show, Luffy never insults Koby and the worst he does to him physically is slap him for calling his own dreams dumb.
  • Nami gets hit with a zig-zagged case between this trope and a downplayed case of Adaptational Jerkass. On one hand, this version of Nami is willing to steal from Kaya due to an Eat the Rich philosophy, while her manga counterpart only steals from pirates. On the other hand, this version of Nami is far less short-tempered and doesn't hit the other Straw Hats for their annoying antics. She also come to regret stealing from Kaya after getting to know her, and is never shown stealing from any other civilians.
  • Sanji's Handsome Lech traits are heavily toned down, with this version of him being mildly flirtatious at worst compared to how perverted his manga counterpart could be. He's also far less irritated with Luffy and Usopp and has a generally more pleasant relationship with them, though notably, his relationship with Zoro becomes venomous much sooner in this series than it does in the manga.
  • While Garp in the manga definitely cares about Luffy, he also subjected him to a Hilariously Abusive Childhood, causing him to come off as a self-centered Control Freak. In this show, his abuse is heavily toned down, causing him to come off as a genuinely concerned grandfather who doesn't want to see Luffy get killed.
  • While the manga's Helmeppo would eventually Take a Level in Kindness, his introduction portrays him as a Spoiled Brat who sics his pet wolves on the people of Shells Town just for the fun of it, and threatens Rika's life so as to get Zoro to turn himself in. This show's version of him, while still a brat, lacks the nastier qualities of his manga counterpart.
  • Captain Morgan, while still a narcissistic blowhard and a terrible father to Helmeppo, the version seen here isn't an outright Dirty Cop like his manga counterpart, and does seem to genuinely care about protecting Shells Town, whereas in the manga, he would murder people on a whim.
  • In the manga, Kuina is an Arrogant Kung-Fu Girl who berates Zoro for being weak after beating him, though this is shown to just be a front for her own insecurities. In this show, she lacks her arrogance and gives Zoro genuine advice after beating him.
  • Koushirou in this show doesn't share the sexist beliefs that his manga counterpart had prior to Kuina's death.
  • Zeff's treatment of Sanji in this show is far kinder than it is in the manga, lacking the physical abuse of the original. This version of him is also much nicer to the Straw Hats, praising Luffy during his time as a chore boy and performing an emergency procedure for Zoro after he's almost killed by Mihawk.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians
  • According to Word of God, Percy's abusive stepfather Gabe's behavior is toned down here to mesh better with the series's light-hearted tone.invoked
  • While Chiron has always been a kindhearted and charming Cool Teacher, Team Dad and Big Good that all demigods can rely on, his interaction with Percy in the first chapters of The Lighting Thief show that he can be Innocently Insensitive from time to time and his words do affect Percy negatively, not helped by the fact that when he has his confrontation with Percy its within earshot of Nancy in the books. Here, he's a lot more gentle and encouraging during their conversation.
• Preacher (2016):
  • Sheriff Root differs from his counterpart in the original comic book by lacking his racism and homophobia in addition to being less abusive towards his son.
  • While still a deranged Corrupt Corporate Executive, Odin Quincannon is more cordial to Jesse Custer than he was in the comics and isn't a racist.
• The titular Raffles was a Villain Protagonist in the original stories, albeit of the sympathetic Lovable Rogue variety; in the (more light-hearted) TV show based on the books, he is a straight-up Anti-Hero who never flirts with the idea of more serious crimes and is much nicer and less manipulative towards his sidekick Bunny.
• The 2017 series adaptation of the film She's Gotta Have It makes Jamie into a nicer guy simply by omitting the scene where he rapes Nola. In this series, his major flaw instead is being married while dating Nola.
• A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017): Played with in regards to Fernald the Hook-Handed Man; While he's not any less of a bad guy than his book self, he is shown to be considerably nicer to Sunny than in the source material, even being able to understand her baby language like her siblings can. Justified when you discover (or remember) that Fernald has a sister who he left behind when she was quite young.
• Stargirl (2020):
  • In Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., Paul Deisinger was a Jerkass Evil Teacher who professed to hate children and had no problems whatsoever with using his powers to hurt his students. In the show, he's a Nice Guy who genuinely cares for his students and encourages them to reach their true potential, and his transformation into a supervillain occurs due to being corrupted by Eclipso against his will.
• Super Sentai to Power Rangers
  • Several Monsters of the Week have much nastier and deadly schemes in Sentai compared to their adapted counterparts in Power Rangers. One example is Dora Sphinx, from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, who trapped four of the Zyurangers and several children inside trees that were about to be chopped down, endangering their lives. King Sphinx from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers simply wanted to separate Jason from the other rangers, using his wings to blow the others away.
  • Ecliptor from Power Rangers in Space shows enormous devotion to Astronema, acts as her father figure at times and even temporarily defects to the side of the Rangers when Astronema does so. His Denji Sentai Megaranger counterpart Yugande is shown to be devoted to his fellow villains, but not to this extent.
  • Sambash, from Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, is portrayed as a violent hotheaded biker without any redeemable qualities. Villamax from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy more or less resembles a chivalrous knight in terms of personality. He always keeps his end of the bargain and does not want to involve innocents in his battles against the Rangers. In fact, he performs a Heel–Face Turn when Big Bad Trakeena orders him to fire at innocent people.
  • Bucrates, also from Gingaman is shown to be a crafty schemer, to the point of managing to blackmail the Sixth Ranger by keeping his sentient mecha hostage. His counterpart Kegler from Lost Galaxy is nothing more than a bumbling sidekick to the aforementioned Villamax. He's never involved in schemes against the rangers.
  • Tommy Oliver is an overall better person than his first two Sentai counterparts, Burai, who was obsessed with revenge (and in this case, Tommy was an outright case of Adaptational Heroism as he was Brainwashed and Crazy during his time working for Rita, whereas Burai was a willing participant in Bandora's schemes) and Kou, who was a Dirty Kid who groped Rin and lifted up her and some schoolgirls' skirts.
• Titans: Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke, is still an absolutely terrible human being and a remorseless killer, but this version of the character cares far more about his family than his comic counterpart usually does. This is best exemplified by the circumstances that led to his son Jericho being rendered mute. In the comics, Jericho lost his voice because Slade refused to divulge the name of his employer to a terrorist called the Jackal, which in turn caused the Jackal to have one of his goons slash Jericho's throat. The same set-up occurred in the TV show, but this time, Jericho's throat was cut when Slade tried to fight off the terrorists to rescue his wife and son.
• The Toy Castle: In the original fairy tale of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, the Goblin in the Jack-in-the-Box was the main antagonist, who had it out for the Soldier, even throwing him from the castle wall. In the series, while he's still a trickster and a little selfish, he's more good-natured, playful, and usually learns his lesson in the end (if only for a little while).
• The Umbrella Academy (2019):
  • Five is an Anti-Hero rather than a Sociopathic Hero as he is in the comic. He also displays no love for wanton violence in the show and genuinely loves his siblings, unlike the comic where he has no qualms shooting Vanya in the back of the head.
  • Vanya willingly joins the Orchestra Verdammten after her siblings spurn her and gets turned into The White Violin and almost causes the apocalypse. In the show, Viktor goes through an extensive Trauma Conga Line thanks to his father, siblings and evil boyfriend leading up to a Heel–Face Turn which makes him a bit more sympathetic than his comic counterpart. In the second season he becomes an outright hero and redeems himself.
  • Diego is a vicious and murderous vigilante in the comics who debases his Robot Maid mother at a funeral, as he doesn’t consider her a person. In the show, Diego is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and The Cowl and he even spares the assassin Cha-Cha despite wanting to kill her after she killed his Old Flame. Diego also loves his robot mother the most out of his siblings, unlike the comic.
  • Allison doesn't use her Compelling Voice on Luther to cope with her divorce, making her quite less rapey and her ill fated relationship with Luther more genuine and tragic. Then again, Allison does get some degree of Adaptational Jerkass being the one who made Viktor forget he had powers and never telling him, but even then she was just a kid when her father ordered her to do it and she deeply regrets it as an adult and blames herself for Viktor’s breakdown. Inverted hard in Season 3, where Allison having gone through a Truama Conga Line does use her voice on Luther leading to a Near-Rape Experience for him and her previously Nice Girl personality takes a steep nosedive into a toxic Jerkass bitch who Jumps Off The Slippery Slope in very extreme manner and willingly murders a innocent man who accidently got her mother killed. This all results in Allison's comic version looking like a saint in comparsion.
  • Sir Reginald Hargreeves is a dreadful and controling father in the comics who never shows the slightest bit of affection to his seven adopted children. In the show, he’s still cold and cruel, but he does have quite a few Pet the Dog moments such as watching his children sleep, and smiling while listening to Viktor play his violin implying a more compassionate side than the comic. Like Allison this inverted for Season 3 where Hargreeves mananges to be even a bigger asshole than in the comic, killing Luther in cold blood (he gets better) and resetting the entire universe.
• War and Peace (2007): Although Countess Rostov does protest Nikolai's engagement to Sonya as she does in the book, this adaptation has her come around to accepting their relationship, even pleading to Sonya not to sacrifice it to allow Nikolai to court the heiress Marya.
• Young Sheldon:
  • While Mary was never a mean character, she's no where near as aggressive with her religious beliefs in this series as she was in The Big Bang Theory. In this series, she accepts Sheldon's atheism for the most part, whereas in the parent series, she's a lot more combative and obviously trying to convert him. Though Sheldon in TBBT more or less confirms that Mary's fundamentalism grew as a result of George's affair and death, with her using Christianity as an emotional crutch to get through the heartbreak. She's also less snarky and brutally honest than she was in TBBT, where she states many times Sheldon is hard to tolerate ("Lord, I want to thank you for the blessing that is my little Shelly. I also want to thank you for the continued strength not to coldcock him with my Bible"), is surprised when a woman is interested in him, and claims that her other two children are "dumb as soup". Also, the casual racism she displayed in TBBT is mostly absent here.
  • In the parent series, George Sr. is described as a "redneck Texas Homer Simpson" who would, among other things, drink bourbon from Pepsi cans, use dishes for skeet shooting practice and fight with Mary on a near-constant basis. While he is fond of beer and can be a little boorish at times, George is no where near that bad in Young Sheldon. This may have to do with George's infidelity having shrouded Sheldon's view of his father during his early adult years, as the narrator Sheldon in this show is clearly at a later stage in life than his TBBT counterpart and thus had time to get over the pain and remember George as he really was.

Mythology

• Done with both Scylla and Medusa from Classical Mythology. Both were originally depicted as born monsters, but later writers added them being cursed, to make them more sympathetic.

Podcasts

• The Film Reroll version of Frozen skips the entire subplot where Hans tricks Anna into falling in love with him, making him come off as less of an emotionally-manipulative jerkass, but he's still the main villain of the story and still tries to kill Elsa at one point.

Puppet Shows

• In The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Jane Kangaroo is still pretty conceited, but has a lot more redeeming qualities than in Horton Hears a Who!. Her treatment of Horton is also generally nicer, or at least more well meaning than that of her book counterpart.

Theatre

• Lots of characters from Be More Chill were made a bit less douchey in the stage version. Jeremy goes from a weird and chauvinistic incel to an awkward and scared kid who turns down an opportunity to get what he wants because he knows that Christine wouldn't be able to consent. Michael goes from fetishizing Asian girls and buying a defuzzer for his TV so he can see censored nudity into someone who tells his friend to compliment his crush on her smarts to flirt. While Christine is slightly less extreme, she goes from sort of rude and self-centered to dedicated to making others happy and just wanting to share her interests.
• Heathers: The Musical: JD and Veronica are a lot less villainous than in the 1988 movie. The former, while still a killer, is far more sympathetic and troubled than trouble. The latter is less of a willing accomplice to JD's evil schemes.
• The Phantom of the Opera (and its subsequent 2004 film adaptation) does this to Viscount Raoul de Chagny, the heroine Christine’s Love Interest. In Gaston Leroux’s original novel, Raoul is more of a jerk for a good chunk of the book, being quite possessive of Christine, stalking her, entering her dressing room without her permission twice and jumping to jealous conclusions about her mysterious tutor. Raoul only calms down much later after Christine explains everything to him. In the Broadway adaptation and film, Raoul does none of the aforementioned things being a Nice Guy whose concerns about Christine and her Angel of Music are well founded. Ironically, unlike most examples, this has a negative effect as while Raoul is a flawed character in the book, he’s still compelling, whilst the Musical version comes off as a Flat Character. This is partly why a lot of the Broadway fans prefer Christine with the titular antagonist.
• Les Misérables:
  • Inspector Javert is an utter Knight Templar in the book whose unjust pursuit of law and order is presented as unique kind of evil as he relishes the misery he brings to others. In the Broadway adaptation Javert barring his obsession with Valjean is presented as more fair and displays no spite or disgust towards Fantine when he arrests her. In the film version, he also has a massive Pet the Dog moment pinning his medal onto the dead body of little Gavroche after the barricade rebellion is brought down, something that did not happen in the book.
  • Éponine while still The Woobie in the book, is very much a unstable Clingy Jealous Girl who resents Cosette for winning Marius’s heart and having wealth and happiness. She even makes sure Marius signs up for the barricades so he can be Together in Death with her rather than married to Cosette. In the musical her Yandere behaviour is greatly toned down thus making her unrequited love for Marius even more upsetting. She also doesn’t interact with Cosette as a girl in the musical while she mistreated her along with the rest of her family in the book.
  • Marius spends many chapters stalking Cosette, keeping what he thinks is her handkerchief (which he sniffs – although it's really Valjean's handkerchief) and blaming her for showing off her ankle when the wind momentarily raises her skirt, can be possessive of her after they become a couple too, and somewhat resents Valjean for keeping Cosette from him. Unsurprisingly this subplot was left out of the musical adaptation: Marius and Cosette meet again and fall in love soon after their first meeting, and he never shows jealousy or possessiveness toward her. Marius also feels disgusted pity for Éponine in the book, while in the musical and especially 2012 film adaptation Marius doesn’t look down on Éponine at all and genuinely cares for her a good deal. Last but not least, in the novel he becomes prejudiced against Valjean after learning that the latter is an ex-convict, and pushes him out of his and Cosette's lives after their marriage, while in the musical Valjean's choice to leave is all his own and Marius objects at first, then only reluctantly agrees.
  • Likewise, Valjean resents Marius at first for threatening to take Cosette from him and wants him to die at the barricade. In the musical, he prays for Marius's life straight away, with no animosity beforehand.
• In Jesus Christ Superstar:
  • Judas Iscariot while still a Jerkass, is presented in a far more sympathetic light than in The Four Gospels. It’s made clear in his songs he genuinely loves Jesus, cares for the disciples and just doesn’t want them all to be slaughtered by the Romans, and is manipulated by the High Priests into betraying Jesus. This is in contrast to the Gospel, where Judas cared more about money and only regretted his actions when it was too late. In the musical, he despairs as soon Jesus is subjected to a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by the guards.
  • Pontius Pilate, while more just than the High Priests and does question the people of Nazareth over Jesus’s crucifixion, still throws him to the wolves to save face in the Gospel. In the musical he spends the latter part of the musical trying to spare Jesus’s life, is disgusted at the bloodthirsty crowd forcing him and breaks down at Jesus's whipping pleading with Christ to let him help stop his “self-destruction”.
• While the typically arrogant Klug has generally mellowed out in more recent Puyo Puyo games, Puyo Puyo on Stage takes it to another level, by having Klug do absolutely nothing to incur anyone's wrath (other than rightfully pointing out when people are being silly or dishonest, that is), and yet still be at the receiving end of a large part of the play's Slapstick.
• Wicked has Elphaba aka The Wicked Witch of West. In the original book and most adaptations (barring Oz the Great and Powerful) the Witch is a Card-Carrying Villain who shows no remorse for her villainy and was a bitter person long before her transformation. In the musical, she’s Not Evil, Just Misunderstood Well-Intentioned Extremist and the events of the original story are presented as propaganda. This does result in Glinda and the Tin Man getting a good deal of Adaptational Jerkass.
• The May Night, compared to The May Night, or the Drowned Maiden by Nikolai Gogol:
  • In the novella, Galya loves Levko but isn't averse to accepting the attentions of the latter's father, the village head, keeping, it's implied, her options open (without Levko's knowledge). In the opera,she is absolutely faithful to Levko and firmly rejects his father when the latter tries to win her over.
  • In the novella, the Pannochka asks Levko to sing for her. In the opera, she asks him to sing to cheer up the rest of the rusalkas.

Video Games

• Another Code: Recollection does this to Ryan Gray. Rather than being a vindictive sociopath out for revenge against the Robins family for their role in the ANOTHER project by erasing their memories and fracturing their minds, as was the case in R - A Journey into Lost Memories, the Ryan in the remake has nothing against Ashley or Richard. In fact, his only goal is to bring Sayoko back to life out of a desire to reconnect with the one being who ever acknowledged his existence, and he legitimately does not understand that overwriting Ashley's mind with that of her late mother's would be a cruel thing to do until after the attempt fails.
• Batman: Arkham Series, in addition to the Joker's treatment of Barbara Gordon:
  • Black Mask is shown to have possibly loved his girlfriend and didn't exercise sadism against his own goons, whereas the comics version disfigured an ex-girlfriend and shown a love for torture.
  • Mr. Freeze is shown to be less confrontational, willing to engage in an Enemy Mine with Batman, and actually does takes Batman's advice about giving up crime.
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle did this for Weiss Schnee. Weiss in the game retains the haughtiness and bossiness of her Volume 1 incarnation from the show, but she does seems to be fairly friendly with Ruby, whereas in the show she was for a lot of Volume 1 incredibly dismissive of her partner and didn't respect her abilities at all. She also seems to get along well with Blake, even though in the show their early relationship was... rocky. She also seems to hold a lot of respect for Yu by calling it an honor to fight alongside the leader of the Investigation Team, something which he reciprocates. She also shows appreciation to Hyde for helping her against Azrael and Carmine.
• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth: In the original story (The Shadow Over Innsmouth), Obed Marsh is implied to have been a Card-Carrying Villain who summoned the Deep Ones to Innsmouth purely out of Greed and who was willing to give them whatever they wanted in exchange for their gold. His journals in the game make him out to be more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist, who only summoned the Deep Ones in order to save his dying city and then had to keep working with them because breaking the deal meant they would slaughter his people. His descendants are still just as evil as they ever were, though.
• In Disney Magical World, the Queen of Hearts. In the original Disney Alice in Wonderland movie, she's the film's main antagonist, and a tempestuous evil queen whose subjects all fear her and who threatens people with beheading for the mildest offenses. In the game, she's an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain at worst whose threats are Played for Laughs; it's implied she never goes through with them. At best, she's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who comes to truly respect the protagonist.
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: In the original Gamecube release, the plot was given as Donkey Kong wanting to prove himself as the king of the jungle, so he sets off to beat the crap out of any other potential contenders to the title of strongest ape in the country. Apparently that was a bit too antiheroic for Nintendo, as the later Wii release rewrites the plot to say DK is actually helping the monkeys following him around reclaim their land from the various bosses. (In both cases, the story is All There in the Manual, so the games themselves are functionally identical.)
• Final Fantasy:
  • Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia:
    • Faris Scherwiz is an unrepentent pirate in the original, has a Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with Galuf, and is extremely reluctant to admit any kind of sentiment (except towards her sister). OO tones all of that down in favor of having her act Just Like Robin Hood. She is much more prone to openly expressing friendship and affection, when even after her Character Development she would inject some kind of teasing into it.
    • Onion Knight is characterized as a kid who acts like The Spock to cover his insecurities, and who gets really defensive the moment there is a hint that someone is patronizing him. Likely due to him being Demoted to Extra and only popping up now and then to analyze the situation, he behaves more like a straight example of The Spock (although other characters refer to his ill-temper in some cutscenes, so maybe he is still being cranky off-screen).
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake:
    • Barret Wallace: While the original game's Barret did genuinely care for his fellow Avalanche members, he also tended to be harsh with them, calling them "screw-ups" after their successful reactor bombing mission, reacting with anger when Wedge asked about his pay, and sending Biggs flying during an impromptu sparring session back at their hideout. Here, he is far more pleasant and openly affectionate with them. He also intended for them to simply sabotage Reactor 7's Mako pump, rather than blow up the whole reactor like in the original.
    • Cloud Strife: At start of the original game, Cloud was literally Only in It for the Money and, while still heroic, he often came off as a dismissive headstrong merc before getting better over the course of the story. Also, thanks to having Zack’s memories, he had to be reminded of the promise he made his childhood crush Tifa Lockhart. Here, Cloud, regardless of the player’s choices, cares deeply for Tifa (giving her one of Aerith's flowers automatically) and actually flashes back to their conversation on the watertower while on a mission inspiring him to keep his word to her. He's also more compassionate and easygoing to his companions in general compared to his initial attitude in the original. On the other hand, Cloud does get some Adaptational Jerkass with how he treats others. When Johnny rats Jessie out to Shinra, Cloud immediately wants to kill him, and after beating Reno, Cloud tries to decapitate him while he’s on the ground before being stopped by the Whispers. Both instances shock Tifa and Aerith and is something Cloud wouldn’t do in the original game.
    • Yuffie Kisaragi. She gets a huge amount of this in the DLC Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. In the original game, she’s the most antagonistic party member next to Barret, if not more so since she literally starts off as a random enemy encounter who fights AVALANCHE trying to steal Materia. Even after being defeated and becoming a party member, Yuffie is still incredibly aggressive and bratty, coming up with rude nicknames for Cloud (“spikey-headed jerk”), Tifa (“boobs”) and Cid (“bow-legged ol' man”) upon meeting them. While none of the heroes take her exploits seriously and she proves to be nicer later on, Yuffie still robs the team and flees to her homeland Wutai. Cloud and company have to save her from Don Corneo before she becomes a real team player. In Intergrade, Yuffie, while still brash, is also cheerful and friendly, wanting to talk to Barret and Tifa when she first sees them instead of robbing them blind. She also isn’t particularly rude or impatient to anyone (besides Sonon initially), and is generally more of a Genki Girl. There is some In-Universe justification since Yuffie’s role has been changed from a Rebellious Princess Thief to a Wutai Special Forces Operative, who is stealing Materia from Shinra Robin Hood-style.
    • Tseng: Marginally. He doesn't slap Aerith as he did in the original, tries to assuage Reno's guilty conscience, and offers him vacation time. It's also mentioned by Elmyra that the Turks knew Aerith had to come to them willingly, so they've not been constantly trying to kidnap her, more just constantly nagging and harassing her.
    • Reno: A marginal case. Compared to Reno's flippancy about dropping the Sector 7 plate in the original, he expresses disgust at having to go through with it here, but then shrugs off whatever guilt he may have felt by rationalizing that "it's too late to grow a conscience."
    • Rude: Aerith outright says that despite being a Turk, he's not a bad person. His first fight with Cloud and Aerith is not because he wants to kidnap her, but rather to avenge Reno who was just defeated by Cloud. However, he is the one that finishes dropping the plate in this version.
• Garfield's Fun Fest: Garfield comes off substantially nicer here, especially when it comes to his interactions with Odie.
• The material for The Great Giana Sisters makes Giana to be a rude, rebellious teenager. She also outright mocks Super Mario Bros., while also being an overt ripoff of the same. The Giana Sisters DS reboot mellows (and ages) her down. Giana is just a Cheerful Child with a Fiery Redhead alter-ego (Nintendo threatening the original game's creators with a bunker-buster of a lawsuit stopped her from picking any more fights with Mario, in or out of universe).
• In comparison to both his comic and film counterparts, the version of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2021) is much nicer. To put it in perspective, in the comics, he's an antisocial jerk while in the film, he's a selfish criminal who had no heroic intentions prior to meeting the other Guardians. Here, Peter is genuinely heroic, left the Ravagers prior to meeting the Guardians for his own reasons and was at least respected for his small role in the War, according to background information. Also both he and his MCU counterpart chose to betray Yondu, but while the film version did it simply for money, this version of Peter helped the Nova Corps arrest Yondu when he chose to kidnap a kid, which Peter disagreed with.
• In Harry Potter, Slytherin house is typically depicted as Always Chaotic Evil, filled with racist Evil Sorcerers in-training. However, in the Distant Prequel Hogwarts Legacy the students have a significantly more friendly relationship with their competitors. It's telling that while Dean Bitterman Phineas Nigellus Black seems to prefer the pureblood members of Slytherin, his own former house despises him. The house is more in line with its intended characterization with the members all being ambitious young wizards and witches who take pride in their lineage and have dreams of being the best in their chosen field, at worst just being more willing to bend, or break, rules than others. Even the nicest character in the game, Professor Ronen, was a Slytherin when he attended the school.
• The Legend of Spyro: The original Spyro isn't a bad guy, but he's rather arrogant and kind of a jerk to others at times. This Spyro is much more soft-spoken, compassionate, and humble in comparison.
• Mega Man: In the original Mega Man (Classic), Big Bad Doctor Wily wants to Take Over the World with his robots because he wants to get back at Dr. Light for being Always Someone Better. In Mega Man Battle Network, Wily is still a resentful villain (perhaps even more so); however, he was close friends with Dr. Hikari Sr. (Dr. Light's counterpart), and he also took time to raise a child of his friend when said friend goes to war, and he also disapproves of his son's actions, as he's an even worse Big Bad than Wily.
• In Pac-Man World, when Toc-Man/Orson is defeated, he bemoans the fact that people love Pac-Man but ghosts like him never get the same adoration. Pac-Man, however, shows No Sympathy and eats him like he would any other ghost, which just made him look like a Jerkass (though to be fair to the yellow guy, Orson did kidnap Pac-Man's family and his friend Pooka and tried to steal Pac-Man's identity). In Pac-Man World: Re-PAC, if the player saved every family member, you'll get the Golden Ending that instead has Pac forgive Orson for all that he did, so him eating Orson in the incomplete ending is a bit more justified.
• Paper Chase: In the original BASIC version, the physical education instructor is somewhat rude, calling you a wimp and potentially telling you to get lost. In the later-released Inform version, he is more polite.
• Pokémon:
  • Lusamine in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is a more sympathetic character than she was in Pokémon Sun and Moon. She's a neglectful parent and a Well-Intentioned Extremist, unlike her more emotionally abusive original version who was also more selfish and controlling.
  • Blue in Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, while still arrogant, is noticeably more mature and kind, even being mentor-like to the player and his rival; a far cry from the bratty, immature Jerkass he was in the original games.
• Ratchet & Clank (2016) has several characters undergo this to correct the World of Jerkass present in the original game and abandoned afterward. Whether this was an improvement is a matter of debate:
  • Ratchet in the original game was widely disliked for being a jerk to everyone around him including Clank. Character Development led to him being nicer in the sequels while the remake opted to have him start nice but somewhat more awkward and unsure of himself to compensate.
  • Captain Qwark is easily the most criticized change. While his personality and motives in the original don't remotely match the Large Ham Miles Gloriosus fans grew to like (he's under Broken Base mainly because many still consider the remake an improvement to going back to that), the attempts to make him nicer and more competent don't work when he's still willing to betray the Galactic Rangers to the guy destroying planets essentially because someone got more popular than him.
  • Strangely, Chairman Drek received some of this as well. His plan to break apart planets to use the fragments to construct one perfect planet for his people remains unchanged, but his hidden agenda was what made him such a monster in the original. The remake excludes this; while it's still implied he would have done this all over again for personal gain if he didn't get Hijacked By Nefarious, he has the decency to not screw them over on the way out.
• Resident Evil 2 (Remake):
  • Hunk receives limited characterization and still works for the bad guys, but is nonetheless portrayed as much nicer than he was in the original game. While the original Hunk was coldly professional and never cared a bit about his fellow soldiers, Remake Hunk notably refuses to throw anyone under the bus for his own gain and appears to be regarded as The Ace rather than The Dreaded.
  • Ada gets a bit of this, especially when Leon takes the bullet for her when Annette shoots at her. In the original, Ada steps over the fallen Leon and chases after Annette, only patching up Leon when he wakes up later and catches up to her (through a sewer) still badly wounded. In the remake, she treats Leon’s wound straight away and even puts her coat over Leon to keep him warm. Although Ada does get some Adaptational Jerkass towards the end, where she manipulates Leon to grab the T-Virus for her by kissing him, and even pulls a gun on him when Annette reveals the truth to him, unlike the original where Ada just wanted Leon to leave her to do her job, and didn’t use his feelings and heroism for personal gain.
  • Annette was a deranged Mad Scientist in the original game whose villainous actions were born out of Undying Loyalty to her equally insane husband William. She was also dreadfully neglectful and uncaring to her only daughter Sherry. In the remake Annette is actually trying to destroy the T-Virus and her violent actions are born out of not wanting samples to fall into anybody’s hands. She also shows regret for her terrible parenting and dies curing Sherry from infection and telling her daughter that she loves her.
• Resident Evil 3 (Remake):
  • Carlos the deuteragonist gets this a bit in the remake. In the original game, Carlos while still a good guy was openly sleazy to Jill, initially quite the braggart and was dismissive of Jill’s anger of him working for Umbrella saying he’s just a mercenary following orders. In the remake, Carlos while still a bit flirtatious to Jill is much more respectful and caring to her and upon discovering the true nature of his employers and what they’ve done to Jill, he’s disgusted with himself and is humbled that Jill found it in her to trust him anyway.
  • Brad is completely lacking the Dirty Coward behaviour he is known for and unlike the original game genuinely cares for Jill and sacrifices himself to save her in a You Shall Not Pass! against instead of abandoning her and becoming an Asshole Victim thanks to Nemesis.
  • Patrick Tyrell is a trusted partner to Carlos, who selflessly aids Jill during the finale. In the original game Tyrell in the one scene he appeared in before dying was a deranged and paranoid man who pointed a gun at Carlos before getting killed by a bomb in a wall safe (or, alternately, shot by Nicholai and then blowing himself up to try catching Nicholai in the explosion).
• In South Park: The Stick of Truth, this happens with Cartman. In the cartoon, he's always been a racist asshole who only looks out for himself and uses others to get what he wants, but in the game, Cartman is the first one to befriend you and provides tutorials for your character to defend yourself from enemies.
  • Subverted in South Park: The Fractured but Whole, where Cartman (as The Coon) is your mentor figure for most of the game and is the one who unlocks classes. He's eventually revealed to be the true villain of the game (via his Mitch Conner persona) and leaves your party permanently in the final day after it's revealed he kidnapped your parents (and eventually forces you to kill one of them).
  • The Bank Clerk, a.k.a. the "...and it's GONE!" guy plays this straight. He normally robs people out of their money without any remorse at all, and while he does the same to the New Kid he acually helps to return all the lost money with no tricks.
• Spider-Man (Insomniac):
  • Spider-Man (PS4):
    • Even before becoming Doctor Octopus, Otto Octavius was an egotistical blowhard in the comics. Here, he's nice and humble. Of course, this goes out the window once he does become Doc Ock.
    • This continuity's version of Norman Osborn not only isn't the Green Goblin, but also genuinely loves and cares about his son Harry, with his motivation largely being based around trying to find a cure for his son's genetic disease. Compare that to his comic counterpart, who once tried to have Harry killed in a plan to gain public sympathy.
    • While the Shocker is already Affably Evil in the comics, his depiction here elevates him to a full on Friendly Enemy who Peter has talked science with and have tried to talk each other out of fighting on occasion.
    • In the comics, Jefferson Davis is aloof and distant to his son due to his status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and former criminal. In this continuity, he's shown to be very close with Miles. This version of the character also isn't a Noble Bigot with a Badge against superhumans like his comic counterpart initially was.
    • In the comics, Mr. Negative was only out to take over the New York underworld. While he's still ruthless and taking advantage of the Kingpin's fall from grace, the game sees Negative have more sympathetic reasons for his actions, namely he gained his powers and accidentally killed his parents after being experimented on during Osborn's attempts to cure his family. Additionally, in the game, Martin Li himself is legitimately trying to do good for New York and came to the country as an immigrant with his parents. In the comics, "Martin Li" was actually a Triad member involved in human trafficking and stole the identity of one of the people the organization intended to sell as slaves, though by making him a Composite Character with the real Li, this also does subject the real Martin Li to Adaptational Villainy.
    • Comments by Mary Jane imply that while her father was abusive like in the comics, he's still far better than how he's portrayed in the comics.
  • The Black Cat Strikes, a comic adaptation of the first game's "The City That Never Sleeps" DLC, has Mary Jane react far more maturely to the prospect that Peter might have conceived a son with Black Cat compared to her initial reaction in the game, with her reasonably explaining that she's upset due to a combination of Peter keeping it a secret and not just telling her about it (giving the implication that he didn't think their relationship could handle it) combined with fear over the idea that Peter had been cheating on her with Felicia.
  • Spider-Man: Miles Morales:
    • While the Prowler of the comics would eventually pull a Heel–Face Turn, he's initially introduced as a full on villain who tries to manipulate his nephew into assisting him in his crimes after learning that he's Spider-Man. In this continuity, Aaron is already trying to go straight by the events of Miles Morales, and any villainous action he makes throughout the game is done with the genuine intention of protecting his family.
    • Danika Hart in the comics was an obnoxious YouTuber who only cared about Miles being an Affirmative-Action Legacy (something that Miles himself is uncomfortable with), and was willing to sell out his identity first chance she got only to change her mind when she realized she was in love with his best friend Ganke. In this continuity, she's a steadfast ally of Miles because of the content of his character rather than the color of his skin, and respects his privacy.
  • The Spider-Man 2 prequel comic features this continuity's version of the Hood. Whereas his comic counterpart is a power hungry crime boss who lies to his hospitalized mother about his job, this version is an Anti-Villain whose goal is to save his mother's life.
  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2:
    • In the comics, Harry Osborn's insecurities, namely his inability to get his father's approval, leads him to resent Peter for his popularity with girls and for being the son Norman secretly wants, causing him to regularly lash out at Peter and his loved ones. This version of the character lacks these traits (likely due to Norman's own case of this trope), and is portrayed as very philanthropic. While it's eventually revealed that he does envy Peter for being able to live the life he wishes he could due to not suffering from illness, he chooses to keep it hidden and only begins to come out thanks to the taste of power he receives from the Venom symbiote.
    • While it's downplayed due to the character also being hit with a case of Adaptational Villainy, Venom, while Not Good with Rejection as usual, doesn't try to actively ruin Peter's life for rejecting them like they do in the comic, and in fact desires to reconcile with Peter, albeit in its own twisted way. Even when Peter firmly rejects them, they mostly blame Miles due to believing that he's the one who turned Peter against them.
    • This continuity's Sasha Kravinoff seems far less enthused about the idea of her family killing each other for control of their empire compared to her comic counterpart, and even begs Kraven to come home out of a desire to be able to spend what little time Kraven has left with him.
• A minor example in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; in Splatoon, Inklings tend to be sore losers who throw ridiculous tantrums when defeated, but here, they seem to be better sports, happily clapping for the fighter that won the match.
• Toy Story 3: Stinky Pete appears in the Toy Box mode with no hint of his Evil All Along tendencies from the second film. Ditto for Zurg and Lotso. Possibly justified if they're different figures from the same toy line.
• Yakuza 4: Shun Akiyama has had several unsympathetic actions removed between the remastered version and the original, most notably some transphobic language and an ill-timed rape joke.

Web Animation

• The Annoying Orange: In the web series, Orange is a Jerkass who laughs in the face of anyone who gets murdered and cracks jokes on a daily basis to harass other foods, even his friends. While these traits are still here in the Cartoon Network series, the longer episode length means that Orange has more depth than just being The Friend Nobody Likes who just love to watch people suffer. As such, he becomes much nicer and supportive to his friends; he's more willing to help people out instead of driving them insane, and has even saved the world on multiple occasions.
• Sodor Then And Now have Sir Handel James and Henry become this. It’s a bit downplayed for Henry since he’s already a nice engine but in canon, Henry could get somewhat conceited at times but here, he doesn’t act childish or vain at all. James meanwhile is far kinder than his canon counterpart as he rarely boasts about himself and rarely insults anyone with most of his incidents being to overconfidence rather than vanity. Sir Handel meanwhile is a rather quiet but kind engine who just wants to do his work.

Webcomics

• Batman: Wayne Family Adventures: Jason Todd's characterization in the comics tends to vary from bitter/crazed villain to Token Evil Teammate to antiheroic jerk, and his relationship with the Batfamily is tense at the best of times. In this comic, his mean streak is very downplayed and Played for Laughs, and he's on good terms with Bruce and the other sidekick-vigilantes.
• Inanimate Experiments: Salt is originally an Attention Whore and Abhorrent Admirer towards OJ. But this comic downplays it and she is shown to be genuinely helpful.
• Lore Olympus:
  • Hades in the original myths was not the villain many works make him out to be, but he was also nowhere as kind or awkward as the comic presents him as.
  • Hera of classic mythology was vindictive and spiteful to a murderous extent, and the victims of her fury were more often than not the demigod children Zeus sired or their mothers, with the former obviously having no agency in their conception and the latter sometimes having fought against Zeus for fear of her wrath, but never Zeus. Here this is not the case, and she stands up against her husband's selfish ways.
  • Zeus himself is a downplayed example; he's still a philandering serial adulterer, but there's nothing to indicate any of his (many) affairs were anything but consensual, which could not be said about his mythological counterpart.
  • Poseidon is presented with a laidback and carefree attitude, a far cry from the greedy, bad-tempered, and easy-to-offend personality of the original myths.
• Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast: In the original fairy tale, Beauty's sisters were practically copies of Cinderella's stepsisters: futile, selfish and took advantage of her kindness. In the webcomic, both Virtue and Temperance love Beauty and are truly miserable after she goes to live with the Beast. Even if Temperance resents Beauty a bit because her young sister is their father's favorite, she gives her support when Beauty confesses to her family that she loves Beast and wants to go back to him.

Web Videos

• Dragon Ball Z Abridged:
  • Freeza's still a genocidal tyrant, but he shows much more care and concern for his higher-ranking minions than his canon counterpart ever did.
  • Vegeta has a small moment at the end of the Cell arc — while in the manga and anime he was beating himself up over Goku and Gohan surpassing him, the abridged series has him quietly mourning the death of Future Trunks.
  • Mr. Satan also has a moment during the end of the Cell arc. He was very much a Glory Hound first and a hero second in the manga and anime as he happily stole Gohan's credit for killing Cell. In the abridged series, he almost told the truth of everything that he had witnessed, but he only took the credit for Cell's defeat after he was convinced that doing so would calm down everyone in the world.
  • Sharpner in the Buu Bits goes from Jerk Jock to more of The Gadfly: still ready to make fun of people (especially Gohan) but out of affection, always ending with "you know I love you".
• Cid's behaviour towards Shera in Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged might still be pretty abusive, but unlike in the original game it's a front for their BDSM relationship. He's also less abrasive towards the other members of the team, and quick to give them Rousing Speeches to lift their spirits.
• In MrBeast's real-life recreation of Squid Game, the soldiers and guards are a lot more affable than they were in the show. They act more like referees than just executioners, and they don't wear face coverings. They laugh and joke along with contestants, whereas in the original show, they were pretty much silent. By extension, Mr. Beast himself, given that the original man who started the games doesn't have a high opinion of the people competing in the games or the people MrBeast normally helps out. Even the game itself is this trope. Aside from the obvious fact that no one dies in this version, the original Squid Games only give money to the losing players on the condition that the majority the players agree to stop playing whereas every eliminated player from the second game onwards walks away with $2,000+ regardless of player vote.
• Orochimaru in Naruto: The Abridged Series. In the orignal series, it was ambiguous as to whether he actually intended to revive Dan and Nawaki in exchange for Tsunade restoring his arms. In the abridged version he revived both of them in advance as a show of good faith.
• While Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series made Kaiba more of a jerk, the Season 0 adaptation goes the other way, making Kaiba a creepy-looking but otherwise friendly Nice Guy, to contrast Season 0 Yami. Naturally, Kaiba being a nice guy ends up being such a dramatic contrast from his usual characterizations that it winds up disturbing everybody.
• Cell from DevilArtimis's video series is depicted as less evil than his original counterpart and has some Pet the Dog moments.

Western Animation

• Since Baby Looney Tunes is a show meant for little kids, the Looneys are much sweeter and innocent than their adult counterparts. The only exceptions would have to be Lola Bunny (who was always nice in her other incarnations) and Melissa (who gets the opposite).
• The Batman, in addition to the aforementioned cases of Batman himself and the Joker, sees the Wrath took over Killer Moth's role as the protector of Gotham City's criminals. His original counterpart was a Cop Killer.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold does this with Golden Age villain The Weeper. In the comics, Weeper was a ruthless mass murderer who hated seeing people happy, killing one of his own mooks for that reason. In the show however, he's a Noble Demon who ends up getting talked down by his Arch-Enemy Bulletman and turning himself in, leaving behind a Villainous Legacy that inspired even The Joker and led to the two teaming up in the present day.
• Ben and Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10 get this treatment in the 2016 reboot. In the original series, the cousins were constantly jerks to each other, always butting heads and trading insults. Gwen in particular seemed to have hardly any faith in Ben, in one episode even accusing him of being the villain and never apologizing when proven wrong. In the reboot, the duo are on much friendlier terms, with the two outright referring to the other as their best friend on numerous occasions. While Gwen still acts as the voice of reason to Ben's bullheaded antics, she's generally supportive of him no matter how bad things get. In return, he's supportive of her right back.
• In the original The Berenstain Bears books, Papa Bear was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. The 2002 PBS Kids animated series almost entirely dropped the jerk part, making him a straight-up Nice Guy most of the time.
• Beware the Batman sees its version of Doodlebug from Arkham Asylum: Living Hell be content at being a vandal. His comic counterpart was a demon-worshipping serial killer who sacrificed Junkyard Dog, his friend in the series, to unleash demons.
• Bugs Bunny Builders, the second Looney Tunes show aimed at preschoolers, does the same as its predecessor, only it makes the adult Looneys much nicer than their usual portrayals. One of the most notable is its portrayal of Pa Bear, who was short-tempered and would beat up his son Junior for messing up in other works. In "Honey Bunny", he is depicted as a friendly client of the Looney Builders and merely gets annoyed at Junior when he runs into them.
• Castlevania:
  • Dracula of all people is far nicer especially compared to his deception in the games and most media for that matter. In the show, Dracula never directly kills any innocent women or children and unknowingly spares the old woman who got his wife Lisa burned at the stake. Also unlike the games where Drac has no qualms hurting his son Alucard, in the show Dracula purposely avoids fighting his son in the Final Battle and directs his aggression towards Trevor and Sypha, only retaliating when Alucard gives him no choice. Even then when beating the life out of Alucard, Dracula soon stops horrified that he's "killing his boy" and actually lets Alucard stake him through the heart.
  • Isaac is an unrepentant Jerkass in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness who killed Hector's wife, in the show he’s far more noble being a justified Anti-Villain who actually gets along with Hector.
• DC Animated Universe:
  • Batman: The Animated Series:
    • Several villains whose comics incarnations were essentially doing things For the Evulz gained sympathetic motives or personalities. The Mad Hatter originally had no backstory in the comics, but was introduced in the series as a victim of Love Makes You Evil; minor gimmick crook Mister Freeze's reimagining as an Anti-Villain was so successful it was later imported into the comics, albeit with Darker and Edgier elements.
    • The Crime Doctor was introduced in Detective Comics #77 as an outright villainous character. The Batman: TAS episode "Paging the Crime Doctor" turns the character into a sympathetic figure through portraying him as a good-intentioned doctor who helped his brother (crime boss Rupert Thorne) in the hopes that the latter would use his influence to restore his medical license.
    • Etrigan is depicted here and in Justice League as a genuine hero who does good deeds with no strings attached. His comics counterpart was just as often an enemy to the other heroes as he was their ally and the times he was on their side were frequently because of an ulterior motive, plus he'd betray the heroes whenever it suited him.
  • Justice League Unlimited:
    • Huntress is a more heroic figure after she resolves her issues with Mandragora.
    • The Cheetah, Wonder Woman's arch-enemy, is portrayed as a Tragic Villain who only desires to become normal again and desires no role in evil whatsoever.
    • Ultra-Humanite is an Affably Evil Anti-Villain who never hurts an innocent rather than the insane conqueror he's usually portrayed as.
    • Hawk and Dove (The original boy pair) get along far better in this series than in their original conception; their ideological differences are expressed more as a brotherly teasing.
  • Though Static Shock still portrays Hotstreak as a Jerkass supervillain and Static's Arch-Enemy, the show omits his white supremacist leanings. In fact, he works with multiple non-white villains without issue.
  • Justice League vs. The Fatal Five portrays the Alex Trent Bloodsport, much like Hotstreak, without his comic counterpart's white supremacist leanings.
• DC Super Hero Girls (2019): This continuity's interpretation of Deathstroke's daughter Rose Wilson is a well-adjusted young girl who vocally disapproves of her father's career as an assassin instead of the moody anti-hero she was in the comics.
• DuckTales (1987):
  • The series' incarnation of Gladstone Gander isn't as self-centered and smug as the comics version. Instead of gloating about his luck to his relatives, his flaw is relying on his luck to solve all of his problems.
  • This show's version of Scrooge McDuck is also more sentimental and jovial than his comic book counterpart who, while not a Jerkass outright, is far more acerbic and has a history of unscrupulous moments.
• DuckTales (2017):
  • With the triplets getting revamped to be their own characters, Huey is the one to go through this the most. While he can cause trouble every now and then, Huey is by far the most straight-laced and least likely to actively look for trouble, unlike his two younger siblings, who can be about as chaotic as their comic and mainstream counterparts. Huey is normally at his most destructive not when craving attention or plotting schemes, but when that familiar Duck family fury is pushed to its limit.
  • Gladstone returns to his smug persona from the comics, but he still qualifies for this since he's less overt in showing it, and his behavior is implied to be Innocently Insensitive.
  • It also has an example in the Ghost of Christmas Future: while he still looks like The Grim Reaper, he's actually quite mellow, even dancing with Beakley in the past.
  • Thanks in part to the show going Decomposite Character with Darkwing Duck and grafting the original Drake Mallard's ego and self-absorption to Jim Starling, the show's actual version of Drake is more humble and modest (though he still retains his dislike for Gizmoduck) initially, though later appearances does show signs of becoming more like the original Drake.
  • Daisy Duck is much nicer in this series then her mainline counterpart. She still has a bit of a temper, but in this incarnation it comes more across as a Beware the Nice Ones situation. Where the classic Daisy could be shrewish and unreasonable, this one is on the whole rather sweet and understanding.
• In the Fantastic Four comics, Frankie Raye agreed to become the new herald of Galactus so that he would spare the Earth, but also made it clear that she didn't care about the likelihood that she would one day have to find him an inhabited world to consume, explicitly saying that it was an acceptable tradeoff for getting to see the universe. In Fantastic Four: The Animated Series, the dialogue exchange where she freely admits to being fine with alien genocide so long as she gets to explore the cosmos is omitted, leaving her motives entirely altruistic. This also holds true for Silver Surfer: The Animated Series, where Frankie deliberately tries to use her powers to find Galactus suitable planets to devour that don't hold any sentient life, saying that she could never live with herself otherwise.
• Garfield and Friends:
  • Garfield himself is still on the grumpy side, but is more amiable and considerate than he usually is in the comic strips. One notable example is a quickie segment based on a strip where Odie got himself locked inside the car and turned out to have planned it when he starts eating the picnic food while leaving Jon and Garfield stuck out in the rain. The original comic strip had Garfield encourage Odie to use up all his remaining oxygen, while the quickie instead had Garfield berate Odie for being stupid enough to get himself locked in the car.
  • Lanolin, while still very disagreeable and bossy, is much nicer compared to her U.S. Acres counterpart, who was extremely negative and at times, downright violent with little to no provocation.
• Harley Quinn (2019) does this to, shockingly enough, Darkseid. He is still the same ruthless dictator who desires the eradication of free will throughout the known universe. Hell, he is introduced crushing the skull of Forager after declaring the conquest of his world. But previous versions of Darkseid would not even entertain the thought of giving an army to anyone unless it would benefit any of his plans, and yet he does just that for Harley with absolutely no signs of backstabbing. He also recognized that she was only doing it to fill a void in her heart, and he genuinely advises that it won't work. Also, he dares not use the dreaded C word.
• Harriet the Spy: In the original book and movie, Harriet wrote far meaner things about the people she spied on, including her classmates, and her revenge rampage in response to her classmates' revenge on her writing, was also more cruel and meanspirited. She was heavily toned down in the cartoon, saying less mean things in her notebook and pulling fewer pranks in revenge. She also gives a very direct apology to her classmates.
• Hilda: In the comic books, Hilda is confrontational, a bit of a brat and even more overconfident. In the series, Hilda is much nicer, kinder and friendly.
• Invincible (2021):
  • While Mark in the comics was a good guy, he also was a lot more indifferent toward the collateral damage, including loss of life, that came up in his early hero days. Seeing one of his classmates blow up wasn't even worth a mention in the comics, where in the show seeing someone die or failing to save someone causes him quite a bit of trauma to the point he questions if he even should be a hero.
  • Dupli-Kate didn't know Eve and Rex were still in a relationship when letting Rex sleep with her and apologizes for it after realizing her mistake, unlike in the comic where she showed no remorse over it.
  • Cecil Stedman is a downplayed example; he still engages in the morally-grey actions of his comic counterpart, but he's presented as much more conflicted and regretful about having to do them, clearly regarding such things as Dirty Business, while in the comics he doesn't seem to feel much guilt at all.
• Justice League Action:
  • While she's still a villain, Killer Frost is nicer than her other incarnations, especially compared to Justice League, Young Justice (2010), and Batman: Assault on Arkham.
  • John Constantine is portrayed differently from the usually smarmy, cynical, self-centered, chain-smoking, alcoholic con-man with a low opinion of superheroes and a habit of pushing people away in the comics. Here, he's much nicer, as he's depicted as a deadpan, wise-cracking sorcerer and paranormal investigator with a much friendlier but still smarmy personality, and he's also a member of the Justice League.
• In Fun and Fancy Free, Willie the Giant was the childish but dangerous Big Bad of the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment. In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he's a literal Gentle Giant friend of The Sensational Six.
• The Lion Guard: Zira has a tamer and less violent personality than in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Instead of being blood-thirsty, she instead tries to get Simba's son Kion to side with her on the supremacy of lions.
• The Looney Tunes Show:
  • Foghorn was more of an obnoxious Jerkass in the original shorts who was just occasionally nice, but in this show he's completely well-meaning and optimistic. He's also on good terms with Daffy and continues to rope him into his adventures despite Daffy having both bankrupted his company and ruined the movie he was making about his life story.
  • In his only classic-era short, Giovanni Jones was a violent Jerkass who beat up Bugs with his own instruments simply for interrupting him. He reappears in the episode "Customer Service" as Tina's friendly and non-confrontational boss. He does suspend her, but he's polite about it and relents after he realizes what it's like to be in her position.
• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023): Lunella’s comic incarnation was that of a bratty insufferable genius. In the show, she’s a much more friendly, caring, and humble individual.
• In the Mr. Men books, Mr. Grumpy was a cruel, spiteful Jerkass who mistreats and insults people he doesn't like and would frequently destroy things. In The Mr. Men Show cartoon, while still grouchy, he's more of a Deadpan Snarker who is capable of showing a softer side to him, such as tolerating his friends shenanigans even when they get on his nerves, namely Mr. Tickle, and has felt actual emotions beyond his usual grumpiness, like happiness or sorrow.
• Muppet Babies (1984) gives Statler and Waldorf of all characters this treatment. They always crack jokes at the Muppets' expense, sometimes going as far as making fun of each other. Here, they're honorary uncles to the Muppets, teaching them about how railroads work and ordering pizza for them.
• Muppet Babies (2018) does the same thing, with at least one episode suggesting they're particularly close to Baby Fozzie, their most regular victim in most Muppet media.
• My Adventures with Superman:
  • This is the case for this show's version of Livewire. In the comics, as well as the previous Superman cartoon that she originates from, Leslie is a selfish and egotistical Jerkass who only cares about keeping everyone's attention on herself. Her incarnation in this show lacks the desire for attention of her other versions, resulting in her coming off as far less callous, albeit still amoral and ruthless, and even ends up freeing the rest of the Suicide Squad and organizing an escape for them.
  • Task Force X as a whole gets hit with this, specifically in regards to their treatment of their Boxed Crooks. In the comics, the Suicide Squad are kept in line via being outfitted with Explosive Leashes (initially a bracelet that would blow up one of their arms, then latter a microbomb that would blow up their head). In this show, they're instead equipped with some comparatively less dangerous Shock Collars. This change most likely has to do with the fact that the show's version of the organization is run by the General, rather than Amanda Waller like in the comics.
  • In the comics, the Brain and Monsieur Mallah are dangerous and overtly psychopathic Mad Scientists. In this show, while they're still mad scientists, they're far more benevolent and prefer to be left alone to live in peace together.
• The Penguins of Madagascar: In the movies, Maurice wasn't fond of Mort just like King Julien. In the show, he's a much kinder lemur to the guy and is often the one who disuades King Julien from going too far against him. He's only annoyed when his Yes-Man antincs get in the way of him trying to repose.
• In The Rugrats Movie, the main conflict of the film is Dil’s brattiness conflicting with the other babies, leading to Tommy suffering a Heroic BSoD and nearly giving him away to circus monkeys. In Rugrats (2021), Dil showcases none of these traits and he’s welcomed by Tommy and the rest of the babies with open arms.
• Seven Little Monsters: In Maurice Sendak's original book, the seven monsters are a bunch of mischeivous troublemakers who enjoy terrorizing humans. Their depictions in the animated series are considerably more amiable and are more interested in befriending and playing with humans than they are in scaring them. Even when they do end up doing something wrong, it tends to be unintentional and they make the effort to apologize and make restituition at the first opportunity.
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: In the original, every member of the Evil Horde was a ruthless, bloodthirsty monster. In the reboot, while the Horde itself is still terrible, all the soldiers are much more three-dimensional characters. Except Shadow Weaver — initially.
  • Scorpia, who provide's this trope's page image, fits this trope to a t. In the original she was a slaver who was constantly at odds with Catra. In the reboot, she is endlessly nice to everyone, has a very strong (though mostly one-sided) friendship with Catra, and is a near-literal Cuddle Bug.
    Scorpia: Just so you know, I'm a hugger.
    Catra: Wha— [gets scooped up in a giant hug]
  • Even Hordak has some elements of this. While he is still waging a war of conquest against an entire world (and doing it far more competently than in the original), he at least knows how to engender loyalty in his troops. Catra was about five minutes from defecting because of Shadow Weaver's incompetent brutality when Hordak managed to get her to stay with a few compliments and a promotion. He also develops a trusting and respectful relationship with Entrapta when the two collaborate on his portal project. Finally, unlike his 1980s cartoon counterpart, Hordak does not lash out at his minions at the first sign of failure.
• Sonic Boom:
  • The series' incarnation of Eggman is still a villain who antagonizes Sonic and friends. However, rather than having the plan to Take Over the World, he is more of a Punch-Clock Villain, doing it to cause random mayhem for the lulz. He occasionally helps Sonic without any ulterior motives, gives Tails advice on girls, and even befriends Amy after they find a common interest.
  • Knuckles. In the main universe, he's single-minded, antisocial, and at best is a reluctant ally of Sonic and the gang. Here, he's good buddies not only with Sonic, but a whole group of friends, and is kind and outgoing.
• In the X-Men comics, Sunfire's defining character trait is being a standoffish asshole. During his guest spot in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, he was instead depicted in a much kinder and friendlier light, and even got Ship Teased with Firestar.
• Both The Superhero Squad Show and Spidey and His Amazing Friends portray the Hulk as a friendlier and more laid back character than other incarnations, a strong contrast from the mindlessly destructive and perpetually angry brute he's usually portrayed as.
• Teen Titans (2003):
  • Terra in the comics was a pretty mean character even before revealing her association with Deathstroke. She calls everyone names and is always fighting with Beast Boy. He sees it as Slap-Slap-Kiss, but she just doesn't like him period. In the cartoon, she is toned down into a genuinely friendly but troubled girl who gets mixed up with Slade.
  • Starfire is still a nice person in the comics, but the cartoon softened her up even more. She's less abrasive and hot-blooded in the cartoon, showing more dorky behavior.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), this happens with this incarnation of the Shredder, where his love for his daughter, Karai, is very genuine. The problem is that he has rooted himself so deep in his hatred toward the Hamato Clan, even his love for his daughter doesn't seem to matter, culminating in her mutation, which he still blames on the Hamato Clan despite him being the one using her as bait for the trap that did it.
  • Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles considerably softens the titular team's relationships with each other. Make no mistake, the turtles in all incarnations care about each other, but they also tend to be very prone to squabbling and infighting, to the point they can come off as not really respecting each other; Leo and Raph have it worst, constantly butting heads and barely tolerating each other. In Rise, while they rib each other often and drive each other up the wall to varying degrees, the brothers have a much more affectionate family dynamic. They compliment each other's skills, are willing to help each other out if needed, and hug and/or say they love each other (genuinely, not in a joking or mocking way) countless times. Compare your typical version of Raphael to Rise's Raph, and the difference couldn't be clearer.
• This was put on display in the Thomas & Friends special The Adventure Begins which was a readaptation of some of the earliest stories of the The Railway Series books and TV series:
  • Thomas is far more idealistic and innocent than he was in his debut novel in where he would play tricks on the other engines and is something of a Bratty Half-Pint.
  • Henry is far more meek and gentle, and his hatred of the rain is treated more as a phobia (in the books he was merely pompous about getting his paint spoiled, if you don't go by the theory that Henry was actually having mechanical issues that day and had stopped in the tunnel to cover them up).
• Tiny Toons Looniversity:
  • In the original series, Plucky was a complete Jerkass egotist whose Butt-Monkey tendencies were mostly Laser-Guided Karma. In Looniversity, he is still the show's Butt-Monkey and just as egotistical as he was in the original show, but is markedly more amicable towards Buster and Babs than he was in the original show, outright admitting Buster is more or less his best friend and breaking down when it seemed like he would lose him. His worst action was writing a newspaper revealing secrets given to Hamton (who talks in his sleep) in confidence, and even then he felt horrible when he thought Hamton was going to take the fall and voluntarily confessed.
  • In the original series, Sweetie Bird was a deceptively cute Jerkass who would often attack Furrball when the latter was minding his own business. In this series, she's an anger-prone Bruiser with a Soft Center with a punk girl aesthetic who genuinely values her friendship with Babs.
• Total DramaRama does this to a few characters. Duncan is still a bully and a troublemaker, but he is far less cruel towards the other kids and merely just a naughty mischief-maker; Courtney is still very bossy and a huge perfectionist, but she is far less of a major Control Freak and lacks her Hair-Trigger Temper and cutthroat competitive streak; and Chef Hatchet goes from cruel and sadistic man to a strict but fair and well-meaning preschool teacher.
• Transformers: Cyberverse:
  • Grimlock is usually at best a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and tends to be antisocial. Cyberverse Grimlock is downright chummy and prides himself on throwing a good party.
  • Cyberverse Whirl is a hapless but cheerful Autobot who looks out for the others and tends to follow orders. The probable best-known Whirl is the one from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, a Heroic Comedic Sociopath who can make even the loosest cannon look sane, stable and reliable just by standing nearby.
  • Even Cyberverse Megatron is surprisingly reasonable - not to the extent of his version from Transformers Earthspark, but he's got limits to the point where he's appalled by the alt-universe Megatron X and ends up being the one to propose an end to the war with a two-state solution that he abides by.
  • Tarn is introduced as a ruthless but ultimately reasonable Perfect Decepticon, rather than the sadistic maniac of the comics. Subverted; he's only putting on a facade of decency to manipulate the Autobots. While he isn't as bad as his comics counterpart, he's still pretty darn bad.
• Transformers: Rescue Bots portrays Blades as a friendly but somewhat timid rescue worker, while his G1 counterpart is generally portrayed as rather bloodthirsty.
• In X-Men: The Animated Series, Proteus is very childlike and naive, and more confused and misguided than outright evil. This is in stark contrast to the comics, where Proteus is a violent sociopath who has no problem with killing multiple innocent people for his own gain. As an illustration of how different they are, TV!Proteus' goal was to reconnect with his estranged father, while Comic!Proteus' just killed him. Said father also provides an example, though it's somewhat downplayed; he's reimagined as a greedy, selfish politician rather than the vicious rapist he was in the comics and gets to reconcile with his son at the end of the two-parter.
• In X-Men '97, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor's relationship is vastly different. In the comics, Cyclops basically treated Maddie as a Replacement Goldfish to the then-thought-dead Jean Grey, bailing on both her and their son Nathan after learning Jean was alive. In the series, Cyclops thought that Maddie was actually Jean (and Maddie thought she was Jean), not realizing that Mr. Sinister performed a Twin Switch on them. They only separate due to the craziness of the events, leave on good terms and it's Maddie who sends Nathan into the future with a psychic message to let him know that they didn't abandon him.
• X-Men: Evolution:
  • Compared to his comic book counterpart, who has occasionally veered away from heroism to become a Well-Intentioned Extremist, Scott is kind to his friends, likable, and much more unambiguously heroic in this series.
  • This also applies to Scott's younger brother, Alex. In the comics, Alex is a Hot-Blooded and rebellious Jerkass who frequently clashes with Scott. In the show, Alex is a friendly and easy-going person and he and Scott get along great.
  • Due to the series' changes to certain characters' ages, Wolverine never falls in love with teenage Jean Grey, and therefore never has the heated rivalry with Cyclops that is the cause for much of his Jerkass behavior in the comics (though the two did briefly have a leadership struggle). Also, while he always was fond of young mutant daughter figures, it would take decades of Character Development for him to be anywhere close to willing to play father figure with Storm and Xavier for an entire group of mutant children before any school for gifted youngsters or superhero team was properly established.
  • Sabretooth is more reasonable and plays well with others, as opposed to being completely Ax-Crazy.
  • Avalanche is a much more sympathetic character, as well as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He acts as Kitty Pryde's major love interest and even has a brief stint as a member of the X-Men before returning to the Brotherhood of Mutants.
  • Apocalypse is a Well-Intentioned Extremist trying to help mutants.
• W.I.T.C.H. (2004): Nerissa, while still a villain, has some redeeming qualities. Unlike in the comics, she is actually remorseful over murdering Cassidy, and genuinely loves her son, Caleb and her lover/Caleb's father, Julian, but not enough to redeem her.
  Yan Lin: Are you going to destroy us like you destroyed Cassidy? Does her memory mean so little to you?
  Nerissa: You have no idea what she meant to me!
  • Will's father is also changed up, dumping his chronic gambling habits.
• Young Justice (2010):
  • The Light, the show's version of the Secret Society of Super Villains, are still villains, but they're out to make Earth a universal superpower. Additionally, Vandal Savage and Black Manta aren't as monstrous as their comic counterparts, who weren't above Would Hurt a Child to their own kids.
  • Jade Nguyen aka Cheshire is often depicted as an Ax-Crazy sociopath who would sell out anyone, including her own children for her own ends. Here, she is depicted as a Punch-Clock Villain with a Hidden Heart of Gold who cares for her family and is capable of being nice to her teammates.

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