Negan and Zuko: My Favorite Redemption Arcs In Fiction

SPOILER ALERT: SPOILERS FOR THE WALKING DEAD (AND SPINOFFS) AND AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER (AND THE LEGEND OF KORRA)

   I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love redemption arcs. I love seeing a bad person get gradually shaped into a good person through things that happen to them, and seeing them do things to prove to the people around them that they have actually changed and are now a good person, or at least a better one. 

   Part of it is because I'm a Christian, but I strongly believe in redemption. That even evil people can be changed. There's a reason Jesus said "there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." (Luke 15:7).

NEGAN

  In the season finale of The Walking Dead's sixth season, Negan appeared and brutally murdered a main character, but we didn't know who it was until the show came back for the season 7 premiere. That was when we found out that Negan not only killed Abraham, but he killed Glenn too. And Glenn was such a beloved and longtime character that his death caused a massive drop in viewership. Especially since he was brutalized and mocked in front of his pregnant wife. 

   What followed was Negan and his group, the Saviors, oppressing the heroes' communities and strangling them of vital supplies, and occasionally killing some of their people as punishments for not fully complying. At the end of season 7, Rick Grimes and the other heroes declare war, and season 8 is that war. At the end of season 8, the Saviors are defeated and Rick confines Negan to a prison cell for the rest of his life.

   Or so he thinks. Negan does spend over six years in the cell, but in that time he does a lot of thinking. He bonds with Rick's daughter, Judith, and even helps the community under supervision. When Maggie goes to the cell with the intention of killing him, he begs her to, saying he can't live with himself anymore. Maggie chooses to spare him, not wanting to give him the gratification of no longer suffering over himself. 

   When Brandon breaks Negan out, Negan ends up killing him for killing a mother and son to try and impress him and relive Savior days.

   Negan saves Judith and Dog's lives during a brutal blizzard.

   He saves Lydia from bullies.

   He risks his life with Maggie and her team on missions against the Reapers.

   He ends up falling in love with a woman, and ends up marrying her and having a son with her.

   He gives Maggie a heartfelt apology for killing Glenn, and accepts her response that she can't ever forgive him. She even tells him to his face that he has earned his place, though!

  But perhaps most of all, he literally infiltrated the Whisperers and gained the trust of their leader, just to behead her and bring her head to Carol.

ZUKO

  From the outset of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation wanted to capture the Avatar to end his banishment and restore his honor in the eyes of his father and his nation as a whole. Need I mention that this is the same father who permanently scarred his face and showed drastic favor to his sister over him growing up?

  Zuko didn't seem too much to want to capture Aang for the cause of the Fire Nation, just to restore his fractured honor and earn his inheritance of the throne back. And when Aang did get captured, Zuko threw on a disguise and busted him out.

  Through the guidance of his uncle Iroh, Zuko starts questioning his place in the world and what he truly he wants. He starts to realize how truly evil his father and sister are and how badly they need to be stopped. He and Iroh spend book two as fugitives in the Earth Kingdom. They even operate a tea shop and try to live a normal life. This is after he and Iroh cut the topknots of their hair off, an action that was seen as sort of severing ties with a place of honor in the Fire Nation. Zuko had a ways to go, but he was on the right track. He slips up and fights Aang and his friends a few more times, but that's just part of his journey.

   In book three, he finally truly deserts his nation, and tells his father to his face that he is leaving to teach the Avatar firebending to help him end the war. Through some convincing, Zuko joins Team Avatar and teaches Aang firebending, and becomes an integral part of their group. There's an epic fight towards the end where he and Katara team up against Azula (his sister). He even goes on life-changing trips with each member of the team (except Toph), such as learning original firebending from dragons with Aang, saving Suki from the Boiling Rock with Sokka, and convincing Katara to spare the man who murdered her mother. Zuko's girlfriend, Mai, and Ty Lee, Azula's best friends, also turn against her and desert alongside Zuko.

   And I'd be remiss not to mention that heartfelt, tearjerker apology Zuko gave to Iroh that ended up in tears and a big hug. Iroh was not Zuko's father, but he was definitely his dad. 

  After Aang defeats Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord and ushers in a new era of peace for the nation. Together with Aang and the Earth King, they rebuild the world from the damage done by the war and form Republic City. Zuko even fights the Red Lotus (bad guy group) multiple times even as an old dude, and serves as one of several mentors to the new Avatar, Korra. At some point during his old age he abdicated the throne so his daughter, Izumi, could have it as the next Fire Lord.