This one requires a little explanation. I have conversations with a friend over Skype about a for-fun crossover series idea that works out in our minds as an animē and PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4 game series, which has reached a "fifth season" by this point. (It'll never be a fanfic series given how I've already forgotten a lot of its "canon" and we're just doing this idea-sharing for fun.) The premise often involves throwing in multiple characters based on what we just saw and whatnot. One of those characters was in fact this little evil-doer, serving as part of the Big Bad Duumvirate of the "third season" along with Discord. (To make a long story short, the idea involved the two in an Evil vs. Evil scenario. Just roll with it.) Although there were some notable differences, such as this idea's incarnation of the character being the size of a little kid rather than a cat and being able to walk on two legs if he had to.

Like in his origin animē, Kyubey was making contracts with various characters that would bestow them with supernatural abilities in exchange for essentially being turned into generators later on. As I never fully watched said animē and she saw very little of it, we just worked with the idea of Kyubey trying to tie in several of our protagonists into that plot for the same reasons of wanting to stave off universal heat death. But much to both our surprise, given how we hate him as much as many people do, he...actually redeemed himself.

Yeah, she and I actually redeemed one of animē's most hated villains in this random for-fun crossover idea of ours. Granted, it took kicking his ass repeatedly, having many people defy him, and being given a taste of his own medicine. (To make another long story short, one of the abilities tied with his contracts was the ability to make people feel your pain, akin to what Kyubey used to demonstrate how soul gems have essentially bound his magical girls.) Despite everything, it actually got through to him and, again to our surprise, Kyubey ended up pulling a legitimate Heel Face Turn when the full "My God, What Have I Done?" effect took hold. And to make it even better, we actually managed to make him a genuine Woobie when the consequences of his actions came back to bite him in the ass.

Again, we were surprised that we took a character we hate and worked on a for-fun narrative where he actually redeems himself. Most likely, it was my usual intent to improve upon characters I hate in practice. But, after a while, I sorta forgot the original character. This new Kyubey was fascinating. He now understood pain and was actually afraid to die because now he registered the suffering involved. He began to cherish life rather than manipulate it for his own ends. He started emoting more, going beyond the creepy frozen smile, and over time, his smiles were genuinely sweet rather than sadistic. And then there's him learning about anthro/human culture, complete with the expected premises like him trying different foods and integrating into society (as his kind rejected him for showing emotions now and thus being "mentally unfit" by their standards). And what's more, it was just interesting to see Kyubey legitimately dealing with remorse and wanting to atone for his horrific actions. His design even changed to a degree. His sinister red eyes became a cute pink. His stare wasn't as focused and piercing. His face emoted a hell lot more and more. And while he lost the rings, he gained an "anthro" disguise of kid clothing designed to make him appear less like an alien and more like a weird cat. She and I had fun with this. And honestly, I started to consider Kyubey in this recreated style we gave him.

Then...I remembered that the Kyubey she and I built up is not the real one. The real one is a monster through and through, indifferent to the suffering of others and not giving a damn. So...I made this piece anyway, just as that thought occurred to me. Maybe in another reality, he did truly redeem himself and do everything he could to atone. But in this one, he's a monster. I guess one should just take it as they will.

Kyubey/Kyūbē © Masaki Hiramatsu, Shaft, Aniplex