Writing Blog Number 2

20250609 The Fallen Hero

The Fallen Hero

There is something that is done often, and that is the Fallen Hero Arc, also known as the Corruption Arc. It does mean a depressing story, usually, as a true tale of this style has very little redemption except in the long-term, hard-earned, but it can lead to a fascinating character.

So, what is it?
         The Fallen Hero is someone the reader sees lose his moral compass, his “way”, over the course of the story. Most of the time, it is not the central thrust of the story, but something that happens while greater events occur around, but sometimes it can provide the narrative thrust.
         We see a person who acts heroic, but then something happens, or lots of little things happen, that make them question what they are doing until, finally, there is a straw that breaks the camel’s back, and they start down the side the reader would consider “bad” until they are no longer heroic, and are either an anti-hero or even a villain.
         The most obvious one would be the fall of Anakin Skywalker over the course of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith. His concerns are pushed aside by those he trusts, one he is not sure if he can trust offers what the others cannot, then he is offered a hope of something, but when it looks like this could be taken from him, he protects the bad guy and joins him. Then he fights his best friend and kills his lover. Classic Fallen Hero.

For a character to follow this arc, there needs to be a few things:
1) An initial genuine sense of the heroic. This is not Joe Blow down the servo becoming a bad guy; this is someone regarded as a hero to people.
2) A sense that something is not going the way the hero’s world-view agrees with. It needs to be subtle at first, then build up.
3) An inciting event that makes the hero’s already questioning internal conflict switch to the other side.
4) An opportunity for this character to solidify the negative nature they now express.
5) An act that makes them “everything they used to hate” (TM Chris Jericho).
         The inciting things can be people in their ear, their changing attitudes, societal events, overhearing something, seeing something, an inability to affect the change they desire, or (usually) a combination of some/all of these.

For a character to go through a successful Fallen Hero/Corruption Arc, it needs to be shown that the change makes sense for the character.

Then there is redemption. Let’s go back to Star Wars. When did the redemption occur? Episode 6 – Return Of The Jedi. It was hard-earned for all involved. And it took a long time. And sometimes the main reason for turning someone bad is to do the redemption later on.

Okay, let’s look at my favourite arc – a professional wrestling one.
         In 1987, Randy Savage was a bit of a tweener with some bad guy tendencies. He lost the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania 3 to Ricky Steamboat in a match that stole the show, which is saying something considering Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant headlined. Well, the crowd started to appreciate Savage for his skill and for his manager Miss Elizabeth. At Wrestlemania IV, with the backing of Hulk Hogan and the crowd, Savage won the tournament for the vacant world title. He was a hero and beloved.
         Over the course of the next year, Hogan started to needle Savage, and Savage turned on him, so at Wrestlemania V. he lost the title to Hogan. And he lost Miss Ellizabeth. This started a downward spiral where, come Wrestlemania VI, he was facing the everyman character Dusty Rhodes who, with the help of Savage’s former manager Miss Elizabeth, defeated Savage. He had bottomed out.
         Leading up to Wrestlemania VII, Savage cost the Ultimate Warrior the title, and at VII, they fought (my favourite ever Wrestlemania match) with a loser retires stipulation. Savage lost, and his new manager, Sensational Sherri, turned on him until he was saved by Miss Elizabeth. He was retired, but he got the girl, and the crowd loved him again. Fast forward to Wrestlemania VIII in 1992 and he defeated Ric Flair for the world title, and was a hero from then on. 5 years to become the hero he deserved to be.

And then there is Lancelot. Arthur’s best friend, He fights by Arthur’s side, conquers monsters and bad guys, and is trusted… then he has it with Guinevere, he and Arthur fall out, then, at the final battle, he returns to help Arthur and dies on the battlefield a hero once more.

But not every fallen hero gets a redemption arc. Harvey Dent in the Batman comics went from beloved attorney general to the villain Two-Face, and stays a bad guy. Michael Corleone tries to stay out of his family business in The Godfather by becoming a war hero, but is then drawn in by the attempt on his father’s life. Even in Part III, he tries to get out, but cannot.
         Some might be redeemed in the actions that lead to their death, like Lancelot, but most do not. They become the bad guy, the villain, the antagonist, and we, the reader, go along for the ride. It does take a skilled writer to make the face-heel turn work so the audience believes it and even has sympathy for it happening, but there is not harm in trying it.

Why not give it a go?