Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-28162607-20180101191335/@comment-1826156-20180407205642

I still don't buy the "Blue Fairy is evil" stuff. I can never tell when this is said as a joke though. :) So thanks for clarifying! XD She has screwed up a lot but she's also done some of the greatest good and without her the heroes would have stayed cursed or perished several trimes. I guess my problem with her is that she never really admits her mistakes and seems to feel above reproach most of the time. A lot of people genuinly seem to feel she is a villain, though.

Anyways... My top redemptions would be:

Hook: I don't like him much. I was literally sick of him for awhile. A lot of his redemption arc was selfishly motivated and he backslid a lot, but in the end, I think he would have changed with or without Emma staying with him. It would have been a longer road and he might have even died, first. He shows some genuine compassion and when not blinded by revenge or alcohol, he has shown kindness. Emma and the others might have shown him that he can be good and inspired him, but he had to dig deep and do the work himself and he doesn't blame everyone for his darkness. He hasn't righted all of his wrongs but he does when he gets the opportunity. WR Hook is an example of the good in his heart.

Zelena: I don't believe Zelena is 100% redeemed, but she has tried and compared to the others she isn't quite as evil to begin with. She's committed atrocious acts and hasn't made up for them, but she still hasn't ( as far as we've seen) murdered on the level of Regina or Rumple or probably even Hook). Zelena's redemption seems to be more selfishly motivated than Hook's, but I do believe she decided to change for others and on her path to redemption has paid and has been willing to pay major costs to herself. I think the issue with Zelena is her petulance and whining makes it hard to tell how serious she is. But in moments of truth she often displays her real feelings even when whining. "I hope they wake her," she told Regina when she'd cursed Dorothy. She didn't have to say that. But I think she meant it. Her actions in season 7 further show that she is willing to put her own happiness on hold to help others.

Ingrid: I would put Ingrid as number 1, but the thing with Ingrid is that she never came off quite evil so much as broken and addled, wanting to be loved but not unserstanding love until it was too late. Like Eskaver said, her redemption happened too fast, but it was powerful.

Regina: I love the EQ and Regina, but her redemption arc was really waering thin on me. I believe she is redeemed now. But she has (on screen) never tried to make up for her evil unless pushed to do it by Henry or someone she cares about. This woman was so evil she killed her own father to hurt other people. The only man who loved her at the time and the only one she loved. At that moment she should have realized she was at the brink and stepped back. But she proved she'd go on and do it anyway. By this point, Daniel was just an excuse. If Daniel had been alive he would have pushed her away because I doubt he would have chosen the monster. Regina's redemption seems questionable because she still plays the blame game whenever possible. No doubt she was done very wrong. But that's no excuse to make innocents pay. Regina being kept alive is important for the message of hope. But if a real person had committed a fraction of the actions she had, we would never forgive her.

Rumple: I think he's redeemed. I think this time it's for real, but it's come only after all else is lost to him.

Ursula and Maleficent: I just never felt she was much of a threat to begin with. Her redemption seemed kind of meh. Like she'd thrown a tantrum and Daddy showed it was all okay, so she was good then. Same thing with maleficent. What made her so evil? Yeah, she knocked people unconscious and was generally angry and mean if you stopped by for a visit, but she seemed mostly a reactive villain and didn't really harm anyone besides Aurora and Phillip that we saw. She could have been so much more as a villain, so her redemption was not really that meaningful to me.

Cruella: Just kidding, lol.