Foil - Television Tropes & Idioms

Jewelers often put shiny metal foil underneath a gem to make the stone shine brighter. A literary foil is someone who highlights another character's trait, usually by contrast, but sometimes by competing with him, hanging a lampshade, making snarky remarks, or egging him on.

Sidekicks often serve as foils to the hero by being something the hero himself is not (a calm and pragmatic sidekick when the hero is hotheaded, for example). In the classic good-guy versus bad guy scenario, both the hero and villain can each be considered the other's foil, in that each acts to show how the other behaves in certain situations.

These are far from the only possible pairings, however, as virtually any story with multiple characters can contrast the characters to show greater depths to them, regardless of what side they are on in the good versus evil equation. Good versus evil doesn't have to come into the picture at all.

Sometimes a foil is a flat secondary character that comes on stage, sparks a response, then fades from the story. More often, though, the foil is a recurring character that has a personality, or an opinion of things, that is different from another recurring character. This character can be the opposite of the character in many ways — or perhaps very, very, very similar, except for a crucial difference.

Many intentional foils are depicted as physical contrasts to the main character. Thin vs. fat and tall vs. short are among the commonest way of setting up a contrast. Similarly, when the hero's Love Interest is blonde, the villainess tends to have dark or red hair; when the villainess is blond, the hero's Love Interest tends to be dark or red haired.

As implied earlier, virtually any two characters or character types can serve as foils to each other if they're put together properly and a little good writing goes into them. However, there is a surprisingly large number of character types that exist primarily for the purpose of being a foil, usually to the main character, or in the case of a set of characters, to each other.

If you're feeling a little poetic and look around at your surroundings enough, you'll probably discover that this trope is a bit of Truth In Television.

Common Foils:

Tropes

Compare Shadowland, which applies to settings.

Examples

Anime and Manga

Naruto and Sasuke.
- Just the move obvious and longest lasting. There are many Naruto Foils. Gaara, Pain and Kabuto are foils of certain attributes that Naruto have.
While most obviously, Lelouch and Suzaku are foils of each other, this editor thinks an argument could be made that Dietherd is also a foil to Lelouch, being a Britannain aristocrat who at the beginning of the series expresses a similar dissatisfaction with Britannian society. However, whereas Lelouch is very active in enforcing change (for good or ill), Dietherd is more of a cheerleader for change and pretty much joins La Resistance because it seems interesting and midway through R2 betrays Lelouch when Prince Schneizel seems to be a more captivating leader. In episode 24 of the series right before he is killed, he is shown enthusiastically supporting Schneizel's plan to nuke cities around the world in order to bring "peace".
Kyon and Haruhi have such opposing character traits, philosophies, attitudes, etc., that there are significant amounts of Wild Mass Guessing supposing that they are some sort of "foil-power". Or Haruhi chose Kyon exactly because he balances her out. Or opposites just attract. Or they are gods of chaos and order. Pick one, if you like.
- However, when you add Sasaki, it looks more like Haruhi and Sasaki are foils whereas Kyon is the middleground. Haruhi believes in the supernatural and represents chaos but also creativity, freedom, spontaneity and change. Sasaki believes in logic and opposes emotions while representing order but also conformity, oppression and stability/consistency.
- Yuki and Ryōko, from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The former is an apparent Emotionless Girl who actually does posses deeply held emotions which she is just incapable of expressing; the latter is a bright and cheery girl who, beneath her stepford smile, is completely void of any real human emotions.
Idiot Hero Daisuke and one his two Lancers Takeru sometimes had this dynamic in Digimon Adventure 02.

Comic Books

In Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan acts as the Foil to both Rorschach and Ozymandias.
- Watchmen is full of these. Rorschach and Ozymandias are very obviously foils, since their lifestyles, methods and ideologies are the exact opposite (Rorschach is apathetic while Ozymandias is empathetic, Rorschach is ugly while Ozymandias is handsome, Rorschach lives in squalor while Ozymandias is rich, etc). Another obvious pair is Nite Owl II and Manhattan, enhanced by Laurie having had a relationship with both of them (Dan is receptive while Jon is distant, Dan is out of shape and middle-aged while Jon is in perfect shape and eternally thirty, etc)
Very common element in most Super Hero comics is for heroes to have villains that are either their Foil, or are Not So Different. Even more common is for villainous foil to be their Arch Enemy:
- Batman and Joker
- Superman and Lex Luthor.
- X-Men and all anti-mutant organizations.
- Cosmic Empires of Kree and Skrulls fits this.
- Spider-Man and Green Goblin, where foil occurs in their completely different characters and social status. Dr. Octopus can fit too.
- Black Bolt and Maximus. After Maximus Heel Face Turn, Vulcan filled the void during War Of Kings.
- Interesting example comes from The Authority - while they are big subversion of common superhero tropes, during Warren Ellis era all their enemies were very typical and schematical.
- Kherubins and Deamonites in Wild C.A.T.S., at similar level than Kree and Skull example.
- Captain America and Red Skull.
- Iron Man and Mandarin
- The Incredible Hulk and The Leader. Also Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross.
- The Mighty Thor and Loki - again, one is Fluign Bric, the other is trickster.
- Silver Surfer and Mephisto.
In Avengers Iron Man and Captain America can be seen as an foil to each other. Especially in Civil War.

Film

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in Star Wars.
The Bride and Elle Driver.
Reservoir Dogs - Mr Pink to Mr White, as well as Mr Blonde to Mr White.
- Also Mr Orange to the seasoned and experienced Mr White. Or, depending on how you interpret it, Mr Orange as a cop blessed with The Power Of Acting, who ends up Becoming The Mask and Mr White, a criminal who is loyal to his beliefs and principles to the point of being ready to die for them.
Brent and Flint in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, especially in the first two acts of the film. At first, Brent is everything Flint is not: famous and well-liked by the whole town, if not the smartest fish in the school. But once Flint's invention gets going, their positions flip, with Flint being cheered by the crowds and Brent largely forgotten.

Literature

Shakespeare has many, many foils in his plays (appropriate since he's going for dramatic effect):
- In Hamlet, Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway is a foil to Hamlet, having none of the latter's introspection when it comes to avenging his father's death. Another classic example of Hamlet's foil is his friend, Horatio, whose level-headedness clearly serves as foil to Hamlet's rash nature.
- Macbeth has Macbeth and Macduff, and (more obviously) Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff.
- Falstaff is the foil to Prince Hal in the King Henry plays. And oh, what a foil he is.
- Mercutio is Romeo's foil: he's brash, upbeat and joking while Romeo is always moping and mooning around.
- Arguably, Caliban and Ariel are foils for each other, or they're both foils for different sides of Prospero.
In Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is the foil to the titular hero; he has grown up with a rich family, has loving (and alive) parents, is arrogant and selfish and cold, all striking contrast. Harry's other foil is, believe it or not, Ron, who is poor, has a big, loving family, knows a lot of the wizarding world from day one, and is rather down-to-earth most of the time, almost never jumping to wild conclusions.
- Voldemort is also set up as Harry's foil; Dumbledore specifically comments that the two are very similar, except that Harry always chooses good while Voldemort chooses to only care about himself.
- J.K. Rowling has also commented on Hermione and Luna being foils to each other: Hermione is rational and depends on firm knowledge, while Luna is intuitive and functions solely on faith.
In JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Boromir might be considered the foil to his brother Faramir as well as to Aragorn, as while he had similar heroic goals, he is a Tragic Hero who is tempted by the Ring.
- In JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion, Tuor and Túrin might be considered each other's foil. They're cousins (though they -almost- never meet), are separated from their human families to be fostered by Elves, go live in hidden Elven cities, fall in love with Elven ladies... However, Túrin is a rash, not always sympathetic Tragic Hero Blessed With Suck while Tuor is an all out good guy who ends pretty well - what with being one of the few characters who actually survive to the end of the book.
Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's sidekick, is plump, realistic, and has a sense of humor, all of which contrast with his master.
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are classic foils. In addition to physical attributes (Holmes tall and lean, Watson shorter and stout), Holmes leaps into plans without explanation and follows up on wild clues. Watson, as his namesake trope points out, tends to ask realistic questions and accept more conventional theories.
In a Romeo and Juliet story that's way way different from the original, the titular characters are a demon and angel respectively, whose physical appearances(he wore black spiked armor and had black demonic wings to contrast with her white dress/wings) and personalities( he was stoic, quiet, and snarky and she was kind, spontaneous, and cheerful) differed. The places they lived in reflected this as well: Juliet's was a peaceful, well-lit, and beautiful realm as opposed to Romeo's gloomy, perilous, and quite frightening one. Despite the current war between the two races, this doesn't stop them from falling in love. Until Paris, Romeo's Evil Twin tricks Juliet into thinking that Romeo killed her father during the last war(which is actually proven to be true) and is just pretending to be in love with her so that he can find out the weaknesses of the Angels and kill her next, putting her in a Heroic BSOD until Romeo tells her that he is deeply in love with her because she is the only one that truly understands him and he proves his love by giving her the necklace her father wanted to give her and he had to kill her father, who was succumbing to fatal injuries that Paris caused. This, combined with Jessica's and Ron's words, makes her eventually forgive him.
- Also from the same story are the other two main characters who assist in bringing the above two together, the humans Jessica and Ron also contrasted with each other:she was a loud, brash, passionate Action Girl (she is a redhead after all) while paired with the soft-spoken, easygoing, funny, and Non Action Guy Ron. It is shown several times throughout the story that Ron has a crush on Juliet, preferring her passive, kind, and sweet nature (well she is a blond) over Jessica's sassy, brash, and sharp-tongued one. However after Paris gives him The Reason You Suck Speech and insults Jessica, he punches Paris in the face and declares his feelings for his red-haired girlfriend, and the two share a kiss afterwards. Guess Heroes Want Redheads after all.
- You know what?? This story pretty much defines the use of foils, as aside from the four mentioned above, we're introduced to 4 elemental demon knights who form somewhat of a Red Oni Blue Oni dynamic: The boys Paris (Fire) and Tybalt (Earth) represent Red, and are the most manipulative nastiest smuggish people that have crossed the line way too much, and the girls Sylvia (Air) and Rosalie (Water) represent Blue and like Romeo are snarky Punch Clock Villains that eventually perform a Heel Face Turn.
Every character in The Stranger is basically a foil for the narrator, Meursault. Not surprising, of course, since the point of the novel is to develop a particular Exitentialist philosophy.
In James Swallow's Warhammer 40000 Blood Angels novels Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius, Sachiel is used as a foil to Rafen, for his Pride. At his first appearance, Rafen remembers their rivalry and how Sachiel had always preferred to talk, and Rafen to let his actions spek for themselves. Most starkly contrast when Sachiel thinks Rafen dead (No One Could Survive That!) and gloats to the empty air — "Rafen, you are dead." — versus when Rafen sees Sachiel's corpse and feels sorry for him.

Television

It's been pointed out that on Firefly, Jayne's character exists largely to show what a true Jerk Ass and amoral character would actually be doing every time that Mal is trying his best to pretend he's those things.
Star Trek Voyager. Seven of Nine played this role for Captain Janeway (at least during her first year on the ship).
Professional Wrestling example: This trope was basically the angle of the Wrestlemania XXV match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid casted himself as the "Light" that is fated to defeat the "Darkness" embodied by the evil Deadman, and consequently end the latter's legendary winning streak.
In House, Wilson, and to a lesser extent, Cuddy and Foreman, are House's foils.
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.
This could just be me, but Parker and Sophie in Leverage seem to have this feel. Sophie is classy, social, and likable, but fake, while Parker is crazy, antisocial and off-putting, but honest (if blunt).

Theatre

Phantom of the Opera: Erik portrays dark and passion, Raoul light and clear thinking.
In Wicked, Galinda and Elphaba. Galinda acts like a stereotypical blonde, pretty, popular, and not much going on in her head. Elphaba is (viewed as) ugly and a bookworm. Elphaba is also much more responsible and mature, and when faced with a discovery that turns their world upside-down, one spreads the word, reputation be damned, and one uses it to her advantage. Gu ess.

Video Games

In World of Warcraft Varian Wrynn is a foil to Thrall. Thrall is an orc raised by humans, with the cunning and patience more associated with humans, while Wrynn was forced to fight in orc gladiatorial matches, giving him a bloodlust and vendetta against orcs, things found in orcs more often. Their histories also mirror each other's (Thrall had his clan destroyed when the humans defended themselves and had to rebuild it, while Wrynn had his kingdom destroyed by the orcs in Warcraft I and also had to rebuild it).
- Back in Warcraft III, Thrall's story arc seemed to very strongly mirror Arthas'. Thrall starts off as a slave but eventually becomes the warchief and saves the world through his sheer charisma and decision to ally with his peoples' former enemies. Meanwhile, Arthas has everything going for him in the beginning but his single-mindedness and arrogance lead to his becoming a slave to the Lich King and the death of his people. Unfortunately, this relation doesn't get any spotlight in the game itself.
In Final Fantasy VII, the Arch Enemies Cloud and Sephiroth are opposites or mirror images in just about every way. Even their appearances were apparently designed on this basis. As for personality, after turning evil, Sephiroth is inhumanly cool, confident and controlled in all situations and fully accepts the fact that he's basically the spawn of an evil world-consuming alien, and will gladly adopt its methods himself and kill absolutely everyone to become a god. Cloud, on the other hand, is always angsting over who the heck he is or the possibility that he might fail or the like, until at the end he saves the world by Heroic Spirit, precisely because he cares. Once he even explicitly says this is because there is nothing he does not cherish, which is pretty much the most exact opposite imaginable of Sephiroth's attitude towards the world. And there's more: whereas Sephiroth was the absolute elite of SOLDIER apparently even as a teenager, Cloud never made it to their ranks at all. Both angsted at some point that they were the result of a terrible experiment. Sephiroth at first seemed to find out that it wasn't that bad after all, that he was merely built to be the last of the Ancients, but in fact it was if anything even worse than he had thought at first. Cloud seemed to find out that he was nothing but a soulless clone, but actually it was much less severe than that. For each, the time when they find out the whole truth is when they fully became the hero and villain they are.

Webcomics

The following quote comes from this Order of the Stick strip, featuring a Flat Character, (or maybe Mauve Shirt) Mook and the Anti Villain Redcloak talking about their Card Carrying Villain partner Xykon. Coincidentally, this strip occurs just after several in which the paladin O-Chul and Redcloak had served as different but excellent foils for each other.
Mook: But... aren't we all on the same side?
Redcloak: That is a complicated question ... Our alliance with Xykon is one of the most powerful tools we have, and we cannot afford to screw that up. That does NOT mean we should trust him. I know he seems funny and charming, but believe me, when you see for yourself the depths to which he'll sink, you will never sleep well again.
In Gunnerkrigg Court, Zimmy and Gamma, "two strange girls", work as a pair of foils to the main characters Annie and Kat, the other "strange girls". Jack is Kat's own foil: both are technical-minded, curious and slightly mischievous people who have a dramatic meeting with the supernatural world. Kat is baffled but eager to understand it, while Jack becomes suspicious and frustrated after a traumatic experience with psychic powers.
In The Indefensible Positions we have Foil (no pun intended) and Frank. It's revealed that Foil was Frank's imaginary friend. After they split up, without him Frank's personality was changed to completely opposite of Foil's.
Shadowgirls: On one side we have Becka McKay - dark hair, rock-style clothes, Chain Of Command and Cool Loser with golden heart. On the other side there's Misty Snow - blonde and very popular girl, typical combination of Spoiled Brat and The Libby, only taken to Complete Monster level. Similarly with their mothers - Charon McKay and Christmas Snow. And even two Eldritch Abominations that lives inside them, Shadowchild and Mother Hydra.
Mindmistress and Bloodlust.
Lightbringer and Darkbringer