The idea of an evil version of a popular hero is a time-honored tradition in films and TV, with many prominent examples over the years. Some of the most famous protagonists of all time have had a dastardly body double, with the concept being a trope used for many years from sources as old as 1940s Silver Age comics. a villainous reflection of a basic hero were successful, but many of them became prime candidates for the evil hall of fame.
There are a variety of vectors through which evil versions of popular heroes can be introduced into a franchise. Evil clones, alternate timeline variants, robotic duplicates, or even simply the regular character going off the deep end with a villainous arc are all valid choices, and the best dark reflections of popular heroes utilize them to varying degrees. There's a reason why the evil counterpart trope isn't likely to go away anytime soon.
10
Black Goku
Dragon Ball Super
Anime franchises have also latched onto the concept of an evil doppelganger quite vehemently, as demonstrated by one of the most iconic anime series of all time, Dragon Ball. As such a kind and pure-hearted hero, it's difficult to imagine an antagonistic version of Goku, who has become an icon and inspiration for fans around the world. Still in Dragon Ball Superthe series manages to transform the image of the beloved martial artist into a weapon through Goku Black.
The tyrant known as Goku Black is an alternate timeline version of Dragon ball The series' Zamasu, a Kai, supreme beings who rule a designated quadrant of their home universe. Using the Super Dragon Balls to switch bodies with the mighty Goku, whose strength rivaled even the Supreme Kai, Zamasu officially became Goku Black, beginning his genocidal plan to create a “beautiful utopia” of a universe free of mortal life . With his signature pink and black Ki and deadly techniques like Black Kamehameha or Sickle of Sorrow, Goku Black quickly became one of the strongest Dragon ball villains ever.
9
dark willow
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In many cases more popular than Buffy herself, Willow Rosenberg is a fan-favorite member of Buffy's “Scooby Gang,” her team of teenagers who often aid her in her never-ending battle against supernatural forces. Eventually becoming a powerful magician, Willow is one of the few members of the Scooby Gang who can defend herself in dangerous situations on the same level as Buffy, making her a powerful ally. More like a socially awkward girl-next-door compared to Buffy, Willow's dark side is eventually released in Season 6 of the series.
Dark Willow emerges when Willow begins to become addicted to the use of magic, abusing her talents to delve into increasingly dark forms of spellcasting. The death of her romantic interest, Tara, is the straw that breaks the camel's back, causing Willow to officially lose herself to a fierce, malicious, and equally powerful personality. Nearly calling for an Earth-destroying apocalypse, Dark Willow is one of the most compelling arcs in the last few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
8
Evil Gray
Army of Darkness
The Deadites of evil Dead The series' fame is capable of appearing in a wide variety of forms, from possessed human corpses to twisted, twisted monsters. It's no wonder that one of the spirits ends up being able to take the form of the protagonist himself, Ash Williams, in Army of Darkness. During his quest to recover the Book of the Dead, Ash finds himself supernaturally cloned by the book's machinations, resulting in an evil version of himself walking around, hurling insults and injuries.
Although Ash is initially able to overcome his doppelgänger with a shot of buckshot, his distorted face rises from the Earth once again to attack his good counterpart. Not only that, but Evil Ash has the ability to command vast legions of undead soldiers, laying siege to the medieval castle that Ash temporarily called home. Whether he looks like a carbon copy of Bruce Campbell or a twisted necromancer warlord clad in bone armor, Evil Ash is one of the most powerful Deadite enemies in the series.
7
owlman
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
No series has relied as much on the idea of evil versions of famous superheroes as DC Comics, a universe that has multiple evil versions of its famous heroes. The animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths explores the idea of a topsy-turvy universe in which the Justice League is instead a global crime syndicate made up of analogous versions of the original recipe, with the Batman analogue Owlman being by far the most interesting . Like Batman, Owlman has no real superpowers, instead relying on gadgets and tricks to accomplish his unholy goals.
It is revealed that Owlman's objective goes far beyond petty crimes, wanting to extinguish human life in all universes to end the chaos of the multiverse. His speech professes this, calling his decision “the only choice that matters“, is one of the most chilling confrontations in DC's long animated history. Such a nihilistic foil to Batman is an endlessly fascinating character, yet defeated by his heroic counterpart.
6
Bizarre
Superman and Lois
Batman isn't the only member of World's Finest to have a famous evil stunt double. Although Ultraman is actually Superman's equivalent in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, his infinitely more famous evil clone, Bizarro, is a much more interesting case study. Perhaps the best live-action version of Bizarro is Superman and Loiswhich recently released its final season.
Here, Bizarro is quite comical, with his pale, geometric face, inverted “S” symbol, and strange inversions of Superman's powers, like icy rays in his eyes or the ability to belch fire. After leaving his home reality, the Upside Down, Bizarro is trapped in Superman's Earth, his anger and frustration gradually increasing. Superman and Lois made the bold choice of merging his character with that of the famous Kryptonian killer monster, Doomsday, thanks to Lex Luthor's experimentation.
5
Evil Bill and Ted
Bill and Ted's False Journey
The Wyld Stallyns may not seem like a particularly heroic duo at first glance, but that doesn't stop them from having some of the most memorable evil counterparts in cinematic history. In Bill and Ted's Fake Journey, The dastardly future villain and former gym teacher Chuck De Nomolos hopes to thwart the perfect utopia created by Bill and Ted's music by sending two evil robot copies of themselves into the past to kill them. Simply known as Evil Bill & Ted, this cybernetic duo almost causes the Wyld Stallyns to break up prematurely.
Despite being machines, Evil Bill and Ted have adopted many of their original models' hilarious mannerisms, their nonchalant vocabulary and jargon almost being funnier when said in the context of an evil plan. Ted's robotic counterpart stating that he has a “chubby complete robot“Seeing a photo of Ted's real girlfriend is one of the film's funniest beats. But the clear acrylic skulls of the robots' true form are also surprisingly disturbing, making the villainous duo great for balancing the fine line between funny and menacing. .
4
X-24
Logan
Ending Hugh Jackman's long run as Wolverine before being literally dug up from his grave in Deadpool and Wolverine, Logan It's a nice conclusion to the mutant hero's arc in the original Fox X-Men movie timeline. Part of what makes the film work so well as a character study is the fact that Logan is forced to literally confront his past face to face, with the ruthless villain X-24 overtaking the third act. While X-23 may have been considered a failure by its creators, their next attempt at a gun-toting Logan is much more successful.
X-24 is, in essence, a younger, wilder version of Wolverine who unfailingly carries out his horrific mission, cruelly killing Professor X. Seeming to have little to no ability to think for himself, X-24 presents Logan with a mirror image uncomfortable, not unlike the violent antisocial personality of his past self. It also says a lot that X-24 is one of the few evil clones of a famous hero who actually managed to kill his good counterpart.
3
Nega Scott
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is unique in that its titular hero is a bad person, with Scott realizing his own flaws being a major central theme of the original comic book adaptation and live-action film. This makes the concept of a “negative” version of the character similar to the video game films that inspired him an interesting point, as Scott himself has a better chance of being the evil counterpart. Nega-Scott does not appear for a long time in Scott Pilgrim vs the World, but what he represents leaves a huge impact.
After finally defeating Ramona's seventh evil ex, Scott is faced with yet another villain of his own creation, Nega-Scott. In the film's hilarious anticlimax, Scott emerges from his supposed battle unharmed moments later, confessing that he and his evil clone simply “shot the shit“And made plans to have brunch in the near future. The fact that Scott has so much in common with his evil counterpart says a lot about the protagonist's basic sense of right and wrong.
2
hedgehog shadow
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Calling Shadow a strictly evil version of his more famous hedgehog counterpart might be a little harsh, but as far as dark shadows of a popular hero go, Shadow is hard to beat. Debuting in the video game Sonic Adventure 2Shadow is introduced as an artificial clone of Sonic bioengineered to be the ultimate life form. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 changes Shadow's origin to being an amnesiac alien who crashed, but the character doesn't lose any effectiveness as an edgy foil to the cheerful Sonic.
Keanu Reeves is excellent as the tortured black hedgehog, destroying human soldiers and Team Sonic with ferocious impunity. As similar as he may be to Sonic on the surface, Shadow is in a league of his own in terms of tragic backstories and raw chaos energy. It's hard not to like Shadow in the games or the latest live-action film.
1
Spider-Man Symbiote
Spider-Man 3
Sonic the Hedgehog isn't the only sunny hero to have a dark and hilarious counterpart. Like most famous comic book heroes, Spider-Man has seen his fair share of evil doppelgangers, but it's hard to beat Peter Parker's exploration of the dark side thanks to the black symbiote suit. Both the insomniac Spider-Man games and animated series like Amazing Spider-Man both explored the idea very well, but it's hard to top Tobey Maguire's adaptation of the famous symbiote arc in Sam Raimi's film. Spider-Man 3.
Upon encountering the sticky alien organism, Spider-Man begins to give in to his anger and frustration with the world, acting on his wildest impulses and becoming a reckless hooligan who dances in the street, demands cookies and milk from his daughter. from his landlord, and even reaches Mary Jane. As much as this period is a low point for Peter Parker, the so-called “emo Peter” is a joy to watch even years later, whether he's taking things too far in his civilian or costumed life. Some films were able to create evil versions of a famous hero very well.