Line #89 Main/MirrorSelf


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7	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/TheWotch https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mirror_4.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:350: The guy in the mirror is evil. [[Webcomic/ElGoonishShive The guy not in the mirror]] is [[DudeLooksLikeALady a guy.]][[note]][[GenderBender Well, usually, at least...]][[/note]]]]
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10	->''"You can defeat me, Scott... but can you defeat... yourself?"''
11	-->-- '''Gideon''', ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld''
12
13	When you look into a mirror, you see a person who is in some ways identical to yourself, but who is also in some ways your opposite. If you are right-handed, your mirror will show a left-handed person, and vice versa.
14
15	This "same but opposite" is the cornerstone of a MirrorUniverse. A character's "same but opposite" counterpart is the Mirror Self. However, a MirrorSelf can sometimes also be created by misuse of AppliedPhlebotinum.
16
17	Not to be confused with an AlternateSelf, who is the same person without being an opposite. Might have gone through different experiences and been changed by them, but is not a polar opposite like the Mirror Self. Compare MesACrowd and MirrorMatch.
18
19	Do not confuse with MirrorCharacter, although the tropes may overlap.
20
21	----
22	!!Examples
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
27	* Subverted in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' by the use of The Mirror card which creates an exact copy of Sakura that she can then control. Before her capture The Mirror appeared to be a mischievous opposite version of Sakura but this is likely just the personality of the card itself and not because it's Sakura's reflection.
28	* Played for laughs in an episode of ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''. An evil wizard uses a mirror that brings to life the subject it reflects. In a flash of light, the heroes are face to face with exact mirror duplicates of themselves. They run off screaming because they are cowards where the originals are brave adventurers.
29	* Mystogan from ''Manga/FairyTail'' is Jellal from a BizarroUniverse inhabited by other counterparts of Earth-land's denizens, usually with one or two major differences in personality or appearance. Despite this, however, both Jellals are incredibly similar, at least disregarding the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashing]] Earth-Jellal suffers from that turns him into a DarkMessiah.
30	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'': The episode "The Cave of Mirrors!" has Ash and Co. entering the Reflection Cave, which somehow has a portal to a Mirror World where they meet their counterparts who are their complete opposites: Mirror!Ash is meek and easy scared, Mirror!Serena is arrogant and takes battling seriously; Mirror!Clemont is athletic and uses magic as opposed to science, and Mirror!Bonnie is more ladylike and proud of her brother. [[spoiler:At the end we even get to see the Mirror!Team Rocket trio, who are heroes instead of criminals]].
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' story "The Hundredth Smurf", a Smurf's mirror is [[LightningCanDoAnything struck by lightning]], which brings his reflection to life. The reflection speaks backwards and does everything the original Smurf does, but in reverse (lifting the right arm when the other lifts the left, for instance). After he causes chaos in the village by his opposite nature, the reflection decides to return to the mirror, but he goes through it instead, and comes out a regular Smurf.
35	* John Byrne retold [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]]'s origin in ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' so that she was originally the mirror self of Princess Diana as a teenager, but given a separate personality by the sorceress who owned the mirror. Donna Troy was then captured by Queen Hippolyta's nemesis Dark Angel, who mistook her for Diana, and subjected her to live multiple lives that all ended in tragedy, ultimately leading to the one where Donna becomes Wonder Girl/Troia of the ComicBook/TeenTitans. This origin was retconned out of her history in 2006.
36	* ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' once visited a parallel universe to meet Conar, a [[Series/{{Scrubs}} bastard coated with bastard with bastard filling]] as opposed to his {{jerk with a heart of gold}} nature. No less of a badass and favored of the fates, Conar had already won his throne by that time, and it turned out the arrival of Conan foiled an assassination attempt by some would-be usurpers. After a fight to a standstill (after winning the hearts or more of some of his mirror self's subjects, including the wife and the mistress), Conan left the mirror world, justifying the act as leaving the throne to its rightful owner.
37	* ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeWithFionnaAndCake'': While the other characters are morally much the same as their main-universe versions, Flame Prince is completely good from the start, with none of Flame Princess's evil background.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Fan Works]]
41	* In ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'', Vanity's Mirror Self goes by the name of [[MeaningfulName Century]], but in "Vanity's Double" shows that he isn't afraid of swords or swordfighting, which proves helpful when is cast alongside Vanity in the role of Robin Smurf.
42	* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/15353/inner-glory Inner Glory]]'' has the dark reflections, [[EvilTwin Evil Twins]] of the mane six dwelling in Tartarus:
43	** Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic (magic representing friendship in this setting): Lustrous Revolt is rude, quick to violence, callous, and demanding. ...In other words, she's unfriendly.
44	** Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty: Spectral Slash acts like a friend to the mane six at first, but sells them out to her ''real'' allies almost immediately.
45	** Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter: Pinkamena Diane is depressed, bitter, sullen, and always serious.
46	** Rarity, the Element of Generosity: Temperament totally scams Twilight, and generally acts very greedy.
47	** Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness: Shuddercry is a sadistic {{Jerkass}} who enjoys bullying others.
48	** Applejack, the Element of Honesty: Jackie is a [[TokenGoodTeammate (surprisingly nice)]] pragmatist who has no problem lying to get what she wants.
49	* The ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'' fanfics ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6902577/1/Phases-of-the-Moon Phases of the Moon]]'' and ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8222340/1/Chasing-the-Moon Chasing the Moon]]'' feature [[spoiler: Jungetsu, Kurosaki Yuzu]]'s zanpakuto spirit. She appears as a perfect copy of her wielder, except all of her wielder's features are reversed, including [[LeftHandedMirror handedness]]. This is actually combined with RevealingInjury later on, when [[spoiler: Jungetsu takes Yuzu's place in the world of her bankai to trick and distract Byakuya from finding the real Yuzu.]] [[spoiler: Byakuya]] discovers the fake by [[SpottingTheThread noticing that a scar was on the wrong arm.]]
50	* ''Fanfic/{{Xenophoolia}}'' Part 3 showcases a Swap in which Honeydew is herding with Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, and is deeply smitten with the human stallion they all share, and Lyra Heartstrings is the xenophobic bigot who heckles humans in the marketplace.
51	* A central theme in the first story arc of ''Fanfic/SlayersTrilogy'' where several characters confront their alternate selves from different distorted universes. [[Literature/{{Slayers}} Lina Inverse]] is bedeviled by a crazy, white-haired Lina who failed to prevent the rise of the Mazoku and end of the world, and Zelgadis bumps into another Zelgadis who was never turned into stone and became a reckless, dumb braggart.
52	* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Mordru uses his dark magic to bring back to life to Satan Girl, a copy of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} who is a merciless, murderous psychopath unlike her kind-hearted, compassionate template. Reinforcing her differences, Satan Girl wears black clothes and a cowl.
53	* In ''Fanfic/FrozenWight'', Mary is Elsa's evil ImaginaryFriend who often manifests herself through her bedroom mirror.
54	* {{Discussed}} in ''FanFic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' when Atticus tells Chloe about [[CallBack Tulip's adventure in the Chrome Car]] while regarding his reflection in a river, wondering what his other self is thinking. Chloe muses that her mirror self would most likely be outspoken, confident, positive, and would ensure that everyone understood there was no chance of her ever taking a job involving Pokémon.
55	* Occurred during the Dark Reflection Arc of [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13501363/1/Chaos-Effect Chaos Effect]]. On Earth-2:
56	** Solomon Muto murdered Yugi the moment he claimed the puzzle, claiming it for himself.
57	** The Pharaoh was a weak and cowardly tyrant who is easily bullied into submission by Solomon
58	** Serenity and Joey were taken in by Solomon and made his enforces. Joey was also sexually abusive to his sister while she become an insane killer
59	** On Earth-1 Yuri, Tea's sister, is the only honest cop in Domino. On Earth-2 her counterpart is the corrupt Police Commissioner.
60	** Mai is a straight laced prim assistant.
61	** On Earth-1 Edwin is a good man who does amoral things to help his friends. On Earth-2 his counterpart, Aiden Order, is an evil mad scientist and would-be dictator who finds himself at times compelled to do decent things out of a sense of honor.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Film]]
65	* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' has "Nega-Scott". [[spoiler:Subverted. Other than his [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Dark Link appearance]] he's exactly like Scott and they get along swimmingly.]]
66	-->'''Scott:''' [[spoiler:Oh yeah, he's a great guy. We're gonna have brunch this week. We actually have a lot in common.]]
67	* Played straight in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. Rey is exploring the remains of Death Star II when she experiences a vision and faces an alternate version of herself. This evil Rey wields a red lightsaber and taunts Rey about how [[spoiler: she should embrace that she is Palpatine's granddaughter and shouldn't be afraid of who she is.]]
68	* In ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', the "good" urRu/Mystics and the "evil" Skeksis are split beings, formed from a race (the "urSkeks") not native to the world of the film, and who were formed when the Crystal itself was split. Each Mystic has a Skeksis counterpart, and if one dies, so does the counterpart.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Literature]]
72	* The ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon ''story "Mirror/rorriM Off The Wall" has a MirrorUniverse where everything is in reverse/backwards, including handedness and fingerprints. Everyone in this Universe has a Mirror Self in the mirror Universe. The story centers around a guy who has invented a Bridge for traveling from one universe to the other. Fittingly, his name is Robert Trebor.
73	* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', Blake and Rose Thorburn are reflections of each other born as different genders. Only one can inhabit the real world at a time--the other is trapped in an empty mirror world created by light shining through mirrors in the real world.
74	* One of the earliest ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novels, ''Literature/SpockMustDie'', involves a TeleporterAccident duplicating Spock. As such things go, of course the clone is evil, but Kirk and the others can't tell who is who. They eventually figure out that [[spoiler:since the copy was created by a reflected transporter beam, it is reversed left-to-right, right down to the molecular level. He can only survive on special synthesized food, because his body is made of [[MirrorChemistry backwards amino acids]]]].
75	* In Creator/KarlMarx's "Scorpion and Felix", the author hears a voice saying that it will prove the opposite of what he said. It turns out that this voice is 'himself'. He turns around to check who said it, and sees himself there. His first thought is that he is a 'doppelgänger'.
76	[[/folder]]
77
78	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
79	* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe, there is a MirrorUniverse where every character has a MirrorSelf. Good characters generally have evil Mirror Selves, and vice versa (there are exceptions, like [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine "Smiley" O'Brien]]). Ambiguous characters often have their defining traits reversed.
80	* The Doctor encounters mirror counterparts of the UNIT team in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]".
81	* In ''Series/Charmed1998'', the MirrorWorld has a Mirror Self of every character, just like in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. The characters also have alignment-shifted powers, creating oxymorons like the Demon of Hope.
82	* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has Mirror Sougo Tokiwa. He comes from the [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Mirror World]], is other-handed, and even has a mirrored Zi-O Ridewatch, which he loads into the opposite side of his Ziku Driver, and has mirrored Katakana symbols on his visor.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Music]]
86	* ''Thelonious Monk'' is reflected in mirror images on the album cover of ''Music/BrilliantCorners.''
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
90	* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', one story arc features Calvin making a Mirror Self of himself. The real Calvin doesn't want to do his homework or clean his room, but his Mirror Self is a well adjusted polite little boy who gladly does these things... and proceeds to destroy his life [[GoneHorriblyRight by being way too nice.]]
91	* In ''ComicStrip/TheWackyAdventuresOfPedro'', Pedro's efforts in constructing a mirror portal turn his reflection into an EvilTwin named [[SdrawkcabName Ordep]]. Later, the mirror also turns Ordep's reflection into the goody-goody [[SignificantAnagram Erpod]].
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
95	* Using the right spells in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' allows characters to enter the Plane of Mirrors, a transitive plane that uses a set of mirrors as a PortalNetwork - with the catch that entering it creates an opposite-alignment mirror counterpart (opposite primary hand and all) that will try to kill you and take your place in the "real" world. An adventuring party that pursues a foe onto the plane runs the risk of encountering its very own band of PsychoRangers... as well as one potential ally.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	* Close to the end of ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII''. Each hero was forced to fight a twisted mirror image of him- or herself.
100	* The final boss of the Old Kingdom instance in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' summon mirror versions of the heroes for them to fight.
101	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
102	** In ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', Link has to do battle against a mirror image of himself. He was so popular that "Dark Link" has shown up several times since then.
103	** In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', there is a Zelda imposter who sows confusion and discord between the main Hyrulean forces and Darunia's gorons in order to get them to fight one another (and it's actually Wizzro in disguise). Cia herself is capable of summoning several Dark Links to do her bidding.
104	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', when Cecil [[spoiler:becomes a Paladin]] he must fight a mirror image of himself to atone for his past.
105	* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'', the Prince, at one point, has to jump through a mirror, which sets his reflection free, who is pretty much the game's most memorable villain. It makes a few appearances throughout the game generally being a jerk, until he has a level dedicated entirely to dealing with it.
106	* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage'' features four separate battles with Aqua's Mirror Self created by the MagicMirror of the darkness-corrupted Dwarf Woodlands. Three are mandatory and of steadily increasing difficulty, while the fourth requires beating the game once and performing a sidequest to unlock the BossRush, at the end of which awaits the immensely powerful [[ThatOneBoss Zodiac Aqua]].
107	* Near the end of ''LetsPlay/DeathGate'', your path is blocked by a mirror version of yourself. Since he's just as strong as you and matches your moves exactly, you can't force your way past him. The solution? [[spoiler: Cast the self-immolation spell, but choose runes that make a mirrored pattern. He will cast the same spell, but whereas yours will be wrong and do nothing, his will work - and destroy him]].
108	* In ''VideoGame/RiskOfRain2'', the Artifact of Vengeance causes an Umbra version of every player character to spawn every 10 minutes, and they copy all your items. They also have BossSubtitles which are effectively your own.
109	* The first edition of ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'' has one of the zombies mirroring Lara Croft in one of the lower levels. Everytime she moved, the zombie moved. [[spoiler:The solution was to get the zombie to fall into a hole in the floor, trapping it.]]
110	* This is the foreboding fate to all who become In-births within the world of ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth''. Its NightmareFuel page goes in to full detail explaing this. [[NightmareFuel/UnderNightInBirth See for yourself]].
111	* In ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', Jesse Faden's EvilDoppelganger shows up in a boss battle after entering a mirror dimension through an altered mirror.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Web Comics]]
115	* Played with in ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''. Everybody in the mirror universe has the opposite moral alignment of their normal self -- except for [[ChaoticNeutral Wonderella and Dr. Shark]]. As the mirror-world's Wonderella explains it:
116	-->'''Anti-Wonderella:''' [[http://i.imgur.com/avdZiBV.png The opposite of neutral is still neutral!]]
117	* In ''Webcomic/DarkLegacyComics,'' it turns out that the characters have mirror selves on the other side. The protagonists are alliance characters in World Of Warcraft, so their mirror selves are horde. This make [[http://i.imgur.com/El2CHd0.jpg at least one character frustrated]] and at least [[http://i.imgur.com/RNMo0AI.jpg one (*2) character(s) happy.]]
118	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': The Scratch mechanism in Sburb and Sgrub sessions basically creates these -- your ancestor will take your place in life, down to living in your house, and usually shares a decent amount of your personality as well as your Aspect in the game, but they're not a direct copy.
119	* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has Molly's clone Galatea. Where Molly is a [[CheerfulChild cheerfully childlike]] [[GeniusDitz genius ditz,]] Galatea is equally brilliant, but paranoid, neurotic, and frequently hostile.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Web Original]]
123	* ''MediaNotes/JennyEverywhere'': Jenny Everywhere's EvilCounterpart "Jenny Nowhere". She has all of Jenny's powers and none of the compassion. She is often depicted as being dressed in all black, appearing as a statuesque, white, blond-haired woman to Everywhere's chubby, dark-haired Asian self (although other Nowheres look just like Everywhere with an EvilCostumeSwitch).
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Western Animation]]
127	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', Batman, Robin, and the Flash dealt with mirror versions of themselves created by the inventions of the Mirror Master.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': The season one episode "The Chrome Car" has Tulip enter the titular car, which awakens her mirror self, who hates that she was forced to do everything Tulip did as her reflection, regardless of her own desires. After the events of the episode, Tulip and Mirror Tulip part ways, with the latter going on to become the protagonist of the show's second season (now going simply by MT, to distance herself from the "original").
129	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheNeverendingStoryTheAnimatedAdventuresOfBastianBalthazarBux'' episode "Mirror, Mirror", Xayide creates a magical mirror that can produce clones of the opposite morality to the person it reflects. She creates an evil Bastian with it... and then it ends up creating a good Xayide!
130	[[/folder]]
131

Context Main / MirrorSelf