Sibling Yin Yang - Television Tropes & Idioms

After 30 long years, finally, the two of us meet. The brother of light...and the brother of dark.

-Liquid Snake, Metal Gear Solid

In real life, siblings hardly ever act the same. Fiction sometimes takes this to an extreme.

Enter Sibling Yin Yang, the occurrence of siblings that are nearly polar opposites. If he's cool and reckless, she's responsible and thoughtful. If she's a spiky-haired hooligan, he's the nerdy wimpy one. If he's an immature brat, she's... well, you get the picture.

The even more extreme form leads to Different As Night And Day, or even Evil Twin. When this leads to complete antagonism, it becomes Cain And Abel. See also The Glorious War Of Sisterly Rivalry .

Examples

Anime

Al and Ed from Full Metal Alchemist.
- The anime and light novels also have Fletcher and Russel Tringham, who present many parallels with the Elric brothers.
  - So much so that not only do they impersonate the Elrics at least twice, there's a certain amount of Sibling Yin Yang between respective imposters-the Tringhams fulfill a certain amount of the expectation of what you're going to get with the Elrics, which is quite different from what you actually get. Aside from the fact that each Tringham has an ego that matches his respective Elric.
Tiff and Tuff in the Kirby anime.
Kyou and Ryou in CLANNAD; Kyou is a violent tsundere, Ryou a shy Class Representative.
- Interestingly enough, Kyou is also class representative in her class.
- Same deal with Kagami and Tsukasa (respectively) from Lucky Star
  - To further This Troper's suspicions of an ~~Expy~~ Kyo Ani Shout Out, Tsukasa has a very similar hairstyle to Ryou. With the same hair color to boot.
  - Does this mean that Ryou is an Expy of Akari Kamigishi, by transivity?
  - No. She and Tomoya are definitely not the Official Couple.
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch uses it repeatedly. Caren is a brooding, grudge-holding Broken Bird, while her twin sister Noel is a forgiving, self-sacrificing Yamato Nadeshiko. When Caren got nicer and, as a result, dropped Out Of Focus, she became a loud party girl to keep the opposite dynamic going. There's also Kaito and Gackto, of the Cain And Abel variety, as well as one being a friendly joker and the other a White Haired Pretty Boy. Lucia and Nikora, though only posing as sisters, fit it too with The Ditz versus the Team Mom. In fact, it's even lampshaded in the Black Beauty Sisters, who are also definitely not sisters.
Miki and Kozue from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
In Lucky Star, Konata lampshaded two pairs: Kagami / Tsukasa and Yui / Yutaka. Konata hypothesized this trope is caused by one sibling absorbing attributes from the other sibling.
- Well, Kagami and Tsukasa have different eye shapes.
- Taken out of context by Minami, who says that Miyuki Takara must have absorbed something else from her, by virtue of being next door neighbors
Light and his sister in Death Note. Their only common points are that they are both good-looking and respected. She is a nice, ordinary person, he is a freakishly intelligent Well Intentioned Extremist with sociopathic tendencies and a god complex.
Twin examples: Risa and Riku in DNAngel; Vash and Knives in Trigun; Abel and Cain in TrinityBlood; Metatron and Sandalphon in AngelSanctuary; Chrno and Aion/Ion in Chrono Crusade; Suboshi and Amiboshi in Fushigi Yuugi. Also note that as is often the case for the twin archetype, which some scholars view as a sub-category of the hermaphrodite archetype (seriously), one twin is gendered more 'feminine' (Risa, Vash, Abel, Chrno, arguably Metatron) and the other more 'masculine' (Riku, Knives, Cain, Aion, Sandalphon). (This has nothing to do with sexual orientation!)
- This trope is even lampshaded by the twins in DNAngel:
Riku: We have absolutely nothing in common!
Risa: Nothing at all!
Another twin example: Yoh and Hao from Shaman King. Hao is an evil twin.
How come nobody has mentioned the twins Soma and Kanna from Devil&Devil, Soma is a weak ocult otaku and kanna is a violent rebel, it doesnt help that they each get possesed by the devil Sword and the angel Ios respectibly.
Yoh and Minatsuki in Deadman Wonderland are an interesting case: both are liars, cowards, and opportunists, but Yoh may be fundamentally a caring guy while his sister is a Yandere.
Jun Ushiro and his sister Kana in Bokurano. She is sweet, shy and forgiving, he is violent and brooding.
Yoh and his sister in Koukou Debut.
- On that note, Akito and his sister fit the bill as well.
Tetsunosuke and Tatsunosuke in Peacemaker Kurogane.
Hansel and Gretel in Ludwig Kakumei... somewhat.
Anna and Johan in Monster. Anna is outgoing, helpful and an idealistic humanist. Johan is quiet, introspective, manipulative and an utter sociopath.
Yuki and Ayame in Fruits Basket. Ayame is the Always Camp Aloof Big Brother, while Yuki is the White Prince with an Instant Fanclub. Yuki doesn't find Ayame very bearable, while Ayame insists he's showing support for his younger brother. He really doesn't get it.
In Hajime No Ippo, there's Kumi Mashiba, Ippo's main love-interest and a Yamato Nadeshiko to boot. And then there's her big brother, Ryo 'The Executioner' Mashiba, an angry and brooding boxer who eagerly uses intimidation-tactics and fouls to beat down his opponents, and just generally comes across as a borderline psychopath. About the only person who's NOT scared of him is Kumi, who have been known to slap him to the floor when he got out of hand. There's also the fact that Mashiba practically raised Kumi ever since they were orphaned in an accident, so only she and one of his bosses know how hard Mashiba has worked to take care of her. The scene where this softer side of his' was shown was quite the Tear Jerker in the anime.
Yuma and Yuna Kashiwagi from Pani Poni Dash. Yuma is an extreme extrovert (and borderline Yandere), Yuna is an extreme introvert. Yuma goes so far as to actively sabotage Yuna's attempts at being more accepted just to keep eyes on her.
The Chizeta princesses from Magic Knight Rayearth: Tarta the younger is loud, rude, and Hot Blooded while Tatra the elder is quiet, polite, and a total pushover (apparently), which is probably why the younger sister seems to be the leader.
Ikki (rough, aloof, Jerk With A Heart Of Gold) and Shun (gentle, Martial Pacifist, selfless) in Saint Seiya
In Axis Powers Hetalia, North and South Italy fit this trope; North Italy is ditzy, cheerful, and friendly, while South Italy is more reserved and unfriendly, especially towards North Italy's partner in crime Germany and his ex-caretaker, Spain. Switzerland and Liechtenstein also fit this trope, with Switzerland being a moody gunslinger and Liechtenstein being a gentle and kind Token Loli.
- Also, America and Canada: The first is a loud, outgoing mix of Eagleland archtypes and Boisterous Bruiser; the second is much more quiet, sensible, and overlooked.
- Germany and Prussia, too. Germany being a Perpetual Frowner Neat Freak and Prussia being a Hot Blooded Jerk Ass.
Nove and Wendi of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, the inseperable red-headed duo amongst the Numbers sisters, and later, amongst the Nakajima sisters, with Nove as the always angry one and Wendi as the always happy one.
Kouichi Kimura and Kouji Minamoto of Digimon Frontier. Aside from being twins, the holders of the spirits of Light and Darkness, and having the entire Separated At Birth thing going for them, there's even an episode named "The Brothers Yin and Yang."
The Nitori siblings of Hourou Musuko couldn't be more different. Big Sister Maho is outgoing and pushy. Little Brother Shuichi is timid and even feminine. This actually gets lampshaded by the pair's father, who relates to Shu a story of their grandmother betting Maho would be a boy and Shu a girl before they were born. Nitori Sr. wonders if the kids' grandma was really so wrong about them.
Hot Blooded Fiery Redhead Apollo and Defrosting Ice Queen Pale Skinned Brunette Artemis in Cyborg 009.
Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica has the Yugiri sisters. Persete is the outgoing one, Prinesca is the shy one.
Ace and Luffy on One Piece. Ace is more level-headed and polite than his brash and bordering on brain-dead little brother. Even Luffy's crew have expressed disbelief at how different Ace is from their captain.
Fran and Victoria Madaraki of Franken Fran were outright made to be this. Fran was made to preserve life (which can lead to unpleasant results); Victoria was made to end it (which she prefers to do swiftly and painlessly). Fran tries to put Victoria more on her side of the scale, but so far, no dice.
Paul/Shinji,from Pokemon,and his brother,Reggie/Reiji.
Fuka and Fumika Narutaki of Mahou Sensei Negima. The former's the trouble-making class pankster while the latter's constantly worried about how the former's pranks will get them in trouble as she gets dragged along.

Comic Books

Charles Xavier and Cain Marko in X-Men. And that's before you get into how they are, respectively, the most mentally powerful and the most physically powerful people in the world...
- Xavier also has Cassandra Nova, who literally exists to be his polar opposite in absolutely everything.
Suntop and Ember in ElfQuest.
Hawk and Dove from Justice League, who are also as different as Red and Blue.
Batman's two sons, Tim "Robin" Drake (adopted) and Damian al Ghul (biological), in recent comics. Tim is logical, cool-headed, and always follows Batman's example by never killing, while Damian is rash, violent, and thinks nothing of killing his enemies. They slug it out pretty much every time they meet.
- You could extend that to Tim Drake and Nightwing (Dick Grayson). Nightwing can be logical, but he's more hot-tempered and his creation of 'Nightwing' directly extended from him rebelling against Batman. Tim and Dick act like actual brothers though, unlike Damian.

Film

Dash and Violet in The Incredibles.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in their movies.
Jamal and Salim of Slumdog Millionaire.
According to thier Tech Specs Skids and Mudflap are this... with the caveat that they're both quite stupid. Skids merely believes he's the smart one.

Literature

Connor and Grace of Vampirates
Every sibling pair in The Moomins
Jake and Tom in Animorphs. One (Jake) is fighting to save the world and one (Tom) is a Controller whose Yeerk is trying to take over the world, though the real Tom is probably more Jake-like.
Sansa and Arya Stark in "A Song Of Ice And Fire". They even look completely different (Sansa is a beautiful redhead like her mother, Arya is longfaced and darkhaired like her father.)
- Also, the vicious Joffrey Baratheon and his gentler little brother Tommen.
Similarly, princes James and Thomas in Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (James is fit and raven-haired like their mother while Thomas is chubby and sandy-haired like their father).
Elinor and Marianne in Sense And Sensibility.
Thom and Alanna in Song of the Lioness. Thom likes to do magic but hates swordplay. Alanna, his twin sister, likes swordplay but initially fears and detests her magic.
- Jory and Nia from Cold Fire surely count as well.
Lady Envy and Anomander Rake from The Malazan Book Of The Fallen: She's The Vamp, he's a stoic Blood Knight.

Live Action TV

Claire and Lyle, as well as Nathan and Peter, from Heroes.
- Hiro and his older sister Kimiko, with Hiro being idealistic, child-like, and bored by the prospect of being a businessman like his father; Kimiko is intelligent, motivated, and ambitious in regards to taking a place within the family's company.
Chuck and Ellie in Chuck.
Betty and Hilda and of Ugly Betty.
J.D. and Dan in Scrubs.
Sam and Dean in Supernatural.
Aunts Lily and Vivian in Pushing Daisies are both eccentric shut-ins, but the similarities end there.
The Booth brothers from Bones - Booth the elder likes his comfort zone while Booth the younger is flashy and much more upwardly mobile.
The Girls and the Boys from Jon And Kate Plus Eight (the somewhat bossy Girls take after their mother while the more laid-back Boys take after their father)

Video Games

Rin and Len Kagamine from the Vocaloid (and Hatsune Mix) series.
Mario and Luigi of Super Mario Bros, thanks to Luigi's increased Luigification as a coward over the last 10 years.
Crash and Coco of Crash Bandicoot
Starfy and Starpy of The Legendary Starfy.
Palom and Porom from Final Fantasy IV.
Edgar and Mash/Sabin from Final Fantasy VI.
- Edgar and Sabin are hardly polar opposites... they are both supremely confident extroverts, for one thing. The only difference is how devoted to duty they are.
  - Maybe in their presentations, though - Sabin's a brawny bare-handed fighter-type, Edgar's a flirty inventor who moonlights as a king.
March and Salsa from Eternal Sonata, due to the game's light/shadow mechanic in battles, they are quite literally Different As Night And Day.
Lucas and Claus from Mother 3
Yun and Yang from Street Fighter III: Third Strike. Yun is loud and outgoing, while Yang is quiet and introverted. Also, Yun focuses on the strength of his attacks, while Yang focuses on the number of hits.
Twin example: Hisui and Kohaku from Tsukihime. Hisui is an introverted maid who is skilled at cleaning, but lousy at cooking. Kohaku is an extroverted maid who is skilled at gardening and cooking, but terrible at cleaning.
- Also from the Nasuverse, Shinji and Sakura in Fate Stay Night. Subverted in that they're not blood siblings. Sakura and Rin are, though, and also fit this trope. Sakura's powers match her side nicely, to boot.
Hector and Uther in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword. Though this can probably be chalked up to the fact that Uther's functioned as Hector's father figure since their parents died.
- The three Pegasus sisters are a rare trio example. Quiet, serious Fiora butts heads with boisterous Farina, who in turn gets a kick out of teasing both her and shy, sensitive Florina.
  - In Fire Emblem 6 we have another sibling trio... also of Pegasus sisters. Yuuno is a sweet Action Mom, Thite is a stoic Defrosting Ice Queen and Thany is a hyper Genki Girl. And there's also a set of twins: the cheerful mage Lugh and the snarky shaman Rai.
Unusual triplet variant, from Metal Gear Solid - Solid and Liquid Snakes are extremely diametrically opposed; reserved, guilty Solid lacks his brother's ambitious, manipulative nature, and passionate, vengeful Liquid lacks his brother's wisdom and emotional clarity. This is complicated by the arrival of the third triplet, the calculating, focused Solidus, who considers himself a 'perfect balance' of his brothers' traits - he's wise and manipulative at once.
The Scarlet Sisters: Remilia carries herself with class, which Flandre is a bit too, uh, energetic when "playing."
- Even in Fanon, when she once joyfully pounced Marisa in a Christmas-themed fancomic after waiting impatiently in the basement for Christmas decorations to be finished, an audible CRACK is heard. Ouch!
Netto (Lan) and Saito (Hub) Hikari AKA Mega Man from Rockman EXE / Mega Man Battle Network, especially in the Japanese version. Netto is outgoing, brash, and rather hot-headed; Saito is more calm and collected.
The Kirishima siblings from Project Justice - elder sister Yurika is a quiet, timid Lady Of War, while younger brother Kurow is a borderline-psychotic, megalomaniac assassin complete with a Slasher Smile.
Hisui and Kohak in Tales of Hearts. The elder is Hot Blooded and impulsive and rude, and even his speech is crass; his sister is soft-spoken and polite. There's also Croaseraph, who is an aggressive Dual Wielding Glass Cannon who wants to Destroy All Humans, and his brother Crinoseraph, a stoic, defensive spellcaster with two shields who's maintained his loyalty to his master.
Dante and Vergil embody this trope, and just about every other antagonistic sibling relationship ever created.
Literally yin and yang in Final Fantasy IV with Cecil and Golbez The two exhibit a good deal of emotional yin yang in Dissidia Final Fantasy.

Web Comics

Molly and Galatea in The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob
Elan and Nale from Order Of The Stick. They even have opposite alignments (Elan is Chaotic Good, Nale is Lawful Evil).

Web Original

Lee and Toe in KateModern.

Western Animation

Steve and Hailey in American Dad.
Bart and Lisa in The Simpsons.
Doug and Judy from Doug.
Dexter and Deedee in Dexters Laboratory.
Carl and Chloe in Carl Squared.
The aptly named Yin and Yang from Yin Yang Yo.
Danny and Jazz in Danny Phantom.
Katara and Sokka in Avatar The Last Airbender
- Zuko and Azula are as different as red and blue.
Starfire and Blackfire of Teen Titans.
- Also Mas y Menos despite the fact that they're on the same side, and to a certain extent the thoughtful, pacifistic, somewhat clingy Thunder and hotheaded, independant, pyro/electromaniacal Lightning.
Ben and Gwen on Ben 10. Cousins, but close enough.
Riley and Todd from The Replacements.
Hex and Megabyte on Re Boot. Ironiclly, both are the Evil Twin... in the beginning.
Huey and Riley in The Boondocks.

Real Life

Christopher and Peter Hitchens. Christopher is a very outspoken atheist/anti-theist and holds predominantly (but by no means exclusively) liberal political views. Peter is a lifelong member of the Church of England and holds predominantly conservative political views. Granted, both are relatively high-profile journalists, but beyond similar vocations and genetics, the similarities generally end there.

Shrouded In Myth

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