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Evil twin

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File:STMirrorMirror.jpg
Captain Kirk with Spock's evil twin

An evil twin is the concept in fiction (especially science fiction and fantasy) of someone equal to a character in all respects, except for a radically inverted morality (and often some changes in appearance, for the audience's convenience).

This can be sophisticated or simple. Most often, it is the latter, with the evil twin being a stereotypical villain. A closely related concept is that of an entire mirror universe, containing only evil twins of the characters in the regular universe (and "good twins" of evil people).

The exotic plot devices inherent in science fiction or fantasy allow the introduction of evil twins much more readily. Such ideas as cloning and time travel offer more opportunities for the twin to arise and their tendency to become exact polar opposites is magnified, rather the just slightly different characters.

Evil twins allow writers to compare the beliefs and opinions of their characters not with other characters, but effectively with the same character. The basis of a characters beliefs and morality can then be explored through the distorted mirror image of their twin. In film and television, the evil twin usually offers an actor the chance to play the same part but with an entirely different approach.

Origins

The similarities and differences of twins has long held a fascination for writers. Perhaps the oldest depiction of this idea is the biblical story of Cain and Abel in which one brother is the jealous counterpart of the other. Dualism and the conflict between good and evil is an important element in religion and mythology.

The concept also has its roots in the notion of a doppelgänger, a ghostly double whose appearance is an ill omen. The evil twin expands on this by being concrete and interacting physically with the world.

Appearances

  • A stereotype of soap operas is the evil twin. One of the longest-running examples is David Canary's portrayal of stiff businessman Adam Chandler and his fun-loving brother Stuart on All My Children since 1983.
  • In the Star Trek universe there is an entire mirror universe, in which the people and political entities of the Star Trek shows are duplicated with reversed moralities and slight cosmetic differences. The "mirror Spock" *from the Star Trek mirror universe had a goatee while the real Spock and nearly all other Vulcans were clean-shaven; as a result, many evil twins in satirical works have goatees.
  • Also in the Star Trek universe, the android Data had an evil twin named Lore, who was emotional and deceptive in counterpart to Data's own logic and morality.
  • The concept has been lampooned in a Halloween episode of The Simpsons, with a doctor stating that one of the twins is always evil. In this episode, it was revealed that Bart was the evil twin.
  • In Futurama, the robot Bender has a twin, Flexo (with a magnet goatee). It was later revealed that Bender himself was the evil one of the two. In another episode, the show spoofs the concept of evil twins (as well as the concept of the DC Comic Multiverse) when the Professor creates a box with mirror universe in it. When the crew goes into it, they have an argument with the twins over which universe is the "evil" one.
  • In South Park, Eric Cartman's Evil Twin from another dimension has a goatee, but since Cartman is already abrasive and mean, the "twin" is much preferred by the inhabitants of this universe.
  • In Sunset Beach, Ben has an evil twin, who becomes involved in a plotline where Ben is accused of murder.
  • In Army of Darkness an enchanted mirror and brutal dismemberment create a "Bad Ash", a disfigured evil counterpart to the hero of the Evil Dead series Ash Williams. Bad Ash steals good Ash's girl, but eventually gets blown to bits.
  • They Might Be Giants' album Apollo 18 includes the song "My Evil Twin". It describes the singer's evil twin, e.g. "doing doughnuts on the neighbor's lawn". The evil twin, though, is apparently just a psychological scapegoat of the singer.
  • In the T.V. series I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie had a twin sister who was obviously played by the same actress, Barbera Eden. Appearing as a brunette, her mischievous sister was always vying for Major Tony Nelson's attention.
  • In season 3 of the TV show Without a Trace, there was a storyline in which there were two twins, one of whom's wife is murdered. The FBI initially suspect her husband, but it is revealed that it is the other twin who committed the murder and several others. In the end, the innocent brother covers for him and is imprisoned. In a later episode the imprisoned twin is freed and almost killed by his brother before being rescued by the FBI.
  • In the anime series Elfen Lied, Nyu is the "good twin" of Lucy, although they have the same body and Lucy is the original, with Nyu being an alternate personality originating with head trauma and allowing Lucy to resurface only intermittently throughout the series. Nyu is a sweet-natured girl who almost completely lacks language skills and shares none of Lucy's memories, whereas Lucy is coldly intelligent and prone to ripping people to shreds as a result of assorted disturbing childhood experiences.
  • In the animated 'reality' program Drawn Together, Captain Hero has an alternate version of himself known as Bizarro Captain Hero. It is implied that he was later killed by Captain Hero.
  • In the TV series Friends, the character Phoebe Buffay has an evil twin named Ursula Buffay. Though not a twin, the character of Ross had an evil counterpart named Russ for one episode.
  • In the TV series Twin Peaks, Sheryl Lee plays the dual roles of murdered teenager Laura Palmer (blonde) and her identical cousin, Madeleine (brunette, with glasses). Madeleine is generally deemed as being wholesome and good while over the course of the series Laura, despite being beloved by the majority of the town, is revealed to have been a heavy drug user, dabbling in prostitution and being somewhat manipulative, particularly towards males (though it is often noted that Laura was essentially a good person who was a victim of circumstance). Sometimes classified as a post-modern soap opera, the Laura/Maddy plotline was an effective homage to the "evil twin" plotlines of other soap operas, as well as the film Vertigo.
  • On comedy TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, a secret of Sabrina's family of witches is that one of each set of witch twins is evil. Each evil twin is sent to prison after a series of tests determines which of each set of twins is evil. Sabrina's twin, Katrina, is shown to be evil and is imprisoned when, asked to push Sabrina into a volcano, she complies.
  • In the syndicated TV series Small Wonder, it was revealed that Vicki had an evil twin named Vanessa, which was Ted Lawson's prototype VICI robot. Unlike Vicki, Vanessa had a full range of emotions, dressed less conservatively, and was deceitful and conniving. The relationship between the two robots was similar to that of Data and Lore of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • In the second half of the anime Superior Defender Gundam Force, the characters face a new villain called Professor Gerbera. Gerbera is ultimately revealed to be an alias for Madnug, a near perfect copy of the hero Captain Gundam who was created in the future and captured and brainwashed by the evil Dark Axis due to an accident with time/space travel technology he had intended to help humanity.
  • In Dragonball Z movie "Tree of Might" There is an evil version of Goku named Turles who planted the tree that suck the life out of the earth and ate the fruit causing him to become more powerful.

See also

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