'"Oh, you are not?! Using your powers to get back at people you don't like? Throwing the first punch? You are more like me than you know!"
—Vlad Masters, Danny Phantom
See the full list of examples at Mirror Character.
Subpages:
- American Dragon: Jake Long:
- Jake's grandfather was just like Jake in his youth. In fact, he retained the attitude (but was cockier) as a young adult until he defeated the Dark Dragon the first time. This is probably why he's hard on Jake; he doesn't want his grandson to repeat his mistakes.
- Jake and and his cousin Greggy are from the same family and both inherited the family lineage of dragon transformation and are very egotistical regarding their abilities, but Jake has the experience to back the confidence up, and Greggy falls into "overconfident", very similar to how Jake was when the series first began.
- From Ben 10 (2016):
- Kevin and Ben Tennyson. Both of them are mischievous, egotistical pranksters who possess similar devices that allow them to become aliens. They both even have the same tendency to give their aliens silly names.
- This is a major reason as to why Charmcaster has such fury toward Gwen; not in regards to present Gwen, but because Gwen reminds her of her former self.
- As their squabbling in "Which Watch" shows, Kevin and Charmcaster are rather similar in personality. Both are arrogant, immature, and obsessed with defeating a Tennyson kid. They both have self-esteem issues that they mask by being aggressive and rebellious.
- Bluey: The two main characters, Bluey and Bingo, are mirrored by their cousins, Muffin and Socks. Both sets of siblings consist of an older sister who is loud, energetic, and sometimes bossy, and a younger sister who is subdued, calm, and sometimes emotionally sensitive.
- The Cuphead Show!: The Devil has quite a bit in common with Cuphead, surprisingly. They're both Hot-Blooded, rather immature mischief makers who chase thrills whenever they can (Cuphead via getting up to adventures in the Isles, the Devil by messing with the residents). They also both try to avoid work in favor of having fun (Cuphead going to the Carn-Evil instead of painting the fence, the Devil trying to enjoy his productivity party instead of getting Cuphead's soul) and apparently share a sense of humor.
- Danny Phantom: Valerie and Paulina are both popular girls at Danny's school who dislike him initially for plenty of reasons (in large part because he's an outcast even before the ghost powers), and both fall for one of Danny's selves after they're saved by him. Paulina falls for Danny's ghost self simply because he is a popular superhero, while Valerie falls for Danny's human identity because he is a nice person.
- Dexter's Laboratory: Both Dexter and Mandark are defined by their childish egos and temperament, to the point it's no surprise either would be completely insecure about the other's intellect and resent one another.
- The Dragon Prince:
- Runaan and Viren are on opposite sides of the war, but they both urge their subordinates to commit acts of evil in the name of pragmatism. Notably, Runaan and Viren both admit that killing the innocent princes is evil, but do it anyway in the name of "the greater good".
- Over the course of the first three books, Callum and Viren are also shown to mirror each other greatly: devoted (initially in Viren's case) to more moral king to the point of being willing to die for them, fascinated by magic even though they traditionally shouldn't be able to use it, and desperate to prove that they can help people. As the story goes on, this only serves to highlight their differences, as while both are willing to cross lines and keep secrets, Callum knows when to stop while Viren only digs himself deeper and hurts more people in an effort to prove that he was right in the first place.
- Ziard ends up being a contrast to Viren. Both of them are practitioners of dark magic, sacrificing magical creatures for magic. Ziard attempts to talk things out with the former Dragon King Sol Regem back when he ruled, whereas Viren always prefers pragmatism and killing to solve his problems. Viren is fueled by racism and paranoia towards elves and dragons, while Ziard has nothing but respect for the ones who helped him, and wishes for humanity to be seen as equals instead of mistreated as inferiors. Viren sees nothing wrong with throwing away innocent lives for his cause, while Ziard does what he can to help people rather than throw them away. Viren lets his ego getting bruised by his king to lead him to ignore the only time he has ever considered self-sacrifice because of his actions(rather than a spur of the moment act), while Ziard sacrifices himself instantly to save countless innocents from Sol Regem the moment he realized Sol Regem was that cruel and petty.
- Throughout most of the early points of The Dreamstone the lucid sugary sweet Noops were like night and day compared to the cynical goofy Urpneys, who feared the former as much as they righteously abhorred the latter. Throughout later episodes however, occasional lampshades were made at the fact that Rufus and Amberley were as much errand runners for the heroes as Frizz and Nug were for the villains. They even started to display a similar snarky disposition about what they are put through at times.
- Elena of Avalor: Carla and Elena, of all people. Both are teenagers seeking to prove themselves, both have mothers who are absent from their lives but come back to them in one way or another, and both seek to unlock a magical potential. This is taken to another level in "The Magic Within", in which just like Elena, Carla is betrayed by a family member, watches at least one parent sustain a fatal magical blast right before her eyes, and she gets imprisoned almost immediately after.
- Elinor Wonders Why: In "A Wonderful Journey", Elinor meets an explorer named Beatriz, who is basically a grownup version of Elinor. They share the same insatiable curiosity, fearlessness, love of nature, and even some of their catchphrases.
- Galactik Football: D'jok and Sinedd are both Jerk Jocks, both are strikers, both grew up as orphans, both have the hots for Mei and both 'betrayed' their teams at one point or another.
- On Goof Troop, Pete and Max loathe each other most of the time, but they have more in common with each other than with anyone else on the show: they're both ambitious leaders who are self-centered and prone to using other people as means to an end, and they're both far better at coming up with ideas than thinking them through. They'd never admit it though, except in "O, R-V, I N-V U" where their similarities lead them to build such a strong bond that a Why Are You Not My Son? situation arises with Pete's diametrically-opposed son as the reject.
- Inside Job (2021): Reagen and Brett - the former is brilliant, plain looking, cynical, unfit, and socially inept while the latter is naive, optimistic, good looking, physically fit, and socially adept. However, they both have severe emotional and mental issues stemming from their childhoods that were caused by the negligent behavior of their parents.
- Invader Zim:
- Zim and Dib share a lot in common. Both of them are looked on as incompetent or crazy by regular members of their respective races due to past incidents, as well as being mocked by their own race for a perceived physical quirk (being small in Zim's case, having a big head for Dib). Both of them are obsessed with proving their worth and success to their peers. Most importantly, both of them are capable of being legitimately dangerous and downright ruthless in spite of their quirks.
- Gaz's obsession with games is not all that different from Dib's obsession with the paranormal.
- Despite Tak's assertion of superiority over Zim, she and Zim both shirked the mundane task assigned to them; Zim rejected indentured employment on Foodcourtia, while Tak sidesteps temporary janitorial duties on Planet Dirt, both believing these roles hinder their paths to quicker glory. Intriguingly, the circumstances of their respective exiles can be traced back to Zim's actions: Zim's expulsion resulted from his own folly—destroying the invasion fleet in Operation Impending Doom I while Tak's exile is indirectly linked to Zim preventing her from reaching her final exam on time, leading to her forced exile.
- Kim Possible: Interestingly enough, Kim is mirrored not so much by her Arch-Enemy, Drakken, but by his Side Kick, the calm, level-headed Shego, and Ron is similarly not mirrored so much by the Side Kick Shego, but by Drakken, the fairly eccentric and goofy leader of the bad guys.
- Jackie Chan Adventures: Finn, Ratso and Chow have a lot of similarities with the title hero. As Jackie laments that he's been dragged to the front lines in the battle against separate Dark Forces, the Enforcers grow sick of being continuously force-conscripted as henchmen of said Dark Forces. Jackie is often yelled at, ordered around and slapped by his uncle, while the Arc Villains are all Bad Bosses to the Enforcers. In a similar way to how Jackie would love nothing more than get back his old non-magical life of archaeology, the Enforcers eventually want to quit the entire magic business and go after what they really want: mundane riches. Plus, all four are the biggest Butt Monkeys of the series with some Manchild traits and a knack for surviving near-death experiences.
- In Moral Orel, unhappily-married Clay and Bloberta both had a loving relationship with one of their parents, but the other was much colder with them (mother and father, respectively for Clay; the opposite for Bloberta). We also find out during the former flashback that Clay was a lot like Orel when he was a kid and young man, and both were victims of abuse.
- The Penguins of Madagascar: Gustav "Gus" Babushka is this to Skipper. He wants to repair the Penguin habitat, while Skipper is against it, so he doesn't activate the antimatter fusion reactor core. They are both The Determinator and Control Freaks that want stuff to be done their way and even share the same catchphrase "There's only one way to do the job, the right way. My way."
- Samurai Jack, Jack mirrors both Aku and his daughter Ashi.
- Jack and Aku's endless stalemate has taken a toll on both of them: Jack has lost hope of returning to the past and is undergoing Sanity Slippage because of it, while Aku is depressed and anxious over the thought that Jack might be here forever. In XCIII they both even have a Talking to Themself moment, with Jack confronting his nihilism in the hallucinatory form of his "younger" self, and Aku sprouting a second body to give himself therapy.
- Ashi and Jack were both trained from a young age to be deadly warriors for a purpose, are terrifyingly effective in most fights, and underneath are basically nice people once you get to know them. And even on the subject of a fight, they both sport similar expressions of intensity, and while it was brief, Ashi did resort to yelling during a fight (much as Jack himself frequently does).
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Glimmer and Catra are shown to have very similar traits: they're both reckless, break the rules a lot, closely mirror a parent or parent figure (Micah for Glimmer, Shadow Weaver for Catra), hunger for the recognition of a similar figure (Angella for Glimmer, and Shadow Weaver again for Catra), and find themselves taking command roles, at which they prove gifted, as the series goes on (with Glimmer becoming a battlefield commander and then taking the throne when Angella is trapped in a parallel dimension, and Catra going from Force Captain, to second-in-command, to seizing control from Hordak). It's no wonder that Adora started to get on with Glimmer fairly quickly.
- In a rare case of the parallels being drawn between two characters who are both antagonistic, Catra is frequently shown to parallel her Abusive Parent Shadow Weaver, right down to getting similar dialogue about how they feel like they're not respected no matter what they do. The similarities are even expressed visually in the third season, with Catra's Void corruption giving her a temporary jagged line down her face, much like Shadow Weaver's mask after Catra breaks it, and in the fourth, with Catra's new wardrobe more closely resembling Shadow Weaver's.
- Season 4 reveals that Hordak and Adora have surprising similarities. Both Hordak and the She-Ra mantle were created to be obedient tools of genocidal empires. Both Hordak and Adora have developed strong personalities in spite of this. Both end up depowered at the end of Season 4, with She-Ra's sword broken and Hordak mind-wiped by Horde Prime.
- Adora and her abusive foster mother, Shadow Weaver, don't have much in common - thankfully - but they do share one prominent trait: a need for control. That being said, it comes from very different places; Shadow Weaver's insecurity and hunger for power drive her to manipulate others, while Adora genuinely wants to help and protect others...but a childhood of being told that the punishments inflicted on Catra were her fault for not keeping Catra under better control gave her a subconscious belief that she needs to fence people in to protect them. It causes her a lot of problems, since both Catra and Glimmer refuse to be controlled.
- The Simpsons: In "Lisa's Rival", Allison Taylor becomes a rival to Lisa mostly because the two are almost exactly alike, except Allison is slightly better than Lisa at everything. They are both kind, intelligent, nerdy girls who play the saxophone, get picked on by bullies and have Ralph badgering them for the answers to test questions. After Lisa gets over her jealousy, the two become friends due to their many common interests.
- South Park: After Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski were turned into Sitcom Arch Nemeses, the two have been on-ends for season after season, mostly with Cartman doing something morally questionable and Kyle trying to stop him. However, in more recent episodes, it's shown that Kyle will go to extreme lengths that would be considered crossing the Moral Event Horizon if he wasn't putting Cartman in danger to get rid of him, from thieving him to murder attempts. It seems that he's also more like his mother than he's willing to admit.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: The episode "wej Duj" focused on two lower deckers from different ships who each mirrored one of the protagonists on the Cerritos.
- On the Klingon bird of prey IKS Che'Ta' is Ma'ah, a mirror to Boimler. Much like Boimler, Ma'ah is eager to rise in the ranks of his ship by through intelligence and by following the book. Thing is, he's in the Klingon's Proud Warrior Race society, meaning he only gets about as much respect as Boimler usually gets from his less uptight cohorts.
- On the Vulcan cruiser Sh'vhal is T'Lynn, a mirror to Mariner. As Mariner is considered a loose cannon by the senior officers of the Cerritos, T'Lynn is considered a loose cannon by Vulcan standards, being more driven by her emotions and by curiosity than Vulcan society thinks is appropriate.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul has more in common with his arch-nemesis Obi-Wan Kenobi than he would like to admit. He shares a similarly dry sense of humor and develops brotherly relationship with Savage not unlike Obi-Wan's brotherhood with Anakin. They experience similar tragedies as both lose their apprentices to Darth Sidious (albeit Obi-Wan's loss is more metaphorical than literal) and witness the death of a woman important to them while they are forced to helplessly watch. Most notably, when Talzin is killed in front of Maul, he even makes the exact same gesture Obi-Wan did when Satine was murdered. This continues into Star Wars Rebels with both becoming washed-up hermits who try to mentor a younger hero.
- Star Wars Rebels: Ezra Bridger has a lot of similarities to Luke Skywalker. Both were force-sensitive children born on the day the Empire was created who grew up on a desolate planet in the middle of nowhere, and dreamed of adventure. Both join the rebellion and gain a Jedi mentor after the Empire killed the people who raised them. Both start out with a blue lightsaber before losing it and replacing it with a green one after a fight with Darth Vader, both struggle with the Dark Side but ultimately overcome its temptations, both are seen as a symbol of hope by the rebellion, and both have to step up to become a leader to their friends after the death of their mentor. Both are destined to help the rebellion, but Luke is The Hero of the entire rebellion and plays a vital role in defeating the Empire, while Ezra is The Unchosen One and accepts that his destiny is to protect his homeworld rather than directly challenging the Emperor or destroying the Sith.
- Steven Universe: The show has repeatedly shown that Pearl and Peridot are quite similar both from their designs (sharing the gem placement in the head) and their personalities (smart, controlling, insecure). "Back to the Barn" especially highlights their needs to prove themselves and has them go head to head. When she, Lapis, and Connie try to emulate the Crystal Gems Lapis points out that she should have been Pearl which causes Peridot to rant about how they're nothing alike all the while acting out the negative traits she accuses Pearl of having.
- Teen Titans (2003)
- This is the basis of Slade's We Can Rule Together crusade towards Robin. The team even calls Robin out on it a few times, after he does something dickish. Demonstrated terrifyingly effectively in the Season 4 finale, when Slade and Robin fight off an army of Trigon's lava monsters, using the exact same moves. As Robin points out though, there is one major fundamental difference between them:
Robin: "He doesn't have any friends."- Beast Boy and Raven, despite coming across as complete opposites, are rather similar in a few ways: both have unique skin pigmentations, struggle with a darker side they mask with an outward façade (sarcasm for Raven, happy-go-lucky for Beast Boy), have deep seated insecurities and doubts about themselves, betrayed by someone they thought loved them for who they are (Malchior for Raven, Terra for Beast Boy), and don't possess the best social skills. Really brings the quote "You think you're alone but you're not" into a whole new light.
- The Owl House: The Collector to Luz Noceda. Specifically, The Collector is Luz prior to her Character Development, taken to the logical extreme. Prior to the Boiling Isles, Luz was an impulsive child who felt distanced and lonely from her peers and just wanted to have fun and share her interests, but frequently ended up causing harm in the process. Likewise, the Collector is an impulsive childlike being who's lonely and wants to have fun and play games with people but causes immense harm in the process. The major differences is in their level of power and how they deal with their outcomes: at her worst, Luz released snakes into a school, but she became more aware and mindful of her actions over time and is willing to do right by others and fix her mistakes; the Collector, by contrast, rewrites reality at their whim, shows no remorse regarding the pain and harm they're causing, and actually thinks that others getting hurt or even killed is part of the fun. These similarities even extend to their appearancesnote . In their physical form, the Collector has the same round face and short hair as Luz, the only difference being a slightly pointier nose and angular eyes. From what is shown, the Collector can be interpreted as who Luz could've been if she stayed in her fantasies, never made friends to reel her in, and never overall matured, which, despite being around for millennia, the Collector never did.
- Wacky Races has Dick Dastardly as the villain because of his cheating, but, in this race, cheating is often the only way for any of the racers to win. Only four of the racers never cheat at all specifically: Peter Perfect, Penelope Pitstop, Lazy Luke and Sergeant Blast. Sure, Dick's schemes involve taking out the other racers, but the rest of them do the same thing (though to be fair the majority of the other racers' attempts are mostly harmless such as jumping a few places ahead or lifting another racer up and driving under them, while Dick Dastardly's plans are often potentially lethal) some of the other racers that are shown as villainous like him are the Ant Hill Mob, the Slug brothers and the Gruesome Twosome. Dastardly's one victory was reversed after finding out he extended his vehicle when crossing the finishing line. He is disqualified and booed vigorously, despite the fact other episodes featured another racer using the same tactic and winning legitimately, being the only example where he was treated unfairly. It should also be noted that, despite this double standard, many of the other racers attempts at dirty tactics (at least intentional ones) lead to slapstick backfires themselves.
- Wander over Yonder:
- Season 2 frequently parallels the relationship between Wander and Sylvia with the Villainous Friendship between Lord Hater and Commander Peepers. In "The Battle Royale" Peepers and Sylvia realize that they're each the Cloudcuckoolander's Minder to their respective best friends and get into near-Friendly Enemies territory from there.
- The villain Wander regards as the most dangerous in the galaxy turns out to be a Knight Templar with the same For Happiness mission as himself, Practically Joker Dr. Screwball Jones. Unlike Wander, Screwball is dangerous because he wants to force "happiness" on others against their will. Naturally Wander refuses his offer to join him.
- In Young Justice (2010), Kid Flash and Artemis constantly argued and had an incredibly strained relationship, but it's easy to see that the two are similar in personality: they're both intelligent, yet insecure teenage heroes who resort to sarcasm and bravado to hide their true feelings.
