Evil twin
The evil twin is an
Though there may be moral disparity between actual biological
Origins
Mythologic precursors
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2022) |
The concept of evil twins is ancient and mythical. One of the earliest may be in the
Amongst the
Many
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 parallel language suggests that the monsters are evil reflections of the hero.[4]
Film
A notable early use of the modern concept of evil twins in film is
Evil twins were also staples of
However, just as in the modern era, early film usages were not confined to
Comic books
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.[8] Handsome Harry is the archetypal evil twin in that he is both evil and a biological twin.
The concept was brought to the more
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.[11]
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 genres. Some of the earliest usages were in fact in westerns. Two episodes entitled Deadly Image appeared within a year of each other on two different westerns. Maverick's version appeared in March 1961,[12] followed swiftly by The Rifleman's take in February 1962.[13] 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. Pretty Little Liars could be used as an example, where one of the main protagonists Spencer Hastings was discovered to have an evil identical twin sister named Alex Drake, who had been stalking Spencer and her friends under the identity of "A.D." for years. In the Disney Cartoon series Aladdin it is implied that the evil wizard Mozenrath is Aladdin Evil twin.
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: "It's not a soap opera until somebody's evil twin shows up."[14] However, within the concept of the evil twin there are characteristics which are themselves tropes.
The goatee
This section possibly contains original research. (April 2010) |
The biggest of these distinguishing traits is the
The
General usage
Type of 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".
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.[17]
— Steven Humphrey, in an article from Seattle-based The Stranger
As metaphor
The term evil twin has also passed into general usage in a variety of different contexts. In computer technology,
References
- ^ Stookey, Lorena. Thematic Guide to World Religion. Greenwood Press. 2004. 189-196.
- ^ "Iranian Thought and Later Judaism". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
- ^ Hood, Robert Earl. Must God Remain Greek?: Afro Cultures and God-Talk. Fortress Press. 1990. 135.
- ^ "Evil Twins? The Role of the Monsters in Beowulf". Sfsu.edu. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "The Man in the Iron Mask Movie Review (1939) from Channel 4 Film". Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
- ^ Harmon, Jim and Donald Frank Glut. The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. 1973. p. 11
- ^ "The DVD Journal - Reviews : The Great Dictator: The Chaplin Collection". Dvdjournal.com. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "GCD :: Issue :: Kid Eternity #11". Comics.org. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Superboy (1949) #68 - Comic Book DB". Comicbookdb.com. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Sanderson, Peter. "Superman Returns Twice". Comics in Context. 2006. Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "GCD :: Issue :: Wonder Woman #175". Comics.org. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Maverick at Classic TV Archive Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ User comments about The Rifleman vol. 4 DVD at movie-list.com Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ From the Lost Season 2 Region 1 release
- ^ "The Evil Twin Syndrome". Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007. Selbold, Eric. "The Evil Twin Syndrome". macwrite.com. 24 August 2001.
- ^ "Peter's Evil Overlord List". Eviloverlord.com. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Humphrey, Steven (25 July 2007). "I Love Television: The Evil Twin". The Stranger.
- ^ "Does Your Wi-Fi Hotspot Have an Evil Twin?". PCWorld. Archived from the original on 6 March 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Conservative Speaker Gordon Cucullu, a published author, commentator and conservative speaker specializes in topics dealing with politics, current issues, historical analysis, military affairs, cultural dynamics". Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
- ^ Beam, Christopher (10 February 2009). "Man of Steele: Is Michael Steele Barack Obama's evil twin?". Slate.com. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
- ^ "LFP Archives: 60 years of Stratford Festival coverage". The London Free Press. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "BBC NEWS - Science/Nature - Planet Venus: Earth's 'evil twin'". Bbc.co.uk. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "FindArticles.com - CBSi". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "5 twins on whether the evil twin exists". Twinningstore.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
We can't remember a time we weren't asked "Who's the evil twin?".