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Examples of Evil Counterparts in Comic Books.


The following have their own pages:


Individual examples:

  • 2000 AD:
    • Judge Dredd has numerous ones of these but Judge Death is the image for the main page for a reason. Dredd cares about the law to an absurdist self-punishing degree while Judge Death twists it into something that exists purely to justify his own murderous instincts. In a very real way, Death exposes the hypocrisy inherent to Dredd's sworn service to a flawed system while Dredd continually beats down Death's own self-styled inevitability.
    • Shakara: Shakara is the ghostly incarnation of the dead Shakara race sworn to avenge them. The main villain of the comic is Cinnibar Brenneka, an evil Shakara who destroyed his own species. Really more of an inversion; Brenneka not only preceded his Good Counterpart, but his own Face–Heel Turn is the reason his counterpart came into being in the first place.
  • Afterlife Inc: Despite all his power and ambition, Antrobus can't help put compare himself to protagonist Jack Fortune - even going as far as to model his physical appearance on Jack, albeit a twisted, distorted version.
  • Anya's Ghost: Emily when her true colors are revealed is the evil counterpart to Anya. After spending time with Anya, she turns out to possess exaggerated versions of all of Anya's negative traits: Emily is obsessive over boys (but unlike Anya, murderously so), sees existing girlfriends of 'mark' boys as competition and not individuals (but unlike Anya, she is inclined to murder them), lies and manipulates (but not just about her last name, she lies about her entire past). The mirroring is even physical: she dons Anya's hairdo and starts smoking "ghost cigarettes", presumably a mimicking of Anya's bad habit.
  • Astro City: Gloo is a Blob Monster who was originally created by criminals in an attempt to clone the heroic Jack-in-the-Box and make him into the ultimate henchman. They failed spectacularly.
  • The Beano: Pa Bear and Grizzly Gus are two bears who love food in a strip called The Three Bears.
  • The Boys: The Homelander has one in the form of Black Noir, who's actually a more powerful clone of Homelander created as a failsafe in case Homelander rebelled. When that didn't happen, Black Noir took it upon himself to make it happen.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • Kumiko (evil Japanese sorceress who tried to wipe out the forces of good once and for all) to Willow (the most powerful witch in the world who even when she had gone dark did the wrong thing for the right reasons.)
    • Roden to Giles. The former hired an evil Slayer to kill Buffy, the latter hired Buffy's own Evil Counterpart in Faith to kill said Slayer and Roden.
    • Roden's evil slayer is this to Faith, who sees in the girl what she would be if not for her Heel–Face Turn.
    • Simone to Kennedy. One wants to kill Buffy for keeping Slayers defenseless before turning them into vampires, the other gives them the guns and training to be employed as guardians and offers Buffy and Faith high paying jobs.
  • The Dandy: Desperate Dan has Dangerous Dan McGroo who looks almost exactly like Desperate Dan, albeit in a more evil costume.
  • Disney Ducks Comic Universe:
    • Flintheart Glomgold is an evil counterpart to Scrooge McDuck — every bit as ambitious as Scrooge, almost as wealthy, but with none of Scrooge's redeeming factors, such as his honesty and sense of fair play. DuckTales even increased the similarities by making Flintheart Scottish, the same nationality as Scrooge — though this was because he was originally South African in the comics, and they wanted to avoid unfortunate connections. note 
    • John D. Rockerduck is another almost-richest-duck-in-the-world like Glomgold, and... Well, that's about it. He operates out of Duckburg and is perhaps more of a plotter, but the basic idea is the same: he's an unethical version of and rival to Scrooge.
    • In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scrooge encounters both Glomgold and Rockerduck (in Africa and America respectively), showing his contrast with both. While Scrooge is a hard-working miner out to make a fortune fairly, Glomgold is out to steal from miners, and Rockerduck is a Spoiled Brat due to inherit a fortune. Rockerduck's father, however, is a mentor figure to Scrooge, liking him more than his own son.
    • Blackheart Beagle is another Evil Counterpart, ambitious like Scrooge, the head of a large family like Scrooge, cares about his family like Scrooge, and a badass like Scrooge, however he tries to steal money instead of earning it.
  • Elvis Shrugged: Andrew Lloyd Webber is The Dragon to Col. Tom Parker and is this trope to Stephen Sondheim, who serves as a Lancer to Elvis Presley.
  • Jet Dream: Raven Red. Like Jet, she's also a top-notch aviatrix with an all-girl team.
  • Kick-Ass: Red-Mist is this to Kick-Ass. While Dave was inspired by the heroes in the comics, Chris was inspired by the villains (even quoting The Joker before setting up his Avenging the Villain story-line in Volume Two).
  • Knights of the Old Republic: Both Big Bad Haazen and hero Zayne Carrick are relatively weak Force-sensitives who were considered failed Jedi apprentices. They also both prove to be very dangerous despite their limited Force powers. The difference is that Haazen allowed his bitterness and jealousy of his more talented peers to utterly consume his life, while Zayne still maintains his fundamental human decency no matter what. The series' other main protagonist, Jarael, now has one of her own in the form of Chantique, who represents what Jarael would be if she allowed herself to be dominated by her Dark and Troubled Past.
  • Nightmares on Elm Street: Nancy Thompson can be seen as Freddy Krueger's Good Counterpart, as she has developed dream powers of her own that she uses to help people. However, she hasn't fully accustomed to the dream world and lacks the years of experience that Freddy has.
  • Red Sonja: Red Sonja meets her Evil Counterpart, Crimson Katherine, in Giant-Size Red Sonja #2.
  • X-Wing Rogue Squadron: "Except for an accident of circumstance, I could have been your Luke Skywalker, and he could have been me. After all, we were both farmboys who loved to fly." Baron Soontir Fel, the best non-Vader pilot in the Empire, says this to Wedge Antilles after he's captured by Rogue Squadron. Farm Boy origins aside, he's actually closer to being the counterpart to Wedge, who also happens to be his brother-in-law. Fel is distinctly not evil; he's Imperial, which does put him on the "wrong" side, but he's not an evil man. He actually joins Rogue Squadron for a time, before disappearing and ending up as part of the Empire of the Hand.
  • Scott Pilgrim: Among the League of Evil Exes, there are two exes who are Evil Counterparts to the titular Scott.
    • Todd Ingram has a similarly structured name to Scott, and much like him is the bass player of a three-member band (though Todd is more competent overall and is part of a band that recently rose to fame, unlike Scott's struggling local band). Todd is currently dating Scott's first ex-girlfriend Envy Adams (in fact, Envy dated Todd because he looked like a taller, muscular version of Scott, aside from their status as childhood friends), and used to date Scott's current girlfriend Ramona Flowers; and he's eventually revealed to have been two-timing Envy with their band's drummer, similar to how Scott two-timed his last ex-girlfriend Knives Chau with Ramona for a while after he began dating the latter. The parallels end there, as in terms of personality, Todd is absolutely nothing like Scott, being a perpetual Jerkass who wants to get away with whatever morally questionable or reprehensible acts he does (justifying it with his reputation as a rockstar), and a serial cheater who gets into romantic relationships for the sake of it (unlike Scott's genuine care, even if he also cheated at least once). The former ends up biting into him when the Psychic Powers he had from following a vegan diet (which allowed him to curb-stomp Scott whenever they fought beforehand) are revoked from him by the Vegan Police for not caring about repeatedly breaking the diet, giving Scott the chance to defeat him once and for all.
    • Gideon Graves is a less direct but more pronounced example. Like what applied to Todd to an extent, Gideon and Scott are pretty opposite in terms of social influence, as Gideon is a successful multi-millionaire mogul who's admired by almost everybody, while Scott is seen as a lovable loser unable to make a living for a good time since he left college. They also have prominent combat experience in different aspects, with Scott having the title of the best fighter in Ontario and Gideon inventing the Glow for military purposes. However, they're much the same on a personal level. Both live in their own heads and are unaware of their misdeeds (although in Scott's defense, he never explicitly denied doing anything wrong nor does he blame anyone for what happened. There's also the fact that Gideon tampered with his memories), weren't the best boyfriends, and made some bad decisions that led them to screw over people who cared about them (yet Scott's was the result of cluelessness, lack of thinking and a bit of circumstance, while Gideon is implied to be wholly responsible). Whereas Scott is willing to change all of these things to become a better person, Gideon does not. Ultimately, Gideon is much worse than Scott, and Scott's realization that they are alike in ways allows him to earn a sword known as "the Power of Understanding" during their fight in the series' final volume.
  • The Smurfs: Gargamel is the evil counterpart of his twin brother Gourmelin.
    • He is also an evil counterpart to Papa Smurf. One wizard uses magic to help people, the other uses it for evil deeds.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Scourge the Hedgehog. He shares similar traits to Sonic, albeit twisted and amplified. Scourge has an ego like Sonic, but lacks humility or modesty. He also lacks compassion and conscience and is petty and cruel. Unlike Sonic, who has a sense of duty with his fun-loving personality, Scourge only cares for his own amusement.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Surge the Tenrec for Sonic and Kitsunami "Kit" the Fennec for Tails. Both were created by Dr. Starline, a Loony Fan of Dr. Eggman, to emulate the heroes, but with their main traits warped and amplified.
  • Sin City: While they never met, Kevin and Miho were meant according to Frank Miller to be counterparts of one another. They're both improbably strong and neither ever speaks. Kevin is obviously the evil one while Miho is at least the Anti-Hero version.
    • Marv and Manute from the same series also fit as they are both big, scary determinators. Dwight all but lampshaded this when he brought Marv in to deal with Manute. Bonus points are given to the fact that while Manute is evil, well-dressed, and highly educated, Marv is good (in comparison), a bit of a bum, and not very book-smart.
  • Spawn: Redeemers are meant to be heaven's equivalent of Hellspawns. The Dark Redeemer aka Forsaken plays this role to the current Redeemer who sides with Spawn.
    • Also Other evil hellspawns that oppose Spawn and The Scorched. Necro Cop (Born from Spawn's cape), Raven Spawn, Omega Spawn, Kincaid, Morana, Sinn/Cogliostro, Plague Spawn, Mandarin Spawn, and Nightmare Spawn.
  • Star Wars: Darth Vader takes Darth Vader's status as Luke Skywalker's Evil Counterpart even further, by having Vader assemble a motley crew of personal minions who all serve as Evil Counterparts to Luke's companions from the Original Trilogy in varying ways. When the cloak-and-dagger politics in the Imperial military get to be too much for Vader, he decides that it's time to turn to personal companions who work independently of the Empire's officers. To elaborate:
    • BT-1 and 000 ("Triple Zero") are a pair of deadly assassin droids who serve as evil versions of R2-D2 and C-3PO. BT-1 is disguised as an astromech droid, and can only speak in beeps and whistles, but he also packs a deadly laser cannon and a flamethrower. Similarly, Triple Zero is a psychotic protocol droid who serves Vader as a Torture Technician and a personal translator; he's just as polite and genteel as Threepio, but he turns out to be Faux Affably Evil, with his good manners concealing a frightening sadism and bloodlust.
    • Doctor Aphra is a bubbly female Adventurer Archaeologist who serves—in a roundabout way—as an evil version of Han Solo. She's modeled on Harrison Ford's second most famous character, as made clear in her introduction (where she steals an ancient weapon from an abandoned temple, has her rival steal it from her, and angrily shouts "It belongs in an armory!").note  Like Han, she becomes one of Vader's chief companions after he hires her for a one-off job. And her dynamic with Vader—as an enthusiastic young adventurer paired with an older, quieter, stoic veteran—clearly parallels Luke's dynamic with Han.
    • Black Krrsantan is a brutal Wookiee warrior who serves as an evil version of Chewbacca. Instead of scratching out a semi-honorable living as a smuggler, he's a remorseless bounty hunter who will kill anyone for the right price, he makes money on the side as a pit fighter, and he has a fearsome scar over his eye to make his moral alignment clear. Appropriately enough, he's introduced as a partner of Boba Fett—Han Solo's nemesis.
  • Steelgrip Starkey and the All-Purpose Power Tool: Ironarm Gantry. In contrast to the heroically pure Steelgrip, Ironarm is brutish, selfish, and prone to bursts of anger and pettiness.
    • The All-Purpose Power Tool itself has an Evil Counterpart in Ironarm's Worldbeater, a massive, polluting contraption with bolted-on components that tears up the landscape as it works.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: A recurring nemesis the turtles face off with across multiple comic continuities is Slash, a humanoid turtle much like them. While usually more of an Anti-Hero or misguided than outright evil, he still usually starts as a direct antagonist. His appearance is often warped compared to the Turtles, usually appearing wider and bulkier to the Turtles and having a spiked shell, emphasizing his brutal berserker nature and strength compared to the Turtles' use of teamwork and skill.


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