An is the concept in Fiction (especially Science Fiction and Fantasy ) of someone equal to a character in all respects, except for a radically inverted Morality (and often some changes in appearance, for the audience's convenience).
This can be sophisticated or simple. Most often, it is the latter, with the evil twin being a stereotypical Villain . A closely related concept is that of an entire Mirror Universe , containing only evil twins of the characters in the regular universe (and "good twins" of evil people).
The exotic plot devices inherent in science fiction or fantasy allow the introduction of evil twins much more readily. Such ideas as Cloning and Time Travel offer more opportunities for the twin to arise and their tendency to become exact polar opposites is magnified, rather than just slightly different characters.
Evil twins allow writers to compare the beliefs and opinions of their characters not with other characters, but effectively with the same character. The basis of a character's beliefs and morality can then be explored through the distorted mirror image of their twin. In film and television, the evil twin usually offers an actor the chance to play the same part but with an entirely different approach.
A related concept (originating in '' Superman '' comics) is the Bizarro , an imperfect or inexact (rather than evil) duplicate of a character. The term "Bizarro" has also been used to refer to actual evil twins.
The similarities and differences of twins has long held a fascination for writers. Perhaps the oldest depiction of this idea is the Biblical story of Cain and Abel in which one brother is the jealous counterpart of the other. Dualism and the conflict between good and evil is an important element in religion and mythology.
The concept also has its roots in the notion of a Doppelgänger , a ghostly double whose appearance is an ill Omen . The evil twin expands on this by being concrete and interacting physically with the world.
- A stereotype of Soap Opera s is the evil twin. One of the longest-running examples is David Canary 's portrayal of stiff businessman Adam Chandler and his fun-loving brother Stuart on '' All My Children '' since 1983.
- In the '' Star Trek '' universe there is an entire Mirror Universe , in which the people and political entities of the Star Trek shows are duplicated with reversed moralities and slight cosmetic differences. The "mirror Spock " from the Star Trek mirror universe had a Goatee while the real Spock and nearly all other Vulcans were clean-shaven; as a result, many evil twins in satirical works have goatees. (" The Enemy Within " also has good and evil Kirks, unrelated to the mirror universe.)
- In '''', Link's opposite appears, Dark Link .
- In the video game series '' Devil May Cry '', Dante must defeat his evil twin, Vergil. In addition to Vergil the player also must fight a shadow form of himself known as Doppleganger .
- Also in the ''Star Trek'' universe, the Android Data had an evil twin named Lore , who was emotional and deceptive in counterpart to Data's own logic and morality.
- In the '' Knight Rider '' television show, David Hasselhoff 's character, Michael Knight, had an evil twin named Garthe Knight. Although not actually twins -- Garthe was the biological, though illegitimate son, of Wilton Knight, while Michael was Wilton's symbolic son -- the resemblance was exact except for Garthe having (of course) a goatee. Michael's car KITT had an evil twin called KARR . As with ''Star Trek'''s Data and Lore, KARR was a flawed prototype that preceded the heroic later model.
- In '' Futurama '', the robot Bender has a twin, Flexo (who has a goatee). It was later revealed that Bender himself was the evil one of the two. In another episode, the show spoofs the concept of evil twins (as well as the concept of the DC Comic Multiverse ) when the Professor creates a box with a mirror universe in it. When the crew goes into it, they have an argument with the twins over which universe is the "evil" one.
- In '' South Park '', Eric Cartman 's Evil Twin from another dimension has a goatee, but since Cartman is already cruel and evil, the "twin" is much preferred by the inhabitants of this universe.
- In '' Sunset Beach '', Ben has an evil twin, who becomes involved in a plotline where Ben is accused of murder.
- In '' Army Of Darkness '' an enchanted mirror and brutal dismemberment create a "Bad Ash", a disfigured evil counterpart to the hero of the '' Evil Dead '' series Ash Williams . Bad Ash steals good Ash's girl, but eventually gets blown to bits.
- They Might Be Giants ' album '' Apollo 18 '' includes the song "My Evil Twin". It describes the singer's evil twin, e.g. "doing doughnuts on the neighbor's lawn". The evil twin, though, is apparently just a psychological scapegoat of the singer.
- In the T.V. series '' I Dream Of Jeannie '', Jeannie had a twin sister who was obviously played by the same actress, Barbara Eden . Appearing as a brunette, her mischievous sister was always vying for Major Tony Nelson's attention, even long after Jeannie and Tony married and had their son.
- On an episode of the TV series '' The Dukes Of Hazzard '', Jefferson Davis Hogg, who dresses in white, drives a white Cadillac convertible and is a stereotypical mean, corrupt Southern local-government "Boss," has a twin brother, Abraham Lincoln Hogg, who dressed in black drove a black Cadillac convertible, and was kindly and benevolent. Boss Hogg called his brother "the white sheep of the family." Both Hoggs were played by Sorrell Booke .
- In season 3 of the TV show '' Without A Trace '', there was a storyline in which there were two twins, one of whom's wife is murdered. The FBI initially suspect her husband, but it is revealed that it is the other twin who committed the murder and several others. In the end, the innocent brother covers for him and is imprisoned. In a later episode the imprisoned twin is freed and almost killed by his brother before being rescued by the FBI.
- In the anime series '' Elfen Lied '', Nyu is the "good twin" of Lucy, although they have the same body and Lucy is the original, with Nyu being an alternate personality originating with head trauma and allowing Lucy to resurface only intermittently throughout the series. Nyu is a sweet-natured girl who almost completely lacks language skills and shares none of Lucy's memories, whereas Lucy is coldly intelligent and prone to ripping people to shreds as a result of assorted disturbing childhood experiences.
- In the animated 'reality' program '' Drawn Together '', Captain Hero has an alternate version of himself known as Bizarro Captain Hero. It is implied that he was later killed by Captain Hero.
- In the TV series ''Friends'', the character Phoebe Buffay has an evil twin named Ursula Buffay . Though not a twin, the character of Ross Geller had an 'evil' counterpart named Russ for one episode. Russ was played by Snaro , an actor of uncanny physical resemblance to David Schwimmer. Russ dated Rachel but dumped her for Ross's girlfriend.
- The character of Metal Sonic is the original evil twin of Sonic from the '' Sonic The Hedgehog '' games. The character of Shadow The Hedgehog in the more recent '' Sonic The Hedgehog '' games is also considered an evil twin, not only storyline-wise but also gameplay-wise (that is, both he and Sonic are played the same way). Shadow, however, quickly becomes an antihero. The Archie " Sonic The Hedgehog " comic book series also introduced "Scourge"; a green, evil hedgehog from the alternate universe, anti-mobius. The British Fleetway comic series included Sonic's evil persona, Super Sonic , as a separate character after the 100th issue.
- In the TV series '' Twin Peaks '', Sheryl Lee plays the dual roles of murdered teenager Laura Palmer (blonde) and her identical cousin, Madeleine (brunette, with glasses). Madeleine is generally deemed as being wholesome and good while over the course of the series Laura, despite being beloved by the majority of the town, is revealed to have been a heavy drug user, dabbling in Prostitution and being somewhat manipulative, particularly towards males (though it is often noted that Laura was essentially a good person who was a victim of circumstance). Sometimes classified as a Post-modern Soap Opera , the Laura/Maddy plotline was an effective homage to the "evil twin" plotlines of other soap operas, as well as the film '' Vertigo ''.
- On comedy TV series '' Sabrina, The Teenage Witch '', a secret of Sabrina's family of witches is that one of each set of witch twins is evil. Each evil twin is sent to prison after a series of tests determines which of each set of twins is evil. Sabrina's twin, Katrina, is shown to be evil and is imprisoned when, asked to push Sabrina into a volcano, she complies.
- In the syndicated TV series ''''.
- In the second half of the anime '' Superior Defender Gundam Force '', the characters face a new villain called Professor Gerbera. Gerbera is ultimately revealed to be an alias for Madnug, a near perfect copy of the hero Captain Gundam who was created in the future and captured and brainwashed by the evil Dark Axis due to an accident with time/space travel technology he had intended to help humanity.
- On Captain Planet And The Planeteers , Evil duplicates of the kids rings were created, from which they summoned ''Captain Pollution'', an evil-twin of ''Captain Planet''.
- In the Dragonball Z movie "Tree of Might", there is an evil version of Goku named Turles who planted the tree that sucked the life out of the earth. He ate the fruit causing him to become more powerful.
- In the original Mega Man series, Bass serves as Mega Man 's evil twin; he emulates Mega Man's abilities perfectly (up to and including having a robotic dog, Treble, who acts as a counterpart to Rush). In the Battle Network series, however, Bass has no particular connection to MegaMan.EXE . In the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon, Proto Man similarly acts as an evil counterpart to Mega Man.
- In a '' Family Guy '' episode, a cutaway scene that parodies a climatic action movie scene shows a gun-wielding Lois aimed at two Peters, all on top of a tall building. One is the real Peter, and the other is an evil twin, both denying that they are the evil one, and Lois much choose which one to shoot. She shoots one, and the remaining Peter comes over to hug her, as it is shown briefly that he is in fact the evil, robotic Peter when his "face" falls off.
- In the videogame Grandia II , the kind and altruistic Elena has an evil twin personality called Millenia, who co-exists within her body, and is actually a manifestation of a demonic energy that exists within her. Millenia is egocentric, manipulative, and short-tempered, but not directly evil - even when Elena turns into Millennium, she continue to aid the game's hero, mainly due to the fact that she is competing with Elena for his affection. In addition, while Elena, due to her religious upbringing, is shy and reserved, Millenia is very openly flirtatious. At the very end of the game, Millenia succeeds in manifesting herself in a separate body to fight side-by-side with Elena in the final battle. It is never explained why Millenia is so much more human and less evil than the other demonic entities in the game, who all take on monterous forms and have a single-minded focus on death and destruction.
- In another Adult Swim series, '' Sealab 2021 '', the entire main crew of Sealab is revealed to have evil twins known as the "Bizarros". In a departure from the usual indication of being an evil twin through a goatee, each of the Bizarros has an outlandish physical deformity ranging from a claw for a hand (Bizarro Debbie) to simply existing as a head floating in a tank (Bizarro Sparks). Oddly, the Bizarros themselves seem to have their own set of evil twins, known as the Groovies. Where the Bizarros demand a Destructo Beam, the Groovies demand a Patchouli Beam.
- In the '' ¡Mucha Lucha! '' episode "Shamrock and Roll", Rikochet faces off with a nasty leprechaun named Rick o'Shea who is out to frame him for various mean pranks.
- In Alan Moore 's comic '' Supreme '' the hero has an evil twin called the Shadow Supreme, with a similar origin to Superman's Bizarro . As the name suggests, the Shadow Supreme appears as a shadow.
- In '' Flash '' comics, Professor Zoom , wore a reversed-colour version of the Flash costume, and, according to later accounts, had plastic surgery to resemble Barry Allen . After Allen's death it was revealed that Zoom was descended from Cobalt Blue , who was literally Barry's evil twin.
- In the manga and anime series Monster , the story centers around a mysterious set or fraternal twins, one thought to be a force of pure evil that orchestrates a long term serial and mass murder campaign all over Germany while the other is a good hearted pretty girl who just wants to be happy.
- In SoulCalibur III , sevral times a Doppelganger can be faced by Zasalamel , because his other side opposes his wish for death, and Nightmare , though why is unknown. The latter's doppelganger is just a shadow, opposed to the former's, which looks exactly the same, though neither probably are relevant to the story.
- In Soul of Rebirth extra dungeon of Final Fantasy II , in the Dawn of Souls remake, the last boss is the Emperor's light side, who wished to give the ghost main characters an eternal life for thanks. They didn't trust him (rigtly), and defeated him, feering themselves.
- Final Fantasy IV featured a dark form of Cecil who must be defeated in order to redeem Cecil and make him a Paladin. He succeeds.
- Another Final Fantasy contains an evil twin(sort of) as well. Final Fantasy X-2 had Shuyin, a character who resembled main character Tidus from Final Fantasy X , but to tell more who be a spoiler.
- In one of the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of the long running show, '' The Simpsons '', Bart is trapped in his house with a suspected " monster " in the attic. After calling Dr. Hibbert , it's revealed that the suspected monster is actually "Hugo," an "evil" identical twin of Bart. However, the family discovers that bart is the ''real'' evil twin, and is locked in the attic.
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