Evil Counterpart/Video Games

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Examples of Evil Counterparts in Video Games include:

  • Il Lupo (aka The Prowler) in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy was a fighter trained by the Templars after observing Ezio in action as a countermeasure to the Assassins (specifically Ezio) by equipping him with similar weaponry right down to a hidden blade and teaching him the same skills Ezio knows. Even his attire is similar to an Assassin's. Unfortunately, he was killed before he could ever have a chance to actually face Ezio.
  • In Mass Effect 1, Saren is Shepard's Evil Counterpart, being a Spectre agent turned rogue.
    • The Mass Effect 2 DLC Lair of the Shadow Broker takes it even further with Tela Vasir, an asari Spectre and agent of the Shadow Broker. She even delivers a Not So Different speech to Shepard, who for all intents and purpose, is working for the equally shady Illusive Man.
    • In Mass Effect 3, Shepard is being targeted by Cerberus assassin Kai Leng, who was first introduced in Mass Effect: Retribution. Before Kai Leng worked with Cerberus, he was an Alliance N7 Operative (like Shepard) who was imprisoned for murdering a krogan in a bar while on leave (with nothing but a knife). Also after Shepard was killed s/he was given many cybernetic implants to help rebuild him/her. Finally, they're both the best and most skilled fighters of their specific sides: Shepard for the Alliance and Council, and Kai Leng for Cerberus.
  • Arl Howe to Bryce Cousland in Dragon Age. Both fought the Orlesians in the service of King Maeric, and were good friends at one time, then the Green-Eyed Monster caught up to Arl Howe and drove him stark raving mad.
    • Bryce Cousland and Loghain Mac Tir, as well. Both are immensely loyal, powerful figures in Ferelden and heroes of the war against Orlais. They are also the only two Teyrns left in Ferelden. In personality and actions, however, they are entirely different, and have diametrically opposed views on the Grey Wardens.
  • In World of Warcraft you actually get to beat up your own evil counterpart. Or technically, your "inner turmoil" (or for casters, it has often been identified by players as your inner idiot - it only uses melee attacks).
    • Another example is the boss battle Hearld Volazj, who actually drives you insane and makes you fight evil twisted versions of your party members. Though, after you beat them, you may help your real party members kill your evil selves.
  • Knights of the Old Republic possibly has a Evil Counterpart to the Jedi Exile in the form of Darth Nihilus.
    • And potentially Bastila to the player in the first game.
    • Hanhaar is Mira's evil counterpart.
    • Given C-3PO's referring to R2-D2 as his 'counterpart', it could be argued that HK-47 (who fills C-3PO's role as the translator droid) is T3-M4's (who fills R2-D2's role as the mechanic droid) evil counterpart.
  • "Starkiller" from The Force Unleashed has been described as the "photo negative" of Luke Skywalker, and is what Luke may have become had he been trained by Vader instead of Obi-Wan. Starkiller falls more in line with Luke's story after turning to the light, ultimately engaging in a self-sacrificing battle against Vader and the Emperor aboard the half-completed Death Star...
  • Many of the Guilds of Lusternia have counterparts in the form of foils, but only the Celestine priesthood have a straight-up Evil Counterpart in the form of the Nihilists: the former are white-winged priests granted angelic companions by extradimensional incarnations of virtues, while the latter are bat-winged priests granted demonic companions by extradimensional incarnations of sins.
  • In Super Robot Wars: Original Generation, Tenzan Nakajima is the Evil Counterpart to Ryusei Date. Like Ryusei, he was a video game champion turned actual robot pilot, but unlike Ryusei, never learned the difference between a game and a life-and-death battle.
    • A more direct example is Lemon Browning, who is the Alternate Universe version of heroine Excellen Browning. The split came in a shuttle crash. The original Excellen survived without a scratch, while the other died and was rebuilt by her parents into a cyborg.
    • Similarly, there's the Shadow-Mirror equivalents of Kyosuke Nanbu and Sanger Zonvolt, especially the latter.
    • And Z adds Asakim Dowin to the family of evil counterparts (in this case, of Masaki Andoh), and unfortunately there won't be a white Paladin Shu to stop him.
  • In the Mega Man games, Bass (AKA Forte in the original Japanese versions). The Mega Man TV show had Proto Man (Blues in Japan) in this role, despite him being a good guy in the games. This may be because in his first appearance in 3, if you didn't know the plot (which, as was common for the time, wasn't actually in the game), it was very easy to mistake him for a villain unless you beat the game. Most likely, though, they just wanted to have a clear cut Evil Counterpart to Mega Man, and Bass hadn't been invented yet.
    • Zero's own evil counterpart is Ax Crazy Omega Zero, considering that Omega possesses Zero's original body and uses the same attacks Zero himself uses in Mega Man X. Plus, Omega is what Zero himself would have become if Zero would have been following Wily's plans for him.
      • Originally, Zero was intended by Dr. Wily as the Evil Counterpart to Mega Man X. However, after his defeat by Sigma (who later ironically becomes the Big Bad of the series), Zero was cured of the virus and became X's lancer instead.
    • Both have earlier Evil Counterparts: Mega Man has Quint and Zero has Sigma.
    • Dr. Wily himself is Dr. Light's Evil Counterpart
  • In Breath of Fire 4, Fou-Lu is an Evil Counterpart to Ryu. Not to mention he's freakin' superpowerful. (It's implied by various reactions to them that they are actually also Evil Twins, but the sprites don't actually look that similar, especially since Ryu has short blue hair and Fou-Lu has long silvery hair.)
    • Ryu usually has an Evil Counterpart in every game. II introduced us to Ray, one of the dark Dragons (although he's more of a literal Knight Templar). III has Teepo, and V has Bosch.
  • In the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Shadow the Hedgehog was introduced as Sonic's Evil Counterpart. Since then, though, he's become more of an Anti-Hero Counterpart.
    • Then Shadow got his own evil counterpart in the form of Mephiles the Dark, the main villain from the 2006 Sonic game, whose form is a copy of Shadow's own shadow.
    • Sonic's original Evil Counterpart is Metal Sonic.
    • In a somewhat rare example, the villainous Dr. Eggman has an evil counterpart as well, in the form of Eggman Nega. Where Eggman is an Affably Evil Anti-Villain with a sense of morals and heroism, Nega's unabashed love for fear, chaos, and suffering puts him in Complete Monster territory - Essentially, he's what Eggman would be without his human qualities.
    • Eggman himself is the Evil Counterpart to Tails
  • From Advance Wars 2 onward, the Black Hole Army COs have been almost entirely composed of Evil Counterparts to the Alliance COs.
  • Iori Yagami is Kyo Kusanagi's Evil Counterpart in The King of Fighters, being both fire using heirs to one of three clans that defeated Orochi.
  • Because of the Jungian craziness, Persona has this in spades. Most characters actually meet their Shadows, played stirringly by Nyarlathotep in a variety of masks. Also of note: Mary with Idealized Mary, Pandora, and the two brats; Nate and Guido as businessmen who took different paths; Ellen outfoxing a very determined stalker only to be told they're not so different by the not-so-silent ex-classmate she has been trying to locate (Funny, he hasn't seemed to have aged...).
    • The tradition continues in Persona 4, where a Shadow is a physical manifestation of all the things the person is suppressing. If it so happens that their actual physical self is there with the Shadow, expect cries of "You're not me!" followed by the Shadow trying to kill any human in the way.
      • Adachi also serves this role for the protagonist. In fact, he even has the same US voice actor as the main character and a modified version of his first persona.
    • Strega of Persona 3 are the Evil Counterparts to SEES. Specifically, Takaya is the Protagonist's Evil Counterpart, though he's more against your team in general than you specifically.
  • Wario was once an evil rival of Mario, complete with evil versions of Mario's powerups. Then he shifted to a greedy Anti-Hero who stole from other villains, soon replacing his dark powerups with the gimmick of Nigh Invulnerability and bizarre transformations based on how he is injured. On a couple of occasions Wario has actually helped Mario however, both with and without selfish motives.
    • Later on, Nintendo gave Luigi his own Evil Counterpart in the form of Waluigi.
    • Wario got one himself in Wario Land: The Shake Dimension. The Shake King was essentially a bigger, greedier Wario, with most of his abilities mirroring those of Wario. This is assuming he can be called an evil counterpart; Wario isn't exactly a good guy to begin with.
  • Every single character in Battle Arena Toshinden 3 had an Evil Counterpart that had to be fought as a Sub Boss. Most of them were merely carbon copies of the originals with a new coat of paint (except for Badass Longcoat Vermilion), so if you mastered one, you could easily play with their counterpart.
  • In the MMO Guild Wars, to progress beyond a certain point in the plot you have to defeat your own character's evil twin in single combat. The doppelganger has the same skills as your character and higher stats, so you can't defeat it by simple brute force; you have to win by outsmarting the AI.
  • Azel in God Hand has the left God Hand, while the main character, Gene, has the right. It is said that he who possesses a God Hand may be either god or devil; Azel chose the latter route, dubbing himself "the Devil Hand". He wiped out his entire clan (protectors of the God Hands) to test his power, and then sided with the demons plotting to raise Angra.
  • Final Fantasy games frequently employ this trope.
    • Final Fantasy IX had Zidane to Kuja - both created by Garland to lead Gaia to war.
    • Final Fantasy VIII. Seifer was an evil counterpart to Squall, both using gunblades and been trained at the same garden. Although Seifer was more manipulated than evil.
      • And Ultimecia is the Evil Counterpart to both Rinoa and Ellone.
    • And, of course, Final Fantasy VII had Cloud and Sephiroth. Sort of. The link started as fairly concrete at the start of the game, became more tenuous towards the middle as it was found that Much of Cloud's backstory was a lie and was, in fact, the tale of his friend Zack and then has been pushed back into the limelight with some of their more recent appearances.
      • It can be argued that Sephiroth is also/more of an Evil Counterpart to Aerith. Both are children of Shinra scientists, both use angelic and messianic symbolism, both are capable of avoiding dissolution in the Lifestream (Aerith due to being a Cetra and Sephiroth due to sheer force of will), and both are linked to one of the Ultimate Magics (Aerith to Holy, Sephiroth to Meteor). Furthermore, Sephiroth believed that his mother was an Ancient betrayed by humans whereas Aerith' mother actually was one. Both even had parents who were involved with the Jenova project
      • Cloud and Sephiroth's appearances in Kingdom Hearts take it a step further, with Sephiroth sporting a black angel's wing on his right shoulder and Cloud having a black demon's wing on his left shoulder. In the same series, it is even heavily implied, if not outright stated, that the Sephiroth in that game was actually the embodiment of Cloud's darkness.
      • In Dirge of Cerberus, all of the Tsviets share something in common with Vincent. Shelke is immortal, Nero wields Darkness, Rosso has similar attire (red clothes, metal gauntlets) and fighting methods, Azul has the same shapeshifting powers, and Weiss is trying to attain the power of Omega, the antithesis to Chaos. Furthermore, he's the vessel for Hojo, who turns into monsters like Vincent, but has no morals or physical prowess to call his own. Oh, they also all use a combination of guns and martial arts, leaning towards guns. Except for Shelke. Rosso and Vincent lampshade this with their discussion on each other's "humanity."
    • The Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X2 duet has Tidus and Shuyin; one died while failing to protect his beloved, while the other gave his existence and succeeded. They even look alike, and fans speculate the fayth deliberately modeled Tidus after Shuyin in their dream-Zanarkand.
      • Despite not exactly being evil, in the first Final Fantasy X, Sin aka Jecht probably counts as Tidus' counterpart.
      • Both Yunalesca and Seymour are evil counterparts to Yuna.
    • Final Fantasy XII has the (for most of the game) evil Gabranth and the good Basch, who doubles as a pair with an Evil Twin.
    • Final Fantasy VI had Kefka as the Evil Counterpart to Celes, since they were both products of the same Super Soldier project, and were both generals of The Empire.
  • Kingdom Hearts has Sora and Riku, or Sora and Anti-Sora. Also the Heartless might be Evil Counterparts of either people or Nobodies.
    • Donald and Goofy have entire races of Heartless counterparts in the first game - the shield-using Defender for Goofy, and the sorcerous Wizard for Donald. On the very rare occasions one drops its weapon (each has a 0.2% chance), the corresponding hero can pick it up and use it immediately.
  • Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep also has Vanitas and Ven. And if you want to take it a step further, Vanitas and Sora.
    • Looking at the backstory revealed in Birth By Sleep, the case can be made that Xehanort is an Evil Counterpart to Sora. They both grew up at Destiny Islands, they both became Keyblade wielders, they both became a sort of composite being (Xehanort through Grand Theft Me, Sora through absorbing others' hearts), they both became a Heartless and a Nobody. Of course, Sora is a Naive Hero and increasingly portrayed as The Messiah, while Xehanort is a Magnificent Bastard who has recently[when?] showed some Fallen Angel symbolism.
  • Akuma is Ryu's Blue counterpart in various Street Fighter games and their adaptations. The brother of Ryu's master, Akuma was a student of the same martial art and was also driven by the desire to be the most powerful martial artist, deciding that he was willing to kill those he defeated in the pursuit of true strength, while Ryu ultimately rejects killing. (The exception being in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3, where there's an Evil Ryu Secret Character. There, he turns out even worse than Akuma. Whereas Akuma has a sort of moral code, even if it falls heavily under Blue and Orange Morality, Evil Ryu is just a cold-blooded killer who ends up slaughtering the entire cast.)
  • Liquid Snake from Metal Gear Solid is one of the few literal examples. He and his twin Solid Snake were cloned from the same man, and although Liquid was (supposedly) genetically superior than his brother Solid, Liquid grew up believing the opposite and wanted to kill his father Big Boss to prove his worth. When Solid takes away that chance from him by defeating Big Boss first, Liquid decided to take his aggression to Solid instead.
    • Big Boss himself counts.
  • Claudia of Silent Hill 3 was raised in the same nightmarish cult as Alessa Heather by a similarly abusive parent and may also possess the ability to summon the series' iconic Dark World, however she embraced the cult's teachings and their plans of resurrecting "God" while Alessa Heather rejected them.
  • Vasteel Original in Thunder Force V is prototype of player's Vasteel fighter. Also Vasteel Nocht from Thunder Force VI which is large fighter that utilise weapon similar to player fighter from previous three games.
  • The gnomes introduced in Overlord II are a good counterpart to your minions. Unfortunately for them, in the setting, "Good" basically means either "self-serving Jerkass using their supposed virtue as free license to do whatever they want" or "obnoxious, ineffectual idiot", and they got stuck with the latter version.
    • Still, another example of a Good Counterpart for the Evil Overlord Villain Protagonist would be Queen Fay, leader of the Elves and the reigning being of Light Magic (you being Dark Magic). She still ends up coming to you for an Enemy Mine against the Anti-Magic Empire in which she ends up sacrificing her energy to power the Overlord's Tower Heart, ending with her corruption and becoming a Fallen Hero.
  • Vergil, Dante's EvilTwin from the Devil May Cry series.
  • Alex Mercer from Prototype has to contend with Blackwatch Super Soldiers who have controlled exposure to the same virus powering him It is him, but that you won't find out for a while, as well as the Hunters who have similar powers - all the way up to the Supreme Hunter also being able to shapeshift - but are clearly inhuman. It's not so much Good Counterpart versus Evil Counterpart as it is Evil Versus Evil though.
  • Your main power in Afterburner Climax is the Climax Mode Limit Break that allows you to launch Macross Missile Massacres. In late-game you run into enemy planes who can launch Macross Missile Massacres too. And since It's Up to You... Well, thank goodness for Mercy Invincibility is all.
  • JC Denton of Deus Ex has Walton Simons. Both are Badass Longcoat stoic nanocyborgs.
  • Several examples in The Elder Scrolls:
    • From Morrowind, there's the Thieves Guild, which is definitely shady, but has elements of Gentleman Thief and Just Like Robin Hood, and the Cammona Tong, a xenophobic Dunmer nationalist crime syndicate that despises the Empire and has absolutely no code of honor.
    • Also from Morrowind, there's the Morag Tong, an underhanded, though noble assassin’s guild, and the Dark Brotherhood, an organization of murderous scumbags who will kill anyone if the price is right, or just to appease their "god".
    • Necromancers in Tamriel have always been portrayed in a "dark grey" light. The Order of the Black Worm from Oblivion, however, show just how evil and depraved they can be if they want to. It doesn't help that the Order's leader is an Omnicidal Maniac.
    • The Blackwood mercenaries in Oblivion become evil counterpart to the Fighter's Guild.
  • Neverwinter Nights 2: Oddly enough, the player has two evil counterparts, each of which joins their party. The first is arguably Bishop, whose Character Sheet outright reads Chaotic Evil and who, like the player, originates from a small village that was burnt down in a horrible massacre. Like the player's character, Bishop holds some responsibility for the destruction of the village, though in a far more active, if still unintentional, way and it shaped him into the man he is when the player meets him. The second is Ammon Jerro, who, like the player character is collecting the shards of the Silver Sword of Gith to reconstruct it, aims to vanquish the King of Shadows, and has collected a group of (involuntary) allies to aid him. Possibly subverted in that the player can be just as evil as either character - or potentially more so.
    • The Mask of the Betrayer expansion has Arraman, who isn't really "evil" as such but opposes your character at every turn, unless you give up on the Crusade.
  • Neverwinter Nights has Maugrim for Aribeth (for a while), Haedraline for Drogan in Shadows of Undrentide, and Sabal for Nathyrra and the Valsharess for the Seer in Hordes of the Underdark.
    • Various community expansions have examples. Alex/Mordred for the player in The Bastard of Kosigan and Vico for Anden and Ardo Benthur (something like that) for the player in A Dance With Rogues are probably the best, though those modules are also the ones with the best reoccurring characters.
  • There are a couple present in the Soul Series. The most direct example is Lizardman to Sophitia; both are Greek warriors chosen by Hephaestus, but while Sophitia succeeded (sort of) in her mission and returned home, Aeon Calcos failed, was transformed into a horrible lizard monster and swore revenge on the god that had abandoned him.
    • Astaroth and Rock share this dynamic, because Astaroth is an Evil Knockoff of Rock.
    • Given the turn for the Darker and Edgier in Soul Calibur 4, Yun-Seong might become an Evil Counterpart to Seong Mi-Na; both are driven by the desire to prove themselves, but while Mi-Na has realized Soul Edge is too evil and dangerous to be worth seeking out, Yun-Seong is unconvinced and continues to seek it despite the danger as Mi-Na goes after Soul Calibur. One of the game's many endings indicates Yun-Seong can become a host of Soul Edge, although it's unlikely it will stick.
  • The RPG, Sailor Moon: Another Story has a set of evil counter parts for Moon and the Inner Senshi known as the Opposito Senshi. Each is named for a Babylonian god or goddess that is roughly equivalent to the powers and role of the Sailor Senshi. Moon has Sin, named for the Moon god. Mercury has Nabu, named for the god of wisdom. Venus has Ishtar, named for the fertility goddess. Jupiter has Marduk, named for king of the gods, and Mars has Nergal, named for the fire god. The Ayakashi sisters mentioned above also make a short appearance.
  • The Baldur's Gate series firmly positions Sarevok as this to the PC. In the first game he's the only other Bhaalspawn you (knowingly) encounter, but even in Throne of Bhaal where CHARNAME's evil siblings are ten a penny, he's still firmly positioned as the example of what CHARNAME could have been.
  • Sima Yi in Dynasty Warriors can be seen as the evil counterpart to Zhuge Liang, though not so much as evil as manipulative and scheming, as well as Cao Cao to Liu Bei.
  • Inverted somewhat in the Dungeon Keeper series as most of your minions are basically evil counterparts to the forces of good, with the biggest example being Black Knight and Knight. Other examples include Warlock/Wizard, Dark Elf/Elf and Vampire/Monk.
  • In World of Warcraft the Warlock class is, lore-wise, the evil counterpart to the Mage, as they are usually former mages fallen into the temptation of resorting to demonic energy to make them stronger.
    • The Lich King's Death Knights, both as a hero unit in Warcraft 3 and a class in World of Warcraft, serves as an evil counterpart to the Paladin in both games.
    • The now-corrupted Eredar race could alse be seen as an evil counterpart to the Draenei.
  • In Millennia: Altered Destinies, McDonald's Evil Counterpart is an alternate timeline version of McDonald who was recruited by the Microids instead of the Hoods. The other McDonald flies an identical XTM but uses the ship to undermine the player's actions. Unlike the other examples, there is no way to get rid of the other McDonald.
  • City of Heroes: Going Rogue has this in spades. In the Mirror Universe of Praetoria; players will encounter familiar names and faces, sometimes in the most unlikely places. But due to the game's fluid alignment system, they can be your allies, or your enemies. Among them are:
    • Emperor Cole, counterpart to Statesman, single-handedly saved the world in the Hamidon Wars and now rules the world with a gold-plated, iron fist.
    • Praetor White (aka Marauder), counterpart to Back Alley Brawler, runs Praetoria's Powers Division
    • Praetor Tilman (aka Mother Mayham), counterpart to Sister Psyche, is in charge of the Seers, Praetoria's Thought Police
    • Praetor Sinclair (aka Chimera), counterpart to Manticore, is Emperor Cole's personal assassin
    • Praetor Berry (aka Neuron), counterpart to Synapse, has made hundreds of scientific advances singlehandedly
    • Metronome, counterpart to the Clockwork King, behaves much like his Primal Earth counterpart, including his obsession with Penelope Yin
    • Penelope Yin, counterpart to herself, is a Resistance spy in Mother Mayham's mental hospital
    • Belladonna Vetrano, counterpart to Ghost Widow, is still alive, and a member of the Resistance.
  • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon has Gengar to the main character.
  • Malefor from The Legend of Spyro trilogy seems to be this to Spyro. Both are Purple Dragons, both were, according to Chief Prowlus and the statues of him all over the place, heroic in their youth, and both were trained freely by their elders in the Dragon Elements. The difference is Malefor let his power go to his head and went mad with power while Spyro remained good hearted (though Spyro was raised by dragonflies which may have had something to do with it). Malefor is aware of this and worked it into his Not So Different Hannibal Lecture.
  • Soul Nomad and The World Eaters has Revya as this to Levin in one path of the New Game+.
    • In the main game, various characters have evil counterparts of their own. Shauna for Endorph, Cuthbert for Vitali, Lobo for Christophe and Dio for Odie among others.
  • Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana has Mull, who serves as an Evil Counterpart of Arlin the swordsman. They even share the same sprite, only with a Palette Swap into a red outfit.
  • In Hitman: Blood Money, Mark Parchezzi III is this to Agent 47. Even though 47 can be viewed as a villain, he is shown to have a set of values and morality, while what little is seen of Parchezzi shows him to be pretty much completely without scruples. Plus, while 47 performs rather indiscriminate hits, Parchezzi works for the Franchise, a clandestine government group with the goal of keeping human cloning illegal so that nobody else may benefit from it.
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Meta Knight from the Kirby series has Galacta Knight. Both have very similar appearance, attacks, and move sets. The primary differences between the two are that Galacta Knight lacks Meta Knight's sense of chivalry, and Galacta has a more angelic appearance compared to Meta Knight (white feathered wings and brighter colors compared to Meta's bat wings and dark colors).
  • Crash Bandicoot has the obviously titled Evil/Nega Crash, his alternate universe equivalent from the Tenth Dimension. Fake Crash (a goofy lookalike created from "an experiment gone horribly wrong") interchanges between being an antagonist or occasional friend of Crash, similar to Wario.
  • Mutons of X-COM: Enemy Unknown have been described like this, an alien SEAL Team Six to fight your own troops.
  • In Alpha Protocol, Conrad Marburg is something of an evil counterpart to Mike; a rogue agent from a previous incarnation of Alpha Protocol called Deus Vult, who like Mike was cut loose and falsely declared rogue because it was politically convenient. Unlike Mike, who's still trying to get to the bottom of the conspiracy, Marburg lost faith in the government and now works for Leland.
  • The Simon the Sorcerer games play with this. At the end of the third game, a second Simon appears who is different in two aspects: a) he's corporeal (long story) and b) he has a goatee. Wait, Simon's not a nice guy either, right? Well it turns out that the counterpart is actually the lawful counterpart to Simon. He even shaves his beard to get rid of the stigma.
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