Things I love about the “villain turns good” trope:

pitviperofdoom:

• Ex-villains graduating to “weird
  uncle” status.
• Ex-villains and hero(es) turning the
  events of previous battles into bizarre inside jokes.
• Ex-villains embracing the power of
  friendship and love.
• Ex-villains putting up walls and
  keeping to themselves until the heroes teach them what it means to
  trust someone.
• Ex-villains messing up and being
  forgiven because redemption is a process, not an endgame.
• Ex-villains being shy and uncertain
  about their new place as a hero.
• Bonus: Ex-villains hiding behind their
  hero friends during moments of shyness and uncertainty.
• Ex-villains being tempted back to the
  dark side only to realize how much their newfound friendships mean to
  them.
• Ex-villains pretending to return to the
  dark side, and using their villain cred to be a mole/saboteur on the
  heroes’ behalf.
• Ex-villains taking the same skills and
  character traits that made them effective villains and using them for
  good.
• Ex-villains defeating current villains
  by being better at those skills and traits
  than they are.
• Ex-villains being rejected by almost
  everyone except the very few willing to give them the benefit of the
  doubt.
• Ex-villains being ferociously
  protective of those few.
• Ex-villains convincing old allies and friends to follow them to the light side.
• Ex-villains helping their hero friends
  through guilt and self-doubt by reminding them that your mistakes don’t
  make you and it’s never too late to turn things around.
• Ex-villains receiving unconditional
  trust and affection from someone small and innocent, and having no
  idea what they’re supposed to do with that.
• Ex-villains reuniting with heroic loved ones that they don’t have to fight against anymore.
• Ex-villains looking around at their new
  friends and their new home and having to sit down and ride out a
  sudden wave of powerful emotion because they can’t remember the last
  time they felt content.