Follow TV Tropes

Following

Evil Counterpart
aka: Good Counterpart

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dredd_vs_death2p.png

"Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light."
René Belloq, Raiders of the Lost Ark

A character who has similarities to a good or not-as-evil character, but is evil(er). They may look like that character and have/had abilities and obstacles similar to them. Sometimes, but not always, a Big Bad. Classically, an Embodiment of Vice pitched against a correlating Embodiment of Virtue.

Frequently, the Evil Counterpart is a Fallen Hero that represents what our hero might have become had their Backstory been slightly different — or what they could still become should they succumb to The Dark Side. They also save creators the trouble of thinking up new abilities to give their villains, especially for comic book heroes and video games (where new abilities have to be implemented). Because The Hero and the Evil Counterpart are such great foils for each other, the counterpart has an excellent chance of being the hero's Arch-Enemy or a Classic Villain, although this is not always the case. If the hero is an Anti-Hero, a Mr. Vice Guy, a Good Is Not Nice type or a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, the Evil Counterpart would have the same negative traits but none of their redeeming qualities. This character is virtually always a Mirror Character to the protagonist.

Often leads to a "Not So Different" Remark. May also be an Alternate Species Counterpart if the Evil Counterpart is of a different species than the original character.

In the Magical Girl genre, they're often a Dark Magical Girl. Contrast with the Worthy Opponent. Applied to an entire team, they are The Psycho Rangers. Applied to an entire race, they are an Evil Counterpart Race. This trope is not to be confused with the Shadow Archetype, but the two can overlap.

Sister Trope to, but not to be confused with: Evil Twin (evil biological twin), Evil Knockoff (intentionally created evil duplicate), Evil Doppelgänger (evil Alternate Universe persona), Criminal Doppelgänger (evil Identical Stranger), and Corrupted Character Copy (an evil version of a character from another work). In continuing works, has a chance of becoming Reformed, but Not Tamed.

If the first character to be introduced is the evil one, the good one would be his Good Counterpart.

Compare Counterpart Artifacts.

noreallife


Example subpages:

Other examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Frosties (the UK name for Frosted Flakes cereal) had a series of animated commercials (done by Richard Williams' studio), such as this, in which Tony the Tiger is opposed by an evil tiger named Tigerman, who wants to steal the Frosties Secret Formula to improve his own "Fake Flakes." Tigerman is Lean and Mean to contrast Tony's Heroic Build, and has much more prominent stripes than Tony's, including black marks around his eyes shaped like a Domino Mask. Tigerman also has a Cockney accent, while Tony has an American accent.
  • In the 1939 animated short “Breakfast Pals”, the first advertisement to feature Snap, Crackle and Pop, rival elves Soggy, Mushy, and Toughy are introduced in their only commercial. They represent a soggy and generic rival cereal brand and automatically attack the trio for "muscling in" on their turf, only to be defeated by the heroes by the end.

    Myths & Religion 
  • Christianity
    • The Antichrist is the Evil Counterpart of Christ. In some interpretations the Apocalypse has also an Evil Counterpart of the Trinity made by Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet as opposites of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost.
    • A common Christian term for spiritual enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) has been analogized as a sort of anti-Trinity to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
  • Ahriman, also known as Angra Mainyu (Evil Spirit) is the Evil Counterpart of Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. Unlike Judeo-Christianity in which God creates The Devil and, though God’s enemy the Devil is his subordinate and is not his equal, thus God is indirectly responsible for the existence of evil, in Zoroastrianism God is absolute and pure goodness to the point that he has nothing to do with evil. Evil exists thanks to Ahriman, a totally separated and independent entity. This is why some scholars call Zoroastrianism—and other religions inspired by it like Catharism—Dualism.
  • The Krampus is the Evil Counterpart of Santa Claus in Germanic folklore.
  • Bastard Bastard Mordred to Heroic Bastard Galahad in Arthurian Legend.
  • Loki has been construed as the Evil Counterpart to Odin (and it is debatable as to whether or not he was misconstrued as such). Though Loki is not Odin's adoptive son in Norse Mythology, he is his adoptive brother (where "adoptive" is more like with "brought into his family as an official member"). Both gods are Trickster Gods, are well-versed in magic, and are Shapeshifting Tricksters.
  • The Doppelgänger is supposed to be an Evil Counterpart of a person. In some myths, if you see your Doppelganger, it is a death omen, and/or the Doppleganger will kill you.
  • The Siddhe in Celtic Mythology are like evil versions of humans, every human has his own Siddhe. If they are shadows of The Underworld of part of The Fair Folk is unclear.
  • Some versions of the Bicorn are depicted as the wicked opposite to the virtuous Unicorn.
  • In Kabbalah, the ten Sephirot that represent ten different branches of the Tree of Life have the counterpart of the Qliphoth, which are dark/demonic shadows of the Sephirot. Left Hand Path practicioners generally work with the Qliphoth and not with the Sephirot.
  • In some Jewish Talmudic traditions, Samael and Lilith are seen as the evil counterpart of Adam and Eve as the forefathers of many demons.

    Pro Wrestling 
  • After Tiger Mask was defictionalized, he found himself with at least three evil counterparts in Black Tiger, Michinoku Pro Wrestling's Masked Tiger and Tiger Shark.
  • Psycho Sid was this to Diesel after the latter struck out on his own while the former replaced him as Shawn Michaels' bodyguard. They both even have the Powerbomb a their finishing move.
  • The CIA Plantains of Kaiju Big Battel, grown by the CIA to discredit Los Platanos. The CIA Plantains actually appeared first, leading Los Plantanos to have to clear their good name.
  • Kane was brought in to be the evil counterpart of The Undertaker. Yes, the evil counterpart to a satanic, psychological tormenting zombie who was also the embodiment of death.
  • Daizee Haze was brought into Gateway Championship Wrestling as the good counterpart to MsChif, because what better to fight The Fair Folk than a New-Age Retro Hippie Granola Girl? As Haze befriended the tree hugging Johnny Greenpeace MsChif trained The Pig-Pen Jackal and Monster Clown Cabal to serve as the evil counterparts to them.
  • In Women's Extreme Wrestling, Lucy Furr from the "erotic heavens" was the evil counterpart guardian angel Heaven Sent and Angel Williams from "The Canadian Heavens". More like eviler counterpart to Williams though.
  • In CMLL, La Ola Azul and La Ola Blanca found themselves up against La Ola Amarilla, invaders from New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
  • While The Human Tornado has had stints as a baby face, he is at his core a violent pimp. Ricky Ruffin shares his passion and talents for funky dance music but contrasts his predecessor in being an All-Loving Hero, making him the good counterpart.
  • Sin Cara Negro was the evil counterpart to, Sin Cara Azul, though he started as a costumed copy cat before distinguishing himself with a black mask.
  • The Triple Tails were the evil counterparts to Syuri's dance group Apple Tale. The Triple Tails initially had no direct connection, as Apple Tale were in SMASH and Kana met with the Sexy Purple Thunder Sisters in NEO Women's Wrestling but seeing how Kana called Syuri her "arch rival" when she and the Shirais did show up in SMASH, it can be reasoned the name wasn't chosen by coincidence. On the flip side Syuri-gun\Narcissist-gun was a good counterpart to Kana-gun\Piero-gun in REINA.
  • La Rosa Negra was the evil counterpart to Sumie Sakai in the PWS. Ironically, after the Majestic 12 Tournament Arc most of their encounters did not happen under the company's banner. They tagged in World Wonder Ring STARDOM!
  • When Shocker became a rudo in CMLL, the mini estrella Shockercito remained a tecnico, making the second the good counterpart.
  • CHIKARA created an entire stable out of this concept - GEKIDO. 17, The Shard, and The Swarm (combatANT, assailANT and deviANT) were respective counterparts of CHIKARA's top faces (Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, and The Colony {Soldier Ant, Fire Ant, and Green Ant}).
  • Hudson Envy is an evil counterpart to the president of World Wonder Ring STARDOM's USA branch, Cheerleader Melissa, being from the same region of the country and having a very similar wrestling style but fighting with Oedo~tai to takeover the promotion.

    Roleplay 

    Theatre 
  • Creon's story in Antigone very closely mirrors that of the title character of prequel work Oedipus Rex. Both start out as kings on top of the world, but their stubborn pursuit of their goals despite the advice of those around them causes their entire lives to come apart. However, whereas Oedipus is motivated by the pursuit of justice and the well-being of his people, Creon is interested mainly in protecting his own power.
  • In the Screen-to-Stage Adaptation of Mary Poppins, Miss Andrew is the polar opposite of Mary, and has the Villain Song "Brimstone and Treacle" opposite "A Spoonful of Sugar".
  • In the Mrs. Hawking play series, Mrs. Hawking has hers in Mrs. Frost. Neither one is socially permitted to lead the kind of life she wants, but the former reacts by trying to dismantle the system to free people, while the latter manipulates the system to her own ends at the expense of others.
  • Christine and Meg were friends in The Phantom of the Opera but by the time of Love Never Dies, Meg has become bitter that her career never took off, and her love for The Phantom had become obsessive.
  • Der Ring des Nibelungen:
    • Alberich the Nibelung Dwarf is apparently an evil counterpart to Wotan, ruler of the Gods. While Wotan rules above, Alberich rules below. Alberich has renounced love for power, as cursing love enabled him to forge the Ring of Power. Wotan almost renounces the Goddess of love Freia for Valhalla, symbol of his power. However the play shows they aren't that different; eventually Wotan calls himself Light-Alberich and Alberich Dark-Alberich.
    • Hagen could be considered the evil counterpart to Siegfried. While Siegfried is the Heroic Bastard son of Siegmund and Sieglinde's Twincest, Hagen is a Bastard Bastard of the forbidden union of Alberich and Gutrune, when Alberich bought Grimhilde's love with gold. The Walsung line were started by Wotan, Siegfried's grandfather, to get the ring, while Hagen was born to get the ring. While Siegfried is strong and youthful, Hagen uses his cunning and has an aged appearance.
  • In Twice Charmed, Franco DiFortunato is one to Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. Franco is a Wicked Fairy Godfather, and his deals come with a destructive catch.

    Web Animation 
  • Dreamscape: Kaila is the Evil Counterpart to Keela. Both of them are demons from the Unworld. The difference is Keela is a Demon of Human Origin from the Master of the Dammed turning her into one, while Kaila is a full-fledged demon who was created by the Master of the Dammed.
  • Helluva Boss: Whereas I.M.P. is a for-profit Hit Man squad of, well, imps, the cherubs of their celestial counterpart C.H.E.R.U.B. work to save lives for free. Of course, "good" is a relative term in the show's Crapsack World and even cherubs can only be pushed so far.
  • HTF +: In HTF+CC 2 it turns out all the evil ponies are actually seperate entities from the originals.
    • FI Creepybloom is pretty much an eviler personality of LG Creepybloom who was already a version of Applebloom, but later she turned into the good side in HTF+CC 2.
  • The Most Epic Story Ever Told in All of Human History: Ridiculously Epic Fail is this to Epic Fail. They are each the Bumbling Sidekick on their respective side and share the propensity for both Inopportune Voice Cracking and Epic Failure in general.
  • The Most Popular Girls in School: In Season 5, the French team is this to the Cheer Squad. All even more jerkasses than them.
  • Murder Drones: Doll to Uzi as of "The Promening". They both have the Absolute Solver which gives them telekinetic powers, and they both lost a parent (both parents in Doll's case) to the Disassembly Drones' rampage. Unlike Uzi, Doll uses her powers to kill other Worker Drones and apparently cannibalizes them, and Doll is out for V's blood for killing her parents instead of blaming the series Greater-Scope Villain whom mind-wiped the Murder Drones into being their agents.
  • Amaroq is this to Kitty in No Evil. Kitty is a fox-spirit who's the Team Mom of the protagonists; Amaroq is a wolf-spirit who's the Team Dad of the antagonists.
  • Red vs. Blue:
    • Felix towards Tucker. Both of them initially are only fighting in the war for personal gain, as Felix wants to be paid and Tucker just wants to find his friends and leave. They are both cynical and sarcastic, and the two of them are arguably the most skilled members of the New Republic. However, towards the end of Season 12, Felix is still fighting for his own gain, disregarding the lives of the inhabitants on Chorus and enjoying the violence. Tucker however, grows to care a great deal about the people on Chorus, to the point where he selflessly risks his own life to save them. Tucker is also shown to dislike violence and war, only getting his hands dirty when he has to and preferring to knock out or capture his opponents. Meanwhile, Felix is a Sadist who takes joy in killing innocent people. Tucker also values his friends and teammates among the Blood Gulch Crew, whereas Felix merely manipulated them for his own interests.
    • The Blues and Reds are the evil counterparts to the Reds and Blues. While Church is a short-tempered asshole who is constantly annoyed by his team, he does actually care for them, Temple acts calm and polite, but it's clear from the way he threatens Loco that he sees his team as expendable. And unlike Church, who learned to let go of his desire for revenge against Project Freelancer, Temple never does. The other counterparts are: Surge to Sarge, Gene to Simmons, Buckey to Tucker, Loco and Caboose, and Cronut to Donut. Biff and Grif are the plot-important counterparts as Biff's death is driving the vengeful Blues and Reds, while the Reds and Blues are doing this mission despite Grif's refusal to get involved. Because of this, the Blues and Reds overlook Grif, allowing him to become the unlikely rescuer of the Reds and Blues.
  • RWBY: Mercury to Yang. Yang is a gold-themed, boisterous, outgoing Boxing Battler; she has a cybernetic arm, using Arm Cannons and Fire Dust in battle. Her father taught her through compassionate wisdom to learn from bitter experience to fight smarter, use her Semblance as a last resort, and move beyond her pain; Mercury is a silver-themed, calculating, laid-back Dance Battler; he has cybernetic legs, using Armed Legs and Wind Dust in battle. Mercury's father taught him through abusive Training from Hell to fight unaugmented, trapping him in a cycle of pain after stealing his Semblance. Both are protectors; Yang for her sister, Ruby, and Mercury for his friend, Emerald.

    Web Original 

    Web Videos 

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Alternative Title(s): Good Counterpart, Villainous Counterpart

Top

The Rowdyruff Boys

The episode introduces the titular mischief-making, gender-flipped versions of the Powerpuff Girls; who were all equal to the girls in power, combat and unique fighting styles but also being on the opposite side of morality, wanting to cause nothing but mayhem and destruction.

How well does it match the trope?

4.92 (12 votes)

Example of:

Main / DistaffCounterpart

Media sources:

Report