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'{{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2011}} The '''evil twin''' is an [[Antagonist (literature)|antagonist]] found in many different [[fiction]]al [[genre]]s. They are physical copies of [[protagonist]]s, but with radically inverted [[morality|moralities]]. In filmed entertainment, they can have obvious physical differences with the protagonist—such as [[facial hair]] (often a [[goatee]]), [[eyepatch]]es, [[scar]]s or distinctive clothing—that make it easy for the audience to visually identify the two characters. Sometimes, however, the physical differences between the characters will be minimized, so as to confuse the audience. Both [[role]]s are almost always played by either the same actor or the actor's actual twin (if the actor has one). Though there may be moral disparity between actual biological [[twins]], the term is more often a [[misnomer]]. In many cases, the two look-alikes are not actually twins, but rather physical duplicates produced by other phenomena (e.g. [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternate universe]]s).<ref>[http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/Evil_Twin Evil Twin at scificpedia.com]</ref> In others, the so-called "evil" twin is more precisely a [[dualism|dual opposite]] to their "[[Good and evil|good]]" counterpart, possessing at least some commonality with the [[value system]] of the protagonist. ==Origins== ===Mythologic precursors=== {{See also|Dualistic cosmology}} The concept of evil twins is ancient and mythical. One of the earliest may be in the [[Zurvanite]] branch of [[Zoroastrianism]]. This sect distilled the general abstract duality of Zoroastrianism into a concept of manifest twins "born" of a monist (first) principle ''Zurvan'' "Time." In this cosmological model, the twins&nbsp;— [[Ahura Mazda#In Zurvanite Zoroastrianism|Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd)]] and [[Angra Mainyu#In Zurvanite Zoroastrianism|Angra Mainyu (Ahriman)]]&nbsp;— were co-eternal <!-- (hence "Time") --> representatives of good and evil.<ref name=Thematic>Stookey, Lorena. ''Thematic Guide to World Religion''. Greenwood Press. 2004. 189-196.</ref> Ahura Mazda, representing good, was eventually expected to win the battle. The doctrinal foundation of Zurvanism lies in its interpretation of the Zoroastrian precepts of Free Will: Like Mazdaism (the other, and still extant branch of Zoroastrianism), Zurvanism emphasized that mortals always "have a choice between good and evil, and that one is always free to make the choice one way or the other."<ref>http://uwp.edu/~longeway/IV-02%20-%20Iran%20and%20Later%20Judaism.htm Longeway, John. "Iranian Thought and Later Judaism" from the unpublished ''Chapters in a History of Philosophy''.</ref> Zurvanism took this one step further and considered Angra Mainyu "evil" by choice, rather than by nature. This characterization is important to modern uses of the "evil twin", as most examples are in fact opposites of their "good twin", rather than wholly evil. Amongst the [[Mandinka people|Mandika]] of southern [[Mali]], the [[cosmology|origin of the world]] is also attributed to twins, albeit [[fraternal twins|fraternal]] ones. According to this legend, [[Mangala]], or God, twice tried to create the world with seeds. The first attempt failed because he had but one seed. On his second attempt, Mangala used four sets of twin seeds. This experiment was more satisfactory, and soon a universe was growing within a [[world egg|cosmic egg]]. Ultimately, however, one of the male twins, Pemba, grew tired of being confined. In attempting to escape, he proved himself treacherous. The rip he caused in the cosmic egg begat the Earth. It also compelled Mangala to seek a [[sacrifice]] of [[atonement (penal substitution view)|atonement]]. For this, Mangala killed Pemba's innocent fraternal twin, Faro. When Faro's remains were scattered on the newly formed Earth, fertile land was formed.<ref>Hood, Robert Earl. ''Must God Remain Greek?: Afro Cultures and God-Talk''. Fortress Press. 1990. 135.</ref> Thus the Earth as we know it is the result of the treason of the evil twin and the sacrifice of the good one. Many [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] creation myths likewise provide for the role of [[dualism|dualistic]] twins. ===Early fictional appearances=== ====Literature==== In [[literature]], ''[[Beowulf]]'' has been cited as an early example of the evil twin story. Although it does not feature biological twins or even characters that seem to have similar appearances, the precise language suggests that the monsters are evil reflections of the hero.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfsu.edu/~medieval/Volume6/bruce.html|title=Evil Twins? The Role of the Monsters in Beowulf|work=sfsu.edu|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> A remarkable example of evil twin is shown in the short story "[[William Wilson (short story)|William Wilson]]", by [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. This is the story of two non-biological twins. One of them is amoral, and his schemes are always being unmasked by the ethical twin, that prosecutes the former one. ====Film==== A notable early use of the modern concept of evil twins in film is [[1939 in film|1939]]'s ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]''. This adaptation of a part of the novel ''[[The Vicomte de Bragelonne]]'' by [[Alexandre Dumas, père|Alexandre Dumas]] made a key change to the source material by suggesting that the plot's central twins were in fact opposites of each other. [[Louis XIV]] is portrayed as the evil twin of Philippe, a boy raised by [[d'Artagnan]] and [[The Three Musketeers]]. The movie contains many of the common [[Trope (literature)|tropes]] of the evil twin plot, such as the fact that Phillippe is unaware of his twin's existence, differences in upbringing being important to the twins' adult temperaments, facial hair as a way for the audience to distinguish between the twins, one twin impersonating the other, and the eventual triumph of the good twin.<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=105740 General overview of ''The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1939)] at [[Channel 4]] website.</ref> Evil twins were also staples of [[serial (film)|serial films]]. They were crucial plot devices in the initial [[Dick Tracy (serial)|1937 ''Dick Tracy'']] storyline and the [[Jungle Girl (serial)|1941 ''Jungle Girl serial'']]. In the 1937 serial, Gordon Tracy was introduced as Dick's twin brother. Gordon underwent an evil scientist's procedure which rendered him evil and physically transformed. For the majority of the story he and Dick were played by different actors, but it is understood that he was intended as a twin. In the case of Jungle Girl, it is not the titular character who has the twin, but her father. She is raised in the wilds of [[Africa]], according to the narrative, because her uncle drives her father into exile there when she is a young girl. Later, after she has grown into a young woman, she stops her uncle's plan to illegally remove diamonds from the continent.<ref>Harmon, Jim and Donald Frank Glut. ''The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury''. Routledge. 1973. p. 11</ref> However, just as in the modern era, early film usages were not confined to [[Action film|action-adventure]] stories. [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s ''[[The Great Dictator]]'' was a 1940 [[comedy|comedic]] evil twin story that worked on two levels. In the narrative itself, Chaplin played both a good, simple barber and his evil counterpart, a [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]-esque dictator. But it was also born of the notion that Chaplin himself actually looked like Hitler. As a modern reviewer has noted: {{quote|The notion of these two brilliant and spectacularly successful [[monomaniacal]] over-achievers existing simultaneously like some Good Twin/Evil Twin duality, watching each other ascend to dominance as living iconic images, then "meeting" in a David-Goliath match playing on movie screens internationally . . . you couldn't pitch that story line to [[Hollywood]] even as an ''[[X-Men]]'' flick.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/g/greatdictator.shtml|title=The DVD Journal - Reviews : The Great Dictator: The Chaplin Collection|work=dvdjournal.com|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref>|Mark Bourne, in his review of the 2003 DVD release of ''The Great Dictator''}} The 1946 ''[[film noir]]'' [[The Dark Mirror (film)|''The Dark Mirror'']] starred [[Olivia de Havilland]] as twin sisters, one of whom is normal and one of whom is psychopathic, requiring a psychoanalyst to find out which is which. In this plot the evil twin becomes an archetype of the uncontrolled subconscious which can only be reintegrated by therapeutic catharsis: the implication is that the Evil Twin lurks within us all. ====Comic books==== [[Comic books]] contain some other early appearances of evil twins. One example, still available on the market today, is ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' by [[Hergé]] which originally was published in 1938-39. [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]] is hired as Professor Alembick's secretary and flies with him to Syldavia. The real Alembick has been abducted in the beginning of the story, and unknown to Tintin replaced by an antagonist, in a plan to steal the sceptre. In the end of the story Tintin understands the impostor was the evil twin of the professor. Another example is found in September 1948's ''[[Kid Eternity]]'' #11. The final story in the work revolves around "Handsome Harry", the evil twin of Kid Eternity's mentor, Mr. Keeper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/details.lasso?id=7002|title=GCD :: Issue :: Kid Eternity #11|work=comics.org|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> Handsome Harry is the archetypal evil twin in that he is both evil and a biological twin. [[File:WonderWoman175.png|thumb|right|The cover of 1968's ''Wonder Woman'' #175, which explicitly references the "Evil Twin".]] The concept was brought to the more [[iconic]] [[superhero]], [[Superman]], about a decade later. 1958's [[Bizarro]] was at first [[Superboy (Kal-El)|Superboy]]'s evil twin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=53797|title=Superboy (1949) #68 - Comic Book DB|work=comicbookdb.com|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> This twin was easily distinguishable both in deformed physical appearance and manner of speech. Bizarro, more anti-Superman than evil, nevertheless "represented Superman's [[Shadow (psychology)|Jungian shadow]], his dark side".<ref name=SRT>[http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2006/07/28/comics-in-context-139-superman-returns-twice/ Sanderson, Peter. "Superman Returns Twice". Comics in Context. 2006.]</ref> In [[DC Comics]], evil doppelgangers of various superheroes reside on [[Earth-Three]], such as Superman and Batman's evil counterparts, [[Ultraman (comics)|Ultraman]] and [[Owlman (comics)|Owlman]], respectively. Although the ''Kid Eternity'' story has had the term retroactively applied to it, none of these examples originally used words "evil twin" explicitly. 1968's ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' #175 is thus important for being an early case of the term appearing on a comic cover.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.org/details.lasso?id=21714|title=GCD :: Issue :: Wonder Woman #175|work=comics.org|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> A more recent example, in which the "good" character actually brings about the existence of his own evil twin, would be the relationship of Marvel Comics' [[Sentry (comics)|the Sentry]] and the Void. Merely using his powers and trying to do "good things" in the way most think of superheroes causes the Void to come into existence and to hurt as much as the Sentry tries to protect. ====Television==== While evil twins are inextricably linked to the [[soap opera]] (one particularly long-running "evil twin" soap opera storyline was on ''[[All My Children]]'', where [[David Canary]] played evil twin [[Adam Chandler]] and good twin [[Stuart Chandler]] for nearly 30 years), they have appeared in most televised [[genre]]s. Some of the earliest usages were in fact in [[western (genre)|westerns]]. Two episodes entitled ''Deadly Image'' appeared within a year of each other on two different westerns. ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick's]]'' version appeared in March 1961,<ref>[http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Western/Maverick.htm ''Maverick'' at Classic TV Archive]</ref> followed swiftly by ''[[The Rifleman|The Rifleman's]]'' take in February 1962.<ref>[http://www.movie-list.com/onvideo/shop.php?c=01&n=1023356&i=B00005T30V&a=reviews&p=1&x=The_Rifleman_Vol_4 User comments about ''The Rifleman'' vol. 4 DVD at movie-list.com]</ref> Beyond the coincidence of name, both offered similar plots: the hero becomes confused with a look-alike criminal, and the guilt of the hero must be cleared by demonstrating that the evil twin is a separate individual. Sutton Mercer from [[ABC Family]]'s ''[[The Lying Game (TV series)|The Lying Game]]'' showed off her "Evil Twin" persona by stealing the boyfriends of her twin sister, Emma and best friend, Mads. ==Tropes== The evil twin has now been used with great enough frequency to become viewed with cynicism as a hackneyed concept. As the character of [[Kate Austen]] remarked in a [[deleted scene]] from ''[[Lost (TV series)|Lost]]'': "It's not a soap opera until somebody's evil twin shows up."<ref>From the ''Lost'' Season 2 Region 1 release</ref> However, within the concept of the evil twin there are characteristics which are themselves [[trope (literature)|tropes]]. <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[File:Garthe.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''[[Knight Rider]]'''s [[Garthe Knight]], evil counterpart of Michael Knight, with requisite goatee]] --> ===The goatee=== {{Original research section|date=April 2010}} <!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:STMirrorMirror.jpg|right|thumb|[[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] with [[Spock]]'s "mirror" counterpart, From the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Mirror, Mirror]]".]] --> The biggest of these distinguishing traits is the [[goatee]]. Famously used by the "[[Mirror Universe (Star Trek)|Mirror Universe]]" version of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' character [[Spock]], in the episode "[[Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Mirror, Mirror]]", it was an easy way for audiences to tell "good" Spock from "evil" Spock (ironically the character, while more ruthlessly logical than his counterpart, is far from evil). The presence of a goatee on a familiar character is now seen as an immediate clue that the character is an evil twin. Even writers not discussing evil twins in their literary sense have occasionally made reference to the goatee through quick [[metaphor]]: {{quote|You can't go to the evil twin school of plotting very often if you're hack writing your way through Hollywood, but once you do it's thankfully easy. You slap a goatee on somebody (evil Spock, [[Garthe Knight|Evil David Hasselhoff]]) and voila: evil twin goodness. The rest of the story, I am told, writes itself. So if you're a Hollywood writer and you can only go to the well once or twice in the life of the show, how come Microsoft can be evil and Apple be angelic ALL of the time? And even worse, why is Microsoft defying convention and refusing to use a Mac logo with a goatee?<ref>http://www.macwrite.com/mcgoofy/the-evil-twin-syndrome.php Selbold, Eric. "The Evil Twin Syndrome". macwrite.com. 24 August 2001.</ref>|[[Chris Seibold]]|writing about the relationship between Apple and Microsoft.}} The [[Evil Overlord List]] refers to it with Item 35: "I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html|title=Peter's Evil Overlord List|work=eviloverlord.com|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> ===Identifying the imposter=== In cases where the "evil twin" is not physically distinguishable from the "good twin", a typical plot resolution will involve another character having to choose between the two. At some point the evil twin must be killed, jailed, banished, or at least unmasked. While this has been accomplished in a variety of different ways, the basic idea of a third character having to choose between the two twins is common to most plots involving evil twins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpotTheImposter|title=Spot the Imposter|work=tvtropes.org|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref> This occurred, for example, in the plotline of the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode “[[Whom Gods Destroy (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Whom Gods Destroy]]” wherein [[Spock]] must choose between [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] and an identical impostor (Garth of Izar). This also occurred in ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]'' with [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]] under similar circumstances. Finally, this occurred in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode “[[Datalore]]”. ==General usage== {{Citation style|section|date=June 2011}} ===Type of doppelgänger=== {{main|doppelgänger}} In modern use, ''evil twin'' and one sense of the word ''[[doppelgänger]]'' have come to be virtually interchangeable. While "evil twin" does not connote the sense of "supernatural harbinger of death", it can be used to mean "a physical copy of one's self who has an altered morality". {{quote|If you watch enough daytime soap operas, then you already know the horrifying truth: Everyone on earth has an evil twin (or doppelgänger, if you will) roaming around and acting like a jerk. These doppelgängers are the ones who sleep with your best friend's boyfriend, steal prescription medication out of your bathroom cabinet, and spread vicious (and only partially true) rumors about your sexual proclivities. You have a doppelgänger, your dog has a doppelgänger, and your mom has a doppelgänger. Everybody has a doppelgänger—except for me. As it turns out, I'm someone else's doppelgänger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=272394|title=I Love Television: The Evil Twin|last=Humphrey|first=Steven|date=25 July 2007|work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]}}</ref>|Steven Humphrey, in an article from [[Seattle]]-based ''[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]''}} ===As metaphor=== The term ''evil twin'' has also passed into general usage in a variety of different contexts. In computer technology, [[Evil twin (wireless networks)|it describes]] a faked [[wireless access point]] designed to appear like a genuine one, for the purpose of [[phishing]] information from unsuspecting users.<ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,120054-page,1/article.html Bilba, Erin. "Does your Wi-Fi Spot Have an Evil Twin?" ''PC World''. 15 March 2005.]</ref> The term is further used in contemporary [[journalism]] and [[non-fiction]] as a convenient label.<ref>[http://www.colonelgordon.com/ ''Separated at Birth: How North Korea Became the Evil Twin''] at the author's website</ref><ref name="SteeleBarack">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2210924/|title=Man of Steele: Is Michael Steele Barack Obama's evil twin?|last=Beam|first=Christopher|date=10 February 2009|publisher=slate.com|accessdate=2009-04-05}}</ref><ref>http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Entertainment/2006/06/06/1616325-sun.html Slotek, Jim. "New Omen just evil twin of Seltzer's original script". ''The London Free Press''. Retrieved 30 August 2007.</ref> In [[astronomy]], [[Venus]] is often called Earth's "evil twin", in reference to the similarity, yet opposition, of the two bodies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4335628.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Science/Nature - Planet Venus: Earth's 'evil twin'|work=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=27 February 2015}}</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060412/ai_n16176432 Connor, Steve. "Earth's Evil Twin". ''The London Independent''. 12 April 2006.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} {{Stock characters}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Evil twin}} [[Category:Fictional twins|*]] [[Category:Antagonists by role]]'