Basic Trope: An Evil Knockoff fails at its goal because it also copied the original's morals and/or personality.
- Straight: Badass Bob gets an evil clone of himself, courtesy of Dr. Evulz. The clone, Barbarian Barry, has Bob's exact powers, but also follows his All-Loving Hero nature, so he's very reluctant to fight Bob, making him lose in a fight.
- Exaggerated:
- Barbarian Barry copies absolutely everything about Bob, including his All-Loving Hero nature, and ends up an Actual Pacifist who refuses to lift a finger against anyone.
- Evulz somehow creates a version of Bob without his existing dark side, accidentally handing his enemies an Ideal Hero to use against him.
- Downplayed: Barbarian Barry is willing to fight Bob, but not kill him, meaning he unconsciously pulls his punches because he inherited Bob's Thou Shalt Not Kill nature. While Bob loses against Barry, the fact that he's still alive means he can still fight against Evulz.
- Justified:
- The process of creating Barry was flawed, meaning Evulz could only duplicate Bob exactly without changing him.
- Barry suffers from Clone Angst, so even if he could kick Bob's ass, his heart's just not in it.
- Inverted:
- Evulz creates Dastardly Dan, a villain who is an opposite to Bob in every way.
- Bob tries to create a good clone of Evulz, but it starts committing evil crimes and fighting its creator.
- Subverted: Barry turns out to have some quirks and traits that make him actually effective over Bob.
- Double Subverted: Barry was running on a form of auto pilot control at the time. When he's allowed to fight consciously, he ends up faltering.
- Parodied: Barry turns out to be a Flanderized version of Bob, with key points of his personality and abilities played to ridiculous levels that end up looking rather silly.
- Zig-Zagged: Barry is similar to Bob in many ways, but different in others, blurring the line between "copy" and "successor".
- Averted: Evulz does not clone Bob.
- Enforced:
- The writer is told to Follow the Leader of shows that have this plotline.
- Bob's actor has become so popular they decide to double-cast him as an Evil Twin. However, the actor can't convincingly portray a villain, so they have the twin turn out to be good instead.
- Lampshaded: "I knew it. You could copy me down to the last molecule, but you couldn't change my nature, Evulz. That's what dooms you."
- Invoked: Evulz creates Barry in an attempt to deal with Bob, but Drake, The Starscream, tampers with the process to ensure it backfires.
- Exploited: Barry being an exact copy of Bob is a feature, not a bug. He arranges things so it looks like Bob is the knockoff, and Barry is the original, so that Bob's reputation gets ruined.
- Defied: Evulz places a Restraining Bolt on Barry to force him to fight effectively.
- Discussed:
Badass Bob: Barry, you're just like me. But you fight for the wrong side.
Barbarian Barry: I know. And I hate it. Evulz forced me into this and I can't escape.
Barbarian Barry: I know. And I hate it. Evulz forced me into this and I can't escape.
- Conversed: "Huh, I genuinely didn't expect that to happen. Wonder if Evulz will make a better clone?"
- Implied: Evulz is seen muttering to himself about failed test subjects, and on his desk if a file with the text "CLONE = FAILURE" written on it.
- Deconstructed:
- Barry's ineffectiveness against Bob gives him major angst, because that's literally what he was meant for, and if he can't do that, what good is he?
- Evulz ends up discarding Barry when it's proven he can't best Bob, ignoring Barry's protests.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob and his friends are happy to teach Barry the meaning of heroism and give him a new purpose.
- Barry also inherited Bob's cleverness, so he escapes Evulz and joins the heroes.
- Played for Laughs: Barry can't fight Bob effectively... because he also inherited Bob's immaturity, and so he ends up preferring to slack off and laze about, infuriating Evulz.
- Played for Drama: Evulz desperately tries to train Barry to be evil. It doesn't work at all, but Barry goes through absolutely nightmarish training and punishments that leave him very traumatized.
- Played for Horror: ???
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