Foil: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''I’ll be your foil, Laertes. In mine ignorance

''Your skill shall, like a star i' th' darkest night,

 

 

Sidekicks often serve as foils to the hero by being something the hero himself is not (a calm and pragmatic sidekick when the hero is hotheaded, for example). In the classic good-guy versus bad guy scenario, both the hero and villain can each be considered the other's foil, in that each acts to show how the other behaves in certain situations.

If you're feeling a little poetic and look around at your surroundings enough, you'll probably discover that this trope is a bit of [[Truth in Television]].

 

 

'''Common Foils'''

** ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' had Rika, who served as a foil to both the bleeding heart Takato and the [[Technical Pacifist|pacifist]] Henry.

** Takuya and Kouji's relationship in ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'' is very similar to Tai and Matt's in [[Digimon Adventure|Adventure]].

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' has several of the side characters with [[A Day in the Limelight]] subplot blatantly mirror the protagonist's quest in some way. The village doctor is what Tenma could have become had he married Eva. Richard Braun is what Tenma would have become if he had {{spoiler|shot Johan}} without any question to his past. Milan Kolash is the Tenma who goes through with the {{spoiler|murder}}. Johan also has foils in the form of Nina and Dieter.

** Nina especially as she is Johan's twin sister, only where he's a [[Complete Monster]] of the highest order, [[Sibling Yin-Yang|she's compassionate and very kind.]]

* Most of the pairs in ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'' seem to be designed to be foils of one kind or another. Tenri is passive and shy while Diana is pushy and proactive. {{spoiler|Vulcan highlights Tsukiyo's cool elegance and emotional reserve}}, while on the devil side of things you can make similar comparisons between Haqua and Yukie, Elsie and Keima and possibly even Nora and Ryou. (And between Elsie and Haqua, for that matter.)

* ''[[School Rumble]]''

** Harima is a hoodlum who wears shades while Hanai is the [[Class Representative]] who wears glasses.

* Tsugawa and Kudo in ''[[Japan Inc]]''. Tsugawa is your typical ruthless manager, Kudo is the social guy who thinks about the employees.

** [[The Mighty Thor]] and Loki - again, one is [[Flying Brick]], the other is trickster.

** [[Silver Surfer]] and Mephisto. One is pretty much the personification of the devil, and hates the other just because he's so damn ''good''.

** In [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]], [[Iron Man]] and [[Captain America (comics)]] can be seen as foils to each other. Especially in [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]].

* In Jeremiah, by Hermann: The protagonist's partner, Kurdy Malloy, is much more cynical, streetwise and childish than he is. Jeremiah is no fool by any means, and he is an action guy, but he is much nobler and more romantic than his friend, and puts more trust in others.

 

 

 

* In the ''[[Deliver Us from Evil Series]]'', [[The Captain|Inspector Patterson]] serves as a stark foil to [[Sherlock Holmes]], though the two do not even meet in the first book. The people who know these men are unsettled by the similarities (right down to nearly-identical looks), but they also see the differences. [[Good Is Not Nice|Patterson]] is basically [[Sherlock Holmes]] [[Up to Eleven]].

** Where in the world can I find this version?

* Every character in ''[[The Stranger]]'' is basically a foil for the narrator, Meursault. Not surprising, of course, since the point of the novel is to develop a particular Exitentialist philosophy.

* Rosamond serves as one to Dorothea in ''[[Middlemarch]]''.

* ''[[Quantum Gravity]]'': The worlds serve as this. Interestingly enough, all of them are foils for ''all'' the other ones:

== Live Action TV ==

* [[Xena: Warrior Princess]]: Xena's companion Gabrielle acts as a foil as her compassionate and innocent nature contradicts Xena's bitter and ultra-violent disposition. This dynamic makes up for many of the show's subplots as well as main ones (usually when Xena's foes attempt to separate the duo by showing them the extent of their differences). See [[The Lancer]] also.

* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. Seven of Nine played this role for Captain Janeway (at least during her first year on the ship).

* [[Professional Wrestling]] example: This trope was basically the angle of the Wrestlemania XXV match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid cast himself as the "Light" that is fated to defeat the "Darkness" embodied by the evil Deadman, and consequently end the latter's legendary winning streak.

* This could just be me, but Parker and Sophie in ''[[Leverage]]'' seem to have this feel. Sophie is classy, social, and likable, but fake, while Parker is crazy, has [[No Social Skills]] and thus is off-putting, but honest (if blunt).

** Peggy is also this to Parker as a normal citizen. She is also one of the nicest characters on the show.

* ''[[The Wire]]'' loves this device. There's a lot of parallels between different characters, both those in direct contact with each other (like McNulty and Kima) and some from across different storylines entirely (like D'Angelo Barksdale and Nicky Sobotka). Most conspicuous are the duos of Herc and Carver and Bubbles and Johnny. Herc and Carver are both thuggish and brutal police officers, but Carver shows himself to be more sensitive and thoughtful over time. Johnny is Bubbles's protégé in the streets, but is much more blasé about their predicament and has an "us vs. them" mentality towards the police. Eventually, the underlying differences in both pairs lead the characters in very different directions.

* ''[[15/Love|Fifteen Love]]'': [[High School Hustler]] Gary "Squib" Furlong and [[Dean Bitterman]] Harold Bates may spend the entire show opposing one another, but at the core of things they're ''very'' similar, being a pair of [[Manipulative Bastard]]s with flexible attitudes towards the rules, no time for stupidity, and an amazing ability to convince others to do things for them. Don't tell Squib, but Bates is ''exactly'' what he is going to look like at thirty-five.

{{quote|'''Jirix:''' But... aren't we all on the same side?

'''Redcloak:''' That is a complicated question ... Our alliance with Xykon is one of the most powerful tools we have, and we cannot afford to screw that up. That does NOT mean we should trust him. I know he seems funny and charming, but believe me, when you see for yourself the depths to which he'll sink, you will never sleep well again. }}

** By a similar token, [[Dumb Muscle]] / [[Psychopathic Manchild]] Thog to [[Evil Genius]] / [[Complexity Addiction|Complexity Addict]] Nale.

** Elan and Nale; polar opposites in [[Character Alignment]], both have a flair for the dramatic, similar class abilities (though Nale's [[Complexity Addiction]] means he took a more roundabout way of getting them), similar relationships with their respective love interests (who are also foils), and a tendency toward being dumb (though Nale will vehemently deny he is anything but a genius). More Recently, Elan and his father Tarquin, who are both [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], but likewise complete opposites when it comes to alignment and intelligence.

** Dave is a [[Stoic]] [[Deadpan Snarker]], while Terezi [[The Hyena|laughs at everything]] and is [[Sense Freak|cheerfully weird]], and where Dave is [[Knight in Sour Armor|cynical but honest]], Terezi is a [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Guile Hero]].

* There are three main foil types in the [[Four-Temperament Ensemble|main adventuring group]] in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''. [[Vitriolic Best Buds|Angelika and Rocky]] are one, [[Happily Married|Julie and Lenny]] are another, and [[Sibling Yin-Yang|Julie and Angelika]] make the third.

 

 

* [[Whateley Universe]]: roommmates and teammates Chaka and Fey are definitely foils for each other. One's black while the other's white, one's hyper and the other's calm, one's human and the other one's mostly [[The Fair Folk|Sidhe]], ...

** Also, Solange is a foil to Phase, since Solange is the [[Rich Bitch]] that Phase could have easily been.

 

 

 

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[[Category:Characters]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Ensembles]]

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