Basic Trope: A character who makes a Heel–Face Turn gets substantially weaker.
- Straight: Dracone makes a Heel–Face Turn, but when he joins the side of good, he's often overmatched and loses nearly every fight he's a part of.
- Exaggerated:
- Dracone was The Dreaded as a bad guy, striking fear into the heart of even the most badass hero. As a good guy, even the Harmless Villain doesn't take him seriously.
- Dracone was a borderline Physical God, as well a genius when he was a villain. The moment he decides to atone, he loses all his powers, becomes Too Dumb to Live and now needs a walking stick to move around.
- Downplayed: Dracone makes a Heel–Face Turn and stops using that cool explodey power he used as a villain one time.
- Justified:
- Dracone's powers relied on his evil nature. Being a good guy means he can't really rely on that anymore.
- Dracone took on a vow of pacifism as he abandoned his wicked ways, forcing him to hold back in a fight.
- Dracone was dangerous because of his lack of morality. When he reforms, he shows some restraint.
- Dracone had his power supply or resources controlled by Emperor Evulz. Evulz cuts it off after Dracone does his Heel–Face Turn.
- Dracone was drafted over via Defeat Equals Friendship, and the fight he lost in was incredibly big and brutal, resulting in him getting injured. While he is a Handicapped Badass, being able to keep fighting at a respectable level despite his injuries, he is still healing, and he fights less effectively because of it.
- Dracone makes a Heel–Face Turn many years after first clashing with the heroes, at which point he's long past his prime.
- As a villain, Dracone used magic Powered by a Forsaken Child, and now that he's good, he refuses to use it.
- Ever since joining the side of good, Dracone often charges in to fight the new bad guy of the week, thinking himself one of the stronger members of the team, and gets absolutely curb stomped in his arrogance, in order to show off that the new villain is even stronger than Dracone.
- Inverted:
- Dracone was the Harmless Villain as a bad guy; as a good guy, he's a total badass. (See Redemption Promotion.)
- A weak, ineffectual hero makes a Face–Heel Turn and becomes a genuinely frightening villain.
- A badass hero makes a Face–Heel Turn and instantly turns into the Harmless Villain.
- Subverted: It really seems like he's lost some of his power, but when he fights his former allies, he kicks all of their asses.
- While Dracone loses power at first he is far stronger when good and fully leveled up.
- Double Subverted: He only beat them because he was their former ally and knew their weaknesses. If he fights other villains, he's helpless.
- Parodied: Dracone goes through Face–Heel Revolving Door with alternating power levels.
- Zig Zagged:
- Dracone is fighting a group of villains with whom he was never affiliated. They taunt him, stating that he only beat his former allies because he knew their weaknesses. He reveals that he just spread that story to make himself appear weaker than he was, and wipes the floor with them.
- Dracone is powerful as a villain. He is more skilled as a hero, but mediocre due to how weak he is without unleashing his Dragon Rage technique. However if he loses control and relapses, it isn't as powerful as it was before. However if restrained to a Tranquil Fury he can strike with a new kind of power and precision, creating the strongest offensive skill in the entire series... Except he neglects defense without the toughness of earlier, but...
- Averted: He's just as strong good as he was evil.
- Enforced:
- "Dracone has lost a lot of his fanbase when he became a good guy. You know what that means...he's got to start losing battles."
- Dracone was an SNK Boss as a villain. Defeat Means Playable, but it wouldn't do to let him wipe the floor with everybody, so he's brought down to the rest of the party's level.
- Lampshaded: "At least we were able to turn Dracone to the side of good." "...Yeah, like that's done us a lot of good."
- Invoked: When it looks like Dracone is about to make his Heel–Face Turn, Emperor Evulz strips him of a lot of his power.
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz is secretly afraid of Dracone's Dragon Rage. Once Dracone's had some alone time with the Magnetic Hero, though, Evulz gleefully walks up and steals Dracone's Cool Sword, knowing that his former minion would never be willing to use such a dangerous ability even if it means losing the sword.
- Defied: Dracone either finds a way to keep his power or finds some other way to contribute.
- Discussed: "I know Dracone was really tough for us to beat, but it seems like all he's done since joining us is lounge around and get his ass kicked."
- Conversed: "Oh crap, the bad guy became a good guy. Hope he didn't like winning."
- Deconstructed:
- Realizing that he made a far better villain than a good guy, Dracone decides to swear off good deeds forever, becoming irredeemable.
- The Heroes recognize this will happen and outright reject Dracone, reasoning that he'll 'just be a load.'.
- Reconstructed: He knows he's not very good as a hero, but Dracone decides that he'd rather be on the side of good, even if that means sitting on the sidelines.
Back to Redemption Demotion
