Line #17 Literature/Doppelganger


1	[[quoteright:149:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch-sm_7981.jpg]]
2
3	''"When a witch is born, a doppelganger is created. For the witch to master her powers, the twin must be killed. But what happens when the doppelganger survives?"''
4
5	Mirage is a Hunter, a trained spy and assassin, and she is Very Good at what she does. Miryo is a sorceress--or about to be one, as soon as she passes her initiation test. But when she is finally given magical power, she can't control it. Her other half, Mirage, is still out there somewhere, a part of her that can't be focused on the magic. In order to ensure control of her powers, Miryo must track the Hunter down and kill her. But how can you kill someone who is one half of yourself?
6
7	The two books in this duology by Marie Brennan were originally titled ''Doppelganger'' and ''Warrior and Witch''. They've since been retitled as simply ''Warrior'' and ''Witch'', but are still referred to as "the Doppelganger series".
8	----
9	!!This series contains examples of:
10
11	* ActionGirl: Mirage, and later [[spoiler: Mirei]].
12	* AlliterativeTitle: '''''W'''''''[=arrior=]'' [=and=] '''''W'''''''[=itch=]''.
13	* AntiHero: [[spoiler:Satomi]] in ''Witch''. She lies, cheats, generally manipulates the hell out of people, and trusts no one with the whole truth of anything, yet her motivations are ultimately for the good. To her, the ends justify the means.
14	* BigGood: [[spoiler: Satomi]] in ''Witch''...[[AntiHero for some value of "good"]].
15	* BloodOath: Mirage and Eclipse take one at the beginning of ''Warrior''. At the beginning of ''Witch'', [[spoiler:Eclipse is forced to take another one to kill Mirei. He'd never actually do it, of course, and Mirei spends a large portion of the rest of the book trying to figure out how to get him out of it before he dies himself.]]
16	* CacophonyCoverUp: At the end of the first book, [[spoiler: Mirei]] uses the cover of applause to knock out a couple guards on her way to confront [[spoiler: the Primes]].
17	* CantLiveWithoutYou: Inverted. [[spoiler:Unless one kills the other, neither a witch nor her doppelganger can die if the other is still alive.]]
18	* DivineIntervention: Several times. Afterward, the characters tend to cogitate on the nature of the Goddess and why it took her so long, anyway.
19	* ElementalPowers: Magic is based on the four elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire. There is a fifth element, Void, which is important in other aspects of religion and society but has no magic associated with it. [[spoiler:Or so they think.]]
20	* EvilRedHead: Shimi, [[spoiler:Arinei]]
21	* ExecutiveMeddling: The replacement of the original titles with the much less appropriate new titles.
22	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Arinei]], but you saw it coming a mile away.
23	* FantasticHonorifics: Sixteen of them, based on [[FantasticRankSystem rank]].
24	* FieryRedhead: Mirage, and to a lesser extent [[spoiler: Mirei]].
25	* GoodIsNotNice: [[spoiler:Satomi]] after her HeelFaceTurn. Probably Mirage too--she's definitely not someone you'd want to run into in a dark alley.
26	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Satomi after she learned the truth about Doppelgangers. Also Kekkai after Satomi tells her that the Primes had her predecessor killed.]]
27	* HeroicBSOD: Miryo, after [[spoiler:killing the Cousins to escape the house where she was being imprisoned]]. Also [[spoiler:Mirei]] temporarily, when Satomi tells her that [[spoiler:Eikyo has supposedly become a Cousin]]. Even later, Indera has one after she [[spoiler:kills Sharyo]].
28	* HeroicSacrifice:
29	** Ashin is prepared to do this when she and [[spoiler:Mirei]] go to rescue Kekkai. [[spoiler:She does.]]
30	** Later, [[spoiler: Mirei and Eclipse both try to do this to save the other from dying. Fortunately, the Goddess takes pity on them.]]
31	* HeroWorshipper: Deconstructed/subverted/''something'' with Indera, who first wants to be just like Mirage and thinks she can do no wrong. But after she finds out about [[spoiler:Mirei being a witch and the fact that Mirage as such no longer exists]], she feels that Mirage has betrayed her and refuses to stay in her presence. This causes more than a few problems.
32	* JobTitle:
33	** ''Doppelganger''
34	** ''Warrior''
35	** ''Witch''
36	* LikeBrotherAndSister: It is stated that Mirage and Eclipse feel this way about each other. At the end of ''Witch'', however, it is implied that [[spoiler:Mirei and Eclipse]] aren't inhibited by such things.
37	* MagicMusic: all spells are sung, and all witches get extensive voice training.
38	* TheMole: [[spoiler:Tajio]] in ''Witch''.
39	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Satomi in ''Warrior'', when she realizes what [[spoiler:Mirei's]] very existence means about her past actions. In ''Witch'', Indera after [[spoiler:being brainwashed into killing Sharyo]].
40	* OneWordTitle: As {{Job Title}}s
41	** ''Doppelganger''
42	** ''Warrior''
43	** ''Witch''
44	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname/ RedBaron: Hunters. They have names like Mirage, Eclipse, Jaguar, Avalanche, Ice, and Talon. They discontinue use of their birth names upon graduating from Hunter school and go exclusively by their Hunter names. Interestingly, Mirage and Eclipse, having known each other for as long as they have, still call each other by their old names.
45	* PeopleOfHairColor: All the witches have red hair. Someone with red hair who is not a witch or a Cousin is considered very unusual.
46	* PowerOfTheVoid: [[spoiler:Mirei discovers that the Void does have magic, which can only be accessed by witches who have recombined with their Doppelgangers. This makes her extra special since she's the only one in the story who can use it]].
47	* RedheadedStepchild: Mirage was ostracized and bullied at Silverfire because of her red hair. Later, so was Indera, while Amas dyes her hair to avoid this.
48	* RedOniBlueOni: Arguably, Mirage and Eclipse, or even Mirage and Miryo (because everyone's blue compared to Mirage). Later, and less ambiguously, [[spoiler:Mirei]] is red to Satomi's blue.
49	* SplitAtBirth: Miryo and Mirage, and every other witch child and her doppelganger.
50	* TakeMeInstead: [[spoiler:Mirei tries to do this to keep Eclipse's falsely sworn oath from killing him. In a miracle of DivineIntervention, this ends up saving them both.]]
51	* WalkingSpoiler: There is a ''reason'' [[spoiler:Mirei's name]] is spoiler-tagged throughout this entry. It's pretty easy to infer [[spoiler:the main resolution of the first book's plot]] just from seeing it. This isn't helped by the fact that it's just thrown around casually by the second book's jacket summary.

Context Literature / Doppelganger