Counterpart Comparison: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Boy:''' Thanks, [[Green Lantern]].<br />

'''Booster ''Gold'':''' I'm not ''Green'' Lantern!|'''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'''}}

We have two characters. They are similar to each other, but one was created after another. Whether one of them is the other's [[Expy]], [[Captain Ersatz]], [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] or even [[Distaff Counterpart]], or it's a complete coincidence, fans will quickly realize the similarity.

From this point they are going to look at the new character through the old character's prism.

Sometimes, the new character will never get free from the older one, no matter what he does.

This is the first step to turning one of them into [[The Scrappy]], or [[Replacement Scrappy]] in the case of [[Legacy Character|Legacy Characters]]s and the [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]. Often happens to [[Anti -Hero Substitute]].

* In 2012, there was a series of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFWTaeQDXM4 commercials] for Geox sneakers that featured a mild-mannered teenage girl who can transform at will into "The Geox Girl". The secret-identity version of her looks ''a lot'' like a human version of [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Twilight Sparkle]]. The commercial even ''says'' that she is always bursting with enthusiasm and ready to help a friend in need.

* Many characters from ''[[Code Geass]]'' suffer from this. Suzaku and Euphemia are often compared to [[Gundam Seed|Kira and Lacus]]. Lelouch has the same problem with Light from ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''.

** And Shirley has this with [[Bleach|Inoue Orihime]]. Not only they look a little similar and have similar characters, but also {{spoiler|what Shirley says to Lelouch before death sounds similar to what Orihime says to unconscious Ichigo before leaving to Hueco Mundo}}. Orihime-bashers hate Shirley as her clone, while her fans love Shirley for that same reason. The dub made this worse when they gave Lelouch the same voice actor as Ichigo. Hell, the Japanese voice for Shirley is the same as Rukia.

** While it doesn't seem as prevalent in the main fandom the series's [[Wild Mass Guessing]] page spends a lot of time comparing Lelouch and Shinizel to [[V for Vendetta|V]] and [[Watchmen (comics)|Adrian Veit]]. ''[[Lynching ITP]]'' plays with this by making Shinizel Adrian's [[Identical Grandson|Identical Great Grandson]].

* Many people compare [[Naruto]] to [[DragonballDragon Ball|Son Goku]], because both of them started as funny kids wearing orange with inhuman abilities, and get character evolution through many adventures, [[Training Fromfrom Hell|Trainings From Hell]], [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s, [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turns]]s, many other things and mostly battles with repeatedly the strongest enemies to become more serious and ridiculously strong persons, but still keeping their friendly personalities.

** A general rule of thumb is that pretty much ''any'' [[Shonen]] [[Idiot Hero]] of the last fifteen years will invariably be compared to Goku -- whetherGoku—whether they're really all that similar or not.

* ''[[Gundam]]'' uses this [[In -Universe]] with Johnny Ridden, the Crimson Lightning, who is constantly mistaken for Char.

* Near from ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' is constantly compared to the other main antagonist of the series, L. He even looks like L (excepting the clothes and the hair color) and has habits like him. Justified that he {{spoiler|was raised to be L's successor}} and therefore emulate some of L's traits.

** On the subject of ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', it isn't uncommon for some poor sod to pop up in an anime forum and inquire about the similarities between Light Yagami and a certain [[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster Without a Name]]. If the [[Internet Backdraft]] on who the better villain is doesn't instantly erupt there, expect a very long, ''very'' [[Fan Wank|Fan Wanky]]y [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]] between the two.

* As an inter-medium example, the protagonists of ''[[The Big O (Anime)|The Big O]]'', ''[[Code Geass]]'', and ''[[Darker Thanthan Black]]'' have all elicited comparison to ''[[Batman]]''. ''[[The Big O (Anime)|The Big O]]'' has an animation style very similar to that of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'', and protagonist Roger is a Bruce Wayne Captain Ersatz. Lelouch/Zero of ''[[Code Geass]]'' has been described as a "flamboyant Batman" and Hei of ''[[Darker Thanthan Black]]'' has the [[Fan Nickname]] of "Chinese Electric Batman". Lelouch has a sort of Batman-esque costume, both characters use [[Evil Sounds Deep]] in costume, and Hei uses a [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]. Finally, Lelouch also elicits comparisons with the title character of ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', mainly for his [[Large Ham]] style and morally ambiguous characterization {{spoiler|also, a scene where Japanese dress en masse as Zero recalls the V-masks donned by English citizens}}.

* More than a few people unfamiliar with ''[[Detonator Orgun]]'' and with only passing knowledge of ''[[Tekkaman Blade (Anime)|Tekkaman Blade]]'' thought that the two were in the same canon in ''[[Super Robot Wars W]]'' (the fact that the game made them directly related story-wise did not help). What's especially interesting to note is that ''[[Tekkaman Blade (Anime)|Tekkaman Blade]]'', although the more popular and well-known of the two, actually owes a ''lot'' of its style and mood to ''Orgun''.

** This is primarily because both are remakes of the same show, ''[[Space Knight Tekkaman]]''. However, Orgun was passed over at the last second, and just like ''Warcraft'', it was forced to rework itself to be just different enough. So you could say that ''Orgun'' is ''[[Tekkaman Blade (Anime)|Tekkaman Blade]]' v.5.

* Early in its life, the title character of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' was derided as a ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' rip-off. This slowly tapered when the show revealed its intent of cribbing notes from a completely different [[Humongous Mecha|genre]]. For some reason, viewers were more receptive to a [[Magical Girl]] whose closest comparison wasn't another [[Magical Girl]], but a [[Gundam]].

* Most fans of ''[[XamdXam'd: Lost Memories|Xam'd]]'' take it as a given that Nakiami is some sort of clone of [[Nausicaa of the Valley of Thethe Wind|Nausicaa]].

* Many characters in ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' have been compared to/confused with a character from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'' and/or ''[[Rave Master (Manga)|Rave Master]]''. Only one of these comparisons is intentional though.

** Similiarly, ''[[Buster Keel (Manga)|Buster Keel]]'', a completely unrelated manga by a different author, has a cast that can be interchangeable with the core characters of [[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]], bar minor differences like breast size and state of undress.

* Between the second and third ''[[Tenchi Muyo!|Tecnchi Muyo]]'' OVA, two TV series and three movies set in ''[[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]]'' were created and featured a new character, Kiyone. The third OVA introduces Noike, who is also Mihoshi's teal-haired, no-nonsense former partner; but in OVA style is hot for Tenchi and related to him.

* Early in its life, the title character of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' was derided as a ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' rip-off (the pink costume doesn't help). [[Deconstruction|And then things goes to Hell in her life, followed by the rest of the world]].

** More specifically, Homura Akemi has drawn numerous comparisons to {{spoiler|[[Groundhog Day Loop|Rika Furude]]}} from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]''; to detail how exactly would reveal major spoilers for both series and also [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]] by proxy. The fact that {{spoiler|Rika [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)ni|created a witch]]}} doesn't help.

** Because she goes through some quite unpleasant experiences, is a character made by [[Fate /Zero]] writer [[Gen Urobuchi]], and wields a polearm, Kyoko is often regarded as an honorary [[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight|Lancer]], usually when fans lament how [[Memetic Mutation|being Lancer is suffering]].

{{quote| '''Alternate Deathstroke''': Hold the phone ''and'' the ''mayo''! You're ''me'', just without the lacerations and foreign objects!<br />

'''Deathstroke''': Will you please just ''die''?<br />

* Most of DC's [[Legacy Character|Legacy Characters]]s have these kind of issues, which is also often lampshaded. One of the biggest examples is [[Batman]] and all the people who have tried to replace him in all his long history. No matter what they do, fans possibly will never admit that anyone of them would be ever even close to Bruce Wayne.

* Inverted with [[Man-Thing]], who appeared two months before [[Swamp Thing (Comic Book)|Swamp Thing]]. Swamp Thing is more popular, thanks to [[Alan Moore]]'s run, and Man-Thing is seen as his substitute. And many people even don't know that's two different monsters.

* The popularity of ''[[Watchmen (Comic Bookcomics)|Watchmen]]'' has led to this happening to some degree for all the characters its characters are [[Expy|Expies]] of, but especially [[Captain Atom]] and [[The Question]]. (For those who haven't heard the story: [[Alan Moore]] originally wrote Watchmen with [[Charlton Comics]] characters DC had just purchased. DC liked the story but because of the way the story altered the status quo of the new expensive characters they had just bought, they asked him to replace the characters with original characters.) [[Solar Man of the Atom]] also gets compared to Doctor Manhattan.

* [[Peter David]] highlighted [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/10369/728587-scrj_super.jpg the similarities]{{Dead link}} between Snapper Carr and Rick Jones after their times in ''[[Hourman]]'' and ''[[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel]]'' in an issue of ''[[Young Justice (Comic Bookcomics)|Young Justice]]''.

* ''[[The Host (Literaturenovel)|The Host]]'' has been receiving a lot of backlash from the ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' fandom due to this. The fact that most of them seem to [[Older Than They Think|think that Applegate invented the concept of body-snatching aliens]] probably doesn't help.

* Almost every single adaptation of the books ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Literature)|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' so far have made the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts (two totally different characters from completely separate books) into an overtly threatening antagonist (which neither of the Queens were).

{{quote| '''Q:''' You hit me! Picard never hit me!<br />

'''Sisko:''' I'm not Picard.<br />

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' qualifies for this when Tracy Strauss was introduced. Everyone compared to Niki because... well... she was being played by the same actress.

{{quote| '''Nathan:''' You're ''sure'' you're not Niki Sanders?}}

* Strangely, even a reality show can do this. ''[[Project Runway]]'' cast one of its most beloved contestants in Season 8, Mondo Guerra. Mondo just so happened to be short, gay, of Mexican ethnicity, fond of [[Bow Ties Are Cool|bowties]], and an impeccable tailor... which wouldn't be important except that Season 9 proceeded to cast designer Viktor Luna, who also happened to be short, gay, of Mexican ethnicity, fond of [[Bow Ties Are Cool|bowties]], and an impeccable tailor. While they came across quite differently in personality ([[Nice Guy]] / [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]], respectively) and design-wise ([[Crazy Awesome]] / [[Boring but Practical]]), both eventually emerged to be regarded by large segments of the fanbase as the deserving winners of their seasons. In the end, {{spoiler|both got screwed out of final victory in favor of the [[Creator's Pet]], although Viktor's loss is more of a [[Broken Base]] situation than the universal fan rage that greeted Mondo's loss.}}

* In the ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]'' episode "Doppelgänger", the team worked with civilian law enforcement, which were all extremely similar to the main characters.

* The [[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)40,000|Tyranids]] and the [[StarcraftStarCraft|Zerg]]. Truth be told, while Tyranids came first, they've both taken visual influence from each other, and from Giger's [[Alien]], but the fans don't care to hear that. There's also the [[Halo|Flood]]. And then there's the [[StarcraftStarCraft|Protoss]]-[[Halo|Elite]]-[[Predator]]. Really, if you keep digging through these connections we find their common links go back [[Starship Troopers (Literaturenovel)|decades]].

* The ''[[Final Fantasy (Franchise)|Final Fantasy]]'' series gets some flak for this, mostly for including [[Three Faces of Eve]] as main characters in nearly all installments... who started to become eerily similar at around part 7. There's always the romantic girl, the tough girl, and the cheerful girl.

** It all started with Rinoa, whose hairstyle (but not personality) resembled Tifa's. ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]'' included a main girl (Garnet) with once again the same hairstyle (parted on the other side, though!) and a personality that fell somewhere in between the previous two. Yuna from ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' had a radically different personality but looked similar enough to Rinoa for fans to complain, and ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'''s Ashelia acts nothing like modern ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' main girls (instead being more of a ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' Celes type) but looks almost ''exactly'' like Yuna. Ironically, both Rinoa ''and'' Garnet were initially planned to be blondes (Nomura wanting a European-looking lead female and Amano just expressing his [[Author Appeal|blonde fetish]]), but these ideas were dropped when it came time to create in-game art and character models. Though Amano's promotional art ''still'' depicted Rinoa as a blonde (again, [[Author Appeal]]).

** As does Exdeath, who is often seen as a sillier version of Golbez, despite the fact that they are completely different in personality and goals, and despite both being [[Tin Tyrant|Tin Tyrants]]s, don't even look that similar.

** Interestingly, the only character who seems to be an actual reference is Seymour from ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', who has the same goals, personality, role and hair color as ''[[Bahamut Lagoon (Video Game)|Bahamut Lagoon]]'''s Sauzer. No one on the internet ever mentions this, most likely because no one's ever played ''[[Bahamut Lagoon (Video Game)|Bahamut Lagoon]]''.

* Aside from the ''[[Tekkaman Blade (Anime)|Tekkaman Blade]]''/''Detonator Orgun'' comparison mentioned above, ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]] 3'' had a case with two of its original characters, Brooklyn "Bullet" Luckfield and Touma Kanou. They both look similar AND even sound similar (especially during attacks), despite having two different voice actors. Naturally, their respective love interests notice this similarity as well and proceed to [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] the situation.

* Semi-rare cross-medium example: ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'' and ''Zelda'' -- especially ''[[Zelda II: theThe Adventure of Link (Video Game)|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'' and the [[The Legend of Zelda (Animationanimation)|'80s cartoon]].

* As many ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'' fans like [http://i46.tinypic.com/s6n9l5.jpg pointing] [http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=472666 out], Battler Ushiromiya has quite a bit in common with [[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|another video game protagonist]] prone to [[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|epic finger-pointing]] and [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|melodramatic logic debates]].

** It's even more apparent when they appeared in [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]]s. Battler in ''Ougon Musou Kyoku'' fires blue projectiles and has an attack with two giant blue hands. Phoenix in ''[[Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'' also fires blue projectiles and has an attack where he uses a [[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|giant blue pointer finger]].

* [[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Zelos Wilder]] and [[Dragon Age|Zevran]] of all people have quite a bit in common...

* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] is a hero with a blue color scheme, fighting to save his world from a mad scientist and his army of evil robots. He has a sidekick that can help him fly, a hotheaded rival who is red, and a powerful counterpart who is grayish black. Does this [[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|sound familiar]] at all?

** Has {{spoiler|Frank Fontaine}} the villain of ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]]'', who is more of an [[Expy]].

** And [[Portal (Video Gameseries)|GlaDOS]] obviously.

** Is herself an homage to the likes of [[Terminator|Skynet]] or [http[2001://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitleh3elkyxdypyw A Space Odyssey|HAL-9000]].

** And before all that was [[I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream|AM]] (though video game AM came after SHODAN.)

* ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]'' introduced Minsc, who comes from a tribe of proud warriors, bears distinct facial tattoos, has a unique tribal accent, and never goes anywhere without his imaginary advisor / companion. Fans of another Black Isle game ''[[Fallout|Fallout 2]]'' may notice the similarities with [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Sulik this guy].

* The Avatar, the protagonist of the ''[[Ultima]]'' series by Origin, is a hero from another world, the paragon of moral virtues who fights to protect the innocent. [[Superman|Like this guy]]. Furthermore the hero's archenemy is a [http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian godlike otherworldly being] who seeks to rule the universe, has many worlds under his grasp, psychically manipulates others to do his bidding, and feeds off suffering and torment. [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkseid |Yes, you guessed it]].

* ''[[Disgaea 4: a Promise Unforgotten (Video Game)|Disgaea 4 aA Promise Unforgotten]]'''s [[Vegetarian Vampire]] protagonist, Valvatorez, has luckily managed to escape associations with [[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|a particular sparkly vampire]]... Because his [[Badass Cape|appearance]] and [[Large Ham|demeanor]] have instead convinced everyone that he's actually Vampire [[Code Geass|Lelouch]].

* [[God of War (Video Gameseries)|Kratos]] and [[Asura's Wrath|Asura]] are compared to each other due to their rage issues and vengeance against their fellow gods (Though for many, the major similarities end there).

* Characters from the Fire Nation in [[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]] are sometimes compared to characters from [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]: Zuko is Shinji, [[Unfortunate Names|Azula is Asuka, Mai is Rei]], Ozai is Gendo, Ursa is Yui, Ty Lee is Misato, Iroh is Kaji and Zhao is Ritsuko.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'''s Rainbow Dash: A blue cartoon animal who can [[Super Speed|break the sound barrier]], has [[Anime Hair|spiky hair]], is very laid-back, loyal to her friends, and is admired by an orange-furred kid. [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]... A blue cartoon animal who can [[Super Speed|break the sound barrier]], has [[Anime Hair|spiky hair]], is very laid-back, loyal to his friends, and is admired by an orange-furred kid.

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