I had an idea for a novel. Reading the Dope has taught me every time someone thinks they have a novel idea for a, well, novel 
26 people will post, “oh that was done several times before…”
Still, I press on. Anyway, my idea is to have a story where there is a good guy vs bad guy narrative, featuring the good guy. Except the second half of the book is told from the bad guy’s perspective wherein the case is made that he’s really the good guy.
Any existing stories like this?
Stephen Donaldson’s Gap Cycle has something of this approach.
this series started life as a novella in which characters representing villain, victim, and rescuer would switch places during the course of the narrative.
“In A Grove”, the short story on which Rashomon was based.
From Wikipedia’s page on unreliable narrators
Narration in Sometimes a Great Notion switches between several of the main characters, whose bias tends to switch the reader’s sympathies from one person to another, especially in the rivalry between main characters Leland and Hank Stamper. Many of Susan Howatch’s novels similarly use this technique; each chapter is narrated by a different character, and only after reading chapters by each of the narrators does the reader realize each of the narrators has biases and “blind spots” that cause him or her to perceive shared experiences differently.
It’s not unusual in mysteries nowadays. Unreliable narrators are the biggest thing now, with each book trying to top the one before it. Except it’s often obvious from the blurb - “If you liked Gone Girl, you’ll love this book!!!”
Just curious, Lucas, who did you have in mind for the hero and villain?
I have occasionally fantasized about making a pair of mafia movies, both assembled from the same raw footage, but one edited to present heroic cops versus evil gangsters, the other edited to present sympathetic gangsters versus corrupt cops.
Essentially, Dirty Harry vs Michael Corleone.
I didn’t have specific set of characters in mind - still too early in the planning stages. Just thought it might be fun to try to write.
Incarnations of Immortality is a series of books where difference aspects of the Universe (Death, Time, Fate, War etc.) fight against Satan (it’s a Fantasy universe that has 20th Century technology). Then there is a book from Satan’s perspective which retells the previous stories where you find out he was actually working for the cause of good all along (or at least the situation was more complicated than it seemed).
James Hogg did pretty much this with The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner in 1824.
Taking a tangent and running with it, Dawn French starred in the series Murder Most Horrid – variously as murderer, victim, or both… so, as in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, you don’t know when you start if your listening to the good guy or the bad guy – and sometimes even at the end you may be rooting for the murderer.
Not quite the same, but for science fiction there’s The Man Who Used The Universe: the first half features a career criminal who (a) gets betrayed by his mob-boss employer, and then (b) does what it takes to defend himself from crooks who are now gunning for him — and, after we watch him eventually gain safety by getting back into the good graces of his crime syndicate, we eventually watch him hand the authorities tons of evidence with which to put said syndicate behind bars: he gets a ‘hero cop’ reputation, with the adoring public being told that he’s been working undercover for the police all along; we then watch him parlay his celebrity status into successes with entertainment in particular and business in general…
…and, in the second half of the book, we’re following the story of a dogged psychologist who becomes obsessed with investigating that guy: not knowing the stuff the reader knows, but constantly making clear how things look from his own perspective.
In the area of children’s books — maybe relevant, maybe not — Mary Stolz wrote A Dog on Barkham Street, in which neighborhood bully Martin Hastings is the antagonist. Then she wrote A Bully on Barkham Street, in which Martin is the protagonist, and we come to understand why he acts the way he does.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_Strange_Case_of_Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Hyde
I’ve heard of at least one movie (don’t know the title) that’s told from Mr. Hyde’s perspective and makes Dr. Jekyll the villain.
I’ve seen war movies that switch back and forth between the sides, notably one set during Vietnam (again can’t remember the name of the movie, maybe Hamburger Hill?) where they show the Vietcong perspective of the American attacks. The Vietcong are no longer just the faceless evil enemy, but are shown as compassionate soldiers with real emotions as they travel and live in their underground tunnels. The audience’s sympathy switches between the two sides throughout the movie. Ultimately leaving the understanding of the pointlessness of the battle.
Wasn’t there a Warcraft video game where the first half you play as a human fighting the monsters then halfway through the game they go completely nuts and becomes evil, and the second half has you playing as a monster trying to defeat the human who has now become the big bad?
twisi everythings been done so theres no point trying to be super original so just go with your idea and try have fun with it. Odds are if you enjoy writing it other ppl will enjoy reading it
Iain Banks did this to great effect in Use of Weapons.
The book Soon I will be Invincible is told from the villain’s point of view. Although it’s fairly obvious that here’s a guy who’s crossed the line from obsession to fanaticism, you still can’t help being a little sympathetic towards him.
Man, so many good mentions. Thanks. I’ve got some reading to do.
A book that’s pretty much like this is C.J. Cherryh’s Tripoint.
This SF novel revolves around an alleged rape that took place 20 years earlier. The main character was born as a result of this incident. The narrative he’s always heard is that his father was a rapist and a criminal involved in shady activities.
By some mischance his ship and his father’s ship both end up in the same port, though they’ve been mutually avoiding each other for 20 years. More information begins to come out about what happened 20 years ago, and it seems the situation was more complex than he thought.
When the main character is kidnapped by his father’s men while trying to investigate them, it initially seems that everything that he’s heard about his father was true. He’s a rough, violent, unpleasant man with a weird crew, engaged in highly illegal smuggling.
Then… we gradually begin to get the other side of the story.
It’s a lot different, and we start to see the characters and situation in a whole different light. The father becomes more and more understandable and sympathetic. Maybe there are shades of gray, rather than black and white. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all.
In the end, the main character has a free choice which ship he wants to go with.
He chooses to go with his father. He finds better and warmer relationships on this ship of misfits than he’s ever had, and it’s clear that he’s made the right choice.