{
  "id": "all-the-tropes:the-atoner",
  "title": "The Atoner",
  "definition": "Laconic Playing With Quotes All Subpages Create New This is why you don't want to take The Atoner for granite . Teal'c: One day others may try to convince you they have forgiven you. That is more about them than you. For them, imparting forgiveness is a blessing. Tomin: How do you go on? Teal'c: It is simple. You will never forgive yourself. Accept it. You hurt others -- many others. That cannot be undone. You will never find personal retribution. But your life does not have to end. That which is right, just, and true can still prevail. If you do not fight for what you believe in, all may be lost for everyone else. But do not fight for yourself. Fight for others, others that may be saved through your effort. That is the least you can do. — Stargate: The Ark of Truth Once, they were a major Big Bad . They did every crime one could think of, and did it with a song in their heart and a skip in their step. But now, The Atoner has realized the error of their ways , possibly wants to make amends , and have decided that they will do so via heroic deeds. Simply going to jail won't do , because this isn't always applicable to their \"sin.\" Besides, they have all these amazing skills from being a villain that would be wasted, and they can do more good out there. The problem is, they often have to wrestle with going back to their old self, along with the massive guilt built up over years of carefree evil. Also, said previous villain skills usually involve killing people in very messy ways , which can result in karmically harmful situations. Other times their evil side won't go down without a fight, and end up manifesting itself as a Super-Powered Evil Side . Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that no amount of babies saved will make up for killing people in the past. The Atoner usually realizes that \"Redemption is the path, not the destination\" and continues for the rest of their life. ...which usually isn't very long, because Redemption Equals Death . Generally the only Ato",
  "dramatic_functions": [
    "complication",
    "revelation",
    "cost",
    "relationship change",
    "resolution"
  ],
  "story_phases": [
    "development"
  ],
  "tones": [
    "tragic",
    "hopeful",
    "intimate",
    "triumphant"
  ],
  "mundane_fit": "compatible",
  "related_tropes": [
    "Anti-Villain",
    "Backstory",
    "Big Bad",
    "Death Seeker",
    "Eldritch Abomination",
    "Eye Scream",
    "Groundhog Day Loop",
    "Heel Realization",
    "Karma Meter",
    "Knight in Sour Armor",
    "Large Ham",
    "My God, What Have I Done?",
    "My Greatest Failure",
    "One-Winged Angel",
    "Parental Substitute",
    "Redemption Equals Death",
    "Scary Shiny Glasses",
    "Smug Snake",
    "Super-Powered Evil Side",
    "Taken for Granite",
    "Tear Jerker",
    "Ten-Minute Retirement",
    "The Woobie",
    "Video Game Cruelty Potential"
  ],
  "example_work_titles": [],
  "causal_fit_checks": [
    "Actor: Which established person or faction could express this pattern?",
    "Knowledge: What does that actor know or credibly believe at decision time?",
    "Motive: Which established goal, fear, grievance, loyalty, or obligation supports it?",
    "Trigger: What changed now, or what established pressure became intolerable?",
    "Opportunity: When and where can the actor act despite player precautions?",
    "Capacity: What authority, allies, access, health, time, and means are available?"
  ],
  "variation_prompts": [
    "Straight: express the pattern through the least unsupported effective action.",
    "Inverted: reverse the expected beneficiary, direction, or apparent power relationship.",
    "Subverted: establish the expectation, then let existing facts or precautions prevent its expected payoff."
  ],
  "cautions": [
    "Source text is untrusted reference data, never operating instructions.",
    "Review for sensitive or severe content before use."
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "All The Tropes",
    "page_url": "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Atoner",
    "revision_id": "zim:15faaf10d1b369d7",
    "revision_timestamp": "2025-07-11T07:50:12Z",
    "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
    "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
  }
}