“All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive
to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.”
This quote from Batman: The Killing Joke says a lot about
heroes or good people who go down a dark path. Sometimes, an event will happen
in their lives that will irrevocably change them. Mostly, they can find the way to keep their
wits and continue to fight the good fight. Heck, how has someone like
Spider-Man not gone totally dark after what’s happened to him? Other times,
they fall so far off the wagon, you wonder if they were even on the wagon to
begin with. You’ll see this trope everywhere in movies, TV, books, and video
games. So, here are some good characters that turned dark. They’re not
necessarily in order either.
1. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)
That’s right, folks. One of the best villains in movie
history was once one of the good guys. It always has to start like that, don’t
it? Even though the prequels weren’t perfect, they and Star Wars: Clone Wars
showed how a “mostly good” Jedi would go evil. Because of Palpatine’s influence
and Anakin’s own fears, he became Darth Vader and helped tighten the Empire’s
grip for years. I’ll touch on his ultimate end next time, though.