History Main / EvilCounterpartRace

** Orcs are generally seen as evil counterparts of Elves as they're both loyal to the Valar and later the Maiar (in the Orcs cases only to one Vala, Mordor, and later to one Maia, Sauron, the Elves to a whole pantheon of them) and practically act in reverse to each other (Orcs despise sunlight while Elves like it, Orcs destroy the forest that many Elves guard, etc.). The exact origin of Orcs is still debated but a popular theory that went into the film adaptations is that Orcs are tortured and imprisoned Elves that were corrupted by Mordor, however other interpretations (of Orcs being made from Men, animals, etc) also exist.

* Subverted in the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series. The humanoid-squid Inklings and humanoid-octopus Octarians ''are'' counterparts, with the former being more self-indulgent and fun-loving and the latter being more hard-working and serious. But the latter's antagonist role in the main campaigns of the first two games is the result of desperation rather than evil; the Octarians lost a territory war with the Inklings a century prior, forcing them to live underground where all their infrastructure is implied to now be collapsing on top of them. When talking about [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the second game]]'s "Octo Expansion" {{DLC}}, which features an Octoling protagonist and made them playable in multiplayer, the producer made a point to note that the Inklings aren't "defenders of justice" or "good guys" whatsoever.

** Orcs are generally seen as evil counterparts of Elves as they're both loyal to a the Valar and later the Maiar (in the Orcs cases only to one Vala, Mordor, and later to one Maia, Sauron, the Elves to a whole pantheon of them) and practically act in reverse to each other (Orcs despise sunlight while Elves likes it, Orcs destroy the forest that many Elves guard, etc.). The exact origin of Orcs is still debated but a popular theory that went into the film adaptations is that Orcs are tortured and imprisoned Elves that were corrupted by Mordor, however other interpretations (of Orcs being made from Men, animals, etc) also exists.

** Trolls to Ents as both seem to be elemental-based, the Ents are tree-like and the Trolls turn into stone when exposed to sunlight. While Ents can be menacing if facing tree-destroyers as they were created specifically to protect the forest and be tree shepherds, the Troll are cannibalistic monsters.
** The Fellbeast to the Eagles; both big flying creatures but one clearly on the side of good and the other are ride by the evil Nazgul.

* Green Martians like the ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn J'onnz are wise, peaceful, and obscenely powerful (with one exception: OmnicidalManiac and EvilCripple Malefic). White Martians have all the powers of their green cousins, but are monstrously evil (also with, to date, a single exception). No, the respective exceptions are not in any meaningful way counterparts. However, this depends on the incarnation; [[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice in some versions]], the White Martians are simply subject to a prejudice.

** Balrogs are evil counterparts of the Wizards, as both are maiar, just that Balrogs are evil maiar corrupted and in servitude of Mordor and the Wizards still serve Iluvatar, though this is complicated when the wizard Sarumon is corrupted by Mordor's influence.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', because '[[EvilIsSterile the Enemy cannot make, he can only mock]]', some villainous races are literally bad counterfeits of good ones, such as Orcs of Elves and Trolls of Ents. There does not appear to be a set for Dwarves and Men, presumably because the Enemy was able to corrupt some of them directly, though some characters speculate that Saruman's 'goblin-men' Uruk-hai represent a blending of the races of Orcs and Men.

* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', The Darkspawn are created when [[spoiler:a female of a race -Human, Elf, Qunari or Dwarf- is captured and turned into a [[FateWorseThanDeath Broodmother]] and spawns them.]] Each race has a Darkspawn equivalent that is [[spoiler:born of the Broodmother]] of that race- Human [[spoiler:Broodmothers]] produce Hurlocks, Dwarves produce Genlocks, Elves produce Shrieks, and Qunari produce Ogres. Dark''spawn'', indeed.

** The original concept for the Cybermen made them [[EvilCounterpart Evil Counterparts]] to humans. Their home planet Mondas was literally [[CounterEarth Earth's twin planet]], and their gradual slide into becoming cyborg monsters was as a result of the most human instinct possible: survival at any cost. This aspect of them faded over time, but the Revival brought it back to the fore, with the Cybermen essentially being positioned as humanity's collective ArchEnemy, and almost every story depicting them as a result of people giving in to desperation or fear of death.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol 3]]: In an effort to keep Zeus from being quite as horrific as he has been acting Athena requests that he act as the Amazon's guardian for her on her deathbed. This backfires horribly as Zeus finds the Amazons too "rebellious" and independent so goes about creating the Gargareans to replace them with. The Gargareans are the zombie-like raised army of ancient male Heroes who cannot be killed by traditional means which Zeus has slaughter their way through any humans who have an army, weapons or any defensive capabilities whatsoever as Zeus sees this as men trying to become gods and spurning him. The very, ''very'' few Gargareans who manage to hold onto part of their former sentience do resist Zeus, which lets them go back to their rest in Hades.

* Daxamites are descended from [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kryptonian]] colonists, and gain the same powers at the same levels when exposed to the light of a yellow sun (though they're vulnerable to lead instead of [[KryptoniteFactor kryptonite]]). Unlike Superman, Supergirl, Power Girl and other Kryptonian heroes, though, Daxamites are rabidly xenophobic, to the point of murdering an alien who accidentally crashed on their planet. When a Korugarian Green Lantern helped liberate them from an alien conqueror, they merely demanded she leave the planet rather than killing her, as a show of gratitude. While there have been individual Daxamites who bucked this trend ([[ComicBook/{{Valor}} Lar-Gand]], [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 "Julia"]] & [[Franchise/GreenLantern Sodam Yat]]) they end up disowned for it. This really bit them in their collective asses when the Sinestro Corps invaded.

** Some non-canonical fan interpretations do consider the Goblins to be the evil counterpart of Dwarves and the Uruk-hai of Men. The only ones without a truly notable "counterpart" are the Hobbits tho.
** Presumibly Gollum is what evil hobbits would look like, if there were more than one.
** Balrogs are evil counterparts of the Wizards, as both are maiar, just that Balrogs are evil maiar corrupted and in servitude of Mordor and the Wizards still serve Iluvatar (and yes Saruman is a wizard however at least in the books he's not as much evil as he's missguided).

[[caption-width-right:293:Pictured: The general drow (dark elf) greeting reserved for surface elves.]]

** Humans and batarians. The batarians are arguably [[NotSoDifferent the most human-like]] [[RubberForeheadAliens aliens in the setting]], and both species overall are ambitious middle powers trying to play at the level of the big boys. But while the humans are (mostly) devoted to doing this via diplomacy and integration, with their galactic representative being [[TheAlliance the Systems Alliance]], the batarians are a slavocratic statist society who attempt to leverage themselves through sabotage, terrorism, subversion, and military aggression ([[BullyingADragon when they can get away with it]]). The two species have had a lot of conflicts.

** The Kett Empire to Citadel Space, in a similar manner as the Dominion and Federation mentioned above. Citadel Space is TheFederation of integrated species in liberal, free market, borderline post-scarcity utopia, united for economic cooperation and defense. It values its diversity and all species and races can participate in it while maintaining their own independence. The Kett Empire is a feudalistic theocracy that conquers other races, including pre-FTL ones that can't possibly pose a threat. A few other parallels exist between them. For example, the Kett forcefully genetically modify conquered races to better serve as soldiers, while the Citadel has voluntary and near-universal genetic and cybernetic augments. The Citadel's first reaction to a pre-FTL species was to offer economic and tech aid, while the Kett decided to just slaughter the angara while faking friendship. The Citadel is a mostly rational society with a high-tech aesthetic, while the Kett are religious fanatics with an OrganicTechbology aestheric. So on and so forth.

** Within TheFederation's EvilCounterpart, [[TheEmpire The Dominion]].

** Not forgetting [[OurDemonsAreDifferent the Pah-wraiths]] to [[OurAngelsAreDifferent the Prophets]].

** Also in the Original Series, the [[TheEmpire Terran Empire]] to the [[TheFederation Federation]]. Which technically ''is'' the Federation, [[MirrorUniverse in a way]].

** In the original novel this was depicted as necessary symbiosis, since the Eloi can't live without the Morlocks running the machinery that keeps their home so idyllic. It's a major TakeThat at the late Victorian society where few aristocrats could enjoy luxuries of "natural" lifestyle at the cost of thousands of workers living in squalid, artifical conditions for all their lives. Today, similar comparisons could be drawn between the developed countries and TheThirdWorld.

** In the original novel this was depicted as necessary symbiosis, since the Eloi can't live without the Morlocks running the machinery that keeps their home so idyllic. It's a major TakeThat at the late Victorian society where few aristocrats could enjoy luxuries of "natural" lifestyle at the cost of thousands of workers living in squalid, artifical conditions for all their lives. Today, similar comparisons could be drawn between the developed countries and the Third World.

* Subverted in the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series. The humanoid-squid Inklings and humanoid-octopus Octarians ''are'' counterparts, with the former being more self-indulgent and fun-loving and the latter being more hard-working and serious. But the latter's antagonist role in the main campaigns of the first two games is the result of desperation rather than evil; the Octarians lost a territory war with the Inklings a century prior, forcing them to live underground where all their infrastructure is implied to now be collapsing on top of them. When talking about [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the second game]]'s "Octo Expansion" {{DLC}}, which features an Octoling protagonist, the producer made a point to note that the Inklings aren't "defenders of justice" or "good guys" whatsoever.