Bizarro Universe: Difference between revisions

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'''Jerry:''' Look, just forget the whole thing.|''[[Seinfeld]]'', "The Bizarro Jerry" (1996)}}
 
{{quote|''"Inverted world, where the spazzes make fun of the cool guys!"''|'''Tom Servo''', ''[[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]'' ''([[Laserblast]])''}}
 
An [[Alternate Universe]] where everything is the same... but different. Superman originated this, and it has been parodied by a number of shows.
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== Western Animation ==
* In the ''[[Swat Kats (Animation)|Swat Kats]]'' episode "The Dark Side of the SWAT Kats", Razor and T-Bone are transported to a world where their counterparts work for Dark Kat, and Callie Briggs is a [[Corrupt Politician]] who, it's implied, killed the Mayor.
* ''[[Megas XLR]]'' has an episode where, in an alternate dimension, Coop is an evil warlord, Jamie is a disillusioned freedom fighter and the world is post-apocalyptic.
* ''[[Hey Arnold]]!'', "Arnold Visits Arnie", where (for example) Stumpy is the smart kid and Fifi is the idiot, as opposed to Stinky being the idiot and Phoebe being the smart kid. The episode itself is the opposite of an earlier episode, "Weird Cousin".
* [[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]' hometown of Springfield has a bizarro neighbor, Shelbyville. Despite longstanding hatred between the two towns, the differences between them are negligible:
** Shelbyville also has a nuclear power plant, but run by flamboyant billionaire Aristotle Amadopoulos. That suburban towns the size of Springfield and Shelbyville can't share a single plant speaks to the depth of their rivalry.
*** Of note is that Bizarro Homer does not work there. He is instead his own boss at the Shelbyville car impound (or he changes job every two weeks, just like his Springfield counterpart).
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*** Interestingly, Milhouse's mother Luann (who looks strikingly like her husband Kirk) is from Shelbyville, possibly making herself her own (now ex)-husband's Bizarro counterpart!
*** [[Fridge Brilliance|No wonder they couldn't get along.]]
* In one episode of ''[[Codename Kids Next Door (Animation)|Codename: Kids Next Door]]'', the KND discovered a world where adults were slaves to kids, and a group of despotic kids ruled over the others. Not only were all the inhabitants the opposite of their regular world counterparts, but all names and acronyms were backwards (Lizzie became Eizzil, etc.).
* The ''[[Sealab 2021]]'' episode "Bizarro" had the titular underwater research lab being taken over by bizarro versions of the crew who wanted diamonds.
** Don't you mean ''BIZARRO'' diamonds?
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** I thought they wanted a laser beam.
*** They eventually decided they wanted diamonds ''and'' the Destructo-Beam. '''''BIZARRO!'''''
* In the ''[[Beetlejuice (Animationanimation)|Beetlejuice]]'' episode "Dr. Beetle and Mr. Juice", the titular ghost invents a cologne that makes anyone exposed to it behave in a manner opposite to how they usually would.
* An episode of ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'' has a magic mirror bring The Mondays, their [[Evil Counterpart|evilcounterparts]] from a [[Mirror Universe]], into their world. Each of them has their personalities reversed ''and'' some physical difference to tell them apart. In addition, they are supposed to be made of Anti-Matter, which causes reality t go crazy every time one of the characters approached his or her counterpart. (Actually, if they were made of antimatter [[Did Not Do the Research|they would have exploded like nuclear bombs the moment they entered the positive universe]].)
* A ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' episode, "The Farnsworth Parabox", features a Bizarro univere where the cast's counterparts have identical personalities but most have a different color scheme.
** There is a difference, the results of coin flips are opposite of the other universe which create new scenarios if the coin flip leads to an important event. Bizarro Fry and Leela got married, while the Professor has a scar from removing his own brain.
*** In fact, it was implied that coin-tosses were the ''only'' differences between the universes. Which doesn't explain how [[Alien Sky|the sky was a different color]]....
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*** [[Fearful Symmetry|Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything!]]
* An episode of ''[[Recess]]'' had the main character go to another school for a kickball game. Gus takes notices of the similarities to their school before they face their opponents. Which are near clear cut copies of themselves--except TJ's a girl.
* Orko's home world in ''[[He -Man and Thethe Masters of Thethe Universe (Animation)|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]'' was like this. Because everything, including the laws of magic were screwed up, Prince Adam had to say [[By the Power of Greyskull|"Greyskull of power the by!"]] in order to transform into He Man.
 
== Web Original ==
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== Webcomics ==
 
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', the "AF04" universe has personality-reversed versions of all the main characters - except Elliot, where the the only difference is that he's wearing a white T-shirt.
* ''[[Terror Island]]'' [http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/040.html theorem 040]: panel 1 shows the logical problems with DC's Bizarro universe.
* In ''[[Shortpacked (Webcomic)|Shortpacked]]'', McAwesome's Parasailing and Chocolate Bakery (the place Ethan ''nearly'' went to work) is the Bizarro version of Shortpacked. As well as Ethan's counterpart Evan (who's dating That Guy) there's a [[Benevolent Boss]] (Bizarro Galasso), a fairly sensible ex-SEMME agent (Bizarro Robin), an employee who's obsessed with pirates (Bizarro Ninja Rick) and Franklin Roosevelt (Bizarro Reagan). There are also versions of Amber (Rose) and Faz (Zaph).
** And now that things finally seem to be going right for Ethan, Evan's in a coma.
** Note that there isn't a Mike counterpart...{{spoiler|because Mike himself moonlights there, albeit in his nice, drunk persona.}}
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* ''[[Teh Gladiators]]'', in its third chapter, takes the protagonists into ''[[World of Warcraft]]: Cataclysm'', albeit a completely different one from the third expansion pack to that notable game. Instead, a magical catastrophe has created an alternate universe in which everything is a complete role reversal of its standard characterization. Gnomes are nature lovers, Taurens are militaristic, Humans are cannibalistic savages, and Orcs are pacifists, to say nothing of the changes to the world and its NPCs.
* [[VG Cats]] features a strip in which Aeris and Leo envision a world in which Brawl has all you "favorite character and no...ice climbers". Cue cut to VG Dogs, the bizarro equivalent of VG Cats in which the Leo analog is the smart one and the Aeris analog is the stupid one. In this world, [[Sega]] appears to have won out in the console wars over [[Nintendo]], and the Brawl equivalent, Sonic Heroes, has included Mario as a [[Fan Service|fanservice]]. Bizzaro Aeris mentions liking a game called "Yoshi the Dinosaur", an apparent analog to [[Shadow the Hedgehog]]. Then the crew from [[Sliders]] randomly shows up. The strip is appropriately titled [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=243 "Bizzaro!"].
** ... and there was a sequel to [[Daikatana (Video Game)|Daikatana]]!
** As a side note, the troper who posted this noticed that the random page title at the time he went to the strip to make his post was "Other Scotts update on time". He is unsure if this if this intentional on Ramsoomair's part or just awesome coincidence.
 
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** Interesting use in that players will be able to play in it in the upcoming Expansion, as well as execute a [[Face Heel Turn]] or [[Heel Face Turn]] through it.
*** Turns out they did a bit of a Retcon for the release; rather than "all the good guys are evil," it's more along the lines of "All the nice guys are ruthless". Where Statesman is the selfless hero of the world (but mostly America), Emperor Cole is the man who "grudgingly ascended to the throne" and quickly turned Praetoria - the last standing metropolis in the world - into a [[Utopia Justifies the Means|very pretty but VERY sternly run dictatorship]]. He also killed his best friend before they drank from the Well of the Furies, so Lord Recluse just doesn't have an alternate any more. The rest of the world is pretty damn inhospitable, what with a series of minor nuclear wars making the Devouring Earth rise up to destroy humanity, only getting pushed back by MORE nukes which, of course, made them angrier... It's [[Crapsack World|not as nice a place as the shiny capital city seems]].
* [[Gaia Online]] has released the Dark Reflection item, which is a minigame where the player searches for a lost NPC who went [[Shout -Out|through the looking glass]] into a bizarro-Gaia. Among other things, the oily con man is now a priest who's good with kids, and the neighborhood playa is now a trampy woman.
* Termina is this to Hyrule in [[The Legend of Zelda: MajorasMajora's Mask]]
* Pandemonium 2 has this towards the final levels.
 
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* Sketches set in "The Bizarro World" - done with a jerky low-frame-rate camera effect and funky audio filtering - were a frequent feature on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' during the early 1980s.
** "NBC am in third place! This am great!"
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'''s Wishverse is not a Bizarro world, despite Cordelia's remark "I wish us all to Bizarro World", but a combination of [[For Want of a Nail]] and a subversion of [[Wonderful Life]] (Cordy wished somebody ''else'' had never come to Sunnydale).
** In ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', in Cordelia's final episode after a long absence, she returns, and upon finding that Angel is working with their main enemies and an old villain has switched sides, asks "What Bizarro world did I wake up in?", referencing both the Wishverse and the trope itself.
* ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'' had an episode with a universe where the Charmed Ones are evil and demons are good. It also turned out that the "Power of Three" which normally requires three sisters could be used by combining the normal and reversed universe characters' powers as the Power of Four.
* ''[[Father Ted]]'', where Rugged Island has another set of three priests with the same dynamic as the regulars on Craggy Island. Although Father Dick Byrne is more manipulative and evil than his counterpart, the "comparitively" good Father Ted Crilly. As for Cyril [[Mc Duff]], he's such an eejit even Dougal knows it.
* ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode "The Bizarro Jerry" (1996) posits Elaine as the focal point between two universes: Jerry, George, and Kramer being their juvenile, petty, and doofy (respectively) selves are contrasted with Kevin, Gene, and Feldman who are mature, considerate, and clever. The episode goes to [[wikipedia:The Bizarro Jerry#Bizarro Counterparts|great lengths]] to provide all the show's constants with bizarro versions. Some stuff [[The Other Wiki]] misses:
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'''Debbie Lister:''' It's a dog. }}
** ''Red Dwarf'' also features the episode "Backwards", where the crew visits a "backwards Earth".
* In ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' an episode entitled "Mirror, Mirror", a transporter malfunction causes Kirk and some of his crew to be transported to a Bizarro World, where the Federation was a cruel, [[A Nazi Byby Any Other Name|racist empire]] (complete with the <s>Nazi</s> ancient Roman salute), and where ''[[Beard of Evil|Spock had a beard]]''.
** The Mirror Universe was later revisted in a series of episodes on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' to show how Kirk and company's interaction affected things. Now, the human race is enslaved by a Klingon/Cardassian alliance, with Kira their Intendent and Worf their regent. Sisko was a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] that became a rebel leader, Jadzia his mistress and O'Brien a timid tinkerer. Interesting, mirror-[[Star Trek: Voyager|Tuvok]] appeared in one of these episodes, but was very much like his normal universe counterpart.
** Later ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' did a two-parter showing the Terran Empire in the 22nd century. Archer was a commander prone to [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]], Reed a sadistic security officer, Phlox loose with medical ethics and Trip a bitter engineer suffering from radiation poisoning among other differences.
* The old Canadian kid's show ''[[You Can't Do That Onon Television]]'' had every so often their 'Opposite Sketches', featuring this.
* In the ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]'' episode "The Wild Wipeout", after failing to surf a wave, Tori winds up in an alternate Blue Bay Harbor, where Lothor is the good-natured mayor, his underlings are model citizens, Marah and Kapri are hippies, and the Rangers are super-powered juvenile delinquents. Even their hobbies are reversed: when they are arrested near the end of the episode, Bizarro Dustin expresses his desire to go skating, which Bizarro Shane dismisses as lame, preferring to ride motorbikes instead.
* The ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' episode "Stranger in a Strange World" introduces Other World when Iolaus accidentally trades places with his double. Here, Hercules is a brutal tyrant known as the Sovereign, Iolaus is his cowardly jester, [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] is a conniving schemer, Gabrielle is an infamous executioner, Ares is the god of love, Aphrodite is the prim and proper queen of the gods, and Joxer is a quick-witted rebel leader. And mentioned but not seen is god of war Cupid.
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** On the CSA's parallel world of "Earth-3" (later rewritten during DC's [[Post-Crisis]] period to be in Qward the anti-matter universe), Earth history is reversed (Britain fought the Revolutionary war to gain independence from America, President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by Abraham Lincoln, and so on) and everyone generally acts the opposite of their counterparts in the "normal" universe (i.e., all heroes are villains and vice versa). Also ([[Post-Crisis]]) the laws of physics are changed so that evil always wins.
*** Another version of this morality-swapped universe is the post-[[Infinite Crisis]] Earth-3, featuring the Crime Society of America, which differs slightly from the antimatter version. It's supposed to be the morality-swapped version of Earth-2, while the antimatter universe is the morality-swapped version of the main Earth.
** An issue of ''[[Cartoon Network Presents]]'' featured a tribute to Bizarro World in the form of a story where Peter Potamus visits a pyramid-shaped version of it, inhabited by Bizarro versions of [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoon characters (among them: [[Yogi Bear (Animation)|Yogi Bear]] would rather clean up Jellystone Park than steal picnic baskets, Mr. Peebles does not want to sell [[Magilla Gorilla]], and [[Wally Gator]] wants to stay at the zoo).
* [[Requiem Chevalier Vampire]] Takes it to it's most [[Hell of a Time|hellish]] extreme: Where the sea was on Earth there is now land, and likewise for the oceans. Instead of growing older people regress in age, until they turn into foetuses and are then entirely forgotten, and most integreally to the plot, the more cruel a person was in life, the better they are rewarded in death...
* The [[Mirror Universe]] of Moebius in the [[Archie Comics]] [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] series also has some Bizarro elements, besides the morality flip. A pacifist, Irish-accented Knuckles guards the Sunken Island, and instead of the rare and powerful [[Mineral MacGuffin|Chaos Emeralds]] there is a bountiful supply of Anarchy Beryl, which gives [[Power At a Price]] (Sonic figures this out in an impressive moment of [[Genre Savvy]]).
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== Card Games ==
 
* In ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'', ''Shadowmoor'' is effectively a [[Bizarro Universe]] of the previous block's setting, ''Lorwyn''. A magical incident known as "the Aurora" causes the bright and light-hearted world of Lorwyn to become the [[Grimmification|dark and sinister]] Shadowmoor. The personalities of its inhabitants are likewise warped: the clannish kithkin are now xenophobic and paranoid, the mischievous and energetic boggarts are warlike berserkers, and the proud and domineering elves have become beleaguered preservers of beauty in a dark and ugly world (they're [[Can't Argue Withwith Elves|only slightly less smug,]] though).
** Except for faeries, they're pricks in both worlds.
** And it's rather neat that the races don't simply become opposite, but remphasize their core identity to fit the darker world (causing only one of their two colors to shift). Boggarts were always mass breeding, hostile to the outside, and crazy, but now they've traded in pranks for full out violence. Kithkin always lived in tight knit communities, but drew even tighter together when the outside world became dark. Elves still based everything around the importance of beauty, except now that there was so little they became valiant protectors of it rather than facist enforcers. The merfolk's focus on wealth and secrets quickly reverts to hording and theft rather than mutual trade. The giants surrender their noble side to their barbaric simplicity. The treefolk still defend the woodlands, but the woodlands are so fetid and diseased that they must be protected with greater savagery.
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== Anime and Manga ==
 
* ''Zoku [[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]'' had a segment on dreams where everyone but Nozomu had a reversed version of the traits that defined them. [[Cute Mute]] Meru was talkative, [[Hikikomori]] Komori was outside, and so on.
** And then there's the episode in ''Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei'' where everyone goes to a spa and detoxifies, reversing all of their negative personality quirks.
* Chapter 16 of the ''[[Girls Bravo (Manga)|Girls Bravo]]'' manga has Kirie walking through a magic mirror. On the other side, Yukinari and Fukuyama have each other's personalities, and Koyomi is in love with Fukuyama. She eventually returns to the normal world, but some of them ''follow her back''.
* ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' has the Edolas arc, and [[Author Appeal|it's apparent the mangaka likes this trope]]. Among other things, [[The Chick|Lucy]] is a [[Delinquent]] [[Tsundere]], [[Walking Shirtless Scene|Gray]] wears multiple layers of clothing and stalks [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|Juvia]], {{spoiler|and [[Broken Bird|Erza]] is a villain.}} It's also revealed that {{spoiler|Mystogan is actually that universe's counterpart to Jellal, who came over to the regular universe to stop his world from harvesting magic power that doesn't belong to it.}}
** It's interesting to note that Mira is basically the same kind and sweet person in both universes, except that regular Mira, used to be kind of a jerk, and went through a serious personality shift after the death of her younger sister which didn't happen to Edolas Mira {{spoiler|except it did, and the regular universe version of her sister appeared in Edolas in her place.}}
* "Steel Ball Run", the 7th installment of ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'' is entirely based on an alternate universe then the original setting. Some sections of the plot, as well as the characters, are basically the same, such as Diego Brando, Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar. These three were the main characters of the original setting.
 
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