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    Dragon Ball 
The franchise has a ton of these:
  • Both Piccolos were the evil counterpart of Kami in Dragon Ball, being the inner evil of the Nameless Namekian he had to discard in order to being able to become Kami. That is, before Piccolo Jr. makes his Heel–Face Turn and they remerge in the Android Saga of Dragon Ball Z.
  • Garlic and Garlic Jr. from Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone are the evil counterparts to both Kami and Piccolo (eviler in Piccolo's case). Garlic Senior wanted to be Guardian of Earth and was outraged that Kami was chosen, so unleashed The Legions of Hell (similar to Piccolo) before being stopped, which is ironic since Kami had evil inside him as well, so Garlic shows how much the Earth might've gone to hell if Kami didn’t separate Piccolo from his body. Garlic Jr. echoes Piccolo Jr. as they both want revenge for their respective fathers, both kidnap Gohan (though Piccolo did it for relatively good reasons) and both Piccolo and Garlic Jr. have "giant forms" which proved to be equal when Garlic Jr. returned in Filler.
  • Launch has a bad counterpart through her Split Personality which she turns into whenever she sneezes. In her dark haired form Launch is kind, generous and doting, while in her blonde form Launch is greedy, mean-spirited and trigger-happy. Her bad side starts off as an evil comic foil to the generally decent Dragon Ball gang, though she helps out occasionally, and during the Tien saga she becomes a Jerk with a Heart of Gold helping out Goku and even becomes depressed over Krillin's death.
  • It can be said Dr. Gero is the evil counterpart of Dr. Briefs, as the latter is a Science Hero whose inventions are for the improvement of mankind and to help the Z-Fighters, while the former is a blatant Mad Scientist whose inventions cause mass destruction and potential near genocide on Earth. There's also the fact Dr. Briefs is a loving father and grandfather, while Gero couldn't save his son, and abducted 17 and 18 and turned them into androids.
    • Technically the non-canon Dr. Flappe from the original anime is a closer counterpart to Gero, having created some of the first androids for the Red Ribbon Army alongside Gero. Both of them created Gentle Giants like 8# and 16#, but Flappe is kindhearted while Gero is psychotic.
  • The Turtle Hermit Master Roshi and the Crane Hermit Master Shen. Both trained under the same master, fought Demon King Piccolo, are particularly thorough about who train under them, and are legends in the martial arts world. However, Shen became corrupted by King Piccolo and used martial arts for greed and petty reasons, while Roshi uses martial arts to enhance one's life and protect others. Shen's pettiness and greed eventually cost him his students, while Roshi's students continued to wear his colors long after they had surpassed him.
  • Goku has a lot of these, often overlapping with "Not So Different" Remark and Shadow Archetype:
    • King Piccolo and his son Piccolo Jr. Both are aliens from worlds that were in distress (one being outright destroyed), were raised in isolation away from the civilized world, lost their memories of their old worlds, and had come to see the blue planet as their one true home. Their arrival on Earth also greatly impacted the planet changing it forever. The difference between them is that whereas living on Earth gave Goku the best qualities of humanity, it gave the Nameless Namekian who later split into Kami and Piccolo the worst qualities.
    • His older brother, Raditz. They both love to fight and were born on the low end of the power scale of Saiyan society. Goku is brave (not afraid of death) and chose to grow stronger instead of choosing to stay as a "low class". Raditz is a coward who begged for his life when he was about to be killed and remained weak because he hid behind people much stronger than him instead of trying to improve his own skill.
    • Turles from the movie titled The Tree of Might. His entire character was based on the idea of what kind of person Goku would have grown up to become if he had never cracked his skull and gotten amnesia note .
    • Vegeta, initially. They are both Saiyans who love to fight and challenge themselves. The difference is that Goku values life and fights to protect those he loves, while Vegeta couldn't have cared less about anyone but himself. Vegeta eventually learns to value others and to accept and return love.
    • Frieza is one to him as well. Both are extremely powerful fighters, they both are also arrogant when fighting their opponents, they both come from powerful yet menacing races, they both also managed to achieve new god-like forms, and both are hailed as being some of the most powerful mortals of Universe 7. But while Goku was born weak and only trained to get stronger over the years, Frieza was born powerful and never trained a day in his life, until he learned that Goku managed to defeat Majin Buu and decided to train to become stronger. More importantly though, Goku is humble outside of battle and values friends and family, and managed to save the world several times over. Frieza, however, is a narcissistic tyrant who keeps his organization together through fear and holds his own men in very low regard, and his empire is responsible for mass genocide and planetary destuction in Universe 7. Quite ironic that Frieza's genocide on the Saiyans in an effort to prevent the rise of a Super Saiyan who would top him allowed Goku's growth and eventually two of his defeats at the Saiyan's hands.
    • Cell in his perfect form. He gains Goku's laid-back, lazy attitude and cares only about fighting and challenging himself instead of conquest like Vegeta and Frieza. He also gives sporting chances to his opponents so they can give him a better challenge. It is telling that when Cell and Goku fought, they actually got along well and considered each other Worthy Opponents. The main difference is that Cell is a sociopathic murderer who allows his pride to blind him to the fact that anyone could ever beat him. He is also not a Spirited Competitor like Goku, who will lose gracefully if faced with a superior opponent; when Cell is backed into a corner, he would rather Rage Quit than lose.
    • Majin Buu, all forms. They love to fight, learn techniques from just seeing them once, have a love for food, are man children, have crude mannerisms and are often rude, are much smarter than people give them credit for, which makes their enemies underestimate them, and can be playful and goofy while beating someone senseless. Buu (at least in the cases of Super/Kid Buu) is an entity who doesn't care about anything besides itself and destroys and kills for fun.
    • Beerus from Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods initially, although his evilness is questionable. Both of them are rather lazy outside of the prospect of fighting things, love a good challenge, are obsessed with food, and both are as well as kind and respectful but with no sense of being rude, though outright terrifying to enemies when angry and generally the most dangerous things in the universe. The only difference is that Beerus had nobody giving him a moral compass. Beerus and even Whis note how similar they are. After Goku and Beerus become friends, their relationship evolves to being parallels, much like Vegeta.
    • Goku Black from Dragon Ball Super (pictured above). He looks identical to Goku in appearance, shares Goku's love for combat, being challenged, are the strongest in their respective universes, and they both have the Kamehameha, only Black's Kamehameha is black and purple in color. Much like Turles before him, Black in demeanor, species and outlook is Goku's Evil Counterpart, a dark mirror of his talents, powers and beliefs. Goku grew to be a humble, pure-hearted hero who enjoys improving his skill, befriended nearly everyone he encountered, and ended up saving the universe several times over. Black, on the other hand, was once a young Kai who was considered to be very promising and in training to oversee the universe However, unlike Goku, concepts such as modesty, humility, love, friendship and compassion are totally non-existent for him. Eventually, he grew to be a purely evil narcissist serving an empty justice and the biggest threat in history.
    • Moro is a far more sinister and horrifying take on Goku's Big Eater and Blood Knight tendencies. Like Goku, Moro has a massive appetite and is thrilled at the prospect of getting stronger and fighting powerful opponents. However, Goku gets stronger through rigorous training while Moro gains strength by draining the life force from planets and people. One of Moro's signature moves is basically a villainous version of Goku's Spirit Bomb, where he gathers all the life force around him into a sphere of energy. However, while Goku only takes a tiny bit of energy from people around him, Moro drains the surroundings dry, his victims withering up and dying. Both characters are incredibly charismatic and have gathered a following of loyal allies, but Goku genuinely cares about his friends and family while Moro is a sociopath who regards his allies as disposable tools.
  • Vegeta also has some of these as they share similarities to him.
    • Frieza is an eviler counterpart to Vegeta, and also serves as his Shadow Archetype. Both of them are princes of their respective empires, born extremely powerful, command the respect and fear of those around them, have lofty ambitions of ruling the universe for all eternity, are ruled by their pride of being the strongest, and are selfish, spoiled brats who will Rage Quit if things don't go their way. Vegeta got better through character development. Frieza remained an unrepentant asshole who allowed his pride to utterly destroy him, three times.
    • Cell. Both love to fight and challenge themselves in battle. They are also both extremely arrogant and believe that there's nothing stronger than them and will throw a fit if that belief is proven incorrect. Their pride and arrogance becomes their undoing; first with Vegeta for letting Cell reach his perfect form for the sake of the challenge, and ironically Cell pushing Gohan over the edge so he could become powerful enough to challenge him. The difference? Vegeta eventually learns the value of life, family, and does become a good person. Cell remained a Jerkass to the bitter end.
    • Goku Black is another evil counterpart of Vegeta. Black's actions parallel the Saiyan prince's in his younger days, such as committing genocide and reveling in his ability to get stronger with each recovery. He also claims to take great pride in his race, but in practice disregards his kin. While Vegeta never got a chance to use the Dragon Balls, Black succeeded and became a greater threat than Majin Buu. The fact that his first victim happened to be Future Bulma really hammers the point across.
  • Cell is also the Evil Counterpart to whomever he's facing. In his Imperfect form, he battled Piccolo — like Piccolo, Imperfect Cell is canny and calculating, preferring to retreat or abuse cheap tactics when the fight goes against him. His Semi-Perfect form contrasts Vegeta as mentioned above, and is also the loudest and crudest of the Cell forms, and the quickest to lose his temper. His Perfect form is a contrast to Goku — like Goku, he is laidback and uncaring and prefers to give his opponents a sporting chance whenever possible. When he returns as Super Perfect Cell, he becomes like Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 form — a mad berserker who seeks only to destroy everything and takes pleasure in every bit of pain. Makes sense seeing as how he's literally made from their DNA.
    • Actually, Cell might be more closely associated with Future Trunks, as both of them are born in the Bad Future; with Trunks having to live in the remnants of the human race as the Z-Fighters are annihilated by androids, while Cell is from an even worse reality where there are no androids leading him to wander the ruined Earth alone until he finds his timeline's Trunks and kills him and steals the time machine so he can find and absorb the androids. Both Trunks and Cell cause even more chaos with their Time Travel, only that Trunks broke the rules of time to help his loved ones and the people of Earth, while Cell changed time for his own selfish and power hungry ambitions. When Trunks and Cell are fighting in the anime, their Inner Monologues reflecting on their respective pasts start to parallel, serving as Not So Different Remarks. They even kill each other twice!
  • Majin Buu and his incarnations are mostly this to Goku, through they're also this to some of the Z-Fighters.
    • Evil/Kid Buu to Fat Buu after he makes his Heel–Face Turn. They are both the evil that lies within Fat Buu, with Evil Buu originally being the literal manifestation of the good Buu's anger. They also inherit most of his power since Buu is originally an evil, chaotic being who became tame and weakened by absorbing the Kais.
      • In addition, Kid Buu is one to Gotenks as well. His playful, ruthless nature largely parallels Gotenks'. While Gotenks uses his power to protect everyone he loves, Kid Buu uses his powers to destroy everything in his wake.
    • His Super Buu form is one to Goku. He has certain similarities, such as being a Big Eater, lacking eloquence, being able to quickly learn techniques, and having a tendency to seek a strong enemy, as well as being surprisingly intelligent (especially in regards to combat tactics) despite his crude manner.
    • In many ways he's one to Vegito, the latter being the result of a voluntary fusion to contrast Buu's forcefully absorbing victims. He's also just as arrogant as Buu, which drives the demon up the wall.
  • Zamasu, who is Goku Black's original self, is one to some of the heroes mentioned above.
    • Originally the North Kai of U10, he's one to Goku's master King Kai. A flashback in the manga shows that he also lived in a little brick house on a Baby Planet, with a winged pig as a pet instead of a monkey.
    • To Goku. Both are incredibly powerful fighters as well as are prodigies that surpass their respective masters, but that's where the similarities end. Goku is a mortal who ended up attaining the powers of a god, while Zamasu is a god who took the form of a mortal. While Goku became stronger than his mentors due to his training, Zamasu kills his master to become the Supreme Kai and use the Super Dragon Balls to achieve immortality and steal Goku’s body. Their paths are also different, as Goku came from a warrior race that was violent, aggressive and hellbent on conquering other planets and the universe, but Goku chose to protect his friends, his family, and the universe from dangerous threats; Zamasu on the other hand is a Kai, a race that was supposed to protect the universe and all living things, but became evil due to his hatred for mortals and goes on to commit genocide killing his fellow Kais and plans to kill all mortals from the face of the universe.
    • In several ways, he is one to Vegeta, being a powerful being who took pride in his own natural talent, and took extreme offense when Goku comes along and reveals to them that he's better than them. However, Vegeta eventually moves along from his grudge and the competition becomes more playful among them. Zamasu however, doesn't get over it and his hatred for Goku for besting him boils over big time, leading him onto a genocidal rampage, and in one timeline even stealing Goku's body and killing him and his family simply out of wounded pride and spite.
    • He's also this to Future Trunks. Both come from universes apart from the one the heroes are used too, both witnessed devastation, and both favor blade techniques (Trunks' Cool Sword and Zamasu's God Split Cut). But while Trunks became a hero, Zamasu gives into his hatred for mortals and plans a Final Solution. It becomes even more distinct in his Goku Black incarnation (see the Evil Counterpart entry on the Dragon Ball: Goku Black page for more details).
    • Zamasu is also one to the Supreme Kai, Shin. The comparison is not that far off, as Shin was a victim of Majin Buu's rampage, and was incompletely trained and put into the job of Supreme Kai; in contrast, Zamasu was The Ace among the shinjin, but due to his twisted sense of morality, killed off his master to become a Supreme Kai. Furthermore, Shin's defining characteristic as a god is his hands-off approach to governing the universe, while Zamasu decides to kill every single mortal personally. This is especially noticeable in the manga version.
    • Fused Zamasu is one to Vegito, since he is a Potara Fusion as well. Both are overwhelmingly powerful fighters whose immense strength is only matched by their inflated yet arguably justified egos. What separates the two is that unlike Vegito, who fights for others and the safety of the world, Fused Zamasu fights for only himself and to be the only god in exsitence.
  • Dragon Ball GT has Super 17 be the evil counterpart to his sister 18, as he's become Brainwashed and Crazy and tries to invoke We Can Rule Together with her, and even kills her husband Krillin seeing him as a distraction for 18. Big mistake as 18 has long since forgone her thirst for destruction and values love, compassion and family, something Super 17 is disgusted with. When 17 goes back to the original mission of killing Goku, 18 steps in and helps Goku destroy her brother avenging Krillin.
    • Dragon Ball GT also features the final villains, the Shadow Dragons created from the negative energy released by wishes made on the Dragon Balls and are thus this to Shenron. Omega Shenron is the most powerful and prominently featured, and he absorbed the other Dragon Balls, so he could be considered the best example, apart from the original Black Smoke Shenron.
  • The evil Namekian Lord Slug from the fourth movie is an evil counterpart to Piccolo, which is saying something since Piccolo is already an evil counterpart to Kami. Piccolo, upon learning Slug is a Namekian like him, immediately starts noting the similarities, and exploits his own species' weaknesses like pulling on Slug's antenna and using Namekian's weakness to high frequencies (i.e whistling). Interestingly, when Slug appears along with the Rogues Gallery in Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, Piccolo chooses to fight him, even though Frieza almost committed genocide on the Namekians. Since Slug came after Turles for Goku, it's likely very intentionally done to create a similar dynamic with Slug for Piccolo.
  • Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan has good counterparts while remaining a chaotically evil himself (that is, prior to being canonized in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, where he is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood).
    • Goku has similarities with Broly right off the bat as, in the original telling they were literally placed together as babies with Goku being weak and loud and Broly quiet and ridiculously strong, though Goku escaped Planet Vegeta while Broly got caught in amidst the destruction along with his father Paragus. Both Goku and Broly received horrific injuries as babies that changed their personalities: Goku banged his skull and became a good person, while Broly got stabbed in the chest and became an insane monster. Also like Goku, Broly loves getting stronger, though Broly uses his power to inflict needless pain, showing he's a abhorrent Blood Knight who disturbs even Goku. In the canon movie, Broly is just a neutral Foil to Goku and Vegeta; like Goku, he's terrifying when enraged, but unlike Goku, Canon-Broly becomes Ax-Crazy when pushed hard enough.
    • Gohan actually has closer similarities with Broly. Both are quietly docile, don't look very threatening (at first) and yet both have deep inner anger and power they keep just below the surface. Gohan and Broly are both literally weaponized by their respective fathers Goku and Paragus, only for this to backfire immensely as their sons become mad berserkers who can't be controlled. The key difference is that Goku and Gohan love each other, while Paragus fears Broly and tries to kill him, and when he gets out control Broly returns the favor; in contrast, Goku orders Gohan to leave the battlefield the second Broly makes a vague threat towards his son.
    • It can be said Broly in his original incarnation was the evil counterpart to all Saiyans as he literally embodies the worst qualities of his race (i.e being a muscle bound Ax-Crazy unrepentant berserker who only exists to fight); thus, if Saiyans could have a Satanic Archetype, then Broly before his Adaptational Heroism certainly would be the 1# candidate.
    • Dragon Ball Super: Broly actually gives Vegeta more similarities with Broly as the canonization retcons it to having Vegeta and Broly being placed in the same chamber when they were born, and both Vegeta and Broly have bearded fathers who are proud of their respective's sons power. King Vegeta even sent Broly to a crapsack planet due to Broly having more power than Vegeta Jr. This comes to a head in the main story where Broly under his father’s orders attacks Vegeta first, instead of Goku whom he has no hatred towards.
  • With the introduction of the grown-up Fu, son of Mira and Towa in Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, we've now got a neat parallel between two families i.e Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks (good) and Mira, Towa and Fu (evil). As for Mira and Vegeta, each are a proud arrogant Blood Knight with a desire to be the strongest and both become frustrated that they lack capacity. Both men are obsessed with fighting Goku, though Vegeta mellows out while Mira gets worse; both also have pride in their royal titles Mira as King of the Demon Realm and Vegeta as the Prince of all Saiyans. The contrasts betweem Towa and Bulma are more clear cut as both are very beautiful and driven female scientists who keep their respective partners in check all while giving them the means to become stronger; however, while Bulma loves Vegeta unconditionally, Towa sees Mira as a means to an end and despite creating a son with him, Mira's betrayal causes her to dub her husband a failure. As for Fu and Future Trunks, both are time-traveling Master Swordsman who have inherited their respective mothers smarts, though while Trunks created changes in time to safeguard his loved ones, Fu creates time rifts and paradoxes simply for shits and giggles.
    • Arguably Fu also echoes Gohan too, as Fu does not like fighting but instead loves science and study, though in Fu's case it's for his chaotic neutral plans, while Gohan just wants to be a scholar. Goku and Chi-Chi also have some similarities with Mira and Towa, as the former is obsessed with fighting, while the latter is a Control Freak who rears her husband in.
  • Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero:
    • Hedo serves as the Good Counterpart to his grandfather Gero. Both are superb scientists who created super androids with universe quaking powers, are impatient and creepy in their mannerisms and both work for the Red Ribbon Army. Except where Gero was a textbook Evil Is Petty Mad Scientist, his grandson Hedo is Obliviously Evil genuinely believing that the Z-Fighters are evil and need to be stopped as he’s just as much a superhero loving dork as Gohan is. When Hedo learns he’s on the wrong side, he quickly heels turns to good and is apologetic for his actions, which is far more than Gero ever got. For further parallels they both have their creations turn against them.
    • Cell Max can be considered this for Piccolo as they are both the successors of a previous major villain (King Piccolo Daimao and Cell respectively) and they both have Sizeshifter powers. Though whereas Piccolo was able to change and grow into something better than his previous self/father, Cell Max is just as bad as his predecessor if not worse since at least OG Cell could be bargained with, while Cell Max is just a savage Shin Godzilla-like monster.
    • Speaking of Cell, Gamma 1 & 2 serve as his Good Counterparts as like him they are Kamen Rider esque insectoid looking androids whom in Gamma 2’s case is a laidback Smug Super very much like how Perfect Cell was. On top of visual similarities to Cell they also share his habit of underestimating opponents to their downfall. However whereas Cell was a supervillain in every sense of the term, Gamma 1 & 2 are simply on the wrong side and are genuinely superheroes who believe in justice. Gamma 2 even pulls off a Heroic Sacrifice against Cell’s big little brother, the aforementioned Cell Max.

    JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 
Some parts tend to make some villains with parallels to the heroes:
  • Phantom Blood: Dio Brando turned out to be one to Speedwagon, who grew up in similar dire circumstances on the streets of London but managed to rise above his misfortune to be a true man of greatness. Ultimately, by choosing to fight the darkness he was born into instead of spreading it, Speedwagon gets everything Dio wanted, striking it rich, living his life out with peace of mind, and ultimately gaining a form of immortality through the Speedwagon Foundation.
    • That being said, Dio does also have parallels with Jonathan. They were raised together and had big ambitions, with both Jonathan and Dio effecting each others's lives as the latter giving the former a Trauma Conga Line made Jonathan go on an Unstoppable Rage and punch Dio out. This gets Dio's blood on the Stone Mask, tipping him off to its potential power, and later the mask turns Dio into a vampire, which is actually ironic since Dio intended to use the mask on Jonathan instead. Both Jonathan and Dio can also gather followers using charisma, though Jonathan does so through acts of friendship and bravery, while Dio just exercises his dominance. Jonathan even lampshades his connection with Dio calling it a “Bizarre Friendship” despite the latter being his Arch-Enemy, he couldn't bring himself to truly hate Dio. Part 3 adds even more as its revealed that Dio (now DIO) placed his own severed head on Jonathan’s body, which is gloriously tragic as DIO exhibits the vast amount of power Jonathan could’ve used for good if he hadn’t died, while DIO uses it for evil.
  • Battle Tendency: Kars can be seen as one to Lisa Lisa in the sense that both are leader figures and Combat Pragmatists who focus on long-term strategizing and the big picture in contrast to their apprentices, who focus more on short-term tactics. Parallels extend to their physical appearances as well; Lisa Lisa's long hair makes her an elegant and Raven Hair Ivory Skinned Lady of War, whereas Kars is appropriately an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette whose unkempt hair makes him both a Long-Haired Pretty Boy and also a Barbarian Longhair.
    • Kars also counts as one to Joseph. Much like Joseph, Kars is a lot more cunning than his build would initially imply and can also be petty when things don't go his way or he is disrespected. He also shows himself to be a Combat Pragmatist willing to preform amoral actions in order to eschew a battle in his favour. Unlike Joseph, however, who eventually learned to honor his opponents and shows Wamuu his respect after their final fight, Kars never shows this tendency and is not only willing to stab Lisa Lisa in the back during their fight but kick her while she's down for good measure. The parallels between the two are even more obvious after said backstabbing, when Kars notes to Joseph that he only cares about retrieving the Red Stone and any method to do that is acceptable to him, which is a similar line that Joseph himself said during his final fight with Wamuu.
    • Speaking of Wamuu, he is arguably another one to Joseph. Both have Undying Loyalty to their masters (although Joseph will never admit it). And in spite of their similarly Heroic Builds, both are masters of thinking on the fly who rely primarily on their wits to fight, and who base their tactics on reversing the flow of battle to surprise their enemies. They also occupy complementary positions on the morality scale: Joseph is an arrogant and jerkish trickster anti-hero who will do anything to win, while Wamuu is a polite and noble warrior who nonetheless enjoys a good punch up.
  • Stardust Crusaders:
  • Diamond is Unbreakable: Kira is one to Jotaro. Both are antisocial Japanese men that are surprisingly resourceful and adaptive in dire situations. They are also more popular with the ladies than they would like to be: Just look at when Tomoko and Shinobu respectively throw themselves at them — their reactions are almost identical. Also, they both awaken new time-related Stand powers by the end of their respective parts: Jotaro from being pressured to the verge of death from DIO, and Kira from the prospect of being unveiled by the Morioh Stand users. The difference is that Jotaro eventually learns to open himself up more and trust in others, and while Kira was given the opportunity to live a new life with a new ordinary family, he chooses to revert to his old ways and continue his killing spree.
    • Another case for him being one to Josuke, due to the two preferring to live relatively normal lives, but while Josuke will inject himself into situations which would jeopardize that and has a pretty average routine, Kira doesn't really care about Morioh's going ons, and intentionally tries to pass himself off as a normal person. His power (being able to completely destroy whatever he last touched) is also the polar opposite to Josuke's (who can revert things to a previous state, which includes healing wounds).
    • Kira’s father Yoshihiro (seems to be in the genes, oh my) is a twofold for both Reimi and Joseph, even if he doesn't actually interact with either of them. For Reimi: Both of them being ghosts who are the driving forces for their respective sides in deciding his son's fate; Reimi brings the heroes together to help her catch him, while Yoshihiro creates Stand Users with the Arrow to attack the heroes in order to protect him. For Joseph: Both of them have photography-related Stands. Their sons are the main protagonist (Josuke) and antagonist (Yoshikage) of the story, who likely inherited good and evil nature from them and play a lesser role in giving their respective support.
    • There's also a case to be made for him being a Shadow Archetype to Koichi. He yearns for a normal life, but was born with superpowers that he uses for terrible ends. Meanwhile, Koichi is genuinely normal at first and got dragged into the events of the part by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, both of their Stands evolve into more powerful forms over time. It's worth noting that Koichi and Jotaro find Kira at Centipede Shoes and force him to hide after he fails at silencing them with Sheer Heart Attack. Echoes evolves into its final form during the encounter with SHA and the two of them are the ones to finish him off, albeit by accident.
  • Golden Wind: Doppio is this to Trish. Both have a deep connection with their team's boss (Doppio to Diavolo, Trish to Buccelati), have their Stands awakened in the middle of a heated battle with a member of La Squadra, and are central to Diavolo's plans to rid himself of his past. Both resort to disguise to get as far as they do: Trish initially disguises as a janitor before being handed off to Buccelati's gang, while Doppio is the disguise for Diavolo to directly get rid of evidence (though Doppio himself is unaware of it). Additionally, they both can be considered Diavolo's family: Trish is this by blood, being his illegitimate daughter and all, while Doppio is a metaphorical "son", being mentored to a fault by Diavolo and being "born" from his consiousness. He also resembles what little we see of Diavolo as a young man, giving him and Trish a few physical similarities.
    • Diavolo is one to Giorno. Both Giorno and Diavolo have grown up under a similar background, being born by single mothers and have parents who are absent throughout their childhood and are instead brought up/inspired by men whom they saw as a father figure. Both are strongly driven by ambition and are more than willing to resort to underhanded methods in order to accomplish their goals. But the difference is that Giorno has moral boundaries, and only projects his ruthlessness on enemies who truly deserved it. Diavolo, on the other hand, has little regard for the innocents he has to drag into the conflict. Gold Experience's life-giving abilities portray it as some sort of Messianic Archetype, while Diavolo and his King Crimson lean more towards the Satanic Archetype for their sheer killing potential.
    • He is also one to Bruno. Both grew up with the sea, with Bruno being the son of a fisherman while Diavolo dreamt of becoming a sailor. But while Bruno fell into crime due to tragic circumstances, Diavolo willingly turned to crime out of a desire for power and ambition. Bruno is A Father to His Men who genuinely cares for his fellow gang members, fights alongside them, and wins their loyalty through trust and kindness. Diavolo prefers to sit on the sidelines and leave the dirty work to his men. Diavolo also keeps a tight leash on his organisation through power and fear, and as a result, everyone backstabs him at any given opportunity.

    One Piece 
Like Dragon Ball above, the franchise has quite a lot.
  • Buggy the Clown seemed to be introduced as an Evil Counterpart to Monkey D. Luffy. Indeed, their Devil Fruits are practically opposite in several ways, but similar in others, such as allowing for long range attacks and provide invulnerability to certain kinds of attacks — Luffy can resist blunt force but he's still vulnerable to blades, while Buggy can resist blades but is vulnerable to blunt force. Also, this was made apparent by their differing attitudes about the cost of gaining a Devil Fruit Power. Before eating a Devil Fruit, Buggy was an excellent swimmer who planned on using his talent to find a legendary stash of treasure, and he now resents the fact that he can't swim anymore. Luffy, on the other hand, before eating a Devil Fruit was such a poor swimmer that he was nicknamed "Anchor" and as such doesn't seem to mind his inability to swim at all since he was so bad at it, anyway. While Luffy is irrepressibly cheerful, Buggy is constantly aggravated. As time goes on, Buggy is far less evil than most villains in the series, so he becomes more Laughably Evil at best. Both become elevated to the rank of Emperor at about the same time, but Luffy does so via massively increasing his strength and fighting skills to be able to challenge Kaido in combat, whereas Buggy accidentally becomes an Emperor after his henchmen put him at the center of the Cross Guild's poster and the World Government confuses him as the mastermind behind the Cross Guild. The Reveal of the true nature of Luffy's devil fruit retroactively turns their fight, one of the first Devil Fruit matchups in the story, into a fight between a Clown and a Cartoon character, both creations designed to spread joy and entertainment to others.
    • Buggy is also very much a counterpart to his old friend and rival Shanks. Both started as apprentices of Gold Roger, and now both are in positions of great power (Buggy is a Warlord of the sea and Shanks is an Emperor); however, Shanks got to that position through talent and effort, while Buggy got into power through leeching on his former crew's reputation, the loyalty and power of his followers from Impel Down, and the World Government mistaking him as a criminal mastermind (though he was genuinely surprised by the invitation, he nevertheless played along). By the time Wano arc has wrapped, Buggy has become a Emperor much as Shanks himself.
  • It looks like Blackbeard is shaping up to be Luffy's main evil counterpart. He's initially introduced as someone who has similar dreams to Luffy and similar ambitions, as well as the same Big Eater nature (though with completely different tastes in food). Then it turns out he takes things a bit further and will actually betray his True Companions (read: the Whitebeard Pirates) and kill them to fulfill his ambitions. He even subtly points this out when he and Luffy reunite in Impel Down and hints that they've got a lot in common. Also, Luffy is a Magnetic Hero; Blackbeard acquires subordinates via cage matches. Luffy gets serious in a fight and smiles at death; Blackbeard grins evilly in battle and screams hysterically at the prospect of dying. Luffy never interferes in another's fight (or asks for assistance); Blackbeard has his crew finish his dirty work for him. It helps that (most of) his crew mimics Luffy's as well, with Van Augur as the counterpart to Usopp, Shiryu to Zoro, etc. The contrast sharpens with the reveal that the Gum-Gum Fruit is actually the Human-Human Fruit, Nika Model, which turns Luffy into an avatar of the Sun and freedom with blazing white hair, versus the Dark-Dark Fruit which turns Blackbeard into a living black hole that imprisons people in darkness.
    • Blackbeard's name and appearance also parallel his former captain Whitebeard. This is best seen in his first full appearance post-timeskip, which has him framed similarly to how Whitebeard was framed in his first appearance. This, along with his usurping of Whitebeard's position, territories, and powers, cements Blackbeard as the evil version of Whitebeard.
  • But before Blackbeard even showed up in the story, Crocodile was the first shadowy reflection of Luffy. Firstly, there’s the fact they're both leaders of a crew of misfits, and secondly, Crocodile actually had the same dream of becoming Pirate king as Luffy (according to Word of God and as revealed in Miss Goldenweek's Side Story); but after being defeated and maimed (by Whitebeard, judging by his obvious enmity and confirmed by Oda) Crocodile got obsessed with sadistically trampling dreams and hopes of those weaker than him. Unlike Luffy, who followed his dream even after suffering a soul-crushing defeat, Crocodile abandoned his, thinking that dreams, faith in others, etc. are all useless, and that the only thing that matters is sheer power, no matter how it is obtained. Given the aformentioned resemblances, the similarities between these two are extremely uncanny. It's hinted that Crocodile can see it and tells Luffy that sooner or later his spirit will break on his voyage just as his did, and this nearly became true as Luffy became massively depressed when Ace died and would have given up on being the Pirate King had it not been for his friends.
  • Likewise, Gecko Moria reveals that he lost his beloved True Companions in the New World at the hands of Kaido (and still holds emotional trauma upon recalling that), and upon his defeat warned Luffy about the possibility of that happening to him, which come the very next arc, nearly did. Notably, much like Crocodile, Moria seems to act as a chilling reminder of what Luffy may become if he doesn't hold onto his dreams and his friends. Much like Luffy, Moria legitimately cares for his crew as seen when he attacked an island Blackbeard was staying on just to rescue his crewmate Absalom and was stricken upon learning Absalom had been killed.
  • The captain of the Fake Straw Hats, Demalo Black, is of particular note despite being an Arc Villain: he's a huge coward underneath that smugness, is fat, a self-serving conman who fooled everyone into believing he's the real deal, and whose "friends" are just as cowardly and arrogant as him, brags about his reputation, and his only weapon is a revolver. Luffy is a fearless Idiot Hero who has Undying Loyalty to his pirate crew, is a Devil Fruit user and Big Eater who is always skinny no matter how much he eats, never brags about what he does, and actually has the power and skill to back up his reputation.
    • Actually, the Fake Straw Hats qualify as a whole. Their attempt to pass on as the genuine ones is already obviously poor in the eyes of the audience because: 1) These phonies always brag about their stolen reputation to intimidate anyone and get what they wanted because they have no real skills (they even tried to intimidate the real ones like this!), 2) They aimed to recruit other pirates based solely on their bounties because they think of them as an indicator for power, showing they only care for strength, and 3) Most of them never thought of themselves as friends or family (as when Fake Luffy simply gave no importance to the loss of his Robin). Anyone who knows the real Straw Hats has a perfect concept of their intense loyalty towards each other, their dedication to their "job" by becoming stronger, the fact that Luffy always handpicked his True Companions if they interest him somehow — or if they look weird and flashy — and not necessarily by strength, and despite thinking of their bounties as achievements, they never rub them to the faces of others to get what they want.
  • Donquixote Doflamingo became one for Luffy as well. Both care about their crews to the point of violence when they're attacked. Both have had tragic pasts where they lost a brother. Both are condemned by other people because of their ancestry (Luffy because he's Dragon's son and Doflamingo because he was once a Celestial Dragon). Yet their ideologies couldn't be more different: Luffy has been motivated countless times by the dreams others have while Doflamingo dismisses them as delusions. Doflamingo is one of the most cunning enemies in the series while Luffy is an Idiot Hero. Luffy will charge into a fight without a second thought while Doflamingo is seen to avoid personally engaging in a fight unless he absolutely has to. Doflamingo murdered his brother, while Luffy's gave up his life in order to save him from a ruthless Marine. Even their attitudes towards their respective crews have a dark parallel: Doflamingo genuinely cares about his crew, but puts his goals before them and won't hesitate to demand personal sacrifices from them for his sake, including their lives. Luffy, however, is selfless to a point, and would never demand anything meaningful from his crew to forward his goals, such as their dreams, and especially their lives — he'd rather die than allow such a thing to happen.
  • Roronoa Zoro's counterparts:
    • Hyouzou, the New Fishman Pirates' assassin, is this. Both of them are powerful swordsmen, enjoy drinking and have a calm demeanor. However, Zoro has never been shown drunk while Hyouzou seems to become drunk very easily, putting him in a state where he blindly attacks anyone and everyone around him. Hyouzou only works with people who offer him the most money while Zoro is only willing to fight for money at all when it's absolutely necessary, preferring instead to fight for his ambitions and his True Companions.
    • Daz Bones aka "Mr. 1" and Ohm are also evil counterparts to Zoro, i.e being the blade users of The Team and are no-nonsense stoic types like Zoro. But while Zoro is honorable and merciful, Mr 1 and Ohm are generally psychotic killers, cutting down anything and anyone who crosses their path. Mr 1, in particular, represents everything Zoro would be had he not joined Luffy in becoming a Pirate (i.e a merciless cutthroat Bounty Hunter thug), but while Zoro only sought money when it was absolutely necessary, money forms the basis of Mr. 1's employment for Crocodile. Additionally, Mr. 1 is unquestioningly loyal to Crocodile, which parallels Zoro's attitude towards Luffy.
    • Zoro gets another evil counterpart in Wano in the form of Yakuza boss Kyoshiro. Both love to drink, to sleep, are Dual Wielding Master Swordsmen and have complete loyalty as Number Two to Luffy and Shogun Orochi respectively. They have other eerie similarities as both Zoro and Kyoshiro aren't afraid to criticize the actions and behavior of the men they serve, but conversely they will both react strongly to any disrespect or attack on Luffy and Orochi. Both Zoro and Kyoshiro are willingly to ruthlessly cut down women (though said women — Monet and Komurasaki — got better quickly) and both have suspect smiles on their faces when committing acts of violence. The key difference is while Luffy genuinely values Zoro as one of his strongest crewmates, Kyoshiro on the other hand is a self-admitted "guard dog" to the Shogun who bad mouths his loyal subordinate. It also helps the Kyoshiro is also the first villain since the Time Skip to make Zoro genuinely struggle in a sword fight. Though ultimately subverted as Kyoshiro is revealed to be Denjiro, one of Oden's retainers thus Good All Along.
    • Played straighter with King who, like Zoro is to Luffy, he is the Number Two to Kaido (or one of his Co-Dragons at least) and a bloodthirsty Master Swordsman who is quite The Stoic. The flashback to King's past even echoes Zoro's first meeting with Luffy as Kaido saves King from imprisonment, instilling in King Undying Loyalty for his Captain, much like Zoro for Luffy. The differences are that King does not care for his fellow crewmembers, killing them when they see his unmasked face; and unlike Zoro, King is not a traditional or honourable swordsman, using unarmed blows and his natural Playing with Fire powers (ironically similar to Sanji) rather than just his katana.
  • Vinsmoke Sanji's counterparts:
    • Absalom from Moria's Quirky Miniboss Squad. Both he and Sanji have many similarities to each other, as both are blonde short-tempered perverts with a crazed love for Nami and both used the power of Invisibility to peek on nude girls. They even realize what they have in common upon meeting each other, but there's a contrast as Sanji can be heroic, dashing and compassionate; while Absalom is just cruel, vindictive and downright malicious, having molested poor Nami while she was bathing. Absalom is a Dirty Coward too, as when Sanji finds out what Absalom has done he delivers a rage-filled beatdown on him, in which Absalom tries to flee and uses cheap tactics to get an advantage. Sanji soon realizes that if he actually got the powers of invisibility he'd become no better than Absalom, so he gives up on it (though he still wants to peek on women). Ironically, Sanji has his dream come true in Wano, gaining the power of invisibility through his Raid Suit; but despite pervy antics, Sanji nevertheless still uses the ability to protect people, in contrast to Absalom (and now Shiryu) who solely use the ability to hurt people and eventually destroys the Raid Suit altogether.
    • Sanji's earlier evil counterpart is the goofy cook Wanze. Both of them are the cooks of their respective teams and are martial artists to boot; but while Sanji is a graceful cook who respects food, Wanze is a klutzy idiotic madman who serves ramen through his nose. Wanze also uses kitchen knives and food as weapons, something that's a big no-no in Sanji's book, who even declares that Wanze is a disgrace as a chef before beating him to a pulp.
    • It could also be said Sanji's brothers (Vinsmoke Ichji, Niji and Yonji) are his evil counterparts. Despite all four brothers being badass princes of the Germa Kingdom (and they're all attracted to Nami), Ichiji, Niji and Yonji do everything that Sanji hates and cannot stand (i.e. using allies like shields, wasting food and abusing women). It's also revealed Sanji would've turned out exactly like his brothers if not for his mother Sora modifying his DNA before he was born. Even when Sanji awakens his superhuman genetics, he retains his compassion and humanity rather than becoming a woman hurting sociopath like his brothers (which Sanji feared he would).
    • As of the Wano arc, it's not too much of a stretch to point out how X Drake is a bad counterpart to Sanji: both originate (and escaped) from North Blue, both have abusive fathers (Vinsmoke Judge and Diez Barrels), both get weak around beautiful women, and changed occupations (Cook and Marine respectively) to become Pirates. However, while Drake is willing to serve an Emperor (i.e Kaido) though it is revealed Drake is a double agent for the marines, Sanji refused when offered to join Emperor Big Mom's crew showing his loyalty to Luffy.
    • Queen surprisingly reveals himself to be a kind of Evil Counterpart to Sanji. One of Kaido's Co-Dragons alongside King — similar to Sanji's role as one of “Luffy’s wings” alongside Zoro —, Queen is a blonde, pervertedly horny Genius Bruiser and Combat Pragmatist who, like Sanji, can be remarkably silly at times and even uses the same Germa technology (such as invisibility) to fight like Sanji does for a time in Wano. However, unlike Sanji, who usually fights honourably and respects women, Queen beats up innocent courtesans who reject him and employs Dirty Coward tactics such as poisoning his own crew to win. Also, while Queen uses weapons and Germa technology in battle, Sanji continues to fight completely unarmed and even destroys his Raid Suit to show he’s above such tools. Queen’s role as Master Poisoner can also be seen antithetical to Sanji's role as Supreme Chef.
      • Queen is also a foil to Chopper, whom as The Medic makes drugs to help people get better, not infect them with diseases like Queen does.
  • Captain Kuro serves as a Shadow Archetype and Foil to Usopp. Both of them are cowards, but while Usopp is an aspiring pirate at the time of his introduction, is willing to overcome his fears and face much stronger enemies to protect those he cares about, Kuro is willing to betray and murder a young girl and sacrifice his own men in order to retire from piracy. Both also lied to Kaya, though Usopp merely told tall tales to cheer her up during her illness, while Kuro blatantly lied about his piracy manipulating Kaya into having faith in him after her parents died. Luffy is the one to note that Usopp is a far better man than Kuro, which really sets him off.
    • Usopp gets another interesting counterpart in Water 7 in the form of Kaku. Both of them have long ridiculous noses, both are in love with ships and sailing and both have lied to their friends. In truth, Kaku is far more dangerous and stronger than Usopp, defeating the cowardly Sniper in seconds and throwing Usopp's beloved ship the Going Merry out into the waves stating that he already claimed that it was broken earlier and had to be scrapped, much to Usopp's horror. When Kaku gets his ridiculous Giraffe form, he becomes the butt of many jokes, similar to how Usopp is on the crew. Faction-wise, Kaku is a member of the CP9/CP0 who serves the World Government, while Usopp is a renowned pirate who serves Luffy — who encompasses everything the World Government stands against — though both Usopp and Kaku have doubts in their positions.
  • Nami has had a few evil counterparts, like Miss Doublefinger and Kalifa, who are intelligent, manipulative and beautiful like her. But while Nami is essentially a good and caring person, Miss Doublefinger and especially Kalifa are fairly ruthless Femme Fatales who don’t care too much for compassion.
  • Admiral Akainu serves as one for Ace. Along with the heat powers, they're both devoted to their own sense of justice; Akainu adheres to absolute justice, hunting down any criminal, while Ace was determined to take down Blackbeard for his murder of a crewmate. These codes even go beyond those of their superiors/captain, as both Sengoku and Whitebeard have their limits. What separates them is that Ace genuinely cares for others, while Akainu doesn't even hesitate to murder low-ranking officers if they oppose him.
  • Jinbe and Arlong are a good non-human example being fishmen. Both of them hated humans and held bitter memories of Fishman slavery by humans, but after their mentor and hero Fisher Tiger kicked the bucket, Jinbe came to respect and care for humans, while Arlong hated them forever becoming just as evil as they were to him. To further drive this point, Jinbe helped Luffy get over his grief after Ace's death and even joined his crew, while Arlong enslaved Nami when she was a mere child and thus angered Luffy so much that he gave him a much-deserved beating (plus being his hardest victory in the East Blue).
  • Donquixote Doflamingo besides the aforementioned Luffy has got a lot of good counterparts, all while he remains one of the evilest villains in the series.
    • Donquixote Rocinante (his own brother). Both were former Nobles that experienced poverty and misery when the Celestial Dragons turn their backs on them and lost their mother. But on the other hand, Rocinante is everything his older brother Doflamingo isn't: he's an undercover Marine while Doflamingo is an infamous Pirate; Rocinante is empathetic and able to show of great love and loyalty for Law and Sengoku, while Doffy only moderately cares for his crew and treats every other person like dirt beneath his feet. The biggest counterpoint is the fact Doflamingo could not forgo his Noble bigotry and superiority complex, while Rocinate humbled himself completely and joined a better cause.
    • Trafalgar Law, like Doflamingo, had his entire life ruined from a earlier age, as both Law and Doffy had to watch as their loved ones (Law's father, mother and sister and Doflamingo's mother) die from sickness in front of them respectively, causing both Law and Doffy to snap and become murderous kids. However, Law managed to become a better person thanks to Rocinante's affection (despite him suffering the same as Doffy in the past). Even in the present, Law still retains some of Doflamingo's callous personality quirks (especially regarding the weak, which goes as a phrase they both used at some point), but draws the line when comes to harming innocents while Doffy crosses it regularly. The reveal that Doflamingo was grooming Law to be his third Corazon further drives the point.
    • Surprisingly, with Vivi of all people. Both are descendants of the 20 kings who formed the World Government, both of them do not have the title of Celestial Dragon because someone in their bloodline decided to live alongside normal people (Vivi by a distant ancestor, Doflamingo by his parents), and both of them were popular with their respective kingdoms. But while Vivi is honest in her desire to help her kingdom, Doflamingo uses his image of a good king as a way to hide his underground operations.
    • Sanji, coincidentally (or not), is a counterpart to Doflamingo. They both come from infamous Royalty in the North Blue and were forced out, and both Sanji and Doffy deeply loved their mothers and could do nothing as their respective mothers died from illness despite their attempts to make them better with food. The big difference is that Sanji hated his Royalty, while Doflamingo did everything in his power to regain his nobility. Also, Sanji had the sheer misfortune of growing up in an abusive household that forbids virtues like compassion and kindness, and was constantly beaten and demeaned for showing said virtues. The only difference was that Sanji grew up surrounded by loving and caring people who taught him morals and disciplined him when neccesary, allowing him to grow up with a strong moral compass; while Doffy's actually Good Parents died and his "caretakers" (his executives) only followed him around because of his Conquerer's Haki and enabled his bratty behavior and god complex, believing he was destined for greatness, until both traits grew to horrifically monstrous proportions. Finally, as much as he is flawed, Sanji is very compassionate and will come to anyone's aid (especially women). Doffy treats his crew kindly, but only as convenient tools and slaves that he won't hesitate to throw away when it's convenient. There's also other similarities: blonde hair, kick-based martial arts and no shame in wearing pink and to put the cherry on top, Sanji and Doflamingo are even attracted to the same woman: Viola.
    • Sabo is also a good counterpart to Doflamingo since both are Nobles by birth, but Sabo hates the fact he is a Noble while Doflamingo reveled in it; and when Nobility was taken away from him, Sabo became an even better person than he already was while it sent Doffy down the dark path.
  • Charlotte Linlin a.k.a Big Mom, surprisingly, is a fitting evil counterpart to Edward Newgate a.k.a Whitebeard, aside from the former being a Big Bad and the latter being a Big Good and were once on the same crew together. The similarities keep on going as both Whitebeard and Big Mom wanted a family of their own, but while Newgate became a Father to His Men, Linlin is an actual biological mother to her 85 children but also an Evil Matriarch who abuses her children. Both Emperors also have the raw power to smash entire islands apart, though Whitebeard used his power in a effort to save Ace, while Big Mom just does it in a candy-induced Unstoppable Rage.
    • Coincidentally, Big Mom's past also echoes Nami's, having been raised in a peaceful village (Elbaf/Cocoyoshi) by a loving adoptive mother (Caramel/Bellemere) until tragedy struck and both Nami and Big Mom lost their surrogate mothers. However, the sticky details set them apart: Linlin caused the tragedy herself, and Caramel unlike Bellemere was a scheming hag who didn't actually care about her adoptive children; Bellemere, on the other hand, gave her life for Nami. Also, both Nami and Big Mom were brought into the pirate life; but Nami hated it (at first), while Big Mom began to revel in it. Finally, both Big Mom and Nami have Weather Manipulation powers.
  • Speaking of Big Mom, her second son Charlotte Katakuri is probably the closest parallel to Luffy in the whole series since, unlike Crocodile, Moria, or even Blackbeard, Katakuri’s Mochi powers echoes Luffy’s own rubber-ness exactly, though Katakuri possesses the more brutal edge. There are other juxtapositions and similarities: Katakuri is bigger than Luffy but they look similar, both have Conqueror's Haki, both Luffy and Katakuri have one older brother as well as caring deeply for their loved ones, and both characters are quite gluttonous, though Katakuri is ashamed of that last detail. Where Luffy and Katakuri truly differ is in their resolutions: Katakuri believes in cold stoic strength to awe his siblings, while Luffy is often the Butt-Monkey of his own crew but still ultimately inspires them without putting up any charade. Katakuri also shows respect to Luffy’s dream of becoming Pirate King, which few villains do at all.
    • For bonus metaphor points, Luffy and Katakuri fight in the Mirror World.
  • As we learn more about them, it becomes evident that Emperor Kaido is the evil counterpart to Emperor Shanks. Both are heavy drinkers and quite laid back, and Kaido, much like Shanks, will even let people just wail on him completely unconcerned, but like Shanks, will be ruthless when he wants to be. Where they truly differ is in their motives for resorting to aggression, as Shanks only becomes passionate when innocents are in danger, while Kaido becomes brutal with little provocation. Shanks also gave up his arm for a child, while Kaido Would Hurt a Child (even his own child). Interestingly, both Shanks and Kaido see the potential in Luffy, though Shanks wants Luffy to fulfill his own dreams, while Kaido wants Luffy to serve under him.
  • Kurozumi Orochi is the dark reflection of Kozuki Oden, as both are extremely significant figures within Wano who gathered together a band of allies to change the country’s future. Except that, unlike Oden, who is a fearless Samurai who found his True Companions through his charisma and compassion and was in line to be Shogun by his birthright, Orochi manipulated and snaked his way into becoming Shogun and having followers. Additionally, whereas Oden is fearless and strong, Orochi is pathetic and cowardly and needs others to do the fighting for him.


  • Arcade Gamer Fubuki has a rival, who has her OWN version of the Passion Panties except hers are black. Also, she wears rollerblades so she can twirl around and activate her passion panties herself rather than waiting for a friend with a fan.
  • Every major robot villain in Astro Boy is an evil, or at least morally ambiguous counterpart to some extent. What makes them interesting is how each one completely inverts a major aspect of Astro's personality or show what he'd be like if things had happened differently, or to underscore the fact that who he is rather than what he is makes him a hero, for example:
    • Atlas, who has become Astro's biggest rival over the years. Though he was little more than a violent thug in his first appearance, he was later updated in the 80s anime as a Composite Character of Atlas, Astro's "brother" Cobalt and the Blue Knight. In the 2003 series, with the Blue Knight retained as a separate character, though, their conflict was more personal than political. Both had terrible relationships with the men they called "father", but had very different ways of dealing with it; Atlas' involving kidnapping, industrial sabotage, and attempted murder. What makes it more poignant is the fact that they were both based on the same technology, adding a layer of "there but for the grace of god go I" for Astro, that an advanced AI can choose between good and evil.
    • Astro II, a "more human" version of Astro, including human vices such as lust and sloth.
  • Reiner Braun of Attack on Titan serves as this to Eren Yaegar. Basically, he's a case study in what Eren would have been if he had grown up in Marley instead of Shiganshina. He has his passionate nature, his drive to succeed, and forms strong bonds with his True Companions. However, due to the poisonous propaganda he was raised with, his fervent hatred is directed against Eldians instead of Titans. Later on, this becomes an inverted case as Eren becomes the villain of the story, while Reiner joins the heroes to stop him.
  • The alien known as Boss Sapp in Babibubebobubobu!! Sapp-kun to Bob Sapp, who in the comic is a newly transferred Foreign Exchange Student.
  • Berserk:
    • Guts and Griffith play this trope straight being Foil to each other, but they also subvert this trope at the same time. Both characters were born in squalor and grew into the mercenary life, which Griffith did so that he would one day claim a kingdom, while Guts had no choice but to earn his keep or starve. Both are superhuman master swordsmen who are capable of leading the Band of the Hawk (as Guts discovers when the former leader Griffith was rendered lame and crippled due to being tortured for a year), and both Guts and Griffith each have a respective dream which they effectively ruin for each other. They both love the same woman. And while they have plenty of connections, the contrast is clear as well: Guts resembles the archetypal villain and often acts like it despite being The Hero, whilst Griffith can be seen as the archetypal hero being a literal Knight In Shining Armour but who is ultimately the villain due to his unforgivable actions.
    • Nosferatu Zodd is also one for Guts, as along with visual similarities both are BFS wielding Blood Knights and will slay armies just to get a thrill. However, Guts found a purpose to wield his sword to protect his love Casca, while Zodd still kills thousands just to pleasure himself. And Zodd also lost his horn to the reborn Griffith, similar to how Guts lost his arm to Griffith during the Eclipse; and Zodd also becomes the leader of the Neo-Hawks' raiders for Griffith, the same position which Guts held for Griffith in the Golden Age.
    • Interestingly, Serpico from Guts's True Companions is actually a close parallel to Griffith, as both were born on the streets, utilize a speedy fencing style of swordplay and they also have visual similarities to each other. There is a ironic contrast, however, as Griffith sought nobility and renown despite having no royal blood and gained it through abhorrent means: while Serpico, on the other hand, entered the noble life through circumstances having a Nobleman father whose daughter Farnese (Serpico's half-sister) took pity on him and took him away from the streets. There's also the fact both Serpico and Griffith are lean combat pragmatists, who can be dangerously jealous towards the people they desire, though Serpico could admit his feelings, while Griffith couldn't to his cost.
    • Skull Knight and Void. While both of them are creepy skeleton men (Void is more fleshy), Skull Knight actually cares for humanity and can see the goodness and drive in humans. Void is different, drawing power from the worst aspects of humanity, he and the other God Hand members delight in granting lost individuals power so long as they sacrifice anyone close to them. Skull Knight is opposed to Void's idea that nothing can be avoided and that fate is set, and often teaches Guts that he can make a better future for himself. Void believes all who are sacrificed are doomed, whilst Skull Knight believes Guts and Casca can live on despite being branded. Skull Knight's hatred of Void mirrors Guts' hatred of Griffith, implying that they became enemies for similar reasons.
    • Casca has a counterpart in Sonia, the reborn Griffith's medium. Both were simple village girls saved from sexual violence and imprisonment by Griffith, which caused both Casca and Sonia to fall in deeply in love with him to the point of blind unhealthy worship. Casca, like Sonia after her, becomes highly jealous of Griffith's other affections. While Casca fell for Griffith because of his determination to fulfill his dream and how he managed to help her awaken her own inner strength, she, in the end, understood that she would never be his equal, since his dream is what he prioritizes above all (which is partly why she ended up falling for Guts, who did treat her as an equal). However, Sonia does believe herself to be Griffith's equal by virtue of him being a godlike figure and her being a psychic. The major difference is that Casca could (especially during the start of The Eclipse) see the evil Griffith was bringing down on her and violating her mind and body, but Sonia on the other hand has never witnessed Griffith as he truly is - Femto- still seeing Griffith as the spotless messiah.
  • Black Clover:
    • The Dark Triad are the respective Arch Enemies and Evil Counterparts to the main trio:
      • Dante to Asta. Both are devil hosts whose fighting styles rely on physical power and wielding swords. They also believe in the power of malicious emotions. But while Asta thinks being human is having the heart to control them to do what's right, Dante espouses that being evil in and of itself is being human.
      • Zenon to Yuno. They are both cold, speak little, and have confidence in their power, preferring to settle things fast with their magics. While Yuno is selfless and cares for his squad, Zenon is merciless and derides his Dark Disciples for being weak.
      • Vanica to Noelle. The two both use liquid magic attributes, can be dismissive of others, and are prone to rapidly changing their moods. Although Noelle cares for her comrades and defends the weak, Vanica doesn't care at all about her loyal Dark Disciples and is only interested in fighting strong foes.
    • Dante is also one to Yami. Both are the leaders of their respective groups, magic swordsmen, and have dark powers, with Dante being a devil user and Yami having Dark Magic. But while Yami is a rough man who has a kinder side underneath and is a Clueless Chick-Magnet, Dante has an affable demeanor which hides his twistedness and claims women who interest him as his, whether they like it or not.
    • Morris to Sally. Both are unhinged scientists who have a desire to experiment on human beings which led them to be ousted by their respective countries. However, after being betrayed by the Eye of the Midnight Sun Sally chooses to help the Clover Kingdom, and is even chosen to be part of the special assault force against the Spade Kingdom. Morris, on the other hand, chooses to work with the Dark Triad after being ousted from the Diamond Kingdom by Mars. And Sally herself wears glasses, while Morris was born blind in exchange for having the powers of a devil host.
    • Lucifero to Liebe. Liebe was originally believed to possess no magic, and as a result was the bottom feeder of the low-ranking devils, which meant he spent every waking hour being mercilessly tortured by his peers in the Underworld until he accidentally escaped to the human world and met Licita, who adopted him and raised him with love and care. Lucifero, on the other hand, is one of the highest-ranking devils, widely acknowledged as the King of Devils, possesses insanely powerful Gravity Magic and sees humans as insects. Liebe wants nothing more than to wipe out all devils due to the suffering they inflicted upon him and Lucifero specifically for murdering Licita, while Lucifero wants to wipe out all humans simply because he can.
  • In Bleach, most of the Soul Reapers have one or two that contrast them.
    • Aizen and Urahara are both extremely intelligent scientists whose conflict with each other consists of one protracted chess game. The difference between them is that Urahara cares about the people he has to use whereas Aizen refuses to trust or bond with anyone. Aizen was willing to break the universe to fix it whereas Urahara didn't think that was the right thing to do.
    • Aizen and Hitsugaya were both extremely powerful prodigies driven to loneliness and isolation because of that power. Aizen turned against the world because of that isolation whereas Hitsugaya worked through that isolation to find people he could bond with. Aizen notably seems driven to target Hitsugaya more than any other captain.
    • Grimmjow, a Hollow with Shinigami powers is the foil of Ichigo, a Shinigami with Hollow powers. They are both determined to become the strongest fighter and both have Blood Knight instincts. However, Ichigo controls his love of battle, believing he should fight only to protect, whereas Grimmjow believes battle lust should be indulged for its own sake.
    • Yumichika and Charlotte are both vain, narcissistic Blood Knights until Mood Whiplash reveals the truth. Charlotte shares the 11th division belief that "beauty" derives from physical prowess whereas Yumichika reveals that "beauty" derives from Undying Loyalty. He's secretly a Magic Knight sacrificing himself for the sake of his division's anti-Functional Magic code.
    • Franceska Mila Rose could be seen as one to Rangiku Matsumoto. Both are buxom women. They both have a feline Animal Motif (a cat for Rangiku, a lion for Mila). They are also somewhat immature and have a habit of getting into silly arguments with their friends, but when the chips are down are shown to be loyal and caring towards them. Finally, both are subordinates to two characters whose powers relate to water in some way and have the initials T.H. (Tier Harribel, Toshiro Hitsugaya). Toshiro and Harribel's clash even occurs while Rangiku faces off with Mila and the rest of Harribel's Amazon Brigade.
    • Szayelaporro is Mayuri's eviler counterpart. Mayuri is an evil Mad Scientist who is motivated For Science!. The reason Szayelaporro is far worse than Mayuri is because he believes science exists solely for him to achieve perfection whereas Mayuri genuinely wants to advance society's knowledge.
    • Byakuya and Zommari are this, sort of. They are both stoic yet Not So Stoic underneath, both of their special abilities involve speed and kidou-based abilities. The difference lies in the 'passion' part of their natures: Zommari represented intoxication and therefore had never learned to reign in excess. Byakuya, however, had learned a long time ago to discipline the excesses within his own personality.
    • Nnoitra and Kenpachi are both sociopathic Blood Knights who are seeking a Worthy Opponent. However, Nnoitra is a hateful, misogynistic Death Seeker whereas Kenpachi doesn't hold grudges, respects his opponents and forms close bonds with those around him.
    • Starrk lampshades he and Kyouraku are counterparts but is proven wrong. Starrk simply wants companionship and friendship, so is honest in battle because he doesn't want to fight. Kyouraku believes fighting means there's been a failure to find alternative solutions, so it's best to end the fight quickly by any means possible.
    • Ichigo and the leader of Xcution, Ginjo, have similar powers and origins, but Ginjo couldn't handle being mistrusted by Soul Society, goes off the rails and begins a process of revenge that harms innocents as well as warriors. Ichigo understood the necessity for Soul Society's monitoring of substitute shinigami and accepted it as part of the responsibility of wearing the uniform. He also keeps a fight personal rather than dragging in innocents and using them as weapons. In Ginjo's case, he demonstrates what Ichigo might have been if their situations had been reversed. One of his dying thoughts even lampshades this, as he wonders if their lives had been reversed, would one have turned out like the other.
    • The Espada and the Sternritter are both Evil Counterparts to the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. They're all basically squad leaders, with the Court Guard Squad Captains leading an organized company of disciplined soldiers while the Espada lead only a group of hand-picked lieutenants and the Sternritter merely having extra pull in an otherwise standardized army. The Espada are an "army" in name only with each individual member basically being in competition with the others. The Sternritter swing to the other extreme and are an army whose leader hates conflict and they are all expected to play their individual parts without question.
      • Speaking of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and the Wandenreich, Yhwach is the Evil Counterpart to Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Captain Commander. He and Yamamoto are both ancient — and very powerful — peerless and strict leaders of military organizations devoted to eliminating Hollows and each other, and in the past, both were equally ruthless and amoral. However, Yamamoto found something worth protecting and thus mellowed out, obeys the law, protects his subordinates and maintains the balance of reincarnation, all the while holding a very short fuse. Yhwach retained his cold, opportunistic pragmatism, and so he marches at his own pace, murders his underlings on the fly and actively disrupts the balance of reincarnation, while maintaining an incredibly passive demeanor through all of it. Yhwach, however, points out they were once no different in terms of their treatment of allies.
    • Bazz-B's relationship and backstory with Yhwach and Haschwalth mirrors the one Renji has with Rukia and Byakuya. Bazz-B is what Renji could have been if Rukia were adopted by someone like Aizen instead of Byakuya. They even have rather similar personilities and tastes in fashion — or rather, Bazz-B thought they did until Renji pushed his Berserk Button.
  • Buso Renkin: As with Kazuki, Victor's life was saved by the power of alchemy only to begin turning into a Walking Wasteland and have his comrades turn against him. Unlike Kazuki, who remains forever hopeful and trusting, Victor was consumed by hatred and vowed to destroy everything touched by alchemy.
  • Much of Season 2 of Cardcaptor Sakura (at least the first third to half) was spent seemingly building up Eriol, Ruby Moon, and Spinel Sun as Evil Counterparts to Sakura, Yue, and Kero, respectively. However, this was all or mostly a sham. Not only is Ruby Moon hardly as dangerous and ruthless as Yue is (usually) described as, at best coming off as merely annoying and hate-worthy, but Spinel Sun is often adorable and harmless, acting more as a bored Greek Chorus to the events. As for Eriol himself...opinions are divided on if he or his actions were "evil", but he's certainly not as different from Sakura as might have been supposed.
  • In one episode of Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran, Ran and Meow are pitted against two female bandits, one a samurai like Ran and the other a martial artist like Meow. Meow is however less than pleased to find out that her counterpart is a dumpy middle-aged woman.
  • A Certain Magical Index:
    • Accelerator is one to Touma Kamijou.
    • Following Accelerator's Heel–Face Turn, Teitoku Kakine became his evil counterpart. Both have won the Superpower Lottery making them far stronger than all of the other espers in the city (even the five other level fives), and both have a tragic past (although Kakine's is never elaborated on). The difference is that, although Accelerator is still a little bit evil, he now refuses to kill innocent people or allow anyone else to do so, while Kakine is willing to kill or torture anybody who gets in his way and doesn't care if he kills bystanders.
    • Accelerator notes that Umidori's personality and fighting style is identical to his prior to his Heel–Face Turn. Which makes sense; she and Saiai both had parts of Accelerator's thought patterns and personality implanted into them as part of a secret experiment aimed at recreating his abilities.
    • Fiamma of the Right is another counterpart to Touma, who even compares their powers and draws attention to their similarities. Both use their Right Hands to shatter something that someone worked desperately to obtain, except Touma uses his to solve the problems around him and Fiamma his own personal problems — selflessness versus selfishness. In their final battle, Touma points out the biggest difference between them: Fiamma observed the world and was disgusted by what he saw, so he wanted to "save the world" by wiping out the human race. Touma observed the world and saw evil people to fight and good people to protect.
    • The author's notes explain that Aureolus Izzard is what Touma would have become if he had failed to save Index.
    • Touma gains yet another evil counterpart in Othinus. Their powers both involve misfortune. Touma doesn't need a reason to help people. Othinus doesn't need a reason to destroy. They later acknowledge that they are the only people who truly understand each other.
    • Ayu Mitsuari is one to Misaki Shokuhou. They both have the same power, but Academy City's management gave Misaki support to perfect it as well as riches and privileges while shunning Ayu. Ayu then tried to be friends with Touma, but Touma became friends with Misaki and as a result did not notice her attempts to contact him. This made Ayu resentful and she attempted to get revenge on Misaki (who didn't know about her until she attacked) and steal her life. She is basically a Misaki who did not get everything handed to her on a silver platter.
  • In Chainsaw Man, most of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse introduced so far have acted as foils to Denji. The Conquest Devil, Makima, also spent her childhood being used as a tool and attack dog by an abusive criminal organization (him by the yakuza and her by a corrupt Japanese government), that like Denji caused her to grow up with a stunted understanding of love and the sort of people she should look for it from. The War Devil, Asa Mitaka/Yoru, started out as an orphan with a Friendless Background before becoming a half-Devil like he did, although rather than being a victim of circumstance like him her struggles were the result of her asocial personality and cynical attitude.
  • In Chiko: Heiress Of The Phantom Thief, the titular Chiko has something of an evil counterpart in Angie, who started off as a sweet happy-go-lucky girl befriended Chiko. She just happened to be the daughter of the head of security of the museum Chiko and her fellow thieves were casing. Chiko willingly betrays her and conducts the theft, leaving her behind. One Wham Episode later, she's stuck on the top of a moving train with an Ax-Crazy Angie trying to drive an axe into her skull. Smooth, Chiko, smooth.
  • Aion in Chrono Crusade is clearly Chrono's evil counterpart; even their time manipulation skills are opposed or complementary in the anime. In the manga their powers don't seem to be quite as related, but instead it takes an alternative path if you think about it — as revealed near the end of the manga, Aion became bent on his path for remaking the world and Pandaemonium when he received visions of Pandaemonium's memories on his coming-of-age day. If Chrono is his twin brother, that means that he probably was lined up to have the ceremony, as well. He never had a chance because of the hubbub Aion caused, but if Chrono had gone first instead of Aion, Chrono probably would've been the one to go crazy, and Aion would've been the "good" twin. The fact that Aion refuses to tell Chrono the truth and says it's "better this way" probably shows that he, himself, is aware of how close Chrono came to being like him.
  • Code Geass has Schneizel vi Britannia, who sometimes seems like a good Counterpart when compared to his Magnificent Bastard of a little brother, Lelouch, a fact mirrored by their color preference in chess.
    • It's possibly a closer match with Charles, Lelouch's father. Once he takes the spotlight, we see that his past and personality are surprisingly similar to Lelouch's, except that Lelouch never reaches the point where he'd marry his buxom subordinate.
      • Speaking of buxom subordinates, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Marianne is Kallen's Evil Counterpart. Both are highly capable insanely hot Action Girl Knightmare Frame pilots that are completely devoted to their Non-Action Guy men. The crucial difference is that Marianne is a Lady Macbeth with no moral compass, while Kallen's moral framework is so strong that she chooses her belief in what's right over the man she loves.
      • According to Word of God, Kallen might have actually done the same thing as Marianne if Lelouch had actually came out and said that he loved her. That's why he doesn't say it — he doesn't want to drag her down with him as he enacts his Thanatos Gambit.
    • The Geass video game introduces twin princes Castor and Pollux, who are more directly Evil Counterparts; like Lelouch, they're amoral Chessmasters with Magical Eye powers, but unlike him, they have absolutely no problem using their Geass to make people their slaves.
    • Mao is another Evil Counterpart to Lelouch. He's not only the same age as Lelouch (even though he looks older than 17), but he also represents what would happen if Lelouch lets his geass drive him mad.
    • The Power Trio of Lelouch, C.C. and Suzaku are opposed by Charles, V.V. and Marianne, who like Suzaku is Cursed with Awesome
    • In spinoff Code Geass Akito The Exiled, this applies from Lelouch to Shin and Akito to Suzaku.
  • Cowboy Bebop:
    • Vicious is Spike's primary Evil Counterpart. They share identical histories as crime syndicate assassins, and once worked together. Spike gave up his killing life after a near-death experience, but Vicious never did, and holds Spike in contempt for betraying his "true nature".
    • Vincent Volaju the Big Bad of The Movie manages to be a greater Evil Counterpart to Spike to the point of it being acknowledged In-Universe. Both are men betrayed by the organisations they worked for, were parted from the women they loved and almost died resulting in both Spike and Vincent seeing themselves as dead and reality as a “waking dream” and this on top of having similar facial and body features and Gun Kata and martial arts prowess. Except Vincent is Spike without any of his good qualities. Where Spike cares for innocents (despite acting otherwise), Vincent is a bioterrorist mass murdering Mad Bomber, where Spike is sauve and dashing with women, Vincent is creepy (giving Faye a Forced Kiss and cutting her top open) and where Spike cares deeply for his friends Vincent executes his associates such as Lee Sampson without a second thought. Even their fates are similar yet different, Spike finally finds his love Julia but she dies when he does, Vincent rediscovers his love Elektra but dies himself when he does. Lampshaded by Spike in the cell scene where he claims to Elektra he and Vincent “share the same soul”.
  • Hei in Darker than Black has a couple of characters who qualify as evil counterparts: There is Wei, a fellow Chinese badass whose psychopathy contrasts with Hei's relative restraint. Like Hei, Wei is also one of the few contractors shown to be capable of emotion, but his are all negative to Hei's positive ones. Another character Nick has the same power as Hei, the same nice guy persona, and has the same goal of finding his dead little sister, but he wants to achieve it through murdering people; Harvest, the Big Bad of the interquel manga has the opposite power to Hei — while Hei's power involves creating material on an atomic level, Harvest's involves destroying it; Mina in Season 2 wears a similar costume/shares similar weaponry to Hei and is also The Stoic, but is also a dark reflection of Kirihara, sharing a similar background of being The Ojou.
  • In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaigaku represents the absolute worst parts of Zenitsu without any of his redeeming qualities. Kaigaku and Zenitsu came from the same walk of life: orphans since birth and street urchins who tried their best to survive early in life. Zenitsu tried to approach other people to belong and feel loved, while Kaigaku approached other people purely for survival and formed no real attachments, and discarding them and move on was always on the table for him. Kaigaku, as the prime Thunder Breathing disciple, wanted to be officially recognized as the sole successor, but only to feed his own ego, self-assured he was the best. In contrast, Zenitsu just wanted to show gratitude towards his master for giving him a place to belong, and the best he hoped for was to fight alongside Kaigaku as an equal. Eventually, their differences placed Kaigaku and Zenitsu worlds apart: the former ends up betraying the Demon Slayer Corps to become a demon; the latter remains firmly loyal to his master and friends by growing into a heroic and powerful demon slayer.
  • Tsubasa in Destiny of the Shrine Maiden is Souma's evil counterpart as well as his older brother.
  • Digimon:
    • Multiple Digimon known for normally being heroic have black Virus Attribute counterparts. There's BlackAgumon, BlackGatomon, Saberdramon (evil Birdramon) — the list goes on. There's also Devimon and LadyDevimon to Angemon and Angewomon in Digimon Adventure. More subtly, Myotismon to Wizardmon.
    • Also 2 of Kurata's minions from Digimon Data SquadKouki to Masaru and Nanami to Touma.
    • Digimon Frontier started with a team of corrupted Legendary Warriors as evil counterparts. Like Takuya, Mercurymon is the de-facto leader of his team. Duskmon was the team's loner, similar to Kouji. Duskmon is also an evil counterpart to Kouichi's spirits due to being a corrupted version of them with Kouichi himself being brainwashed at the time. Grumblemon was the most careful member of the group, similar to Tomoki. Similar to Izumi, Ranamon is the only girl on the team. Arbormon is the strongest and least likely to think things through, similar to Junpei. Takuya and Kouji's Zeta Hybrids also have evil counterparts: Dynasmon to KaiserGreymon and RhodoKnightmon to MagnaGarurumon.
    • The manga Digimon V-Tamer 01 also gives us Neo Saiba to Taichi Yagami, and Arkadimon to UlforceVeedramon.
    • Digimon Adventure: (2020) has Abaddomon Core act as one to Omnimon. Both wield a blade and a cannon and while the former is a world-destroying entity fueled by despair, the other is the Digital World's Hope Bringer. This was a deliberate design choice since most of Omnimon's recent appearances had it face much larger opponents and the animators wanted it to face something more like itself.
    • Digimon Ghost Game has GulusGammamon, whose appearance and abilities are darker versions of BetelGammamon's. He also has an evolution line that acts as a dark mirror to the rest of Gammamon's main evolution line, those only Regulusmon ultimately makes an appearance as a counterpart to Canoweissmon.
  • In Dropkick on My Devil, Poporon is this to Pekola. While Pekola behaves in a manner traditional to stereotypical depictions of angels, Poporon is primarily motivated by self-interest, berating Pekola for speaking her "holier than thou" nonsense quite often.
  • Anemone is this to the titular character of Eureka Seven. Though it turns out she's not so evil after all, at least not by the end of the series.
  • Eyeshield 21
    • Ikkyu Hosokawa. A short, super competitive wide receiver who prides himself on his area of expertise? Who also acts like a total dork around his one-sided crush(es)? Sounds familiar, right Monta?
    • As a group, the Dinosaurs are the evil counterpart to the Deimon Devil-Bats. Both are a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits led by a manipulative captain with a love of offensive plays. The difference is that where the Devil-Bats genuinely enjoy the game, the Dinosaurs are all out to prove something individually, and they don't care who they hurt in the process.
    • Clifford D. Louis of The Pentagram is a pretty obvious Evil Counterpart to Hiruma too. They're both talented poker players and Evil Genius quarterbacks, who love a good challenge. They even both wear #1 jerseys. The only real differences are Hiruma's preference for trick plays, and Clifford's greater speed.
      • Before Clifford arrived, Marco of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs was a slightly less obvious one: he's a Manipulative Bastard to Hiruma's Trickster, and unlike Hiruma, prefers to avoid facing strong teams. At the same time, though, they both favour using any tactics necessary to win, use intelligent plays to compensate for a lack of natural talent, force their way through crippling injuries, and get the very best out of their team.
    • Mr Don is an even worse version of Gaou.
  • Fairy Tail throws this trope at us a few times.
    • Reitei Lyon (an ice mage trained by the same master) is this to Gray, in addition to Rival Turned Evil. He eventually has a Heel–Face Turn and becomes an ally of Fairy Tail.
    • Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, is introduced as this to Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer. Gajeel was antisocial, more brutal, and callous, but after a Heel–Face Turn he becomes Natsu's rival. It should be noted that he is loyal to whichever guild he is in, as seen several times during his career in Fairy Tail.
    • In the Tenrou Island arc, Zancrow of Grimoire Heart is Natsu's, being a psychotic fire mage who can also eat flames like Natsu.
    • Angel of the Oración Seis seems to be a pretty blatant one of Lucy Heartfilia, as they're both Celestial Spirit Mages that possess Golden keys. While Angel is overwhelmingly powerful, Lucy is still relatively naive and relies more on skill. The biggest difference seems to be in the treatment of their spirits: Lucy treasures all of them and treats them well, while Angel is willing to deliberately injure them to achieve victory.
    • Master Jose of Phantom Lord was one for Makarov, before it became painfully apparent that Jose couldn't stand up to him in a fight, and most of his magic was darkness-based, while Makarov's spells (other than his size increase) are light-based. This rivalry stems even from the beginning of both guilds, as stated in Fairy Tail Zero. The next one is Master Hades of Grimoire Heart. In addition to being Precht Gaebolg, the previous guild master of Fairy Tail and Makarov's former mentor, he's the only one in the entire series to have beaten Makarov in a fair fight.
    • For a time they built Bluenote Stinger, Master Hades' dragon, into one for Gildarts Clive, as both are the Ace Mages of Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart respectively.
    • Erza Scarlet has one with Erza Knightwalker. Unlike our Erza, Knightwalker is sadistic, cruel and would kill with a smile. Also, she is the greatest enemy to the Edolas version of Fairy Tail, unlike Scarlet.
    • Sabertooth gives us a lot of ones, as most of their core members are Jerkasses. Sting and Rogue, the Twin Dragon Slayers, for Natsu and Gajeel (especially since they lied about killing their Dragons and looked down on Fairy Tail, with Sting even finding Natsu's fighting for Nakama tendencies "stupid" and even laughing at Lucy being brutally beaten up by Minerva), respectably. Orga, who is the Lightning God Slayer, for Laxus (he is as boisterous and arrogant as Laxus was before his expulsion). And Rufus whose Memory Make magic is creation-based and is a counterpart for Gray (he is pretty full of himself, and Gray loses to him on the first day and beats him on the last day). An unusual one is the Sabertooth guild master, Ziemma, a strength supremacist (who even callously disowns Yukino) who seems to be what Laxus would have turned into had he not been stopped from his takeover attempt by Natsu and Gajeel.
  • Fruits Basket:
    • Akito Sohma to Tohru Honda. Both lost their father at a young age, and had to endure psychological abuse within the family (Tohru from her paternal relatives, Akito from her mother). However, Tohru never let the tragedies in her life get in her head, and remains a cheery and kind girl, while Akito was mentally broken by her mother's abuses and became a hateful and violent woman. Tohru's defining characteristic is that she always lends a hand to people in need, thus causing her to gain friendship and love naturally, while Akito is a controller who expects people to love and worship her, relying on the Zodiac curse to hold the Sohma men hostage to her wiles. Throughout the manga, Tohru steadily gains the respect of the twelve Zodiac members, while, at the same time, Akito loses them one by one, until she is reduced to a sobbing maniac who confronts and threatens Tohru for "taking" everything from her.
    • Ren Sohma to Kyoko Honda. Both married men far higher in social status than they were, who died and left them young widows. Katsuya Honda brought joy to Kyoko's miserable life, while Ren provided solace to Akira Sohma's lonely life. Kyoko was disowned by her parents, and they didn't understand why anyone would want to marry their daughter, while Ren was distrusted by the Sohma retainers, who couldn't exclude her completely because she already became Akira's close friend. What makes them diametrically opposed, however, is their reaction to their husband's death. Both were shattered, but Kyoko eventually sobered up, while Ren never did. Kyoko's insecurity was being unable to become a good mother to Tohru, while Ren, who developed an unhealthy obsession over Akira, abused Akito and preferred her to be raised as a man rather than think Akira loved a woman more than her (even if it's her own daughter). Tohru's loving upbringing by Kyoko enables her to heal people's mental state, while Akito's toxic upbringing by Ren is what leads to the story's massive Dysfunction Junction.
  • In Fullmetal Alchemist, Father is Hohenheim's Evil Counterpart. He's also even weirder than him. Both obtained their near immortality from the same experience, and even Father (then homunculus) named Hohenheim and was his apparent friend for a while. Toward the end, Father becomes more like an evil counterpart to Ed, as his bishonen "God" form looks like young Hohenheim except with Father's cruel eyes, and Father's arrogance and obsession with gaining knowledge at all costs is a dark reflection of Ed's tendency toward Pride.
    • Wrath is an Evil Counterpart of Ling. Both cover Charles Atlas Superpowers and impressive swordsmanship with a front of Obfuscating Stupidity, and Ling's actual Papa Wolf attitude toward his friends and subjects is mirrored in Wrath's pretensions to being A Father to His Men. In reality, he really couldn't give a damn about his subjects. Also, just as Wrath is a human-turned homunculus, Ling gets turned into the second Greed. However, while Wrath lost his human identity in his transformation, Ling manages to maintain his consciousness and serves as The Conscience to Greed, since he willingly gave in. Wrath started life as the 12th candidate for Fuhrer and Ling is the 12th son of the Emperor.
      • King Bradley is also the Evil Counterpart to Roy Mustang. The first names are the biggest clue. They've got kind of a triad of kingship going, there.
    • Kimblee comes across as something of an evil counterpart to Scar. Both have destruction-based powers (which are used to violently destroy people whom they touch, and rely on tattoos) and invoke Light Is Not Good (although Scar is at worst an Anti-Villain). Also, Kimblee "created" Scar, delivering the injury that gave him his nickname and killing his whole family, and more generally the role of Kimblee and other State Alchemists in carrying out genocide against Scar and his people is the motivation for Scar's revenge.
      • To support this argument, look at the scene where Scar is standing on the roof with Kimblee on the ground, with Scar himself pointing how their situations were reversed from in Ishval. Also, Scar moved on past his focus on revenge, while Kimblee's obsession towards completing his job never waned.
      • Scar has another evil counterpart in Bradley, who describes both of them as nameless warriors, and again, you have the perpetrator of genocide versus the victim of genocide.
    • Maes Hughes can claim to have an Evil Counterpart in Shou Tucker, although the two never interacted with each other on-screen. They are both bespectacled men who work for the military and have young daughters who love them, and are both guilty of serious crimes in their professions (Hughes was involved in the Ishvalan Genocide, Tucker used his own wife and daughter as scientific experiments by fusing them with animals, turning them into chimeras). However, Hughes is a genuinely loving Family Man who returns the love his wife and daughter show him (understatement), while Tucker allows his obsession with his job to completely overshadow any love he may have once had for his family. Flashbacks show Hughes looking visibly disturbed by what he saw in Ishval and the genocide he was ordered to carry out, while Tucker shows no remorse for turning his own wife and daughter into chimeras, because he was too selfish to understand that he'd done anything wrong. Tellingly, Hughes' murder is a pivotal moment in the story and has a significant impact on several characters, but nobody was sorry to see Tucker go when he got his brains blown out by Scar. Finally, Hughes' wife and daughter ultimately survive the story's events, while Tucker's actions bring his wife and daughter down with him when his destructive desperation to keep his license gets the attention of the aforementioned Scar.
  • In Full Metal Panic!, Sousuke has had a few of these:
    • There's the Creepy Twins Yu Fan and Yu Lan, who are shown to have been through extremely similar wars and circumstances as Sousuke. Just like Sousuke, they're rather emotionless, extremely loyal to the person that took care of them, and their occupations are very alike. Main difference? Sousuke was adopted by Kalinin and the twins were adopted by Gauron. Funnily enough, Gauron (as elaborated on in the novels) is revealed to have actually tried to take Sousuke when Sousuke was young, but Sousuke refused. 5 years later, and Gauron is still fantasizing and obsessing over "beautiful" Sousuke. If there's anything Sousuke did right when he was young, it was knowing who to accept as his father figure.
    • Gauron himself is quite similar to Sousuke. They're both Almighty Janitor soldiers with little allegiance to anyone except their own desires(at first). While Sousuke develops genuine bonds with other, Gauron is driven by his depraved interest in Sousuke.
    • Zaied from "The Wind Blows at Home" arc is the most obvious of Sousuke's evil counterparts, chillingly demonstrating what a few more years of warfare could have turned him into, playing the Child Soldier tropes that Sousuke parodies entirely straight. Sousuke's repressed, Zaied's emotionless. Sousuke's a Combat Pragmatist, Zaied will do anything to win. Sousuke hates Gauron, Zaied seems to be using him as a reference to get into Amalgam. He even serves as Gauron's guide to the local area, directly mimicking Sousuke's role with the Mitrhil team.
  • Future Card Buddyfight sets Sophia Sakharov up as this to Tasuku as both often use unusual powers to make effects of cards real. Tasuku has the Future Force, which is powered by hope for the future, while Sophia uses the Disaster Force, which is powered by more negative emotions and while it's not evil in itself, most of its users are a rather unpleasant bunch. Hundred gives several other major characters evil counterparts as well. Shido becomes one for Gao and Davide Yamazaki becomes one for Rouga. Noboru, Suzuha, Genma, Jin and Kemura are brainwashed into becoming this to the other main characters affiliated with the Omni Lords.
  • The tragedy of the Count in Gankutsuou centers around Fernand's betrayal of Edmond out of love for Mercedes. Skip forward one generation, and Albert has many of the traits Edmond did (most obviously an amazing ability to attract friends and followers), with Franz as his Fernand and Eugenie as his Mercedes. The difference is that Franz is too loyal to Albert to do anything to harm him and it is due to this that Albert retains his kind heart and life even after all the crap the Count puts Albert through and becomes an All-Loving Hero who saves Edmond Dantes' soul at the end.
  • GaoGaiGar: Each of the 11 Planetary Masters of Sol is an Evil Counterpart for a member of the main GGG crew, even though it's not immediately apparent which is which.
  • The anime Gate Keepers features a Dark Gate Keeper known as "Shadow", who it turns out became embittered with humanity by a family tragedy that he tried (and failed) to avert.
  • This trope appears in Season 2 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. (Warning: major spoilers.)
    • Kuze is really similar to the Major, the series protagonist. They both were the 2 only survivors of a plane crash as children of about the same age who became friends in the hospital until they both got their first cybernetic bodies and lost contact. While the Major became a police officer working for the government, Kuze became a terrorist opposing the state. Both share the same goals of helping and protecting the people from corruption and crime, their only differences being which side of the law they chose to stand on.
  • Girls Bravo: Yukinari and the series' Big Bad, Yukina, share the same problem: they're both allergic to the opposite sex. Coming into physical contact with girls causes Yukinari to literally break out in hives, due to years of being bullied by them. Yukina's is due to an unknown skin condition, compounded by her fear of rejection, because she believes no man would ever find her attractive. When they finally meet, Yukinari tells Yukina that she's cute, despite what she thinks and endures her attacks until he's close enough to finally embrace her. Which is when she discovers he's the only male who doesn't trigger her allergy. The same couldn't be said for Yukinari.
  • Gundam SEED has Rau Le Creuset, the true Big Bad, who actually manages to be the Evil Counterpart to three characters. As a cold-blooded subversion of The Mentor, he's a counterpart to his archenemy, Big Brother Mentor Mu La Flaga (whose father he is cloned from). He also, however, is the counterpart to Born Winner and fellow science experiment, Kira Yamato, demonstrating how badly the kid could have turned out if he hadn't had decent parents. Finally, he's the philosophical opposite of Lacus Clyne, preaching a gospel of nihilism, misanthropy and Omnicidal Mania in contrast to her Technical Pacifism and humanism.
    • The Evil Counterpart trope doesn't just apply to characters; the Archangel, the cool battleship of the main characters, gets an Evil Counterpart in the Dominion which is identical to Archangel in every way except for one: it's black instead of white.
  • Gundam Wing is none too subtle in setting up the Epyon to be Wing Zero's evil counterpart. Wing Zero's back mounted thrusters make it resemble an angel (made ridiculously blatant by the Wing Zero Custom), whilst the Epyon resembles a devil and a dragon while transformed. The 2 suits are similar in their construction: they both can transform into a jet mode, and they both contain a version of the extremely powerful and dangerous ZERO System. However, they are also opposites: Wing Zero has a super-powerful gun, Epyon has a super-powerful sword. Also, the two ZERO Systems are hinted to work in different ways, with Wing's "showing you the future", and Epyon's "showing you your death".
    • Interestingly though, the On the Next narration for Epyon's introduction episode says it's evil "just like Zero"; presumably this refers to the ZERO System rather than Wing Zero itself.
      • It was under the influence of ZERO that Quatre went Ax-Crazy. Wu Fei, on the other hand, just used it for a vision quest.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans: Both seasons have one for Mikazuki Augus.
    • Like Mikazuki, Ein Dalton was born into humble origins on Mars and is intensely loyal to his superiors and comrades. And like Mikazuki, Ein would eventually give up his humanity using the Alaya Vijnana system to sync with his mobile suit and accomplish his goals.
    • Julieta Juris is the Ace Pilot of the Arianrhod Fleet, who like Mikazuki came from humble origins, has a strong loyalty to her superior and prefers melee combat in battle. Julieta even remarks at one point that the only difference between them is that she managed to grow up in a privileged position.
  • Haruhi Suzumiya:
    • In the later novels, the whole SOS-Brigade is revealed to have an Evil Counterpart group, the Anti-SOS Brigade—alien interface, esper, time traveler, and "god" (whose powers had for some reason transferred to Haruhi). The only one not represented in this dysfunctional group is Kyon, who they try to win over in the latest novel.
    • Sasaki to Haruhi, in that she's the god analogue, but also to Kyon in that she's pretty much just a normal person being dragged along for the ride. Her philosophical ramblings have a lot in common with Koizumi, as well.
    • Kyoko Tachibana to Itsuki Koizumi, as an esper. But in personality she more resembles Mikuru, being gentle, kind, and having no idea what is really going on.
    • Kuyo Sou to Yuki. Unlike the other members of her team, she's a straight parallel with only one counterpart. She's pretty much Yuki but without any of her positive qualities and with all of her negative traits taken up to eleven. She can also be considered an eviler counterpart to Ryoko Asakura and Emiri Kimidori.
    • Fujiwara to Mikuru as an evil time traveler, but he also closely resembles Koizumi in appearance and action; Kyon himself describes him as literally an "evil Koizumi". He even has some elements of Kyon, being detached from the rest of his group, yet also something of The Leader.
    • However, not all of them are evil, they just have opposing goals. Kyouko seems to have bitten off more than she can chew, Kuyou is much more ambiguous but seems to run on Blue-and-Orange Morality, and Sasaki is actually not evil at all, and is secretly on Kyon's side, but Fujiwara is the Big Bad who goes completely insane and tries to kill Haruhi in order to remake the timeline in his own image. He also claims to be related to his counterpart, but we don't know if that's true or not.
    • Also, Ryoko Asakura for Yuki Nagato, as both are humanoid interfaces but Ryoko tries to kill Kyon just to provoke a reaction from Haruhi. Kyon outright calls her Yuki’s shadow after being stabbed by her, and in the 10th novel, she says she will exist as long as Yuki does.
  • The Dark Precure in HeartCatch Pretty Cure! is this for Cure Moonlight.
  • Hellsing: Alucard's counterparts in Iscariot and Millennium are father Alexander Anderson and the Captain.
  • In I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss, Lilia Reinrose is a reincarnated girl just like Aileen D'Autriche. Originally, Lilia was the heroine of Regalia of Saints, Demons, and Maidens and the Holy Sword Maiden and Aileen the cruel villainess who threatened her and had her engagement cancelled and died horribly afterwards. However, Media Transmigration reversed the roles, turning Lilia into the villainess. Unlike Aileen, who even after having her engagement broken is just content to live through her situation and only uses her knowledge to steer herself away from danger (such as falling in love with Demon Lord Claude), Lilia uses her knowledge to exploit and manipulate others into giving her everything she wants, going as far as trying to ruin Aileen's life just to get her harem ending. She was even able to corrupt the heroine of the sequel game by exploiting the latter's admiration for her as the Holy Sword Maiden.
  • Inuyasha:
    • This is the Big Bad's motivation. Naraku seems to hate Inuyasha specifically due to their similarities: they have the same half-demon nature, causing loneliness to both, but Inuyasha forms bonds to soothe his loneliness, while Naraku destroys the bonds of other people to make himself feel better. Naraku's frustration over this is the reason why he never really does anything but try to power himself up or ruin Inuyasha's life (symbolically destroying his own half-breed nature). Inuyasha also points to this as the reason Naraku particularly disgusts him before their Final Battle.
    • Kikyo has an evil counterpart in the black priestess Tsubaki.
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple has several examples, both among the teen fighters and the master-class warriors.
    • One of the earliest examples is an Evil Counterpart for Kenichi — Odin, the First Fist of Ragnarok otherwise known as Ryuto Asamiya. They were inspired by the same childhood incident (seeing a then-5-year-old Miu beating up adult thugs all by herself), but while Kenichi was motivated to fight for justice (something he wouldn't remember until years later in the present day), Odin was motivated to gain power. Shortly after the aforementioned incident, the two had a fight for a yin-yang pin Miu had given Kenichi in exchange for a cat pin she wanted; Kenichi won the fight, but then offered the pin to Ryuto anyway and suggested to pretend that Ryuto had won — which only wound up offending Ryuto's pride and sparked his Start of Darkness.
    • Natsu Tanimoto, a.k.a. Hermit the Sixth Fist of Ragnarok, had a brief Evil Counterpart in Berserker, the Second Fist, after Tanimoto defected from Ragnarok; while Tanimoto advocated hard work and training, Berserker was a naturally-gifted fighter with no formal training who could nevertheless give Tanimoto a sound thrashing during their clash. (It's played with, however, in that Tanimoto went through the Heel–Face Revolving Door for a time.)
    • Kisara Nanjo was originally touted as an Evil Counterpart to Miu back when she was Ragnarok's Eighth Fist, Valkyrie. Following her Heel–Face Turn, she got her own Evil Counterpart in Freya, the Third Fist, because she used to be one of Freya's underlings and also concerning their differing views on the use of weapons (Kisara, while not begrudging Freya for using weapons, simply didn't feel she herself should resort to weapons in order to stand alongside men as a fighter); eventually though, Freya had her own Heel–Face Turn and the two remain friends.
    • Since Yami is the organizational Evil Counterpart to Ryozanpaku, by default the members of YOMI (all disciples of the One Shadow Nine Fist members of Yami) become Evil Counterparts to Kenichi. One of the more notable counterparts in this regard would be Sho Kanou; both he and Kenichi were motivated by affection for Miu and Kanou even pulled a Redemption Equals Death because of her. As well, Kajima Satomi (the disciple of the One Shadow) is shown to be this for Kenichi as well, as it's revealed that, like Kenichi, he had no talent for fighting when he first started training, and both of them trained under multiple masters including each of them having a Furinji as a mentor.
    • The earliest master-class example would be Kensei Ma's older brother Sougetsu Ma — both men are well-known fighters from China, but Sougetsu is considered a disgrace on the family name due to his embracing of the killing-fist philosophy and his turning to crime. And now Sougetsu is a member of the Nine Fists, making him an even greater counterpart to Kensei.
    • Two members of the One Shadow Nine Fists group are Evil Counterparts for two members of Ryozanpaku — "God Fist" Akira Hongo for Sakaki Shio and Agaard Jum Sai for Apachai Hopachai. In both cases they're childhood friends of their respective good counterparts and fighting partners who turned to the dark side. However, in Agaard's case, he turned to the killing-fist philosophy out of pure instinct, a fact Apachai understands and respects, while Sakaki's and Hongo's differing philosophies came out of the same incident that tore apart their comradeship — the death of their mutual friend at Hongo's hand during a fight to apply for a position with Yami, which prompted Sakaki to utterly reject the killing-fist philosophy. Both Nine Fists members are an interesting case, however, in that Agaard is an Affably Evil Friendly Enemy and Hongo is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who will Pet the Dog occasionally and has high moral footing.
    • Yet another master-class example: Alexander Gaidar, the One Shadow Nine Fists' resident Command Sambo master, is an Evil Counterpart to Ryozanpaku's judo master Akisame Koetsuji where appreciation of artwork is concerned. Both men are extremely talented sculptors, and are capable of making impressive pieces of artwork out of the steel and stone of their surroundings even while they're fighting each other.
    • The One Shadow himself is presented as an Evil Counterpart to three different people on different levels: to his father Hayato Furinji, since they're respectively the leaders of Yami and Ryouzanpaku; to his former best friend Koetsuji, since both are skilled in combat and medicinal applications; and quite possibly to Kenichi, who wears Saiga's former arm-guards and represents the kind of character Saiga used to have before his Face–Heel Turn, whereas Saiga represents what Kenichi could potentially become if he had a Face–Heel Turn for the sake of a loved one. It's rather muddied, though, as while Saiga is one of Yami's leaders, he's eventually proven to be Good All Along.
  • Back when Kinnikuman was a superhero, Kinkotsuman was introduced as his villainous counterpart; He was just as bad at what he did as Kinnikuman was. Unlike Kinnikuman, he was unable to eventually find a more fitting profession and slowly became less prominent as more serious villains started showing up.
  • In Lovesickness, the main character strives to be the good counterpart to the "Intersection Pretty Boy", a mysterious guy dressed in black spreading curses among girls asking him hints about their love life. Upon failure, it's mentioned he has evolved into another Intersection Pretty Boy, this time a good one, able to spread blessings and good wills, thus finally opposing his enemy at his own level.
  • My Hero Academia:
    • All for One to All Might. While All Might is The Cape, an All-Loving Hero, and the most respected and revered hero in the world, being known as the Symbol of Peace, his Arch-Enemy All for One is a Obviously Evil Card-Carrying Villain and a rallying figure for the world's evildoers, having founded the League of Villains. Their character designs and roles in the story even form a pointed contrast with each other, as All Might is a Primary-Color Champion and the Big Good, while All for One is a walking, talking example of Dark Is Evil and the Greater-Scope Villain.
    • Tomura Shigaraki is also this to Midoriya, being All for One's prized protégé as Midoriya is to All Might. Both of them display angst and insecurity about living up to their mentors and filling their shoes, and their respective journeys to become the greatest hero and villain in the world often mirror each other. However, while Midoriya is a Determinator who reacts to his setbacks with a patient resolve to improve himself, Shigaraki is a Psychopathic Manchild who reacts to the same by throwing temper tantrums. Finally, Shigaraki's relationship with All for One is often directly and explicitly contrasted with Midoriya's relationship with All Might.
  • Magic Knight Rayearth's second season of the anime gives us Nova, who is this to Hikaru, as she has the same spells that Hikaru does, and is just as determined and childish, yet where Hikaru is kind and compassionate, Nova is a sadistic psychopath.
  • Truly explored in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable, where Nanoha, Fate and Hayate have Evil Twin counterparts for themselves. Stern the Destructor a.k.a. Material-S, Levi the Slasher a.k.a. Material-L, "Lord" Dearche a.k.a. Material-D. However, all of them turn out to be Anti Villains in the second game.
  • Maken-ki!: Otohime Yamato is all but Kodama Himegami's evil twin:
    • They're both semi-flatchested and are all sensitive about their breasts because of it, both have mega twintails, and dress in gothic lolita fashion. They also greatly admired their respective brothers.
    • More importantly, neither one is human. Himegami is actually what's left of the original's Element, in metaphysical form. Likewise, Otohime is really a clone created by Takeru Yamato. Making it a justified example, since he modeled Otohime after Himegami, because she's his niece.
  • Medaka Box: Besides obvious parallels between the protagonist, Kumagawa is also a dark mirror of Zenkichi, sharing similar traits while sitll appearing to be complete opposites. While Zenkichi is a tsundere, Kumagawa is a compulsive liar. Similarly, they're both attached to some of the most powerful figures in the story; Zenkichi to Medaka, Kumagawa to Ajimu. While Zenkichi doesn't think much his abilities, Kumagawa claims to be epitome of weakness, yet both are some of the most determined people in the series.
  • In Naruto, practically every antagonist has some quality that represents how one of the good guys could have gone horribly wrong.
    • Gaara is the titular character's evil counterpart, as a boy who spent his childhood tormented by the demon inside him and abused by those around him. As if to drive the point in further, he's the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage; Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage. He represents what Naruto would have become if not for his True Companions. After meeting Naruto, however, he mellows out and pulls a Heel–Face Turn.
    • Kabuto too, in an inversion. Like Naruto, he was an orphan from a young age (plus he even forgot his birth name), and was adopted by a medic-nin who treated him with care, mirroring Naruto's relationship with Iruka; but after Danzo scouted him as a spy for ROOT and set him and his mother figure to kill each other, Kabuto became a willing subrodinate for Orochimaru, who encouraged Kabuto to use his abilities for the Sannin's plans, and Kabuto in neither case cared about the evil intentions of his employeer; while Naruto wanted to become a Hokage to gain the respect and protect other people. Also, Kabuto was seen as a failure like Naruto in some ways (he flunked the Chunnin exams seven times while Naruto graduated dead-last as a ninja); but Naruto acted like a class clown to compensate for his feelings of sadness and isolation, while Kabuto failed the exams on purpose to gather info for Orochimaru. Naruto was a genuine cheerful and friendly person (if dumb and boisterous), and his mentors and friends greatly influenced his path; but Kabuto has had a lot of false personas and he can be cruel and vindictive behind his introvertedness and politeness, and he was entirely defined by the intentions of his superiors. Thus, realizing that Naruto is practically a good counterpart to himself, decides to take on Orochimaru's cells to mimic being a Jinchuriki like Naruto. He also undergoes training under the White Snake Sage to become a Sage just like Naruto. But even if he did this on his own volition, he still aims to craft a "perfect" persona while denying who he truly is.
    • Jirobo of Sound Five is one to Choji. Both of them are the Big Guy of their respective groups and both considered being called fat as a Berserk Button.
    • Nagato is also an evil counterpart to Naruto, especially since he's an Uzumaki. Both were mentored by Jiraiya at different points in in time and were thought as the child of prophecy, and ended becoming leaders of their respective villages and genuinely loved them. He plays Dark Messiah to Naruto's Christ figure because he wanted to destroy the world out of the pain he suffered, while Naruto never let his inner hatred overtake his dream of becoming Hokage and managed to save the world.
    • Nagato also this to Minato. Both of them were Jiraiya's student with rare Story Breaker Powers whose best showing involves curb stomping a big shinobi army, both were assumed to be the child of prophecy, both became leader of their respective villages and genuinely loved them. The only difference was Nagato's willingness to cross any line to save his village and having a wider worldview, beyond a single village.
    • Funnily enough, Nagato is one to Kushina Uzumaki as well, making him this trope for the entire family. Like Kushina, he was an Uzumaki displaced by the destruction of their village. They both possessed exceptional chakra and were given rare powers that are associated with the legendary Rikudou Sennin with the purpose of using them as tools for somebody else's work. While Kushina found love and respect from everyone in Konoha, turning her into an idealist, Nagato faced constant warfare and death, becoming a cynic. They even died during separate invasions of Konoha, Kushina pulling a Heroic Sacrifice; Nagato pulling a Redemption Equals Death sacrifice.
    • Konan is one to Sakura, as a result of what Sakura could have become if she went down a darker path. They were both part of a team of three in their younger years and and both of them lost a friend/love interest in their respective teams; in Sakura’s case, Sasuke defected from Team 7, while Konan lost Yahiko via killing himself.
    • And now there's Obito, who is another one to Naruto, since he was explicitly compared to Naruto earlier in the story. Obito bears a dozen similarities to Naruto: he has an uncanny resemblance to Naruto, he has the same dream of becoming Hokage as Naruto, the same one-sided crush on their female teammate (Obito with Rin, Naruto with Sakura), and the same jealousy for the "cool guy" of the team. And over time he becomes the mask wearing villain Tobi, who would've killed a minute old baby (Naruto, coincidentally the son of his sensei) and sic a massive demonic fox on a woman weakened from pregnancy if he wasn't stopped. Ouch. And the parallels just keep on mounting with Obito becoming a Jinchuriki and being revealed that he is also an orphan who never met his parents. Obito sees all these similarities and tries his best to break Naruto's spirit after Neji's death, like his spirit was broken when Rin died. But Naruto brings Obito back to the light through the connection they have.
    • Obito is also an evil counterpart to Kakashi, who went through the same horrific childhood as Obito but ended up making an entirely different choice. Kakashi even openly acknowledges he might have chosen a similar path if not for — oh the ironyObito's own words.
    • Madara is this to Itachi, as both were prodigious Uchiha ninja that cared for their brothers over everything else and survived a ninja holocaust. While Itachi became a pacifist, Madara became a warmongerer.
    • Madara also one to his former friend Hashirama. Both of them were best friends turned enemies, they’re both the founders of the Hidden Leaf Village, they were both considered to be the most powerful Shinobi of all time and, like Naruto and Sasuke, they are both the reincarnations of Asura and Indra respectively. However, while Hashirama wanted to bring peace to the Shinobi world by stopping the other clans from fighting each other, Madara's version of peace is by activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi and ruling the Shinobi world as a god. This is due to the fact that Madara went mad after reading the Uchiha stone tablet, betraying Hashirama and becoming sworn enemies with him.
    • And of course Sasuke to Naruto. Both of them lost their parents and grew up alone, but the differences balance the similarities: Naruto was a noisy outcast and was disliked and mocked by the village (mainly due to having the Demon Fox inside him) while Sasuke was adored and in sympathy from the village for losing his clan. But ultimately Naruto saved the village and won their respect and care. Sasuke, on the other hand, did his best to destroy the village to try to avenge his bother and clan (despite Itachi wanting the opposite). Naruto started off as an embarrassing trouble maker and then became the greatest Hokage in ages; Sasuke was a prodigy adored by almost everybody around him and then became one of the greatest threats and disappointments for the Village. Sasuke is now a bit of an outcast in Konohagakure similar to how Naruto was at the start of the series.
    • Danzo to his contemporary Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen saw the ninja of Konoha as his family, while Danzo saw them as soldiers. Hiruzen was also a very genuine person, gaining strength from hard work and forging relationships through understanding, while Danzo has artificial upgrades and manipulates people into giving him what he wants.
    • In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Toneri Otsutsuki is one to both Naruto and Hinata:
      • Both he and Naruto grew up in isolation and thought about hurting the ones who caused it or somehow made it worse. However, while Naruto managed to learn forgiveness, Toneri never did before it was too late. Naruto is quite humble and is now an experienced shinobi; Toneri is very naive and has a huge ego.
      • Hinata is a selfless, kind person—when she thought that Naruto fell in love with someone else, and while she was quite heartbroken, she quietly wished him happiness and decided to stop pursuing him. In conrtrast, Toneri is a self-centered, cruel being—when he discovered that Hinata was still deeply in love with Naruto, he tried to force her to forget about him by turning her into his puppet.
    • In Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Momoshiki Otsutsuki is one to Boruto Uzumaki. Like him, he thinks that hard work is for fools and if one simply attains power easily, what more is needed? The major difference is Boruto learns to appreciate the nature and benefits of hard work and abandons this mindset, ultimately becoming a better person in the end; Momoshiki sticks with his mindset and it ultimately gets him killed.
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
    • Setsuna has one in Tsukuyomi, the mad Shinmeiryuu swordswoman to match Setsuna in every major battle. Unlike Setsuna, Tsukuyomi is bloodthirsty, direct and wins by any means necessary. Setsuna is quiet, humble and rarely fights for anything other than her charge, Konoka. Plus they're both lesbians, but Setsuna iss innocent and taciturn, while Tsukuyomi likes to speak in Double Entendre and Subtext and is willing to do anything at all, at anytime she can (ironically, to Setsuna herself).
    • Kotaro seemed to be an one to Negi during the Kyoto arc, although he has since done a Heel–Face Turn and become The Rival.
    • In the Magic World arc, Big Bad Fate Averruncus appears to be one to Negi, as each is a cute boy with a group of female partners backing them up.
    • Fate's entire team is made up of Evil Counterparts, some obvious and some not. Anya's mirror is an Emotionless Girl who looks quite similar to Anya and likes the same element. Yue and Nodoka's opposites are the panty-less Emotionless Girl and the panther girl, respectively, although the only similarity between Nodoka and panther seems to be hair color and they hang out with their version of Yue. Haruna is vaguely connected to the girl with the lute, in that they are both artists (music vs drawing). Finally, as stated above, Fate is Negi's opposite. They both have female followers.
  • In One-Punch Man, Saitama has two Evil Counterparts who, coincidentally, are the only two characters who've given him a decent fight as Worthy Opponents and survived to one of his punches.
    • The first is Boros. Both he and Saitama have a ridiculously high amount of power to the point where they can both lazily kill anyone with strength alone, but ironically both Saitama and Boros are actually bored stiff directly because of their ludicrous might. However, unlike Saitama, Boros destroyed his own planet and many others trying find someone who can match him, while Saitama never hurts Earth despite having the power to do so. This also becomes a case of Be Careful What You Wish For, as Boros is delighted to meet Saitama, but gets utterly destroyed as a result.
    • The second is "Human Monster" Garou. Both he and Saitama had unpleasant childhoods, being bullied and treated as social outcasts in school (as extra manga chapters reveal); also, both Saitama and Garou sought to become stronger as a result of feeling weak. When they obtained their power, however, their paths diverged: Saitama became a hero who, despite being underappreciated, still believes in The Cape (and is marginally better than several higher-ranked, more popular heroes); Garou became an Ax-Crazy villain who throws his power around just because he can, which greatly contrasts to Saitama, who never picks fights and only retaliates to those who mean harm. Garou's growing strength is also antithetical compared to Saitama, as Garou "evolves" throughout the series after many embarrassing defeats until he goes One-Winged Angel, while Saitama has his unimaginable strength stay the same and yet is still seen as a weakling by most people. Ultimately, Garou is an interesting example, as he never actually kills the heroes he fights, and he wants to become a monster who symbolizes an absolute existence of fear to all — as opposed to a murderer like the Monster Association, which he disagrees with even after they show interest on him and try to recruit him into their ranks — in order to end biased justice and unite everyone against him, as he felt — based on TV shows he watched and being bullied when playing hero vs. villain as a child — that only popular heroes were allowed to win. In the webcomic, Saitama himself notes Garou wanted to be a hero but took the easy way of a monster, yet he points that it's easy because he lacks confidence and that it's a half-assed objective after all, compared to Saitama's serious hero hobby.
      • Garou technically pulls double-duty being the student of Old Master Bang, making him his Evil Counterpart too, moreso because —as revealed in the manga— Bang in his youth was just as violent as Garou, drowning in his talent with martial arts (especially his Explosion Release Fist) and using his power to enjoy himself; however, after Bomb defeated him, he understood his brother had no killing intent unlike him, so he humbled himself, sealed his Explosion Release Fist, and developed the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Thus, when Garou starts his rampage (using both martial arts, no less), he sets to stop his student as a personal duty of setting him in the right path again. Interestingly, both were negatively influcenced by the world of heroes; Garou wanting to become a monster to unite humanity against him and promote world peace (though he unwittingly wanted to be a hero), and Bang focusing too much on his hero work that he neglected his students and (as he sees it) lost them as punishment.
    • The aforementioned Monster Association is this to the Hero Association as a whole. The organization built itself as an answer to the Hero Association after all, taking on the same principle of gathering and organizing themselves to become a better force against their enemy (in their case, the heroes). The MA freely retake the threat levels the Hero Association has made for themselves, dividing their ranks according to their strength. Finally, their lair is a multi-layered Elaborate Underground Base while the Heroes' HQ is a humongous fortified tower. Additionally, most of their prominent members serve as indivdual Foils and Evil Counterparts to some heroes (Gums for Pig God, Do-S for Fubuki, Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame for Flashy Flash, etc; see their character page for more details).
  • Overlord (2012): While on a girls-only meeting, Aura summons a bicorn (an armored two-horned Evil Counterpart to the unicorn) for Albedo to use as a mount. Albedo gets on it.... and the beast starts shivering and refuses to move. Shalltear pulls out a Monster Compendium, which reveals that since unicorns only accept virgins as riders, bicorns won't. Shalltear mocks Albedo for her Unexpected Virgin status, but seeing as she also qualifies, it doesn't last long.
  • The title character of Panpaka Pants is a piglet clad only in underwear who enjoys going on adventures that revolve around discovering rare underwear alongside his cat Punyan. They have evil counterparts in Black Panpaka and his cat Croli, who are theives bent on stealing underwear in addition to seeing Panpaka and Punyan as rivals.
  • The main characters of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt have ones in the demons Scanty and Kneesocks. Unlike the hedonistic Chaotic Neutral protagonists concerned either with sex and sweets, the demons are strictly Lawful Evil, obsessed with Rrrrrrrrrules and evil schemes. Their Team Pet Chuck even gets one with Fastener, who's much less of a Butt-Monkey.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Paul is this to Ash more than any other rival character. Ash is kind, helps others, respects his opponents, sees the true potential in all Pokémon, and travels with True Companions, also treating his Pokémon as such. Paul is mean, out for himself, mocks those he beats as "weak" (including Maylene), tosses away Pokémon who don't immediately measure up, travels alone, and puts his Pokemon through Training from Hell. Even Team Rocket find his methods terrible. This is also prominent in the two's frequent clashes; Ash, for all his reliance on The Power of Friendship, comes up short against Paul's more brutal tactics, relying on many Batman Gambits that turned Ash's own strategy against him. Further still is the two's clashes with Pyramid King Brandon—Ash beat him (though it took three times), but Paul didn't even land a scratch on him and got subject to a Curbstomp Battle.
    • Damian was also this to Ash, and in some ways was a lot worse than Paul. Paul was at least upfront about his jerkassery. Damian manipulated Charmander and was even willing to let it die. Ash, however, respected his Pokémon and was always willing to respect their choices.
    • Shamus is essentially a clone of Paul, but is just as bad as Damian. Ash sees Pokémon as friends and worthy of respect, while Shamus only cares about Pokémon in regards of power and abandons them when they don't meet his expectations.
    • Jessie of Team Rocket has many similarities with Misty. Both of them are Fiery Redheads known for their hot-tempered streak, both have accidentally obtained a silly Pokémon whom they have a turbulent relationship with (Psyduck to Misty, Wobbuffet to Jessie), and both specialize in certain types; Misty is a fan of Water types while Jessie is fond of Poison types. Jessie also shared May, Dawn, and Serena's passion for Pokémon coordinating and performing, as she served as a rival to them in Contests and Showcases. Additionally, she likewise has an Eviler Counterpart in James's ex-fiancée Jessebelle, who looks the same as her only with a different hairstyle and voice.
  • Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Oriko and Kirika are either Evil or Extreme Counterpart to Madoka and Homura, respectively. Both Madoka and Oriko have an angelic magical appearance, and both aim to Save the World. Homura can stop time, Kirika can slow down time. Homura will do anything to save Madoka, Kirika will do anything including mass murder for Oriko's vision. Homura's and Kirika's obsession has to do with Madoka and Oriko, respectively, being nice to them.
  • Rave Master:
    • Lucia Raregroove, the second leader of Demon Card, is the Evil Counterpart of main protagonist Haru Glory, as the former aims to use the Dark Brings (especially Sinclair and Endless) to bring the end of the world, while the latter has to harness the Rave stones to stop this. Lucia even wields Decalogue, an Evil Knockoff of Haru's Ten Commandments which has dark versions of all its forms (barring Amelia for Ravelt).
    • This is a fate not unlike the one suffered by their fathers before them. Gale "King" Raregroove and Gale Glory were friends and even founded Demon Card together, but after a fallout, King became the sole leader of Demon Card (repurpossed as a terrorist group), and his son Lucia ended in jail by-proxy and his wife dead; while Gale Glory set to try stopping him even if it meant abandoning his wife Sakura and children Haru and Catleya to do so.
  • In Reborn! (2004), the members of the Varia are meant to be tailored as Evil Counterparts to the Vongola Family. Xanxus is Tsuna's counterpart, as both have similar Dying Will Flames and both are competing for the same position as the boss. The only one that is somewhat unclear is the Evil Counterpart to Mukuro — Mammon. Especially since Mammon is mainly motivated by money and isn't nearly as cynical or scary.
  • Rebuild World: The story introduces Reina and her servants Shiori and Kanae as a Freudian Trio with the two servant sisters being Red Oni, Blue Oni. Eventually Reina’s rival Chloe is introduced with her two servants Lattice and Pamela, from a more privileged faction of their family. Reina started the story filled with Pride but underwent a Break the Haughty arc to make her a Humble Hero, while Chloe is a straight up Entitled Bitch, and Reina’s Shadow Archetype, while both are the Ego of their trio. Lattice is a straight up evil counterpart to Shiori, both are a Consummate Professional with Undying Loyalty, serving as the Superego and Blue Oni. While Pamela is a straight up evil counterpart to Kanae, both are an unprofessional Blood Knight representing the Id and Red Oni.
  • Souji Mikage is one to Utena herself in Revolutionary Girl Utena: both are duelists despite not being on the Student Council, both duel with sabers, and both fight for the sake of a loved one: Mamiya in Souji's case, and Anthy in Utena's.
  • Rosario + Vampire has a few examples:
    • Kiria Yoshi is one to Moka. Both got close to a human who accidentally entered the Academy. Both turned them into something no longer human. However, while Moka comes to see that there's a chance for humans and monsters to live in peace, Kiria doesn't.
    • Hokuto Kaneshiro is also one to Tsukune. Both were humans that accidentally enrolled in Yokai Academy. However, instead of getting an Unwanted Harem, the only friend Hokuto made was Kiria, who made him what he is now. After being defeated, Hokuto helps Tsukune and Moka stop his own plan, because he decides Tsukune had proved himself the better of the two.
    • Gyokuro Shuzen to Akasha Bloodriver. They're both powerful and beautiful female vampires who were in a relationship with a powerful Vampire Monarch, but where Akasha is kind and selfless, Gyokuro is cruel and selfish to the point where she'd throw her own children to the wolves over a petty grudge.
  • Rurouni Kenshin has a few of these:
    • Shishio Makoto is one to Kenshin. Whereas Kenshin wants a peaceful Japan in which war will no longer be necessary, Shishio, the man who replaced him as hitokiri is The Social Darwinist and wants to create a Japan that is a proud warrior race. Also, while Kenshin has neat "X" Marks the Hero scars, Shishio was badly burned and wraps himself in bandages.
    • Shishio's follower Soujirou Seta is also one to Kenshin. Kenshin endured a sad childhood and was orphaned before being adopted by a master who trained him in swordsmanship. Personality-wise, Kenshin didn't start out all that happy but eventually took on a cheerful Obfuscating Stupidity. As a dark mirror to Kenshin, Soujirou grew up in an abusive family and found an Evil Mentor in Shishio, who gave him the encouragement to become a Self-Made Orphan. In terms of personality, Soujirou has a more extreme version of Kenshin's forced cheerfuless, being a Stepford Smiler who is incapable of showing (and to an extent feeling) any emotion.
    • To complement this, Shishio serves as one for Kenshin's master Hiko Seijuro. Both are powerful and influential mentors who inspire ideologies in their pupils. While they're both hardened in some way, Hiko holds some optimism towards Kenshin's path. Shishio, while he does care about him, brainwashes Sojiro into his ideology. Hiko comically abuses Kenshin but respects his pupil's decisions.
    • Sanosuke has evil counterparts in Cho, one of Shishio's men, and later, Banjin, a follower of Enishi. Both of these characters have dress and hair styles clearly similar to Sanosuke's, and while Sanosuke is a Boisterous Bruiser with a code, Cho and Banjin take a love of fighting to Blood Knight levels and have no real morals.
      • Monk Anji is also one of Sanosuke. They're both fist-fighters who suffered the loss of their loved ones; Sanosuke with Captain Sagara and Anji with all of his adoptive children. To deal with this pain, they turned to violence. When they meet Kenshin and Shishio respectively, the dynamic is also reflected. Sanosuke, while vitriolic to Kenshin, trusts him completely. Anji is merely siding with Shishio for his own reasons.
      • Earlier then that, there's Shikijou. Like Sano, he enjoys fighting and has immense loyalty to the one who defeated him (Aoshi), but the depths to which he's willing to go for strength disgusts Sano (this is played up more in the manga).
    • Usui is one for Saitou. They're both stabbing specialists, and compared to the leaders of their factions (Shishio and Kenshin), they are relatively indifferent. Saitou merely wants to take out Shishio because "he happens to be on the opposite side". Usui cares only about boosting his ego. Saitou's rivalry with Kenshin is a mirror of Usui's relationship with Shishio. However, Kenshin and Saito are mutual rivals, while Usui is chasing after Shishio. While both are consumed by their rivalry, only Usui allows it to define himself and mask his own insecurities. Usui shows what Saitou could've become if he lost his code and only focused on the past.
    • Enishi Yukishiro, mentioned above, is an Evil Counterpart to Kenshin on an even more personal level than Shishio. Both he and Kenshin received lasting physical marks from the same incident (the accidental death of Tomoe, Kenshin's wife and Enishi's sister, at Kenshin's hand) — Kenshin got the second part of his famous cross-scar while Enishi's hair and eyes turned white and turqoise respectively out of shock and pain. However, while that same incident motivated Kenshin's future Thou Shalt Not Kill and The Atoner mentality, Enishi turned Ax-Crazy and bent on revenge. To further the counterpart theme, their animal motifs are traditional opposites (Kenshin's fighting style is reminiscent of the dragon, while Enishi's is akin to the tiger) and Enishi's Watou-jutsu sword techniques are coincidentally perfectly able to counter Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi techniques.
    • From early in the series we have Udo Jine, who was a hitokiri during the Bakumatsu like Kenshin. Unlike Kenshin though, Jine is an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight that could not give up his life as a killer after the Bakumatsu due to his bloodlust.
  • Nearly every season of Sailor Moon has a set of villain counterparts to the Inner Senshi. R has the Akayashi Sisters (Koan-Mars, Bertier-Mercury, Petz-Jupiter, Calaveras-Venus), S has the Witches 5 (Eudial-Mars, Mimete-Venus, Tellu-Jupiter, Villuy-Mercury), SuperS has the Amazoness Quartet (Cere Cere-Venus, Palla Palla-Mercury, Jun Jun-Jupiter, Ves Ves-Mars).
    • This carried over to at least one video game adaptation, Sailor Moon: Another Story. In that game, while it brought back all their old foes to that point as bosses, the primary minions of Apsu were the Oppositio Senshi, 5 teenage girls with powers mirroring the Inner Sehshi, and names based on Babylonian gods and goddesses: Sin (God of the Moon), Nabu (God of Wisdom), Nergal (God of War), Marduk (God of Thunder and leader of the gods), and Ishtar (Goddess of Love).
    • In the manga, Queen Nehellenia of the Dead Moon Circus was seen as a shadowy, mirror reflection of Queen Serenity. Likewise, Nehellenia's kingdom of the Dead Moon was hidden inside the shadow of the moon's center.
    • The Four Heavenly Kings were also supossed to be the evil spear counterpart of the senshi, but this was underplayed in the final story.
  • Done twice on School Rumble.
    • Tougou organized the "Outlaw" basketball team to oppose the school's all-girls basketball team.
    • The evil exchange students in the Kyoto arc resembled some of the students of class 2-C.
  • Both Commander Sazabi and Professor Gerbera are this to Captain Gundam from SD Gundam Force, Gerbera more explicitly so.
  • Sgt. Frog: The Garuru Platoon to the Keroro Platoon in Episodes 101-103. Taruru to Tamama, Garuru to Giroro, Tororo to Kululu, and Zoruru to Dororo. Strangely, Keroro did not have one. Instead, he gets de-aged into a younger version of himself with all his memories of being on Earth wiped. Also done in the Third movie, with Shivava to Tamama and Doruru to Giroro. Dark Keroro counts, but he's more of an Evil Twin to Keroro.
  • In So I'm a Spider, So What? Shiraori is contrasted by D. Their appearance is nearly identical except that that Shiraori has a pure white color scheme while D is associated with darkness and the color black. Further, while the series uses a Seven Deadly Sins motif and Shiraori struggles with three of them, D embodies them to a much worse degree: Shiraori is lazy, apathetic and can be callous (Sloth/Acedia) while D is literally abandoning her job to run the netherworld and never displays a speck of concern over the suffering of others. Shiraori overconsumes and hoards power (Gluttony) but D literally taunts the starving with her own excess and steals from the desperate only to use their own resources against them for laughs. Shiraori makes decisions regarding the fate of millions or billions without their knowledge or consent because she's so sure she knows what's best (Pride) but D treats the entire universe as her toy box. Whatever mistakes Shiraori makes, they're that: Mistakes. She's trying to do better. D couldn't care less.
  • Chouji Suitengu's motives in Speed Grapher reveal him to be an Anti-Villain counterpart to Saiga. They have more shared history than they know.
  • Sword Art Online:
    • Akihiko Kayaba is one to Kazuto Kirigaya. Both find a form of Escapism in the VRMMORPG game, Sword Art Online, preferring it to the real world. However, Kazuto starts as an Ineffectual Loner and learns to open up to other players over the course of the game, while Akihiko is a Sociopath who is utterly detached to the players' suffering as he forces them to live and die in SAO, all for the sake of creating his ideal fantasy world.
    • Eiji Nochizawa from Ordinal Scale is an even more direct one, as they mirror each other in many aspects. Both are fast and skilled solo fighters who battle on behalf of the girl they love. Both dress in dark colors, and they both have Survivor's Guilt because they outlived their first love due to being unable to protect her from the dangers of Aincrad. The difference lies in that Eiji relishes his ability to beat down other players verging on sadism, while Kirito goes out of his way to protect others from harm whenever he can.
    • Shouichi Shinkawa and Yuuki Konno are both physically ill in the real world and use the VR world to gain otherwise unobtainable opportunities. However, the former ends up finding purpose in killing players in both the game and real life, while the latter becomes a kind and charismatic guild leader who leads similarly ill patients to leave their mark on the game before they die.
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has Lordgenome, the Spiral King, a Spiral Knight who might be considered what Simon would have become if he hadn't had Nia to find the Anti-Spiral homeworld and therefore end the war in his favor.
    Lordgenome: "There once was a man who fought like you, not realizing his actions would bring about the destruction of humanity."
    • Guame the Steady is Boota's Evil Counterpart. Guame is shown as a small critter accompanying a young Lordgenome exactly the way Boota does Simon.
    • Another candidate for Simon's Evil Counterpart is Rossiu, although not so much evil as a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Intentionally invoked in Tokyo Ghoul:Re, with the One-Eyed Owl tasking Mad Scientist Dr. Kanou with "making another Kaneki". This results in a second Half-Human Hybrid with a left kakugan, white hair, black nails, and an incomplete kakuja. From there, it seems that the Owl intentionally groomed Seidou Takizawa to resent Kaneki as the doctor's original "masterpiece", encouraging his insecurities so he would want to destroy Kaneki and prove himself the superior experiment.
  • This happens to Optimus Prime from Transformers quite a bit, most especially in the Japanese series. In Robots in Disguise, this takes the form of Scourge, who mirrors Optimus's appearance and strength. The fact that he's not outright identical to Optimus keeps him from being an Evil Twin.
    • However, Nemesis Prime from Transformers: Armada IS an Evil Twin, with his coloration being the only difference, as is the one that crops up in the backstory for Alternators/Binaltech.
    • Motormaster's entire Stunticon crew was specifically built as a team of counterparts to the Autobots.
  • Vash in Trigun has his Evil Twin Knives, who gives a good idea of what Vash would've become if he hadn't been a mama's boy.
    • In the manga, Knives has a much better motivation for turning on humanity, and at the time Vash reacted with the same level of horror and rage, but his first impulse was toward suicide. Rem got in the way, got hurt, and the need to help her snapped Vash out of it, and shaped pretty much the rest of his life. This meant that Knives woke up without her there to steady him — but maybe that wouldn't have helped, since rather than freak out, he pretended to have suffered Easy Amnesia until he had the chance to stage a slaughter.
    • In the anime, Knives is an outright child sociopath whose hatred is as much about disdain as fear, and Vash's thought patterns come nowhere near mirroring his. They still have a lot in common, though. Being twin brothers and the only members of their species and all. Also, for some reason this version of Knives can keep up at Gun Kata with a gunslinger who's been fighting for his life for a hundred years. It punches up the symbolism.
  • Vampire Hunter D: Rei-Ginsei and D, the Dhampyr, are both weirdly beautiful Hunters of Monsters with supernatural powers. Unlike D, he's egotistical, completely amoral, only helps beautiful women and doesn't hesitate to try to torture a child to death to get what he wants.
  • In Vinland Saga, both Thorfinn and Garm are short, fast fighters who wield unusual weapons, have been fighting life and death battles since they were children, and the manga goes out of its way to set up numerous parallels between the two. The difference is that Thorfinn started with a sympathetic motive of revenge and even when acting as Askeladd's enforcer, he was strictly a Punch-Clock Villain with no ill will towards anyone and, unlike the rest of the group, didn't commit any atrocities on the side. Garm is a bloodthirsty, battle loving psychopath who gleefully kills people on a whim or for kicks.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • Yugi's opponent Pandora used an alternate art version of Dark Magician that seemed to be an evil version of Yugi's own, having blood-red robes and a maddening expression, compared the the royal purple attire and gentle face of Yugi's version.
    • Downplayed with Kaiba and Jonouchi; Badass Normal gamers who started off as Yugi's enemies before coming around (Kaiba's journey was longer and more subtle, but the feelings of camaraderie were there). Both had abusive fathers and care for their younger siblings. The difference is that Jonouchi grew up in squalor and takes risks, while Kaiba grew up in privilege and makes calculated decisions. Both also have coloured dragons as their signature monsters.
    • The Spirit of the Millennium Ring/Thief King Bakura is one to the Nameless Pharaoh/Atem. Both are ancient Egyptian spirits with holes in their memories who are bound to a Millennium Item and have to work through a host. The key difference is that while Atem is an ally and friend of his host, the Spirit of the Ring possesses and controls his.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Whenever someone turns evil, 9 times out of 10 they'll acquire an evil version of whatever cards they usually play:
    • Yuuki Juudai: Elemental Heroes/Evil Heroes (after becoming Haou)
    • Marufuji Ryou: Cyber Dragons/Cyberdark Dragons (when he becomes Hell Kaiser Ryou)
    • Johan Andersen: Gem Beasts/Advanced Gem Beasts (after he becomes possessed by Yubel)
    • There's also the Sangenma (Sacred Beasts) and Wicked Gods, direct counterparts to the Egyptian God Cards in the anime and Yu-Gi-Oh R manga.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Number 96 is very much an Evil Counterpart of Astral. This is emphasized in the dub version, where both characters have the same voice actor.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yuya, the protagonist, Dennis in terms of philosophy. They're both affable showmen with a love of entertainment dueling, and have performance-themed decks (Yuya playing Magicians and Performapals; Dennis playing Performages). Dennis, however, is a deceitful person who seems to love the attention he gets from shows, while Yuya is an honest person and performs for the sake of entertaining the audience and his opponents.
  • YuYu Hakusho:
    • Seiryu of the Four Saint Beasts serves as one to Hiei, being cold, unfeeling killers with a dragon motif, contrasted by Hiei being a fire demon while Seiryu is An Ice Person.
    • Each member of Team Toguro serves as one to a member of Team Urameshi:
      • Younger Toguro serves as one to Yusuke. Whereas the Arc Villain of the following arc, Shinobu Sensui, serves as Yusuke's foil, Younger Toguro serves as his villainous mirror, being what Yusuke would become if he decided to abandon his good tendencies and love for his True Companions and gave in to his inner Blood Knight. Even his coat is olive green, a darker shade to Yusuke's usual outfit, not to mention, they also share a Deadpan Snarker trait. Yusuke himself acknowledges this fact during their final battle.
      • Elder Toguro serves as one to Kuwabara. Both serve as the Bash Brother of Younger Toguro and Yusuke, respectively, while also being the more emotional of the two, receive very little respect from them, and fight using a sword-related power. The main contrast between the two is that Kuwabara serves as The Heart of Team Urameshi, while Elder Toguro is by far the most unpleasant member of Team Toguro.
      • Karasu serves as one to Kurama. Both are Agent Peacocks who are genius tacticians and fight mainly by summoning creatures to attack for them.
      • Bui serves as one to Hiei. Both are no-nonsense Noble Demons who fight using bladed weapons.
      • Sakyo serves as one to Koenma. Both are Non-Action Guys who serve as The Team Benefactor for the respective teams.
    • Koashura, the Big Bad of The Golden Seal, serves as one to Koenma. This is most notably seen in their respective Punny Names, with Koenma's meaning "Little Enma", while Koashura's means "Little Asura".

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