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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43193
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43193
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I would foreshadow the fundamental corruptibility of the hero first. He cheats at a game, gets caught, and is unrepentant. He chases and stops the robber of a rich man -- then demands half the loot to let him go, and returns to tell the victim the robber escaped him.

But at the same time, I would show him, perhaps interleaved with those scenes, actually altruistic and brave. He saves a girl about to be raped, sends the criminals packing (or injured or dead by his battle prowess), with no reward.

Part of the money he took from the robber he hands out to an old homeless woman, again just to help, without reward or exchange.

If throughout his journey you make him a mixed bag of morality, both self-interested and greedy but also moved to sympathy and altruism for the helpless, you can make sure the reader isn't certain exactly which side will surface, or prevail.

If possible, I would ensure he accomplishes his altruistic mission to defeat an evil that persecutes some innocent people, but once that is done, there is just too much wealth and power in the villain's lair for him to just walk away from it.

Original score: 2