History Main / Foil

Sometimes a foil is a {{flat|Character}} or BitCharacter, a secondary character that comes on stage, sparks a response, then fades from the story. More often, though, the foil is a recurring character that has a personality, or an opinion of things, that is different from another recurring character. This character can be the opposite of the character in many ways — or perhaps [[NotSoDifferent very, very, very similar]], [[NotSoSimilar except for a crucial difference.]]

* NotSoDifferent

* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate

* TenderTomboyishnessFoulFeminitiy: A {{nice|Girl]] tomboy and a [[{{Jerkass}} mean]] girly girl.

* SmartJerkAndNiceMoron

** ''Foil/{{Berserk}}''

** ''Foil/TheBigBangTheory''

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* In ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', Galinda and Elphaba. Galinda acts like [[DumbBlonde a stereotypical blonde]], pretty, popular, and not much going on in her head. Elphaba is (viewed as) ugly and a bookworm. Elphaba is also much more responsible and mature, and when faced with a discovery that turns their world upside-down, one spreads the word, reputation be damned, and one uses it to her advantage.

* In ''Theatre/AntonyAndCleopatra'', the two nations of Rome and Egypt play foil to each other, with Rome with a superego, duty before self set of ideals while Egypt is far more hedonistic and leans towards the id.

* In Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''Theatre/TheEmperorConstantine'', Helena awaits the arrival of the ex-husband who divorced her for a political match, and then took her son away when he was eleven, with calm and dignity, while her elderly servant fumes over the indignities she was subjected to. (Thus also making clear what it takes for her to be calm and dignified.)
* Ariel and Tupolski from ''Theatre/ThePillowman'' are constantly at odds. Even when Tupolski starts getting aggressive with executing Katurian, it's immediately after [[spoiler:Katurian is revealed to have never murdered any children]]. Ariel, originally being depicted as ready to kill Katurian at the word, backs down completely at that point.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cyberpunk}}'': Johnny Silverhand to Saburo Arasaka, believe it or not. Both men are veterans who came home from the war with crippling injuries and new ideas about what the world should be like. However, Arasaka doubled down on his Japanese-supremacist nationalism, founded the Arasaka corporation and became a cornerstone of the reactionary establishment, while Johnny ended up mistrusting authority in general, the military-industrial complex in particular and the Arasaka corporation specifically, and took to the chromatic rock scene to incite rebellion and preach anarchism.

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': roommmates and teammates Chaka and Fey are definitely foils for each other. One's black while the other's white, one's hyper and the other's calm, one's human and the other one's mostly [[TheFairFolk Sidhe]]. Also, Solange is a foil to Phase, since Solange is the RichBitch that Phase could have easily been.
* In ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'', Selim Bradley the Homunculus of Pride from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' and Selim Bradley from the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime version]] are polar opposites; the two have bad chemistry together.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': While most likely unintentional [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-049 SCP-049]] and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-590 SCP-590]] could possibly be viewed as foils to each other. Their powers both involve touching someone to cure them, but 049 [[TouchOfDeath kills]] whoever he touches and brings them back as [[DeathOfPersonality mindless]] [[CameBackWrong zombies]] under the belief that he’s curing an unknown pestilence while 590 actually can heal people by touching them [[EmpathicHealer but receives whatever he’s healing]] as a result. 049 is also highly intelligent and initially treated well by the Foundation while 590 [[ManChild has the mind of a toddler]] and is treated extremely harshly by the Foundation.

* Frequently invoked by Presidents in the UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem, who have been known to choose running mates (and future Vice Presidents) who are as different from them as possible--increasing the chances that voters can personally identify with at least one of them. To name a few notable examples:

** ''Foil/Berserk''

* BlackSheep

* EvilTwin

Jewelers often put shiny metal foil underneath a gem to make the stone shine brighter, or display them on soft dark velvet to bring attention to their brightness. A literary foil serves a similar purpose. This character highlights someone else's trait, usually by contrast.

{{Sidekick}}s often serve as foils to the hero by being something the hero himself is not. [[Main/RedOniBlueOni A calm and pragmatic sidekick when the hero is hotheaded]], for example. In the classic good-guy versus bad guy scenario, both the hero and villain can each be considered the other's foil, in that each acts to show how the other behaves in certain situations.

These are far from the only possible pairings, however, as virtually any story with multiple characters can contrast the characters to show greater depths to them, regardless of what side they are on in the good versus evil equation. Good versus evil doesn't have to come into the picture at all.

Interaction between the characters is key for a pair of characters to qualify as an example. A pair of foils need not have an established relationship before the story begins, but they need to come together at some point in the story and let their opposed personalities contrast one another. Otherwise, we'd just have a [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs list of characters who have opposed personality traits.]]

Jewelers often put shiny metal foil underneath a gem to make the stone shine brighter. A literary foil serves a similar purpose. This character highlights someone else's trait, usually by contrast.

** Elderly, politically seasoned, Irish-American Midwesterner Joe Biden chose the middle-aged, up-and-coming, half-black half-Indian Californian Kamala Harris.

** Elderly, politically seasoned, Irish-American, Midwesterner Joe Biden chose the middle-aged, up-and-coming, half-black half-Indian Californian Kamala Harris.

** Elderly, politically seasoned, Irish-American, Midwestern former Vice President Joe Biden chose the middle-aged, half-black half-Indian Californian Senator Kamala Harris.

* EvilDuo

* ThoseTwoBadGuys

** Foil/TheBigBangTheory

** The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]] and the [[OurElvesAreBetter Eldar]] are also this to each other, as the [[ProudScholarRaceGuy wise and cultured]] but [[CantArgueWithElves hugely xenophobic and elitist]] Eldar with their sleek and shiny {{Magitek}} weapons and vehicles contrast sharply with the [[AxCrazy thuggish and universally-violent-to-just-about-everyone]] Orks with their [[ImprovisedWeapon low-tech firearms and wagons cobbled together from scrap]].

** Foil/CodeGeassPaladinsOfVoltron
** Foil/CodePrimeR1Rebellion
** Foil/TheHeartTrilogy
** Foil/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail
** Foil/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton

** Foil/AdventureTime
** Foil/AvatarTheLastAirbender
** Foil/BigHero6TheSeries
** Foil/BoJackHorseman
** Foil/{{Daria}}
** Foil/DCAnimatedUniverse
** Foil/TheDragonPrince
** Foil/Ducktales2017
** Foil/ElenaOfAvalor
** Foil/HeyArnold
** Foil/InfinityTrain
** Foil/TheLoudHouse
** Foil/MiraculousLadybug
** Foil/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic
** Foil/RegularShow
** Foil/SamuraiJack
** Foil/ScoobyDoo
** Foil/SouthPark
** Foil/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil
** Foil/StevenUniverse
** Foil/TotalDrama
** Foil/TheVentureBrothers
** Foil/YoungJustice