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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42212
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42212
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Monica's excellent answer provides you with the _how,_ but I'd like to touch on _when,_ since you asked "how soon is too soon?"

**The rough answer is "It's too soon if the villain hasn't earned it."**

Your villain has to walk _all_ the way back through the brainwashing/teaching/propaganda etc. which got the person to the dark place s/he began the story. The villain has to unwind all the lies, and the longer s/he swallowed and believed lies, the longer (or the more violently dramatic) the unwinding and walkback have to be.

Additionally, there are two important facets to redemption you can't skip: 1) _acknowledging_ that s/he was wrong, and 2) _making amends_ for the villainy s/he did, to the extent that it's possible.

If the villain just sees the Mutant do something selfless, s/he is not just going to go "Oh, gosh, I see now that Daddy God-King has been wrong all these years. Let me dash off to help the mutuants overthrow him!" and expect that to be sufficient.

The villain has to un-think or re-learn all the negative things s/he was taught, which takes time and effort (as Monica eloquently showed). Then the villain has to realize "I did evil things. Those things were wrong." That sense of "I was wrong" has to stick. No villain can be redeemed without acknowledging this. Rationalizing or villainsplaining won't cut it.

Finally the villain has to do something to try to rebalance the scales. Whether that's working to overthrow Evil Daddy God-King, helping mutants escape, lobbying legislators to change laws, or a suicide bombing, if the villain does not do some good to balance out the bad, the villain isn't redeemed. It may be that the villain murdered children. That's something you can't ever really make amends for, but you can carry the weight of it on your soul, and try to save as many future children as you can, or give your life to protect one.

The villain has to try to be as good as s/he was bad to earn redemption, or your readers may feel cheated.

Original score: 43