Who doesn't like a completely subjective Top 10 list? Here we go, my picks as the best villains-turned-to-heroes is as follows! I'm leaving out some characters that could technically be on here, but I don't think a single appearance as a threat to a hero is enough to label someone as a villain. For example, the Vision was created to destroy the Avengers but he quickly turned on Ultron, hence why I'm not counting him as a villain.
I'll start the countdown with numbers 10-6!
10. Hawkeye - Given my love of the character you may be surprised that I've got Hawkeye so low on the list. The reason he doesn't appear any higher is Hawkeye was never really a villain; he got mixed up with the wrong people and committed a crime or two, but his heart was never in it. I have a hard time calling him a villain, but he himself admitted he started out on the wrong side of the law when he took over the Thunderbolts.
9. Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver - Much like Hawkeye, I've never considered the Scarlet Witch to be a true villain. Wanda was only really with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants because of Quicksilver, and neither of them were terribly happy to be there in the first place. Now you might say that Wanda should be classified a villain after the events of Avengers Disassembled, but I ask you to consider this; Avengers Disassembled was a piece of crap. Brian Michael Bendis has developed a penchant for killing or ruining favourite characters of mine, such as his off-panel killing of Alpha Flight and the horrible fate he dealt to the Vision. Fortunately many of the aforementioned events are getting retconned by other writers; the Scarlet Witch is currently being redeemed of her actions in Disassembled somewhat in Avengers: The Children's Crusade, Scott Lang has also been resurrected in the same series, and the original Alpha Flight is back headlining their own solo series.
In Quicksilver's case, he can't seem to keep it straight if he is a villain or a hero. However, the Avengers always seem to accept him when he comes back to the side of good, though it's no surprise Pietro doesn't exactly have a lot of close friends. But does anyone expect the son of Magneto to be well-adjusted?
8. Harmony - I make no secret that I am a big Joss Whedon fan. One aspect of the final season of Angel I enjoyed was that of Harmony, the ditzy vampire who got her start as a classmate of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Harmony was turned into a vampire on Buffy's show, but I enjoy her attempts at becoming a "good guy" in Angel the most. She does not have a soul like Angel and Spike, so she is really trying to resist her evil nature to try and fit in (which to a slightly lesser extent also defines her pre-vampire high school experience as well). In the end Harmony betrays Angel, but she really did try her best and it was a fun ride while it lasted.
7. Atlas - As Power Man or Goliath, Erik Josten was a fairly generic villain; he was big and strong and existed to puch things. However, when he got his start with the Thunderbolts, he became a very intriguing character. In his early days as a hero, he really struggled with loyalty to Baron Zemo, who saved his life, and doing the right thing. Making those choices were often a struggle for Atlas, which comes across as very realistic. Nobody expects a switch to be flicked and the villain to be reformed, it should be a process, and Atlas' journey down that path has been very entertaining.
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