The Shonen Formula Part 5: A Little bit of Help Justifies Forgiveness

So you've just beaten a major villain. A few friends may have died, but at least you beat that pesky evil man and/or woman; too bad he/she escaped. Well, at least you're safe until the next villain shows up. Oh, but what's this? It seems like the new enemy is also the enemy of your old enemy (trying saying that six times fast). You know what they say; the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

There are several examples of bad guys becoming good guys just because of a mutual enemy or goal. Vegeta, Scar, Mukuro, Franky, Gaara, every JJBA character that isn't the main, Kurei, all of Soul Society, Kon, Faust VIII. They are given a clean slate as all the horrible things they did to the main characters are forgotten. It doesn't matter how many they maimed, raped, killed or prank called. As long as they help out with the fights, they might as well be the main character's best friend. Hell, even if they don't help out with the fights, they're pretty much forgiven as long as they don't cause any trouble.

This wave of forgiveness also spreads to the secondary characters. It doesn't matter if he killd her ex boyfriend; Bulma will still hook up with Vegeta beccause he "tries hard". Even though Faust VIII cut open his chest, Manta won't hold a grudge and even trust him to fight alongside Yoh.

Sometimes a major villain becoming an ally almost downplays the trouble the protagonists had with said villain in the first place. With the recent temporary alliance between Crocodile and Luffy, you almost forget the Strawhats spent around 80 episodes tracking this guy down and beating him, suffering two total defeats in the process. I have to admit, it does make rewatching the battles a little less epic, but who cares when you have a total badass like Crocodile on your side?

The former enemies may also be forced to interact with the protagonists. Maybe they fell into the same trap or entered the same tournament or something like that. Either way, the malicious feeling and tension is either gone or has deteriorated significantly. I guess all these characters needed was a little time apart to prevent them from going at each others throats.

Obviously the severity of the former villain's actions varies from character to character, but enemies becoming allies is a part of shonen and isn't going to change any time soon. It's a great way to gather more main characters in the beginning as most pre-chapter 30 villains become allies in some shape or form. Look at it this way; a villain you might have loved but got taken down pretty quickly will now get significant air time.