Redeeming Love (trope)
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| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | Redemptive Love, Love Redeems, |
| Related tropes/genres | Redemption, Power of Love, I Can Change Them |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Redeeming love, also known as redemptive love or love redeems, is a romantic trope in both fanon and canon. It involves a character experiencing positive change or redemption due to the power of love.
Canon Examples
- Jaffar/Nino from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Jaffar being an assassin who develops emotions upon first encountering the kindhearted Nino and eventually turning against the antagonists to help her and join the player's party. If their support chain is pursued to A rank, they will marry.
- Implied in the Constance/Jeritza supports and ending in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, where he tells her he remembers his old self when he's with her and the two get married.
- A platonic example occurs with Mercedes, Jeritza's sister. Their ending has him undergo rehabilitation before reuniting with her and their mother, bringing their family back together.
- Severus Snape from Harry Potter harboured an unrequited love for his childhood friend Lily Evans Potter that motivated him to leave the evil Lord Voldemort's service after her murder and dedicate his life to protecting her son Harry. Snape is notable as an example of redemptive love spurring a change in action and belief while not altering deeper character traits. He is authoritarian and vindictive in his role as a professor at Hogwarts (particularly toward Harry).
- Nephrite/Naru from Sailor Moon, just barely due to Nephrite dying before he can experience that redemption in full.
- Jaime/Brienne of ASoIaF/Game of Thrones is a complex example of this trope. They begin as enemies and grow closer by learning to trust each other. On the show, Jaime joins Brienne in fighting the White Walkers and shares a brief romance with her, but ultimately returns to his incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei. In the books, Jaime's feelings for Brienne are less explicit, being hinted at through subtext. Fanworks focusing on the ship generally have Jaime explicitly choose Brienne over Cersei.
- Rey/Kylo from Star Wars is technically an example of this trope. Kylo defects from the First Order due to romantic love for Rey (as well as familial love for his parents). This love culminates in a kiss toward the end of The Rise of Skywalker as Kylo is dying. Reylo fanworks often place greater emphasis on the redemptive aspect of Kylo's love than canon.
Fanon Examples
- This is the basis for some Zuko/Katara fics in Avatar: The Last Airbender fandom, in which fans interpret their interactions in "The Southern Raiders" and his saving her in the finale as romantic. Zukaang and Zukka fic also play with this trope.
- It's even more popular with Azula shipping fic, particularly with Ty Lee, Sokka, or Katara.
- Fire Emblem has a few fanon ships like this:
- The Fates fic "A Brighter Dark" was going this way with Hans via a budding romance with Princess Sakura, but Leo killed Hans for his own reasons before it could go any further.
- This is a common interpretation of Dimitri/Byleth in Three Houses, due to Dimitri in canon insisting Byleth was the one who saved him from himself even when all they did was give him a nudge in that direction.
- Edelgard/Dimitri fanfics tend to go this route, especially in Azure Moon AUs where Dimitri chooses to spare her after the final battle.
- Many a Diamant/Griss fic in Engage fandom has Griss atone for his past sins after falling in love with and marrying Diamant.
- Draco/Hermione shipping in Harry Potter fandom often emphasizes this trope. Many Dramione fanworks have Draco overcome his anti-Muggle-born prejudice and generally become a kinder person through falling in love with Hermione. Some also have him explicitly defect from Death Eaters due to his love.
- Lotor/Allura fans in Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom love this trope, often rewriting the end of season 6 to have her change her mind and rescue him from the quintessence field after being unable to let go of the feelings they had for each other. Keith/Lotor also works with this trope, due to the connection they would have had in canon if plans hadn't changed in the writing due to Steven Yeun's absence for two seasons.