You can't have a good redemption arc without a good antihero. Chuno is populated by conflicted characters and pretty much all of them have memorable redemption arcs. And yes, redemption and sacrifice often go hand in hand.

Baksa lives!

Chief Kim

Seo Yul's redemption was so well done, and i love the fact that the show never forgot it was a comedy first, and still kept things funny.

What an amazing topic. Thank you @unaspirated for bringing up this topic. I think, to get a successful redemption arc, a solid build-up is crucial. As in, don't shove it in the finale week and ask us to take it. (Looking at you My Dearest Nemesis as the most recent example)
Also, don't play the misguided card when the character's actions are awful. Just have them admit that they are awful and atone for it without giving them paper-thin excuses.
Lastly, for a successful redemption arc, we need a layered morally grey character or at least a bid twist to make them change their ways. Otherwise, we are getting a worn-out cliche.

Chief Kim is one of my favorites for this, in that so many characters shift in positive (and believable) ways throughout the show, not because they are inherently good or have magical conversion experiences, but because they realize that banding together to fight a bigger bad is more meaningful than being small-scale bad alone.

On the more serious side of things, Nokdu Flower does a lovely job of this with its protagonist Baek Ki Yang, although it does set his enormous positive growth against the equally dramatic moral decline of his half brother, suggesting that redemption is not a given in an unsettled time.

Yay! Thanks for taking up my topic! I was thinking about redemption arcs this week because I was reading the weecaps for My Dearest Nemesis in which Beanies were pretty universally agreed that the grandmother did not deserve a redemption arc, and also because I’m re-watching My Ahjusshi in which Gwang-il has a small but significant redemptive moment at the end. Redemption arcs can be so so satisfying, but I find they are often missing crucial elements, and I think Miss Victrix is right that it largely comes down to writing.

For me one of the biggest things that determines a satisfying arc is the timing compared to the magnitude of the redemption. If we start getting inklings of it too late in the story and it is a full 180 degree turnaround for a character, it’s doomed from the start. I think Gwang-il’s (My Ahjusshi) works because they aren’t redeeming his character entirely, he just decides to make a different choice than the one he’s been making in this one area of his life. We also get indications of greater complexity in his character earlier in the series, so it doesn’t completely come out of nowhere.

One recent redemption arc that totally didn’t work for me was the Sauna Mom in The Atypical Family. She had done pretty horrible things, and then we were suddenly asked to believe that she loved the FL all along and legitimately thought of her as a daughter? Unlikely. Maybe there was some foreshadowing that I missed, but her turnaround came out of nowhere for me and certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that Sauna Brother had a much better journey.

One I really loved was Ma-pi from Unlock the Boss. His story was complicated and he had done plenty of awful things, but his turn started pretty early and by the end he was risking (and sacrificing) his life to protect the happiness of the little girl he’d grown to care about. I also liked his story because the FL never warmed up to him entirely. She had been a primary receiver of his cruelty early on, and their relationship stayed explicitly complicated, even as she grew to trust his intentions more. I liked that they didn’t force forgiveness; they let the complicated feelings be complicated.

Come and Hug Me> The ML's brother (Kim Kyung-nam) had a great redemption arc and it made me find him more interesting than the lead.

Sometimes, tis equally instructive to look at what *doesn't* work for redemption arcs.

Let me poke the hornet's nest by referencing the most current outrage and ire over the redemption arc of Toxic Nana in the just concluded "My Dearest Nemesis".

I notice a common thread & tenor across most comments: Beanies don't go "OMG she's so horrid the writer had better write her a really good redemption arc or else!"

Instead, the common sentiment is "OMG she's so horrid the writer had better NOT give her some last minute redemption, or else!"

This suggests that past a certain invisible point (maybe there is also a Witch-inspired "pain point" in narrative hmmm...) viewers will unanimously harden their hearts to a redemption arc and view it as a cop-out.

Where is this point of no return where no scribe can write themselves out of the condemned corner? Share your takes!

I believe the best redemption arc that sticks with me is from the American medical series The Resident: Dr. Randolph Bell. How he went from HODAD to lovable guy is a writing streak that I must commend.

Thinking kdrama wise, the closest I can remember to a redemption arc is The Queen's Umbrella: The Royal Concubine and mother of the 3rd Prince. The one whose son was recuperated by the Queen. It must have hurt to have a son who is capable of being king but won't be allowed to rule. She didn't want her son's potential stiffled which led her to ally with the wrong people. Upon readjustment, she proved herself and showed why her son turned out as capable - she herself is a capable woman. I liked that.

Another one I vividly remember is Sagal Hyeon in Gwanggaeto the Great Conqueror. Bro had a vendetta against Damdeok and approached him with one intent - kill him. Moving past the incident, learning the truth about his father's sacrifice and that one minister was actually manipulating him in broad daylight, Sagal Hyeon went from assassin to King's trusted bodyguard. The bond, the trust they built was second to none.

I know I've watched so many redemption arcs in kdrama. But somehow my memory is failing me.

I might not really understand the meaning of a redemption arc.

Is it when a villain has been subtly sympathetic from the being and we witness their journey to redemption?

Or is it when the villain has a sudden turn around later in the story and is redeemed near the end?

Or is it when we are let in a semi-villain's head and see their point of view near the end of the story and have a light bulb moment?

Or is it when a mean character has a weak moment and begrudgingly helps the leads at the key point in the story, never wanting to hear about it later...

On the whole, I dislike villains being made too sexy, too attractive, or too justifiable.
But I LOVE any kind of bringing them down a peg, or giving them a redemption story, so long as they are not killers, or old people having abused their families past redemption. ( I haven't watched My Dearest Nemesis, but the fl's father in My Lovely Boxer was a big reason I dropped that show at halfway point)

One of the best redemption arcs I have recently found is the FL's ex-boyfriend in the c-drama Later, I laughed. To the point that I was rooting for him at the end. It wasn't a sudden change, he slowly realized his mistakes.

In k-dramas, I remember the redemption arc of Goo Ma Jun (Joo Won) in King of Baking was also understandable and well done.

I like the quick and totally believable redemption arc of the head of general surgery in Trauma Code whom rapidly switched sides once his daughter became one of those patients the hostal worked so hard to keep away.

I would also like to say the FL's 'family' in Atypical Family' but I found that writing so seamless in how they became better people I can't even pinpoint exactly how or when.

Dramas that were all about redemption arcs: Memory, Punch, and Stranger (with Dong-jae a redemption arc in progress).

I can say for sure what is not my favourite: The forgiving of parents and/or grandparents who have treated children coldly and cruelly for years, sometimes also beating the Sh*t out of them, but surely distanced themselves and demanded the best grades etc, while never acknowledging them for real, whatever the children did. And their redemption arc consists in looking doubtful about their own holiness for three seconds, and then maybe apologizing to their (grand)children, or maybe even less, maybe just stop their habitual heartless cruelty, and the now grownup kids are so thankful, don't worry about their lonely childhood that can't be made good backwards, Happy End.
The monster grandma in My Dearest Nemesis is an extreme example of that, even if she didn't try to kill her grandchild, at least.
In Impossible Wedding at least they made fun of it (I do hope it was a joke) since the boy had given the secretary a voucher for forgiveness, and the secretary had sold the voucher to the grandpa for a lot of money, so he didn't have to beg for forgiveness, he just gave the young man the forgiveness voucher (which had been expensive! - Because it's only natural that the heart-dictated gift of a child can be bought, and not from the child, right?) and said "sorry" and then that was that. Crazy! Insane!
But funny if you take in how absurd it is.

One of my favourite redemption arcs is in Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy, the hero at the beginning is awful to the heroine (and just about everyone else), but over the course of the drama believably transforms into someone you actually want to succeed and want the heroine to be with.

I don't think I've seen a good redemption of a real kdrama villian. Is it even possible given the typical extreme lengths they go to and damage they've caused? Not sure I want to see one since I probably personally wouldn't forgive them.
The worst attempt I've ever seen might be the real mom in You're the Best Lee Soon Shin, although thankfully she wasn't fully forgiven in the last episode. Horrible mom from A to Z. The adoptive mom and grandma were scarcely better, if at all.
The best one for me was not a real villian, just a good guy gone temporarily to the other side our of circumstances and need - Lee Min-ho in Legend of the Blue Sea. He initially was proud of how good a fraudster he was, so I loved how he gave it up for his girl and felt uncomfortable about his "job" when asked what he did for a living.

I'm wondering why this picture for this topic. Who got a redemption arc in Heartless City? Safari ?

I can think of two redemption arcs around characters played by one actor (and a favorite of mine): Lee Sang-yeob:
1. MBC’s ON THE VERGE OF INSANITY (2021) (Viki US)
2. KBS’s MY LOVELY BOXER (2023) (Viki US).

I really liked how Marriage Contract did the redemption arc of the ML, portrayed by Lee Seo Jin:

It wasn’t only a simple and typical “K-drama ML falls in love with FL so he turns his attitude around”, but in this drama, the ML literally turns his life around (from being the typical chaebol playboy)— or more Iike, get his life turned upside down by a cheeky 8-year-old haha— and not only commits to being better for the FL and the little girl (the FL’s daughter), but does it also for himself, which I think is the ultimate win. Through these 2 people coming into his life, he doesn’t only find a love interest, he finds a new purpose in life
More often than not, we see character changes made in Kdramas are made because the person being changed is doing it for another person— most notably, their love interest— but little do we see of characters changing for themselves and wanting to work on themselves to become better, which I think takes more guts, more time, more self-awareness, and definitely much more humility than anything else

I’d like to see a real life redemption arc where Kim Soo Hyun apologies and takes some accountability for the loss of Kim Sae Ron.

His only remorse was for the people and staff on QOT show. There was zero remorse for Kim Sae Ron.

The girl is dead, and now you sue her family? Have they not suffered enough?

I’d like to see some character growth.

A lot of my favorites have been mentioned:
Seo Yul (Chief Kim)
Mapi (Unlock the Boss)
Concubines Tae and Go (Under the Queen's Umbrella)

I want to mention some others that no one has mentioned:

Wang Yeo (Goblin - oh the heartbreak and Kim Sun too😮‍💨)

Park Tae Yang (Love All Play - ah, my heart broke for her in every episode)

Chief Gwi (Mystic Pop Up Bar - alright, I'm tearing up a little)

Reporter Song Cha Ok (Pinocchio - my heart broke for In Ha mostly)

Soo Jin (True Beauty)

Dong Jae (Stranger - he's a baddie for the fun of it 😂😂😂)