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	alpheratz 2006-07-07 02:47 am UTC (link)
	House from, uh, House. (Reply to this)(Thread)

ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 02:49 am UTC

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alpheratz, 2006-07-07 02:55 am UTC

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 03:02 am UTC

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bolboreta, 2006-07-07 03:18 pm UTC

	wankaholic 2006-07-07 02:50 am UTC (link)
	If you're a Robin McKinley fan, Constantine from Sunshine is probably a decent example. Also, if you've read Sandman, the Sandman himself is a right bastard. . . . wow, I like obscure things. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 02:52 am UTC

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magnolia_mama, 2006-07-07 05:45 am UTC

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 07:49 am UTC

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coreopsis, 2006-07-07 01:12 pm UTC

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esclaramonde, 2006-07-07 11:36 am UTC

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magnolia_mama, 2006-07-07 11:40 am UTC

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snacky, 2006-07-07 01:02 pm UTC

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wankaholic, 2006-07-07 02:41 pm UTC

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snacky, 2006-07-07 02:52 pm UTC

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wankaholic, 2006-07-07 03:14 pm UTC

	squeakthemouse 2006-07-07 03:03 am UTC (link)
	How about Sawyer from Lost? (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 03:04 am UTC

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mouseykins, 2006-07-07 03:11 am UTC

	mouseykins 2006-07-07 03:13 am UTC (link)
	I might say Gambit from X-Men. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 03:20 am UTC

	drworm 2006-07-07 04:39 am UTC (link)
	Herbert West of Re-Animator. Not really bad, but not really good either. Reposted because I suck. (Reply to this)

	skewed_tartan 2006-07-07 04:41 am UTC (link)
	Kaworu Nagisa fron Neon Genesis Evangelion was a highly ambigious character given that it is debatable if he was stringing Shinji along or if he ever genuinely cared for him. Also there's the debate he could have choosen not to carry out his mission or he may have been unable to deny his basic nature as an angel to seek out Adam. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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skewed_tartan, 2006-07-07 04:49 am UTC

	tangentialone 2006-07-07 05:15 am UTC (link)
	Chase, from House. Because he does help/try to help patients, but he lies casually and that whole little arc with him being the mole(for that guy who donated all that money and tried to get House fired and stuff)? That made me dislike him forever. COWARD. But he does have sympathetic moments and he's not all bad. (Reply to this)

	eilan 2006-07-07 05:28 am UTC (link)
	Alex Krycek from The X-Files? (Reply to this)(Thread)

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candy, 2006-07-07 05:31 am UTC

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eilan, 2006-07-07 10:53 am UTC

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snacky, 2006-07-07 01:10 pm UTC

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 07:53 am UTC

candy
2006-07-07 05:34 am UTC (link)

There's probably a dozen examples from soap operas but I'm not sure if they don't count as turning characters around. Like on my favourite soap, The Young & The Restless, there are two brothers. One started out as an unethical lawyer and became an upstanding citizen. The other started out as a geeky accountant, turned into an internet predator and then saved a girl's life and is in the process of redemption.

Michael Baldwin is the lawyer and Kevin Fisher is the accountant et al.

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	notjo 2006-07-07 05:39 am UTC (link)
	No one's mentioned Spike? Also, the Five in The Man of his Word series comes to mind. Andor, especially, and Sargon a close second. (Read it! READ IT!) (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 07:54 am UTC

	vigilanterodent 2006-07-07 05:43 am UTC (link)
	Slade, from DC comics - well, before he got upteen thousands people killed because Nightwing ~~turned down his invitation for the prom~~ pissed him off. (Reply to this)

	notjo 2006-07-07 05:45 am UTC (link)
	Oh duh: Captain Jack Sparrow! (I had forgotten!) (squee) (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 07:59 am UTC

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darthmaligna, 2006-07-07 08:30 am UTC

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-08 03:18 am UTC

	the_wanlorn 2006-07-07 05:49 am UTC (link)
	Irina Derevko from Alias. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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bitca, 2006-07-07 01:30 pm UTC

	firebad 2006-07-07 06:47 am UTC (link)
	Faith, from Buffy. Good/evil at heart, good/evil on the surface, walked around with a little bit of both driving her at all times. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 08:02 am UTC

	xanos 2006-07-07 07:36 am UTC (link)
	Magneto from X-Men--he's a villain, but he's generally doing what he's doing for a good reason, and is often right about humanity and their intentions. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 08:02 am UTC

julian_black
2006-07-07 07:42 am UTC (link)

If I recall correctly, the Marquis de Carabas from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is self-serving, deceptive, and a snarky bastard, but still shakes out as one of the "good" guys (or at least good enough).

Han Solo (at least in the first SW film) might also be worth considering; though he's definitely in the "good guys" camp, he's a smuggler and a shifty character who is definitely looking out for his own interests. And in the cantina scene, he shoots first when the bounty-hunter Greedo threatens him (at least in the original edit).

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ladyrogue, 2006-07-07 08:01 am UTC

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wankaholic, 2006-07-07 02:44 pm UTC

	sepiamagpie 2006-07-07 08:16 am UTC (link)
	Catwoman! (Reply to this)

sashenka
2006-07-07 08:20 am UTC (link)

Marvel Comics:
-Magneto is very interesting. He was leading the X-Men for a little while before being a vilain again.
-Emma Frost used to be an enemy before she joined the X-Men and many X-people still question her loyalty (which is a major plot point in Joss Whedon's current run of AXM).

I was looking around my room at various media to think about things I could mention and I saw my copy of Muppet Treasure Island and decided that Tim Curry is ambiguous, just not in the way you want... aaaannd... I'm out of ideas.

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yuuko
2006-07-07 10:51 am UTC (link)

Some manga examples.

Fuuma Monou from X/1999. Seishirou Sakurazuka was very ambiguous in Tokyo Babylon, but not so much on this one.

Shigure Souma from Fruits Basket.

Urahara from Bleach.

Greed was more ambiguous in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga than in the anime, while Scar is ambiguous in the anime and not that much in the manga.

My own namesake, Yuuko Ichihara from XXXHOLiC, could be considered ambiguous, but I think it's more like she's mysterious and doesn't get involved so easily.

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iczer6, 2006-07-07 11:22 am UTC

moonjaguar
2006-07-07 02:12 pm UTC (link)

Dr. Kerry Weaver in ER. Callous and iron-fisted but actually cares about people and has given many of her staff second chances.

Radar O'Reilley in M*A*S*H. He's gentle, easily embarrassed, gets along with everybody and has a gee-golly innocence that stays intact no matter what life throws at him but he's also cunning, resourceful, speaks his mind and isn't someone to be crossed.

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	This is kind of an old-school example . . . tiye 2006-07-07 02:40 pm UTC (link)
	Dr. Smith from Lost in Space. He was a great example for maybe the first 5 episodes of the show, before he made the transition to simple comic relief. (Reply to this)

	freezer 2006-07-07 03:38 pm UTC (link)
	Dan Fielding of Night Court. Incurable letch and blatant sexist but can be counted on to Do The Right Thing when it's not just his neck on the line. And, of course, there's always Star Trek's Q. (Before Voyager pussified the entire Q Continuum, anyway) (Reply to this)

puipui
2006-07-07 08:59 pm UTC (link)

If you're into manga/anime at all, just start watching Yuu Yuu Hakusho and keep a notepad nearby to make a list. Huge swathes of characters who start out as bad guys end up working with the good guys later, and the majority of the bad guys are extremely sympathetic, or at least have explanations for their behavior that make their actions understandable from certain perspectives. In fact, two of the four main heroes of the show are bad guys in their first appearance, and originally only help the main character as part of their probation after getting caught (supposedly - this is actually arguable and the source of much fanfic). Hiei, especially, would probably be very helpful for your purposes, although it's worth a mention that Kurama is the only one that I'd argue is a true Slytherin, just to put him in what might be more familiar terms.

Also notable from YYH are the villains Sensui and Itsuki. Sensui is a human whose goal is to open a hole that will allow for demons to invade the human world and kill everyone, which he wants because he thinks humanity deserves it, and when you find out why he thinks that way, you kind of have to admit that he has a point. Itsuki is a demon who may or may not care one way or the other but is going along with it because he's Sensui's boyfriend. (Actually, he's probably not as helpful for your essay, I just like mentioning that a hugely significant YYH character has a canon boyfriend. XD)

Oh, and since I'm mentioning Togashi Yoshihiro stories, you might also look at Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter. He's... um... well, he's kind of hard to explain, but he's definitely ambiguous for a large chunk of the time. He's mainly a villain, but he spends a lot of time helping (or at least working with) the good guys, although you occasionally get the feeling that he might only be doing it so he can ogle Gon's ass from a closer vantage point. Given that Gon is a twelve-year-old boy, yeah, you can sometimes find yourself a little freaked out that you're actually supporting his actions at times.

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kamiki_seto
2006-07-07 09:15 pm UTC (link)

Demona from 'Gargoyles' - starts out as villian, but (much like Magneto) as we find out more about her reasoning and the experiences she's been through, you wonder why she didn't turn out worse. And she definitely has her sympathetic moments. I recall the series creators commenting that she was planned to be a very grey character, and something of a study in what motivates terrorists.

David Xanatos is another such from the same series. Very rich, very smart, and it seems throughout most of the series he's a villian or in things only for himself. The growth he goes through during the course of the series is some of the best characterization I've ever seen.

McBeth's another one. As first seen, a villian...I can't say too much without giving a lot of twists away.

Gargoyles was full of characters like this. It remains one of my favorite series of any type ever. I highly recommend it.

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freezer, 2006-07-07 11:32 pm UTC

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kamiki_seto, 2006-07-08 01:33 am UTC

(quite belatedly)

meril
2006-07-09 05:09 am UTC (link)

both from books:

Cheradenine Zakalwe from Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks: is secret operative, on ambiguous mission, and of rather interesting background. More would be spoilery. Zakalwe, IMO, is possibly one of the most ambiguous characters ever. There's a series of Usenet posts from alt.books.iain-banks (I believe that was the group) about it, and him; check Google Groups.

Thomas Theisman from David Weber's Honorverse series: military officer, involved in (no surprise) dodgy secret missions; also, lying to protect himself, lying to protect other officers, and full of secrets of his own. I'm trying not to spoil here.

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