Story Types: Redemption

The Redemption story type follows a morally bad or evil character through a transformation into a good character.  Changing a bad character into a good one can be a formidable task, however, and not one that an audience can easily accept.  A redemption story often follows identifiable milestones that allow the audience to buy into the transformation. On the other hand,  the blacker the character is at the beginning of the story, the greater the sense of accomplishment when he is redeemed at the end.

The Presentation:  we are introduced to this character and it is detailed in no uncertain terms that they are evil to some degree.  We may take some time to explore just how evil they are, through one or more opportunities to kick puppies. We may be given a display of the power that these evil or amoral actions give the character, but also show how these decisions affect other characters, often in ways that aren't clear to the protagonist.

We may also explore the philosophy that the heroes use to justify their actions ("...are there no workhouses?" or "A shark's gotta eat") and often the story challenges the validity or reveals the inadequacy of these premises.   These characters aren't misunderstood, or making the best of a bad situation, they are making bad choices that negatively affect others, and the story gives us an opportunity to see it clearly.

For Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, we see how he treats his clerk, Bob Cratchett and may even understand the logic of his extremely frugal work ethic. But we also see the effect his choices are having on the entire Cratchett family, and how Tiny Tim's health is a result of Scrooge's miserly tendencies.

The History:  The story may then give us some background on why the character became this way.  This may be accomplished through scenes from his past, or we may examine the pressures he is put under that tempted him to the dark side.  The story might explore the terrible conditions he endured that shaped his philosophy. This justification doesn't excuse his evil choices, but it does illuminate the point where he went wrong, where he made his mistake.  Very often, the point of redemption creates a similar situation, only this time the hero makes the correct choice to start his upward journey.

Similarly, there is often a petitioner, someone who knows him; perhaps someone who he is attached to who comes to him in the throes of his evil and admonishes him to make better choices.  This person is always rejected early on in the story, although the words said here may be something he recalls during his redemption sequence that creates that moment of clarity where he decides to change his ways.

For Scrooge, the mission of the Ghost of Christmas Past is to show Scrooge where he began to value money over human interaction through his childhood. 

Confrontation:   The redemption process very often happens in the midst of the hero plotting his greatest atrocity, while he's in the very act of evil for which we all revile him.

Sometimes, it is at the moment that he is at his worst that the hero is confronted with someone doing something good and it causes him to doubt his perspective and change his outlook on life.  This may come when his plan has nearly succeeded, and yet people remain good in spite of it, or it may be when his plan has catastrophically failed and he has been caught in the midst of it, yet people still show him mercy.

For example, Scrooge is shown the gratitude of Bob Cratchett, offering a toast to Scrooge as the supplier of the Christmas dinner, despite his wife's hesitation, and Bob's poor circumstances.

Alternatively, the hero may get a glimpse of the emptiness of his future, often by looking at the hollow "success" of someone else like himself.  This undoubtedly happened to Scrooge with Christmas Future, but also in the form of Marley's ghost as well.

Transformation:  This is his statement of his changed nature.  The opportunity to show that he has a different outlook.  This is the moment where he makes the correct choice instead of his previous wrong one.  Or it is where he confesses the inadequacy of his philosophy and replaces it with a more moral one.

When Scrooges calls down to the boy in the street on Christmas morning, a boy he would normally give no courtesy or respect to, we can see the change in his outlook.

Atonement:  The story often gives the transformed hero a chance to make up in some small way for all the evil that he had done when he was a villain.  This is the concept of Paying for his Crimes. The payment extracted is usually commensurate with the scope of the evil he has committed.  For a particularly bad character this might be the ultimate self-sacrifice as when Darth Vader sacrifices himself to destroy the Emperor and save Luke.

It could also be a chance for the villain to use the evil capabilities that we saw demonstrated in the Presentation turned around and used to help rather than harm, for example when Scrooge uses his financial powers to help Bob Cratchett's family.

Projection:  At the conclusion of the atonement, the story often gives us a glimpse of what the reformed hero's life will be like in the future.  It may be a "Happily ever after" story, or the character may not be able to shake off their old ways entirely, though their core philosophy has been substantially altered.

Typically, redemption stories are not merely localized to only benefiting the redeemed, but are presented as larger-than-life transformations that benefit the society around them.  Ebenezer Scrooge not only made his own life a happier one, but also served as an example to others in his vocation.

It is also possible that the characters are living out some portion of their own redemption story, which serves as a motivation for their own actions in another hero's larger tale.

Examples:  A Christmas Carol, Darth Vader in  Return of the Jedi, Vindicator Maraad in Warlords of Draenor, Mr. Reese, Mr Finch, and Det. Fusco in Person of Interest,  Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, Tony Stark, Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Snape in Deathly Hallows et al., Eustace in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Angel and Spike in Angel, Eliot Spencer in Leverage, Maj. Houlihan and Maj. Winchester in MASH.