Corrupted Character Copies in Anime and Manga.
The following have their own pages:
- Berserk:
- Griffith is this for Lady Oscar. Both characters are achingly beautiful long-haired noblemen (secretly noblewoman in Oscar’s case) who wield an elegant sword and manage to get into the aristocracy of their worlds and charm those around them. However while Oscar is a genuinely good person who is disgusted by the corruption of those in power and joins the La Résistance, Griffith is a despicable murdering, rapey Manipulative Bastard whose ambition to rule supreme leads to him sacrificing his loyal allies. While Oscar would never hurt her love interests, Griffith brutally rapes Casca and forces Guts to watch while he does it. Griffith acts as a cruel deconstruction of the Shōjo archetype, having immense beauty, grace and mannerisms of any other bishie Shōjo hero on the surface while being truly hideous and vile underneath.
- Isidro is a subversive breakdown of Stock Shōnen Hero template overlapping with Wrong Genre Savvy. He’s a Kid Hero reminiscent of Luffy, Naruto, etc. who dreams of being the greatest warrior like his idol Guts and thinks like any other brash Shōnen kid he can just become a badass in no time at all through Guts’s training. Guts has to painfully explain to Isidro during training that it took many grueling years of continuous warfare (not to mention severe trauma) to shape him into the killing machine he is now, and the best Isidro can hope for as he is now is to duck and dodge and fight pragmatically. Also, unlike most Shōnen heroes, he’s a Dirty Kid.
- The Lagoon Delivery Company from Black Lagoon are dead ringers for the Bebop Crew, being a four-man crew with very similar roles and having their own their personal ship and collecting bounties in a Crapsack World. Revy is a clear pastiche of Spike Spiegel being the main gunfighter and also a chain-smoker, but while Spike is ultimately an Unscrupulous Hero, Revy is unambiguously a Villain Protagonist and a violent, psychopathic Straw Nihilist who very frequently loses her cool in contrast to Spike always having a cool laid-back demeanor. While Spike's backstory and attitude aren't all sunshine and rainbows, Revy has an even worse backstory (living in a trashy abusive household, being raped by a cop, living as a Street Urchin) and is an extremely fucked-up and ultimately emotionally vulnerable woman underneath caustic attitude. Dutch is very much a dead ringer of Jet, being a bald big guy leader with similar backgrounds, but their motives contrast, with Jet being a former cop who left the police force in pursuit of (in his own way) law and justice, while Dutch was a former US Marine during the Vietnam War who went AWOL to become a mercenary (although it's possible he may have lied about his tour of duty too, which only adds to Dutch being a corrupted copy of Jet).
- In Bungo Stray Dogs, many of the characters are named after famous authors, with their abilities and some of their personality traits referencing at least one of their namesakes' most well-known works. In the case of Lucy Maud Montgomery, her design and backstory are very clearly inspired by Anne Shirley, L. M. Montgomery's most famous character; they both have red hair worn in braids, were raised in an orphanage, and they have very similar hobbies of "chatting", "daydreaming" and "romantic things". However, while Anne remained positive and friendly despite her difficult experiences as an orphan and grew up to be well-adjusted, Lucy's experiences traumatized her and she's largely motivated by her hatred of anyone who has a better life than her, making her rather creepy at times. This is eventually subverted after she befriends Atsushi and pulls a Heel–Face Turn.
- Cheat Slayer has a group of nine characters known as "Rebels Against God", all of whom are expies of various protagonists from other well-known isekai works re-imagined in a villainous role à la "The Seven" from The Boys. Unfortunately, the fact that they're such obvious expies who are portrayed as worse people than the original characters is part of the reason the manga was cancelled after one chapter.
- Honda Yuya, also known as "Looper", is one for Subaru Natsuki from Tappei Nagatsuki's novel series, Re:Zero.
- Louis Crawford, also known as "God's Mistake", is one to Shin Wolford from Tsuyoshi Yoshioka's novel series, Wise Man's Grandchild. Readers have also compared him to Keyaru (being a brutal rapist but without the sympathetic quality) and Rudeus Greyrat (also a rapist, but a hopeless, entitled, shut-in NEET prior to his reincarnation whose knowledge of how to treat women are from watching anime and porn).
- Flare, also known as "The Fallen Goddess", is one to Aqua from Jitakukeibihei's novel series, Konosuba.
- Imerda Piñata, also known as "The Daughter Villainess", is one to Catarina Claes from Satoru Yamaguchi's novel series, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
- Kiruto, also known as "The Dual Wielding Black Knight", is one to Kirito (IRL Kazuto Kirigaya) from Reki Kawahara's novel series Sword Art Online. Fittingly, he's the group's de-facto leader for being the expy of a popular Trope Codifier for the Stock Light-Novel Hero.
- Anastasia Melokva, also known as "The Young Demon", is one to Tanya von Degurechaff from Carlo Zen's novel series, The Saga of Tanya the Evil.
- Roro Sendiger, also known as "The Named Slime", is one to Rimuru Tempest from Fuse's novel series, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
- Yukiko Shijo, also known as "Otherworld Restaurant", is one to Aletta from Junpei Inuzuka's novel series, Restaurant to Another World.
- Don Will Dead, also known as "The Undead King", is one to Ainz Ooal Gown from Kugane Maruyama's novel series, Overlord (2012). Also, the shape of his skull is that of an animal rather than a human, which brings some similarities to Elias Ainsworth of The Ancient Magus' Bride.
- Dragon Ball: Early in the series the cast was supposed to be parodies of the protagonists of Journey to the West, though after the story shifted away from Journey to the West and into Fantasy Kitchen Sink this is got averted altogether.
- Bulma notably is a Gender Flipped expy of Tang Seng, as both are non-action prodigies of great inheritance who are on a quest to find some great mystical MacGuffins and need to be protected and saved constantly by their inhuman allies. Though while Tang Seng befitting a monk was a noble Nice Guy, Bulma is a rude Spoiled Brat City Mouse who unlike the monk of the novel is on her quest for entirely self-serving reasons.
- Both the Ginyu Force in Dragon Ball Z and to lesser extent the Pride Troopers of Dragon Ball Super are antiheroic subversions of Super Sentai, having all the garish outfits and Ass Kicking Pose Team Shot moments, but are antagonistic and douchey as all hell (mainly only in Jiren’s case for the Pride Troopers).
- Bardock from Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku started off as a darker take on Jor-El of Superman fame, with both being the father of the main character, who sent their son to Earth before dying during the destruction of their home planet. But while Jor-El is mostly depicted as a kindly scientist who sent Kal-El to save him from Krypton's destruction, Bardock's early characterization was that of a violent war criminal who didn't care one bit about Goku until it was too late. Localizations and later adaptations have toned down Bardock's status by depicting him in a more sympathetic light, ironically making him closer to Jor-El in the process.
- Zamasu is one for Char Aznable, more specifically his iteration in Char's Counterattack. Char's growing cynicism over humanity's capacity for conflict ultimately compelled him to attempt to drop an asteroid into Earth to force mankind to migrate into space so they can evolve into Newtypes, while Char is at his core is hypocritical and manipulative, his intentions remain questionable at best as this was his only way of preventing more conflicts from happening. Zamasu begins to question why mortals have the capacity for evil and why they have squandered the life and wisdom given to them by the gods, and even questioned the gods' refusal to be involved with the affairs of the mortal realm. Zamasu's own growing cynicism over mortals ultimately led to him enacting his Zero Mortals Plan, to the point of attempting genocide and deicide on a multiversal scale. Then, there's Zamasu's personal grudge towards Goku, his defeat at the hands of the Saiyan would ultimately be the final push to his descent into madness. Of all the other Char Clones, Zamasu's endgame is evocative that of Rau Le Creuset.
- On the topic of Akira Toriyama, Dr. Slump features Sappaman/Sourman, a merciless parody of Superman. Like Supes, he’s an alien from another world with a civilian identity and changes into superhero using a phone booth; but where Superman is heroic and powerful, Sourman is a pathetic scumbag and Boisterous Weakling.
- The works of Hiro Mashima (Rave Master, Fairy Tail, EDENS ZERO, etc.) contain a fair share of Reused Character Designs and Expies of his own characters, but some come with a darker twist, something more prevalent in EDENS ZERO:
- Sieghart (Rave Master) has expies in three separate series: all have blue hair and a tattoo around their right eye, all are The Archmage with power tied to celestial bodies, and all start out in an antagonistic relationship with the heroes. Sieg himself is an Anti-Villain who believes killing Elie, an Apocalypse Maiden, to be necessary to saving the world, an otherwise noble goal; when more peaceful solutions prove to be just as effective, he promptly performs a Heel–Face Turn that's accepted with only a short amount of fuss from the heroes. From there, things get more complicated:
- Jellal (Fairy Tail) is introduced as a straight-up villain, but only because he's been Brainwashed into becoming a Dark Messiah who betrayed his friend Erza and manipulated their other friends, one of whom dies Taking the Bullet for her. Like Sieg, he performs a Heel–Face Turn once he returns to his old self, but unlike Sieg, Jellal remains actively tormented by his actions for many years, and it takes a great deal of time and effort for his friends and their associates to fully accept him as an ally.
- Justice (EDENS ZERO) is aligned with the neutral Interstellar Union Army rather than any villainous group like Sieg and Jellal do, but he straddles the line between Inspector Javert and Knight Templar, which keeps him from starting as a truly heroic figure like they become. He's also more vindictive than either Sieg or Jellal, his antagonism with Elsie from a deeply personal but not unfounded grudge against her, which he irrationally extends to anyone who considers her to be a friend.
- Genesis (Mashima HERO'S), a Deceptive Disciple to Mashymre the Creator, is a straight-up Hate Sink who lacks any redeeming or humanizing traits like the previous three characters. In fact, his appearance itself is a product of his Imagination-Based Superpower that just happens to resemble the other characters recognized by the heroes.
- Demon King Ziggy from EDENS ZERO is introduced as a missing parental figure to The Hero, Shiki, not unlike Haru's father Gale in Rave Master and Natsu's dragon father Igneel in Fairy Tail: all have a Mysterious Past central to the plot, all had good reasons for vanishing from their kids' lives (in Ziggy's case, it's because he's dead), all are immensely powerful, and all have some personal connection to one of their respective stories' main villains. The big difference with Ziggy is that he becomes the main villain after coming Back from the Dead.
- Elsie Crimson (EDENS ZERO) is an Expy of Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail). Aside from their near-identical apperance (Erza has an artificial eye and Elsie an eyepatch) and similar names (scarlet and crimson both shades of red), both are fairly similar in terms of personality and relationship to the heroes, and both are firmly on the heroes' side, but Elsie is a Lovable Rogue with a real criminal record, setting her apart from a Knight in Shining Armor like Erza. Her conflict with Justice is also driven by Grey-and-Gray Morality, with both sides at each other's throats for valid reasons (Elsie standing by a choice that cost untold lives, even though that was never her intent, and Justice taking his justifiable anger to greater extremes than necessary), rather than something as black-and-white as Jellal being Brainwashed and Crazy and betraying Erza.
- God Acnoella (EDENS ZERO) is an Expy of Erza's mother Irene Bellersion (Fairy Tail) who lacks all the redeeming character traits of her Fairy Tail character basis. Whereas Irene was a formerly benevolent queen who genuinely loved Erza until she became a Weredragon against her will and was Driven to Madness, Acnoella was an evil queen who never cared for Elsie to begin with, and wholly embraces her rebirth as a machine. Irene also redeems herself by choosing to die over harming Erza any further, while Acnoella dies by Elsie's hand as shamelessly evil as she ever was.
- Sieghart (Rave Master) has expies in three separate series: all have blue hair and a tattoo around their right eye, all are The Archmage with power tied to celestial bodies, and all start out in an antagonistic relationship with the heroes. Sieg himself is an Anti-Villain who believes killing Elie, an Apocalypse Maiden, to be necessary to saving the world, an otherwise noble goal; when more peaceful solutions prove to be just as effective, he promptly performs a Heel–Face Turn that's accepted with only a short amount of fuss from the heroes. From there, things get more complicated:
- Go, Go, Loser Ranger! has the Dragon Keepers as corrupted copies of Super Sentai teams in general, either playing up the worst traits or being the opposite of each color.
- While Red remains in the leader position, Red Keeper's heroism is fickle at best and is largely an outlet for his Blood Knight tendencies.
- Blue Keeper maintains the public appearance of a Red Oni, Blue Oni dynamic with Red Keeper in public as he remains cool and quiet but is actually an ill-tempered Sir Swears-a-Lot.
- Green Keeper comes off as the boisterous, silly member of the group during the Sunday battles but is a serious workaholic when out doing his real job.
- Yellow Keeper does not fill the role of The Big Guy, instead being the brains of the group.
- Pink Keeper plays up the role of being The Heart of the team for the camera but in actuality is aloof and only has eyes for her brother.
- Alucard from Hellsing has a number of similarities to Vash the Stampede, being a superpowered inhuman being who wears a red Badass Longcoat, has similarly-designed glasses and a Hand Cannon, and his source material was even serialized on the same magazine, but Vash is an idealistic All-Loving Hero Actual Pacifist (and also rather goofy) whereas Alucard is a cynical and sadistic '90s Anti-Hero (with all the Rated M for Manly grittiness that comes with it) bordering on Villain Protagonist who kills his enemies in gruesome ways.
- Gon Freecss of Hunter × Hunter bears more than a passing resemblance to many different battle shonen protagonists, but as a character concieved in 1998, his most likely frame of reference would be none other than Kid Goku himself, shown by his dark, spiky hair, outdoorsy nature, lacking book smarts, and most damningly, fighting techniques based off of Rock Paper Scissors. While both are terrifying if enraged, very protective of their friends, and never intended to be traditional heroes, the big difference between Gon and Goku is that, even at his worst, Goku has only ever lost his senses thanks to turning into a giant ape or let his love of battle get the best of him. Gon is rather nice for most of the series, but even so, plenty of characters take note of his bizarre sense of right and wrong, and he fully dips into this trope during the Chimera Ant arc, where he spends much of his time seething with rage and hatred over Neferpitou turning his mentor Kite into a puppet. Even worse, he mistakenly believes he can get Kite to snap out of it, not knowing that Pitou has killed him for good. At the climax of the arc, he harshly insults his best friend, threatens the life of an innocent human girl just because she was important to Pitou, and gives up the rest of his lifespan for a long-haired Super Form that's a perverse mirror of Goku's Super Saiyan transformation after finding out the Awful Truth, taking Goku's determined nature, lack of traditional morality, and fierce loyalty to places far darker than anything his inspiration did.
- Gojo Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen shares multiple similarities with Killua from Hunter × Hunter given their white hair, dressing in dark colors, having playful and childish personalities while being exceptionally powerful. However, while Killua is still a kid, is able to express empathy and self-reflection, and can befriend others, Gojo is an emotionally stunted man who thinks highly of himself for his raw power and keeps himself at a distance from his peers and coworkers, leading him to be viewed with disdain and annoyance.
- Rune from Karakuridouji Ultimo initially seems like the main character's shorter and somewhat rich Muggle Best Friend a la Manta/Morty from Hiroyuki Takei's previous work, but he eventually regains memories of his past life as a noble who fell in love with the bandit Yamato and becomes Jealousy's master and a Depraved Homosexual towards Yamato, who is now in love with Sayama.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- Shinji Ikari is a dark response to the question "How fucked up would your average Kid Hero Falling into the Cockpit be after his dad leaves him to go build a giant robot?" Rather than being a brave, likable hero, he's a self-hating depressed wreck with abandonment issues. Shinji's plotline resembles several famous mecha pilots like Gundam's Amuro Ray or Mazinger Z's Kouji Kabuto, but unlike them he doesn't have any of the emotional support needed to fight for anyone else. His first fight is not a miraculous victory by an Instant Expert, but a Curb-Stomp Battle against a nearly invincible monster that would have killed him in seconds. His Training from Hell crash course doesn't do him any good when the next Angel attacks, as he doesn't have the mindset to handle it. And no, living with a couple of beautiful women doesn't help his mental issues either as they're both emotionally abusive and toxic.
- Misato Katsuragi was based on Usagi Tsukino of Sailor Moon fame according to Word of God, and they're both even voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi. Unlike Usagi, Misato's goofy Cool Big Sis act is just that, an act, and she's secretly as much of an emotionally unstable Broken Bird as most of the main cast. Instead of fighting monsters for a sense of justice, she fights out of hatred for the Angels and would gladly sacrifice any of the children to ensure the Angels all die, besides maybe Shinji. She's aware of how fucked up that is and hates herself for it.
- If Shinji Ikari is the Amuro Ray, then Asuka Langley Souryuu would be the Char Aznable (and she clearly takes cues from him), but whereas Char remained a consistent and tangible threat to the heroes even in spite of the growing Newtype power gap versus Amuro, Asuka is ultimately shown to be a jobber when compared to Shinji and even Rei. She's also shown to be a deeply fucked-up and emotionally-vulnerable girl beneath all her bravado and caustic attitude. Her final breakdown in the battle against Armisael leads to her being unable to activate Eva-02 anymore, and when she does recover in End to fight the MP EVAs, she's eventually killed and eviscerated by them, and when she recovers again by willing herself back to life, she is left bedridden on the outside and dead on the inside, reduced to a catatonic, blank slate. Asuka acts as a cruel deconstruction of Char, having the Ace Pilot status but showing her rival dynamic to be toxic and debilitating for her, and also showing her to ultimately come up short.
- NERV and its predecessor organization GEHIRN are copies of the various science patrol or earth defense force organizations in the Ultra Series. It's more explicit in Rebuild—Gendo's personal VTOL is modeled on the MAT planes from Ultraman Ace—but the organization in the original series designed artificial equivalents to the Ultramen. Unlike the SSSP or its successors, NERV undermines all other EDF equivalents, regularly murders any spies and would go to any lengths to destroy the Angels. Gendo is not the Reasonable Authority Figure most leaders in Ultraman are and instead is something as vile as any of the Angels. SEELE, NERV's backer organization, are the Greater-Scope Villain of the series as they awoke the First Angel as part of a doomsday cult plan to end the world.
- One Piece:
- Peterman from the Sabaody Archipelago Arc is a riff on Robin Hood. Instead of robbing from the rich and giving to poor like Robin does, Peterman steals the innocent themselves to be slaves for the rich.
- Donquixote Doflamingo is a corrupted take off of Don Quixote (along with virtually the same name). Both are daring noblemen who recruit many others to their cause with their magnetic charisma. But whereas Don Quixote was a optimistic and heroic dreamer, Doflamingo is a Sadistic Hope Crusher who spites and mocks the dreams of others.
- The Vinsmoke Family are a big send up to Super Sentai teams having the red, blue, green, pink and black colour scheme and use special technology in combat. Though while Sentai teams are heroic, the Vinsmoke family are instead sadistic sociopathic soldiers who are A Nazi by Any Other Name and horrifically abuse innocent commoners, especially women (when not trying to make sex slaves out of them). However, it's important to note this only really applies to Judge, Ichiji, Niji and Yonji, as Reiju along with Sanji are more traditionally heroic in Sentai fashion.
- Pudding is a take-off of Pai Ayanokoji from 3×3 Eyes, being a cute triclops girl with a Split Personality. Though while Pai Ayanokoji even in her alternate persona is calm and composed, Pudding is a Ax-Crazy Broken Bird Anti-Villain whose appearance has made her come to believe she's a monster.
- From the same arc, there’s Charlotte Katakuri, who is an expy of Joseph Joestar, being a scarf-wearing musclebound Genius Bruiser and Combat Pragmatist who has many "Your Next Line is..." moments and even Tomokazu Sugita as his seiyuu; but unlike Joseph, Katakuri is, for the most part, a ruthless villain whose only allegiance is to his island-conquering family and will stop at nothing to eliminate their enemies, though he does come to respect Luffy in his own way. Ironically, Joseph would fit right into the world of One Piece with his lazy goofball personality, but Katakuri is so dead serious that he sticks out like a sore thumb.
- Uta from One Piece Film: Red is on the surface a loving homage to Hatsune Miku and the Idol Singer genre in general, but she’s actually a Light Is Not Good Broken Bird trying to put everyone in a Lotus-Eater Machine. Ironically, this makes her rather similar to a certain portrayal of Miku.
- Uta's ability to put others to sleep with her signing is also extremely similar to Jigglypuff of Pokémon fame; but unlike Jigglypuff who doesn't mean any harm, Uta is willing to put the whole world to sleep.
- Paranoia Agent: Tsukiko Sagi's design and personality are clearly ripped straight from Ayumu Kasuga but whereas Ayumu's cuckoolander attitude is played for humor, Tsukiko's is Played for Drama and even horror.
- Promare: Kray Foresight can be seen as the All Might of his universe as he's portrayed as a tall, muscular blond man with a warm smile who works as a heroic figure for the public. He even serves as an idol for the main protagonist. But while All Might fights villains and criminals to keep the world safe, Kray's methods for a better world involve imprisoning a race of Burnin people and exploiting their life energy to power a secret ship that would only save a select few people and not everyone. And while All Might genuinely loves his pupil and helps with his development as a hero, Kray reveals that he hates Galo with a passion and purposefully sent him on dangerous missions in the hopes of killing him.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Appearance wise, and post-reveal, paints Kyubey as this to Luna and Artemis of Sailor Moon, and most other cute Mentor Mascots of other magical girl anime. Like the two, he's an alien who bestowed a group of girls magical powers. However, Luna and Artemis resembled Earth cats and still behaved as so despite being capable of speech, Kyubey resembles a more fantastical creature that is likely not his true form. Luna and Artemis don't tell the girls everything about their powers because they themselves aren't fully sure, whereas Kyubey omits telling the girls anything more than he needs to in order to manipulate them. Finally, for all their bickering and snide comments, the two cats still care for the Sailor Guardians, whereas Kyubey has no attachments to the girls and only uses them to further his plans, which involves the girls turning into the terrifying Witches.
- Space☆Dandy: In the episode "Even Vacuum Cleaners Fall in Love, Baby", QT, while trying to find a coffee maker he's fallen for in a junkyard, meets a robotic toaster who, aside from the voice, is a dead ringer for The Brave Little Toaster, who shows him where the abandoned robots have gathered. Mirroring the movie's Surprisingly Creepy Moments, this Toaster turns out to be a major Bitch in Sheep's Clothing with none of the Brave Little Toaster's love for humanity.
- Sword Art Online, although not villainous, Alice Synthesis Thirty has the same traits as Saber, as both of them are stoic knights who were introduced as being completely cold and aloof to the main character before defrosting thanks to them, were honor-driven to the extent that it served as their detriment, and have artificial origins. However, while Saber Arturia is completely loyal to the master following the rules of the Grail War, were duty-bound, does not defy her true nature as a Servant, and has the final goal of returning to her era so she can rest in peace, Alice has moments of defiance, possessiveness (especially towards Kirito), openly defy her nature as an artificial intelligence, though with support from her makers, and has the final goal of coexisting with humankind in the present day.
- 20th Century Boys: The Global Defense Force are a malevolent take on the Science Patrol from Ultraman. Sporting near-identical uniforms and weapons, they've supposedly been tasked by the President of the World to defend the Earth from alien invaders. Unlike the SSSP, who, alongside Ultraman, valiantly protected Earth from kaiju and alien invaders, the GDF serves as a Gestapo-esque task force designated to kill those who rebel against the Friend's regime (already built on countless crimes and deaths), under the guise that these human freedom fighters are the same alien invaders that caused the very apocalypse that the Friend launched in 2015. The GDF serves as a justified example of this trope in that their creator, the Friend, was a child in 1960s Japan, making them yet another twisted homage to the stuff he liked at that age.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!:
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski could be seen as a Darker and Edgier take of Marika "Jasmine" Reimon, considering she is voiced by the same actress who portrays Jasmine. Aki and Jasmine were outcasts since childhood because of their Psychic Powers. Jasmine was recruited by Doggie Kruger into the eponymous team as its Yellow Ranger, while Aki was brought in by Divine into the Arcadia Movement, manipulating her worst impulses for his own exploits, setting her down a dark path until she met Yusei. Jasmine at her best is a Cloud Cuckoolander who has a penchant of nicknaming friend or foe alike for her own amusement. While Aki eventually managed to adjust herself to society after meeting Yusei, to the point they become close with one another, and joins with the rest of the team's adventures in the WRGP and their battles against Yliaster.
- Rei Shingetsu/Ray Shadows from Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL follows the archetype set by Bakura, Johan/Jesse, and Bruno, as a new friend to the protagonist introduced a significant way into the series, shares enough similarities to the main protagonist to become fast friends, and is actually evil. The difference is that Shingetsu, a.k.a. Vector, is legitimately evil of his own free will, while Bakura and Johan were Brainwashed and Crazy and Bruno was pretty helpful in spite of being "evil".
- One shot antagonist Grubb from Zatch Bell! bears more than a passing resemblance to the eponymous character from Dexter's Laboratory: a red-headed, bespectacled, labcoat-wearing kid genius associated with robots (his mamodo partner is a small transformable robot called Coral Q). Personality-wise, though, he mirrors Kiyomaru at the beginning of the series: a rude, condescending and Insufferable Genius with no friends and no intention of making any for that matter.
