How do the stories end for moral antagonists whom you like?

[Eldoria]

The Ending For Moral Antagonists​

Moral antagonists are characters who oppose the protagonist's ideology/beliefs. They are usually not portrayed as evil but rather as an ethical mirror for the protagonist. Moral antagonists typically have more complex character depth than villains because their motivations are usually human and serve a greater agenda (for example, world peace), rather than evil for the sake of being evil, despite their actions being extreme. Some of my favourite moral antagonists include Pain (Naruto), Yhwach (Bleach), and L (Death Note). My question is, how do the stories end for moral antagonists whom you like?

Critical note:
I don't want to argue about who is better, moral antagonists or villain antagonists. I agree that how the story is written determines how memorable the antagonists are for the readers, whether they are moral antagonists or villain antagonists.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

You left out the "real" choice: "However feels right for the story."
In some stories, a redemption arc makes sense, in others it feels so forced on you can see the tape and superglue used (for some great examples of both, track down the old ABC series Once Upon a Time - IIRC only three villains do NOT get redemption arcs, though one backslides, redeems himself, and backslides several times, and about half feel natural, the other half bludgeoned in with a 30 pound sledge). In some stories, the main villain's death triggers the villain for the sequel/next arc/ominous epilogue that never pays off.
Heck, I recall reading a story, years ago, where the villains REDEMPTION triggered the next, far worse (who managed to be both moral and villain) antagonist.
And, IMO, if they must die, it should be more of an IRONIC than a TRAGIC death - a fault of their moral obsession.

 

[Bartun]

Every story is different. I don't have a personal preference on how such characters should end because it depends on the story. Zuko's redemption fits well because you knew from the start he didn't have a choice, but not every character is the same, and neither are the circumstances.

I'm personally starting to work on the redemption of TWO antagonists for my next book, and one of them has done truly evil things. I'll try my best, but I can feel right off the bat that nothing short of death can actually redeem him.

 

[Hoshino]

Redemption - kind of depends; A.M. is totally redeemable and doesn't need a redemption arc. Also, it requires a good setup first.

Tragic Death - I want all characters to die tragically.

Their Ideology Lives On - More of iconic.

Victory - Not many do this, but I kinda like it.

Transformed into a Villain Antagonist - They’re all villains, so it doesn’t really matter. I'm not going to comment further on this.

How do the stories end for moral antagonists whom you like?

I remember reading a manga where the antagonist becomes the main character's lover at the end, which was expected. But here's the fun part: The antagonist becomes a human subject; every day, her flesh gets harvested to cure the disease. The antagonist regenerates, basically becoming immortal unless their heart gets stabbed. So essentially, the antagonist is bound, every sense blocked, and then slowly their flesh is removed, without any care whatsoever. Not to mention the pain is still there, and so is everything else.

 

[DireBadger]

I like my villains... complicated.

For example. in The chair guy, prior to story start, we discover that the protagonist recent basically had his father's inherited company yanked out from under him by his treacherous, abusive ex.

However, as the story continues, we realize that he was a terrible company owner, and was driving it into failure. His ex (who erupted as a superheroine) was indeed a bit of a gold-digger before she erupted, and was having an affair with his cousin, who had been more or less keeping the company afloat since the protagonist's father's death.

The cousin and her worked out a scheme where they tricked the protagonist into signing over voting shares of the company to her, as a wedding present for what he thought was soon to be his wife... after he did that, she sold the voting shares to the cousin for enough funding to have a spectacular 'debut' as a superhero, and land a well-paying job on a famous superteam.

In so doing, his cousin saved thousands of jobs that would have been lost through the protagonist's mismanagement and saved the protagonist's father's company. But the methods were absolutely rotten. (In the long run, the protagonist erupted too, and found other ways to use his actual skills to support himself.)

Ironically, while the ex has tried to get back in the protagonist's graces by pointing out how badly he was failing at keeping his father's company alive, a factor he totally recognizes and acknowledges, well... he doesn't need her anymore... but his cousin doesn't become a real factor until book 3.

I like antagonists whose motives can be understood. 'There but for the grace of god go I' territory... but sometimes, those motives are simply inhuman.