Foil / Live-Action TV

A lazy stoner and a genius chemistry teacher make quite the meth cooking duo.

John Locke: That's why you and I don't see eye-to-eye sometimes, Jack. Because you're a man of science.
Jack Shephard: Yeah, and what does that make you?
Locke: Me, well, I'm a man of faith.

— Lost

Examples of Foil in live-action television.

Shows with their own pages:

• The Big Bang Theory
• Cobra Kai
• Game of Thrones
• The Good Place

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• 7 Yüz: Sinem, a poised Statuesque Stunner who exudes self-confidence, is a foil to Pınar, the protagonist of "Hayatın Musikisi", who is mousy, introverted, and even physically diminutive.
• 15/Love: High-School Hustler Gary "Squib" Furlong and Dean Bitterman Harold Bates may spend the entire show opposing one another, but at the core of things they're very similar, being a pair of Manipulative Bastards with flexible attitudes towards the rules, no time for stupidity, and an amazing ability to convince others to do things for them. Don't tell Squib, but Bates is exactly what he is going to look like at thirty-five.
• 24:
  • Jack Bauer and David Palmer. Jack is an Unscrupulous Hero who will go to any lengths to accomplish his mission and generally doesn't play well with others, while Palmer is more affable and usually isn't quite willing to go to the same extremes as Jack, although he can be pragmatic when he needs to. Jack is also an action hero who frequently clashes with authority while Palmer is a Non-Action Guy authority figure.
  • Jack and his Voice with an Internet Connection, Chloe. Jack is a ruthless and violent badass and a Knight in Sour Armor, while Chloe hates violence and is a nerdy Nice Girl (at least after Season 3).
  • By Season 7, it becomes apparent that Jack and Tony Almeida are these to each other. They start out as relatively stable CTU agents who are wiling to undergo physical and emotional duress to fulfill their duties, with Jack as the one more willing to go rogue and Tony as the quieter, static one. However, as time goes by, it becomes clear that Tony is far more unstable than Jack. Both character lose their wives at some point during the show, but while Jack wallows in self-despair before immersing himself into his work, ultimately putting others before himself, Tony stops at nothing to get back at his wife's killers, gunning down people both guilty and innocent in order to accomplish his goal.
• Breaking Bad:
  • The series' main duo, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. At the start of the series, Walt is a chemistry genius and brilliant meth cook but utterly lacking in street smarts, while Jesse is very Book Dumb but understands the inner workings of the criminal underground. The two later learn these skills from each other, but continue to provide a contrast in other ways. Originally it appears that Jesse would be the remorseless criminal to Walt's principled, well-intentioned one. As the series goes on, Walt eventually showed himself to be a textbook example of a Sociopath, selfish and egotistical, while Jesse shows himself to be one of the few morally decent people on the show, feeling incredible guilt and self-loathing for the horrible things that he's done while also feeling trapped in the life he's in, which he is clearly not cold enough for. Walt is willing to poison a child to save his own skin and reacts to Todd's murder of another child with cold indifference, while Jesse adores children and reacts to said murder with a breakdown that lasts the rest of the series. Similarly, Jesse breaks things off with Andrea to protect her, right around the time Skyler becomes basically Walt's prisoner because he refuses to believe he is a danger to her or the kids.
  • Walt and his brother-in-law Hank Schrader. Walt lives a double life as Heisenberg, a ruthless drug kingpin, while Hank is a DEA agent trying to catch Heisenberg while having no idea about his true identity. Walt hides his dangerous criminal persona beneath the outward appearance of a harmless, bookish nerd, while Hank seems like an overly macho Jerkass but has a Hidden Heart of Gold. Walt uses tricks like poison and hidden bombs to kill his enemies, while Hank is an ace with a gun. The more Walt becomes consumed by his pride and ego, the more Hank manages to subdue his Good Is Not Nice tendencies, becoming more humble and arguably an even better cop. When Hank finally discovers that Walt is Heisenberg, he is incensed and willing to go to any lengths to take Walt down, while Walt has no desire to fight Hank, asking him repeatedly to back down, refusing to have him killed and ultimately unsuccessfully begging Jack Welker to spare his life.
  • Skyler and Marie, sisters. Both love their husbands deeply during the beginning of the series, and both of their husbands change during trying circumstances. Between the two, however, Marie stands fast by her husband, supporting him even in his darkest times and her love for him never changing even after he is dead. Skyler, however, becomes cold and distant from her husband, and goes to great lengths to subvert his illegal enterprise, up to and including having an affair.
  • Jesse and Todd. Both have a lot of respect for Walt and call him Mr. White, but Todd has no problems being Walt's subordinate. Also, contrast Jesse's initial appearance as a mere thug who later turns out to be much kinder than expected with Todd being introduced as a seemingly unassuming nice guy who later wouldn't hesitate to murder a young child. Which in itself is also a stark contrast to Jesse's love of kids. Todd also appears to be a good deal less competent at meth cooking than Jesse, with the quality of meth being churned out sharply dropping as soon as Heisenberg retires and Todd is left to cook alone, in contrast to Jesse who eventually becomes every bit as good at cooking as his mentor.
  • In the final season, Walt and Gus. After killing Gus, Walt takes his place as the drug kingpin of the American southwest. Both operate civilian businesses to disguise their illegal activities (Gus's fast food joint and Walt's car wash). However, Gus built his empire over several years, is cold and calculating, and also very practical, and remained successful for several years until his death. In comparison, Walt essentially takes his empire after killing him, is impulsive when it comes to the things and people he cares for most (his family, Jesse, and his millions), and is only successful for a few months until his empire comes crumbling down around him.
  • Walt and Mike. Mike has a considerable amount of money stashed away in his granddaughter's name, making him and Walt two men committing crimes for their families. However, Mike's professionalism and caution allows his work life and home life to remain separate, while Walt's family has become horribly entangled in the meth business. And Mike's emotional stability has allowed him to retain an excellent relationship with his granddaughter and presumably her mother as well, while Walt is emotionally isolated from his family.
  • Gus and Lydia. Both are consummate business people, who dress perfectly and try to approach the meth trade with a degree of professionalism not normally seen in the "game". However, while Gus was calm, unflinching and relatively reasonable, Lydia is paranoid, unpredictable and unwilling to accept the brutality of the drug world. The contrast is best illustrated in Gus's massacre of the cartel and her disposing of Declan's crew - he moves between bodies without fear while taunting the remains of his enemies, while Lydia plugs her ears not to hear gunshots and later has to literally be guided by hand with her eyes closed through the carnage.
  • Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez. Gomez was never right once about anything in the entire series, not at least while they were in the same scene. He can't find the meth hidden in Krazy-8's car, but Hank does; he disbelieves in Fring's involvement in meth, but Hank is proven right; early on he dismisses Lydia as a suspect, but Hank noticed her mismatched shoes. Even in the DEA agents' walkthrough of the burned-out superlab, Gomez guesses that a burned-up and molten lump mounted high on a railing, clearly separate from everything else, is "lab equipment." Schrader correctly says "a camera." Makes you wonder why he was considered competent enough to be given the El Paso assignment.
• Buffyverse:
  • Faith to Buffy. Faith is a cynical, dark-haired Hard-Drinking Party Girl who Really Gets Around and becomes a Heel–Face Revolving Door throughout the series, while Buffy is an idealistic, blonde former cheerleader who prefers long-term, meaningful relationships and always remains firmly on the side of good, despite having some Jerkass moments along the road. Faith is mostly a loner, while Buffy is strongest when she has the backing of her friends.
  • Angel and Spike, the only two known souled vampires in history, in both their souled and unsouled personas.
    • When unsouled, Angelus was Spike's original Evil Mentor, but the two had very different attitudes towards killing. Angelus prefers the Serial Killer approach, stalking and tormenting helpless victims who can't fight back and utterly destroying their lives before killing them. Spike is a Blood Knight who seeks the thrill of a good fight, and targets Slayers specifically because they are the toughest opponents he can find. Angelus treats Darla and Drusilla as little more than sex objects and is truly a monster who cares about nobody but himself, while Spike has some redeeming qualities and genuinely loves Drusilla and later Buffy, even if his lack of a soul prevents him from expressing this in any way other than as a Stalker with a Crush. Angelus has to have his soul forced upon him with a curse, while Spike fights to regain his on purpose. Angelus spends most of Season 2 toying with Buffy to destroy her mentally, while the more pragmatic Spike urges him to just kill her before he really angers her. Angelus ultimately plots to destroy the world in the Season 2 finale, while Spike helps Buffy stop him as he actually likes the world the way it is.
      Angelus: [about Buffy] She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive.
      Spike: [to Buffy] I know you'll never love me. I know that I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man.
    • When souled, Angel is the more straightforwardly heroic "champion" who saves women from vampires in dark alleys and fights for the helpless, while Spike is more of an Anti-Hero who will also save innocents but then turn around and insult them for walking home alone at night. Angel is so different with and without a soul that the two versions of the character are treated as two different people, while Spike is more or less the same guy, but without backsliding into evil the way he occasionally did without his soul. Angel spends years feeling immense guilt for his actions as Angelus, while Spike at first downplays his responsibilty for his actions pre-soul, before eventually accepting that he needs to make up for his past sins. Also, as Spike points out when told that he and Angel are very similar, Angel is Irish while Spike is English.
  • Wesley to Giles. Wesley replaces Giles as Buffy's Watcher when Giles is fired by the Council, and their completely different styles lead to a lot of bickering between them. Wesley was a model student and was Head Boy at the Watcher's Academy, while Giles is a Former Teen Rebel who experimented with dark magic in his youth. Wesley has no field experience despite his wealth of training, while Giles is much more aware of the realities of demon hunting. Wesley tries to live up to the Watcher ideals of staying detached and objective with his Slayers, while Giles loves Buffy and sees her as a surrogate daughter.
• Control Z:
  • Sofía and Luis. Both are outcasts at National School but they don't share the same skills to fight back against those people, particularly Gerry, who speak ill about or bully them. Sofía is more observant, deductive and sassy while Luis is more shy, lonely and soft-spoken. If Sofía makes clever comments to Gerry, Luis is unable to stand up for himself or do anything to outsmart him and his two friends Darío and Ernesto. However, both are also very overprotected by their mothers. They contrast on their problems (mental health and bullying) that lead them to this and just implore them to back off; Nora meddles in Sofía's life and decisions, while Martha keeps complaining to the principal over Luis' unfair mistreatment. Sofía is so traumatized by her father popping back into her life after faking his own death, which results in her getting admitted to a psych ward, that she retorts to self-harm and Luis is constantly bullied at the school that he seeks solace through his drawings, making violent fantasies of the students as a way to blow off steam.
  • Javier and Raúl. Both are in love with Sofía (and are constantly fighting over her), yet they demonstrate this in very different ways. While Javier proves to be a humble, honest, compassionate and righteous person who has his own moral code, Raúl, on the other hand, is much more cunning, selfish and scheming, using deceit and blackmail for his own personal gain, but it doesn't change the fact that he, just like Javier, cares very deeply about Sofía and is willing to ensure her safety after seeing that she is different from the rest of his friends who were all a bunch of phonies. Both also have fathers who are themselves wealthy but contrast on the relationships they have with them. In Javier's case, even though they are not that close, the latter genuinely cares about his son and is willing to go to great lengths so that he can achieve his own future. However, Raúl and his father completely loath each other and neither of them even cares about how the other is doing. He scolded Raúl after catching him and his friends in the basement admiring his antique collections and later blamed him for the exposure of his shady business as a politician, angrily punching him in the face as a result.
  • Natalia and Rosita. Both are self-confident and snarky students who held the position of Student President and by extension of NONA's organizer. They're different in their way they treat other characters though. Natalia is more aloof, conflictual, she seems innocent and good-natured due to her light-colored outfits and her Holier Than Thou attitude but she's cunning, deceptive and uses her sexuality for her goals while Rosita wears dark-colored clothes and is promiscuous, she is warmer and more cheerful. Concerning their status as Student President, if Natalia was more concerned to steal money from high school's treasury, Rosita was more focused on organizing the NONA for her and other students.
  • Alex and Gerry. Both are homosexual but are oucasts at the school and neglected by their parents; Gerry's father is emotionally abusive while his mother, who is kind for one instance, for another is rather indolent in stopping her husband's actions. Alex's parents, on the other hand, are never shown but are mentioned by Alex to have been living in Querétaro. However, while Alex is an aloof yet approachable Nice Girl, Gerry is a detestable bully who often picks on students, especially Luis. As of their sexual orientations, Alex has no qualms in dating girls (or even women who are twice her age), Gerry is initially ashamed of it that he masks those feelings through a homophobic personality and it's no wonder who he got this attitude from.
• Dexter: Dexter Morgan gets a few in the series.
  • Perhaps the most notable is Debra, his sister. Dexter is very much in control of his life and is also a serial killer. Debra's personal life is a constant mess, but she's a brilliant detective and believes in the strength of the legal process. Both of them also have amazing natural intuition, which helps them both track down serial killers.
  • The Ice Truck Killer, a.k.a. Rudy Cooper, a.k.a. Brian, his brother. Both have an instinctual need to kill and enjoy their respective rituals. However, Dexter is bound by his code and has loved ones he doesn't want to hurt, whilst Brian is Ax-Crazy and only cares about fulfilling his need.
  • Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer. Like Brian, both Dexter and Trinity have a ritualistic need to kill that stems from a Freudian Excuse. They're also both family men with a wife and children to look after. The difference is Dexter actually cares about his family and treats them with respect, while Trinity is an Abusive Parent with control issues.
  • The Brain Surgeon, a.k.a. Oliver Saxon, a.k.a. Daniel Vogel. He is even viewed as mirroring the Ice Truck Killer in almost all of his tendencies, but his desire is to harm Dexter while Brian's was to be in Dexter's life and free him from the Code. In addition, as opposed to Brian, the Brain Surgeon shared Dexter's ultimate goal of living a normal life.
• Doctor Who:
  • The Doctor (and to a lesser extent, the Time Lords overall) and the Daleks are mutual Foils of each other. Both are beings who use time travel as a means to get around the universe, have incredibly high standards and mutually have fear and hatred towards one another. What sets them apart (aside from species) is the Daleks are extremely xenophobic and will kill everyone and everything, while the Doctor gives one chance to the Monster of the Week to go elsewhere in the universe and live, or will kill them to save others.
  • Each Doctor is also a deliberate foil towards their immediate predecessor, and sometimes to ones before that. Some examples, in no particular order:
    • The Ninth Doctor loathes humanity for its stupidity, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors love humanity for its specialness.
    • The Third Doctor came to appreciate his exile on Earth and kept coming back to UNIT even when the TARDIS was restored, where the Fourth Doctor resumed his travels and was content to consider himself a wanderer in eternity.
    • The Seventh Doctor was a master planner who often manipulated his enemies into destroying themselves in various media, but the Eighth Doctor was a more idealistic hero who became broken and driven by the tragedies he was forced to endure in the course of his lifetime (various media included him losing his memory after facing an invasion of Gallifrey led by his possible future self, being transformed into a being of anti-time and forced to exile himself from his universe, and witnessing his people descend to the level of their enemies during the Time War).
    • Taken to its greatest extent, in-universe, with the War Doctor. See this page for more details.
  • The Meddling Monk to the Doctor, especially the First Doctor. They are both Time Lords who left Gallifrey to explore the Universe. However, when the Doctor first met the Monk, he was adamant about not changing history, while the Monk gleefully interfered with history and tried to make enormous alterations, which the Doctor criticised him for. Amusingly enough, the Second Doctor was put on trial for interference, and the later Doctors are quite lax about interfering history. However the Doctor still tries to keep events on track and not interfere with the most important points, while the Monk's intention is to alter events. This aspect is played up in Big Finish Doctor Who between the Eighth Doctor and the Monk. While the Doctor tries to save people without thinking on a The Needs of the Many scale, the Monk tries to change history for this reason, such as trying to kill thousands of humans to prevent a race of billions being wiped out later. Played further later on, when the Monk joins the Daleks and appears genuinely shocked when they betray him and kill the Doctor's former companion Tamsin.
  • Captain Cook from the Classic series story "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" is a one-off contrast with the Seventh Doctor. Much like the Doctor, the Captain is an eccentric explorer who's much smarter than he appears to be. He even has his own companion in the form of Mags. But unlike the Doctor, he's also an amoral coward who's more than willing to sell out others to save his own skin and he treats Mags more like an object than a trusted friend, openly referring to her as a "specimen".
  • Adam Mitchell from "Dalek" and "The Long Game" is one towards the Doctor's companions, particularly Rose, the main companion in those episodes. He accepts an offer to travel with the Doctor, but whereas the usual companion does it because they want to have adventures, Adam does it because he sees a potential opportunity to enrich himself, which gets him kicked off the TARDIS pretty quickly. He was specifically designed as the kind of person who would make a bad companion.
    • Adam returns in Prisoners of Time, a miniseries of comic storylines for the fiftieth anniversary, which sees him capture all of the Doctor's companions from various points in his history up until Clara Oswald, believing that the Doctor's companions are little more than pets to him.
  • Captain Jack Harkness is one towards Nine, especially in his first story, "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". This is mainly via a Noble Male, Roguish Male pairing, as the ex-Time Agent Jack is working as a con man targeting other time travellers, and accidentally endangers the human race by doing so, while the Doctor has to fix the mess.
  • Lady Cassandra and Rose Tyler are foils to each other. Besides the two representing opposite ideals of femininity, Cassandra and Rose are further contrasted in New Earth to explore the themes of conflicting class backgrounds, youth and age, past and future values, and what it means to be human. As in "The End of the World", they are both presented as being the last "pure" humans (this may be a reference to the stereotypes that they represent in British society and being "human" is a meaningful aspect of their characters). But while the upper-class Cassandra seems fixated on keeping the material aspects of what she considers make her human, looking down on the hybrids, Rose sees humans evolving as something natural. She's learned from her experiences since Platform One and hasn't become cynical like Cassandra. This gets further attention once Cassandra takes over Rose's body: she removes nearly all the qualities that make Rose "human".
  • "The Girl in the Fireplace": Madame de Pompadour is one to Rose. Reinette is cultured, intelligent and very powerful, despite coming from a society where it wasn't normal for women to be so, and well in control of both of the men in her life, loving them both equally. Rose is from a society that encourages equality but isn't that special, and she can't find a balance between the two men in her life, meaning one always feels left out. Also, they're both blonde.
• Fargo:
  • Lester Nygaard to Emmit Stussy. Both wind up killing a family member in a heat-of-the-moment action: Lester his wife who despised and belittled him, and Emmit his brother who actively tried to ruin his life for a petty feud. The difference is primarily in how both characters cope with the murder, especially post-timeskip. Lester is quick to absolve himself of responsibility and heap the blame on others, and gradually sinks in to depravity and sociopathy, while Emmit is gradually consumed by guilt and regret, culminating in him attempting to stand up to Varga and his organization by confessing to the police.
  • Also Peggy Blomquist to Lester Nygaard. Both start in a similar place, trapped in relationships they find stifling, Lester to a woman who despises and belittles him and Peggy to a man who loves and supports her. Lester just accepts his lot, but Peggy actively tries to improve her situation and status in life. The difference is most tellingly shown however by their character development in their respective seasons. Lester starts off as a sympathetic character but loses that trait by through his actions throughout the first season, while Peggy starts off unsympathetic but gains audience sympathy as her character develops. Lester killed Pearl and was prepared to abandon Linda while Peggy stands by Ed throughout and at the moment when she's about to go on the run changes her mind and goes back to support him. The single biggest difference though is their actions in the final episodes. Lester sends Linda to her death at the hands of his season's Big Bad to save himself and dies fleeing his just rewards, while Peggy goes to fight her season's Big Bad to defend Ed and ends up living and accepting her punishment.
  • Sy Feltz is this to Nikki Swango. Both of them serve as The Lancer to Emmit and Ray respectively, but whereas Nikki is the truly dangerous and intelligent one in the relationship (whose only flaw is her tendency to overthink things), Sy is completely incompetent and usually makes things worse for Emmit with his own stupidity.
• It's been pointed out that on Firefly, Jayne's character exists largely to show what a true Jerkass and amoral character would actually be doing every time that Mal is trying his best to pretend he's those things.
  • Simon has a lot more to him, but a large part of his existence is to show what Mal would have been had he not had his idealism shot off in the war.
• Friends: Monica Geller and Rachel Green. They grew up together but Monica was The Un-Favourite Fat Best Friend who got nothing but hell from her parents, and Rachel was the sweet Lovable Alpha Bitch who everyone adored. As adults Monica is the Team Mom of the gang and focused on her goals. Rachel is the baby of the group and totally lost in the real world. Even their romantic lives contrast with Monica settling into a happy relationship with her best friend but having to push through infertility issues and adopt a baby while Rachel has a ten year Can't Stand Them, Can't Live Without Them dance with an unplanned pregnancy in the middle. Their original characters descriptions spell it out nicely:
  Monica: "Smart. Cynical. Defended. Had to work for everything she has."
  Rachel: "Spoiled. Adorable. Terrified. Has worked for nothing of what she has."
• The Golden Girls: Dorothy and Blanche.
  • Dorothy was born in New York to struggling immigrant parents, had a shotgun wedding at 17, divorced her deadbeat husband, and is generally very cynical and progressive.
  • Blanche, on the other hand, was born in Atlanta to Old Money aristocrats, was head over heels in love with her husband George, Really Gets Around, and is much more optimistic and traditional.
• Hawkeye (2021)
  • Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova. Both are Action Girls taking the mantle of an Avenger (Kate with the title character who is her idol, Yelena with fellow Black Widow and 'sister' Natasha). But Kate is a clumsy Naïve Newcomer to actual combat, and Yelena is a seasoned assassin with quite the body count. Both act like teens even if they're in their 20s, one because she grew up rich and privileged, the other for being raised as a brainwashed warrior from childhood. Even physically they're different, Kate being a tall tomboyish brunette, Yelena a short fashionable blonde. Tellingly, both end up as Friendly Enemies who seem bound for each other like the original Hawkeye and Black Widow.
  • Maya Lopez (aka Echo) can be seen as one to both Kate and Yelena, the former for contrast (Maya was poor, her contact with a Clint Barton alterego while losing her father led to hate, and she's an experienced criminal) and the latter for similarities (both of them are competent female martial artists who were trained and raised by shady organizations, and they are both seeking to avenge the deaths of their beloved family members by killing Clint Barton).
• In How I Met Your Mother, Marshall and Barney are this to each other, as the Good Angel, Bad Angel advisors of Ted. Barney's mission is to have as many one-night stands as possible, and believes marriage is A Fate Worse Than Death. Marshall loves committing and being married. Many episodes revolve around Barney egging Ted on to live the single man's life and Marshall encouraging him to commit.
• Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger centers around two Super Sentai teams squaring off against each other, so it is chock full of foils. To name a few:
  • The Lupinrangers are Phantom Thieves whose designations incorporate their respective colors (Lupin Red, Lupin Blue, and Lupin Yellow), wear caped outfits that resemble formal wear with top hats incorporated into their helmet designs, and have black highlights on their suits. The Patrangers, on the other hand, are police officers who have numerical designations (Patren #1, Patren #2, Patren #3), wear outfits that resemble police officer uniforms with shoulder pads and helmets with visors shaped like police hats, and have white highlights on their suits.
  • The Lupinrangers' VS Vehicles are airplanes, while the Patrangers are patrol cars.
  • The Lupinrangers' Finishing Move entails one of the Rangers splitting into three Rangers while the Patrangers' finishing move combines all three Rangers into one.
  • The Lupinrangers' benefactor, Kogure, is a mysterious Japanese man dressed as a butler, is quiet, and occasionally speaks French. The Patrangers' boss, Commissioner Hilltop, is African-American, much more personable, and occasionally speaks in English.
  • Akari/Lupin Red is easygoing and mild-mannered, while Keiichiro/Patren #1 is one of the most Hot-Blooded Red Rangers in the series's history.
  • The Lupinrangers' Lancer, Touma/Lupin Blue, is a quiet and thoughtful young man who is passionately committed to his fiancee. On the other hand, the Patrangers' Sakuya/Patren #2 is an excitable Keet and a shameless flirt.
  • The Lupinrangers' sole female member, Umika/Lupin Yellow, is a cheerful Genki Girl while the Patrangers' Tsukasa/Patren #3 is a tomboyish professional (until she sees a stuffed animal).
• Most protagonists from the Kamen Rider franchise have this relationship with their Deuteragonists. Notable examples include:
  • Kamen Rider Ryuki: Shinji Kido/Kamen Rider Ryuki and Ren Akiyama/Kamen Rider Knight. Shinji is bright, optimistic, and entirely selfless in his dedication to put the needs of others before himself. Ren is dark, cynical, and entirely selfless in his willingness to throw everything away to save the love of his life.
  • Kamen Rider OOO has multiple pairings:
    • Eiji Hino is a foil to Ankh. Ankh is a Greeed, a being who is practically the personification of desire, while Eiji lacks any selfish desire.
    • Kosei Kougami, the CEO of the Kougami Foundation, is obsessed with the concepts birth and creation, throwing celebrations whenever something new starts. He even deliberately awakens a Greeed, being curious to what will happen. His foil is Doctor Maki, who is obsessed with end and death. Contrary to the extroverted Kougami, Maki is very stoic and wants to cause the end of the world, as he thinks that things should be destroyed before they have a chance to go sour.
    • In The Movie, Kougami creates a clone of Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga, being one of the unifier of Japan, is a very ambitious man who always looks at the bigger picture of things. He spends almost all of his time trying to amass more power. Eiji, on the other hand, is content with the more smaller things in life, even enjoying something as simple as a blue sky. This sparks confusion in Nobunaga.
  • Kamen Rider Amazons: Both Amazon Riders are this to each other. Jin Takayama/Amazon Alpha is a tough and confident adult while Haruka Mizusawa/Amazon Omega is a frail and sensitive teenager. Also, Jin's apartment is very messy and Haruka's "house" is neat and solitary. This is inverted when the two are in battle however; Jin is collected and in-control, while Haruka acts closer to a wild animal. Then dramatically reversed by the end of the first series: Jin has become a bloodthirsty monster no better than a feral Amazon, and Haruka is the in-control one fighting for a civilized reason.
  • Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Emu Hojo/Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Hiro Kagami/Kamen Rider Brave, and Taiga Hanaya/Kamen Rider Snipe. Emu is a passionate doctor who not only seeks to cure his patients, but to make them happy. By comparison, Hiro is more cold and emotionless and is only interested in curing his patients, nothing more and nothing less. Compared to them, Taiga is more morally ambiguous: a back-alley doctor who is determined to cure the Bugster pandemic by any means necessary, up to and including defeating other Riders and stealing their Gashats.
• Mirabelle and Devin in The Kicks: Both are passionate, talented soccer players, but Devin is a kind-hearted and outgoing, while Mirabelle tends to be snarky, apathetic, and downright rude on occasion.
• Leverage
  • Parker and Sophie seem to have this feel. Sophie is classy, social, and likable, but fake, while Parker is crazy, has No Social Skills and thus is off-putting, but honest (if blunt).
  • Peggy is also this to Parker as a normal citizen. She is also one of the nicest characters on the show.
• Lost:
  • Jack Shephard and John Locke are practically the poster boys for this. Jack's the Man of Science, John Locke's the Man of Faith. Jack is a spinal surgeon with a compulsion to fix everybody he meets, while Locke, prior to being healed by landing on the Island, was a paraplegic after suffering a serious spinal injury, and was a broken man in both body and soul. Jack has no real combat experience and resorts to violence either as a last resort or when he loses his temper, while Locke is a natural hunter. Jack has his Island destiny forced on him, while Locke openly embraces the prospect of joining the Others and becoming their leader.
  • Jack and Sawyer. Jack is a respectable upper-class doctor, while Sawyer is a lowly criminal and Con Man. The two play the Betty and Veronica roles respectively in their Love Triangle with Kate. Jack famously tells the survivors that they must learn to live together or die alone, while Sawyer hoards supplies and espouses a philosophy of every man for himself. Jack is almost unanimously accepted as leader by the other survivors, while Sawyer is widely disliked for his Jerkass antics. After Sawyer's Character Development into a genuine hero, he and Jack still have very different leadership styles, as he points out in Season 5.
    Sawyer: I heard once Winston Churchill read a book every night, even during the Blitz. He said it made him think better. It's how I like to run things. I think. I'm sure that doesn't mean that much to you, 'cause back when you were calling the shots, you pretty much just reacted. See, you didn't think, Jack, and as I recall, a lot of people ended up dead.
  • Locke and Eko. Both are believers in the magic of the Island, but where Locke's faith is secular, Eko's is of a deeply religious nature. The two also tend to clash on exactly when and how they believe the Island is sending them signs. When they watch the Pearl Station video that indicates the button in the Swan is meaningless, Locke takes it at face value and loses faith, while Eko (correctly) assumes their faith is being tested and decides to start pushing the button. Locke uses a more stealthy and finesse based fighting and hunting style, while Eko is a powerhouse brawler. Locke also believes that the Smoke Monster is a benevolent entity, while Eko sees a darker side to it.
    Locke: So, what exactly did you see back there? I saw it once, you know.
    Eko: And what did you see?
    Locke: I saw a very bright light. It was beautiful.
    Eko: That is not what I saw.
  • Eko and Charlie, as part of their Odd Friendship. About the only thing the two have in common is their strong Christian faith. Charlie is a former rock star and recovering heroin addict, while Eko grew up in a slum before becoming a gangland criminal and heroin smuggler. Charlie is a goofy, funny Nice Guy, while Eko is much more dour and serious. Eko is one of the most badass fighters in the series, capable of flooring Jin, a former hitman, with one punch, while Charlie is more diminutive and tends to lose most of his fights.
• The Mandalorian: In Season 2, the protagonist Din Djarin would team up with Boba Fett to fight against the Imperial remnants. While both men are outwardly surly, taciturn Mandalorian bounty hunters, Din is more friendly towards his allies and adheres to a strict version of the Mandalorian code of conduct whereas Boba is more standoffish and doesn't care much about Mandalorian culture beyond honoring his father's memory. Moreover, the two have completely different aspirations with Din focused on finding a family for Grogu while Boba sets out to become a crime lord. Overall, Din is an Anti-Hero with a Hidden Heart of Gold while Boba is an Affably Evil Anti-Villain.
• Merlin:
  • Arthur and Lancelot. Everything from their temperament to their social standing to their hair/eye colour is designed to contrast with the other, as do their relationships with both Merlin and Guinevere. In the last case, even their kisses with Guinevere are shot as stark opposites: Arthur's is a Lip-Lock Sun-Block, whereas Lancelot's takes place in a darkened tunnel.
  • Also Guinevere and Morgana. At the beginning of the show Gwen was Morgana's haidmaiden and the two of them were close friends, only to be gradually estranged as the show went on, what with Gwen falling in love with Arthur, and Morgana falling to the Dark Side. Essentially, the higher Guinevere ascends, the lower Morgana falls.
• Mimpi Metropolitan: Episode 28 introduces a new main character Juna and brings recurring character Alexi closer to the main cast. Both fill the role of arrogant and handsome jerks who work in entertainment industry, look down on the main trio and are Bambang's romantic rivals for Melani, but they contrast each other as well. Juna has the talent but is still building his career while Alexi is already rich and famous but has no actual talent. Juna (sometimes condescendingly) tries to be friendly towards the dorm residents while Alexi doesn't even bother to remember their names. Juna is a playboy who has no problem wooing other women while Alexi only has eyes for Melani to the point of being a Self-Proclaimed Love Interest. So while they get along very well when bullying Bambang, they tend to irritate each other by mocking the other's flaws when they don't have a common target.
• The Monkees: Part of why the group's personalities work so well. There are contrasts between the individuals and the pairs.
  • Mike and Micky are the more independent and smarter big brothers to Davy and Peter, both of whom get carried away with their emotions in different ways.
  • Peter and Micky are more proudly hippie than the traditionally-oriented Mike and Davy.
  • Peter's shyness with women he likes contrasts with Davy's knack for mutual love at first sight.
  • Mike can use the rulebook to his advantage, while Micky loves to trick adults into doing what he wants.
• Moon Knight (2022):
  • Gods:
    • Both Khonshu and Ammit are executioners who destroy evil. But while Khonshu brutally kills those who have committed crimes, Ammit quickly and painlessly executes anyone who would commit a crime, past, present, or future. This carried over to their avatars; Marc is a Combat Pragmatist mercenary who does nearly as much damage without his powers, while Arthur is a Soft-Spoken Sadist who can talk his way out of anything and has only one power, which is instant-kill. Khonshu tricks people into becoming his avatars by offering them power while they are dying, whereas Ammit finds someone who is already loyal and demands service.
    • Both gods contrast with Taweret. As the Goddess of Children and Mothers, instead of being obsessed with punishing the guilty, she simply protects the innocent. She only takes an avatar when the world is in danger, and Scarlet Scarab's powers are notably more defensive in nature, with metal wings that she can use to shield people more directly or fly to their aid. Layla is initially absolutely insistent that this will be temporary arrangement due to her bad experiences with Khonshu, but one night working for Taweret has her reconsidering how much good she can do.
  • Alters:
    • Marc is a loner, a mercenary, and brusque, but his confidence gives him an advantage in social situations if he cares to try. Steven is friendly, a low-level retail employee, and eminently sociable, but his lack of confidence means most people never bother paying attention to him. Marc is a veteran mercenary with a hundred ways to kill but ultimately has a Freak Out when he's in a situation he can't control, while Steven is a shrinking Cowardly Lion who steps up when work needs to be done. Marc is the original personality, who created Steven to "have no fear" when their mother was beating them. While this was originally literally having no fear, as in Steven was simply unaware of the abuse even when directly suffering it, when push comes to shove he displayed true courage. Neither of them like Khonshu, but Steven begins to warm up to him by the end while Marc remains hostile.
    • The third alter is more violent than Marc on his worst days, coming out only to brutally finish a fight that neither of the others can handle. He has no social skills; by all indications, he never speaks (until the last moments of the season finale), and only uses himself as a weapon. Which is why he is Khonshu's true choice of avatar, someone who will exact the brutal justice Khonshu desires.
• From Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries Detective Watts is an equally brilliant detective, but Murdoch's exact opposite in every other respect: slapdash instead of methodical, prone to following tangents instead of procedure, more likely to come up with a philosophical study of the nature of the murder than a scientific explanation of its method, and, at least initially, with a tendency to give up talking to people who can't follow his reasoning as opposed to Murdoch's patience and love of explaining things.
• In The Musketeers, Aramis and Rochefort. They are both members of the French court who love the Queen. However while Aramis is loved back by the Queen and fathers her child, Rochefort's love for her is a far more creepy desire, to the point he has a prostitute dress up as her, is only loved by the Queen as a friend. Rochefort finally tries to rape the Queen and have her killed by revealing her affair and framing her for an assassination attempt on the King.
  • Constance and the Queen. They are both married women who have an affair with a Musketeer, D'artagnan and Aramis respectively. However, while Constance's relationship is more public and her husband's death means she can finally marry D'artagnan, the Queen must keep her relationship secret.
• The Nanny: Maggie Sheffield started the show as this for Fran Fine. Originally, there were just two Sheffield children: Brighton and Gracie, but producers recommended adding a socially awkward older sister who'd serve as a contrast for Fran, Fran being a lively, wise-cracking Genki Girl and Maggie being a Shrinking Violet who'd become more social under Fran's guidance.
• Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation has this with Donatello and Venus de Milo. Donatello prefers to solving problems the scientific way, while Venus sticks to trusting the mystic arts. Understandably, this causes them to occasionally get into squabbles.
• Rutherford Falls: Reagan and Nate, the show's central friendship. They are lifelong best friends who share values, senses of humor, and a love of history and culture. But Nate is the white descendant of the town founder, while Reagan is a member of the local Native American tribe. These contrasting identities bring disagreement about the town's legacy and treatment of Native Americans.
• Sadakatsiz:
  • Doctor Asya is a calm and collected woman who has a successful career and is genuinely compassionate toward others. She's respected in her community on her own merits and wants nothing more than to ensure the Private Hospital Asrin runs smoothly and her family's happiness. By contrast, Derin is initially only known for being the ex-mayor's daughter — she has no job and, when she gets one and respect from her community is mostly due to her privilege and money. Derin is also very prone to lose her composure when she doesn't get what she wants. The nail in the coffin is that Asya knows the infidelity is only Volkan's fault (he doesn't tell Derin he's married at first). Meanwhile, Derin remains deluded that Volkan is innocent and that Asya is the viper trying to seduce him back.
  • Selen is a studious girl who is constantly the Only Sane Woman in her friends' antics and ordeals — she tries to stop them from being reckless even if she fully understands why they are so upset and calls their parents when they dismiss her concerns or the situation escalates. Meanwhile, İpek is a rebellious teen who cares little about studying and is the first to do reckless, "adult" things such as drinking alcohol and flirting with an older boy. Both girls are cousins and have divorced parents. However, İpek's home life is a lot more chaotic than Selen's, as the former's stepfather is physically abusive and her own father is a criminal. In turn, Selen's mother has a respectable job and instills all of the aforementioned traits in her daughter, while always comforting her because Selen's father left.
  • Despite both of them being good, loving mothers with unfaithful husbands, Asya and her mother Ayla couldn't be more different. Although initially presented as very similar characters, it's revealed that Ayla forces Asya's father Nazmi to marry her because she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Asya marries Volkan out of love. As it also turns out, Asya's father Nazmi was going to marry Asya Günalan until he had an affair with Ayla. Nazmi keeps loving Günalan, so the situation inevitably becomes unbearable, and, instead of divorcing him, Ayla decides to kill them both. By contrast, Asya is very decisive in wanting to divorce Volkan when she discovers his infidelity and eventually stops loving him.
  • Ali and Demir experience an Hourglass Plot with respect to their Character Development. Ali starts out as a sweet kid if sometimes a tad spoiled and struggling to stand up for himself; he's that way because his parents are attentive and balance each other in terms of discipline. Meanwhile, Demir is initially an arrogant bully; while he too has a loving family, they are prone to spoil him rotten and discipline him not because what he's done is wrong but because he's publicly embarrassed the family. As Ali's parents' divorce becomes too much for him and his father starts manipulating him, Ali becomes very short-tempered, self-centered, and occasionally aggressive to the point of struggling to acknowledge that he's hurt his friends. By contrast, and thanks to Ali and Selen's friendship (as well as Asya teaming up with his mother), Demir mellows out a huge deal and becomes more considerate of other people's feelings. Additionally, Demir used to mock Ali for whatever scandal his parents had gotten themselves into, strongly associating "bad parents, bad child". Now, he defends Ali from such accusations and doesn't hold it against Ali when everyone believes that Ali's mother let Demir's father die. Meanwhile, Ali constantly lashes out at his friends when he suspects they've betrayed him (by talking about a man he hates) without bothering to ask for context.
• Sherlock:
  • Sherlock and John are, like their counterparts are, well, each other's foils. The former is a detective who solves crimes just so he doesn't get bored, and the latter is an Afghan-war veteran who, you know, pretty much cares about all lives. Plus, Sherlock's an Attention Whore Insufferable Genius Jerk with a Heart of Gold as well as The Stoic and John's a Nice Guy Shrinking Violet but also The Quiet One. Oh, and they're both protective of each other, and seem to like Mary.
  • Also, despite the fact Sherlock's a Mirror Character to Moriarty, and could get away with the stuff he does, he refuses to, and is genuinely fond of his friend, and would most likely risk ANYTHING for him whereas Moriarty possibly cares about himself.
  • Interestingly, Mary could be seen as one for Sherlock and John. Despite the fact she has a likeable personality, and, like Sherlock, lied to John, it took two days and a scary situation for John to forgive Sherlock, and it took John 'months to forgive his wife, though Mary is just about as protective of John as Sherlock is, and knows that her husband is protective of those he cares for, you don't want to mess with him, or anyone he happens to like, since it'll end badly for you. Also, she might be an adrenaline junkie, like John, she gave up her assassin part so she can live a normal life and doesn't want to go back to the shooting thing, whereas John, who's a doctor, even though he doesn't like to see people get killed, if he's willing to mess you up, you've just succeeded in really making him angry by messing with his friend.
• Schitt's Creek has the globetrotting and sophisticated Rose family lose their wealth and become exiled to a small, rural town where they meet rural counterparts of themselves. Sharp-dressed and polite patriarch Johnny Rose meets oafish and rude Mayor Roland Schitt. Matriarch Fashionista and White-Dwarf Starlet Moira meets the bunny sweatshirt-loving, cheerful Jocelyn Schitt. Sophisticated but insecure son David meets The Cynic Stevie Budd while his Book Dumb socialite sister Alexis meets Cloud Cuckoolander waitress Twyla.
• The Smallville version of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, naturally.
  • Jonathan Kent and Lionel Luthor to a lesser degree (Ironically, after Jonathan's death, Lionel's contact with the Kents and his temporary role as Jor-El's vessel cause him to become a better person.
  • Clark and Oliver. It highlights their conflicting idealism and their willingness to act.
  • Chloe and Oliver start out somewhat similar to the above pair, shown best when Oliver kills Lex. But Oliver has a "Not So Different" Remark about protecting Clark. This, combined with her bearing witness to the fallout of Doomsday, lead to Chloe taking a more hard-boiled approach to fighting crime in Season 9, and she and Oliver cease being foils for each other, and instead jointly become foils against Clark's more idealistic methods of crime-fighting.
• Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill often serve as foils to each other in Stargate SG-1. (Idealism vs. cynicism, brains vs. brawn (although Jack is not as stupid and Daniel is not as wimpy as they'd like you to think) naivety vs. experience, etc.) This becomes less apparent over the years.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Aside from getting beaten up to show how tough someone is, Worf's primary role on the show is to suggest a short-sighted, violent or xenophobic course of action so that the rest of the command staff can shoot him down and show off how wise and diplomatic they are. Although in all fairness Worf was actually right in a good deal of those circumstances and had the crew agreed with him and not jumped head first into traps, the episodes would be much shorter.
  • The spin-off Q Continuum novel trilogy introduces the character of 0, who essentially serves as a foil to Q; they may both 'test' lesser races for their own agenda, but while Starfleet is frustrated by Q's actions, Picard must concede that Q has allowed his human opponents to 'win' on occasion where 0 just changed the rules the second he was about to lose.
• Star Trek: Picard:
  • Narek and Elnor are orphaned, young, Pretty Boy Romulan men who are both In Touch with His Feminine Side, who serve a matriarchal institution, and who are polar opposites of each other. Their differences even extend to how they present themselves, like the length of their hair (Narek's is short while Elnor's is long) and the presence or absence of facial hair (Narek sports a beard whereas Elnor is clean-shaven). Soji is willing to listen to Narek's sad story of his brother's unexpected death the first time they meet, while Elnor is willing to listen to Picard's sad story of Dahj's (Soji's twin sister) unexpected death when they meet for the first time in fourteen years. In "The Impossible Box", Narek tries to murder Soji, but Elnor saves her life. In "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", Narek believes the myth of Seb-Cheneb and her twin sister Seb-Natan is a case of History Repeats, but Elnor dismisses it as just a tale. They both fight the androids at Coppelius Station; Narek is apprehended by the synths whereas Elnor stays out of their grasp.
    • Narek is an operative of the Zhat Vash, an ancient female-dominated Romulan cabal which predates the Tal Shiar. He's more of a seducer rather than a fighter (he's not able to defend himself when Narissa attempts to strangle him), and he prefers to employ his good looks and charm to gather information over violent methods. His talent for manipulation and deception is typical of Romulan society. Narek is the Black Sheep of his Zhat Vash family and his sister abuses him. While he's very good at dealing with people, his stealth skils are somewhat lacking because someone places a blade against his throat twice in the same episode.
    • Elnor is a forthright Warrior Monk who was raised by the Qowat Milat, an all-female sect that is the enemy of the Tal Shiar and the Zhat Vash. He's an Agent Peacock who's mocked as a "sisterboy" by the locals because of his women-only upbringing. In addition to being quick and lethal in combat, he follows the order's doctrine, the Way of Absolute Candor, and his Brutal Honesty is antithetical to his culture's propensity for lies and secrecy. Elnor is loved by the nuns, but his gender makes him an outcast within his own home. He's a Socially Awkward Hero, but is a Stealth Expert whose skills can rival a spy's.
  • The idealistic Jean-Luc Picard and the cynical Seven of Nine are former Borg drones who reacted very differently when the Federation reneged on its promise to aid the Romulan people. Picard resigned from Starfleet and was inactive in interstellar affairs for the past fourteen years, whereas Seven became a vigilante who works for the Fenris Rangers in lawless regions that the Federation had abandoned. They are human Parental Substitutes to non-human men, Elnor and Icheb, respectively. Picard was a Disappeared Dad to Elnor since he quit Starfleet, which contrasts Seven, who maintained her close ties with Icheb because he helped her with the Fenris Rangers' reconnaissance while he was on leave from the USS Coleman. Elnor arrives in time to save Picard's life on Vashti, but Seven is too late to save Icheb's life on Vergessen. Picard tries to convince Seven not to seek revenge for Icheb's death by killing Bjayzl and her gang of criminals, but Seven carries out the executions anyway.
  • Picard and Raffi are former Starfleet officers who have ignored a son figure (Elnor and Gabriel Hwang, respectively) for many years, and when they finally reunite with them, the outcome is very different. Picard doesn't apologize for his abandonment of Elnor and requests that his surrogate son be part of his crew, whereas Raffi does apologize for her neglect of Gabriel and hopes that she can spend time with her son. Picard and Raffi then receive a Calling the Old Man Out speech from Elnor and Gabriel. Elnor at first rejects his father figure's offer, but changes his mind when the latter's life is in danger; his love for Picard overcomes his resentment. Gabriel, however, remains incredibly bitter at his mother, so he shuts down any possibility of a reconciliation. Picard gets his surrogate son back, but Raffi is still cut off from her son.
  • Picard and Hugh are ex-Borg who have helped people who are hated by many (the Romulans and the xBs, respectively) and who are extremely displeased with the organization that they work for (the Federation and the Romulan Free State, respectively). Picard "allowed the perfect to become the enemy of the good" when the Federation cancelled its plan to relocate the Romulans from their doomed homeworld, so when he couldn't save everyone, he chose to save no one. Hugh, on the other hand, does as much good as he possibly can under conditions which are far from perfect to look after the former drones at the Romulan Reclamation Site, so he continues to assist each new patient despite the constraints placed on him. Elnor is present when both men die; they both warmly smile at him and cup Elnor's face in a loving manner. ^note Jonathan Del Arco depicted Hugh as being in love with Elnor.
• Today's Special: Jeff and Muffy. Jeff was Born as an Adult but initially knows very little about everyday things before spending an episode learning about them. Muffy already knows much more than he does but has the mindset of a child, so when an episode involves An Aesop, she is usually the one to learn it. To put it another way, Jeff lacks knowledge, while Muffy lacks wisdom.
• WandaVision: Both the main villains of the final episode are foils to Wanda and Vision, respectively. The two characters wind up fighting their counterparts:
  • Agatha Harkness is Wanda with a lot more experience mastering her powers, none of her morals or concern for other people, and if instead of leaning on the Avengers and Vision, she'd pushed them away (or in Agatha's case, literally cannibalised them for more power).
  • White Vision, unlike Vision, is totally emotionless and mechanical, and is willing to kill anyone if ordered to. Ultimately, Vision defeats him by pointing out how similar they are, and offering to share his memories (which make up the difference). Tyler Hayward, acting director of SWORD and White Vision's creator, also serves as a contrast to Vision: despite being human, and considering Vision an object, he's a lot less empathetic and a lot more casually cruel.
• We Are Lady Parts: Noor and Saira — who clash when they share the screen — are representative of Amina's two "lives". Noor is Amina's oldest friend, a polished religious conservative en route to marriage, and thus representative of the life Amina grew up in and initially wants. Saira is a disheveled misfit with a messy personal life, but it's through her that Amina finds the means to express herself.
• Wednesday has Enid, who is cheerful, outgoing, friendly, brightly-dressed, and basically everything Wednesday isn't.
• The Wire:
  • Herc and Carver both start as thuggish and brutal police officers, but their characters develop on opposite paths. While Herc remains as Dumb Muscle for the entirety of the show, and even gets fired from the BPD for his sheer incompetence, Carver eventually learns from his mentors Cedric Daniels and Bunny Colvin, and becomes one of the series' best police officers, a truly sensitive and thoughtful man who is tough but fair with his subordinates and actually cares about the citizens he is supposed to protect.
  • Johnny is Bubbles's protégé in the streets, but is much more blasé about their predicament and has an "us vs. them" mentality towards the police.
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Xena's companion Gabrielle acts as a foil as her compassionate and innocent nature contradicts Xena's bitter and ultra-violent disposition. This dynamic makes up for many of the show's subplots as well as main ones (usually when Xena's foes attempt to separate the duo by showing them the extent of their differences). See The Lancer also.
• The X-Files: Dr. Dana Scully is the scientific-minded rational foil to the infamous agent Fox Mulder, widely known within the bureau as Spooky Mulder for his unconventional methods and belief on the paranormal.

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