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@scarletimmortalized

I know this thread is super old, but…

I think a hero-to-villain arc could be fascinating! I will say though, the only negative MC arc I remember reading was one of the most compelling character arcs I’ve seen because I still looooved the character even though he was doing terrible things. I wanted to see him redeemed. And then at the end of the book he got destroyed, not redeemed…and I came away feeling sad and angry, like evil had won by taking over this once-heroic character. Now since your story is a prequel, I don’t think I’d come away from it feeling hopeless. But still, maybe the most effective ending for your character would be a reversal of his degeneration? I don’t know if that would work in your story or not, but maybe you could bring the character full circle and make him end up as the hero he always wanted to be?

@ads-forest

I would like to see more villain-to-hero arcs! It seems like when a villain “turns good,” it’s basically a deathbed confession. I’d like to see more bad guys not only realize their errors but live out their repentance and undo some of the evil they’ve committed. I’m planning a story like that right now, if you couldn’t tell… 🙂

Doing both kinds of arcs in one story could be amazing, in my opinion! Maybe it wouldn’t be predictable if, for most of the story, the readers can’t decide which is the good guy and which is the bad guy? And if the side-switchers have their ups and downs instead of always making a worse (or better, depending on which character it is) decision than the time before?