As Bad As I Wanna Be.......

No, this post has nothing to do with Dennis Rodman, other than he might make a great character in a book.......... "Kim Jong Un is lying on the floor dead, his head beaten to a bloody pulp, when agents of the Ministry of State Security, the North Korean Secret Police, find him. Look sir, the stippling impressions in the Dear Leader's skull appear to be from a basketball..........."

Sorry, I digress.

Anyway, in my current WIP, which is the sequel to my current book, I decided to embrace the darker side a bit more. I have to admit it has been fun to explore the depths of depravity a bit. I wanted to move beyond the stereotypical "bad guy" character. You know, the one we are introduced to and it is just taken for granted that he is the baddie. For me, I wanted to explore the developmental issues. Sort of the nuts and bolts of why. 

I'm not talking about the wishy-washy evil tantrum, as in: "Yoda didn't make me a full Jedi knight so I am going to I am going to commit child murder" but the person who has that light bulb moment and says "no more Mr. Nice Guy." 

They don't lose their moral compass, they conscientiously choose to shelve it.

What are your experiences? Have you ever read or created a character that had a "flipped switch" moment where they make the decision to cross over to the dark side and embrace it?