Here you can see, in their not-so-natural habitat, a humble but strong-willed mouse and an ambitious dirty rat.
- For Beauty and the Beast, Disney gave the story an antagonist in the form of Gaston to contrast with the Beast, with the Beast being ugly (well, by human standards, and that was before Furry Fandom exploded) but having a heart of gold and Gaston being handsome (somewhat) but having the heart of a pig. The earlier French film adaptation did something similar with Avenant, further driving the comparison home in the ending where Avenant turns into the Beast and the Beast turns into a handsome prince who looks suspiciously similar to Avenant.
- Big Hero 6
- Hiro and Yokai/Callaghan. Both are genius inventors who lost a loved one and most of their actions in the film were driven by their grief and need for revenge. However, whereas Hiro learned to see the error in his actions and accept his loss, Callaghan was too maddened with grief to change and refused to let go of his bitterness. Also, Hiro was surrounded by friends and family who supported and helped him get through his depression, while Callaghan kept his pain private and didn't tell anyone.
- GoGo Tomago to Wasabi's overcautious driving skills; her readiness to pick up the speed in car chases sharply contrasts with his safe driving instincts.
- Robert Callaghan and Alistair Krei are explicitly set up as foils at the expo, with Krei wanting to profit off of Hiro's invention and Callaghan trying to persuade Hiro to use his talents for something more. This sets up the reversal when it's revealed that Callaghan is actually Yokai.
- The Book of Life:
- Manolo and Joaquin. Both are skilled in their respective talents; however, Manolo is a Humble Hero, and Joaquin veers into The Fighting Narcissist. The two worry about living up to their fathers' expectations, except Manolo refuses to do so if it means killing the bull, but Joaquin will do anything, even using the Medal of Everlasting Life to do so.
- Manolo and Xibalba. Both are Determinators concerned with gaining the favor of the women they love, but Xibalba is much shadier and willing to hurt others to achieve his goals, a sharp contrast to Nice Guy Manolo.
- A rare marriage example with La Muerte and Xibalba. They are both Gods, but that's about the only thing they have in common. Xibalba thinks humans are selfish and unnecessary creatures; he is made out of everything icky and slimy in the world, and therefore hated and/or feared by all. On the other hand, La Muerte believes that mankind is good. She is a colorful character made out of everything good and sweet in the world, and therefore beloved by all.
- Cars 3:
- Jackson Storm is one to Lightning McQueen. He is a rude, arrogant, hotshot rookie racer, which is exactly how Lightning was in the first film. Lightning in the meanwhile has become an older racing legend.
- Lightning himself has become one to Doc Hudson and the King, needing to choose between retiring with dignity, being forced into retirement, or trying to Take a Third Option.
- Jackson Storm and Cruz Ramirez. Jackson was practically built to win races while Cruz was always discouraged from trying. Jackson is a black car and Cruz is a bright yellow car. Jackson and Cruz have completely different attitudes in regards to Lightning. Jackson sees him as someone to beat, while Cruz truly admires him. Jackson trains heavily on the simulator while Cruz has learned both from and alongside Lightning to deal with the unexpected on the track which helps her beat him.
- Brent and Flint in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, especially in the first two acts of the film. At first, Brent is everything Flint is not: famous and well-liked by the whole town, if not the smartest fish in the school. But once Flint's invention gets going, their positions flip, with Flint being cheered by the crowds and Brent largely forgotten.
- Gru and Vector in Despicable Me. Gru was motivated by his mother and became a Jerk with a Heart of Gold because of his desire to become an astronaut and go to the moon. Vector on the other hand isn't shown being motivated by anything and is a spoiled rich kid thanks to his father Mr Perkins. Gru struggled to get where he is and is legitimately talented and likes making friends (as seen with the Minions, Dr Nefario and eventually the girls). Vector doesn't have any real talent presumably getting all his technology from his dad, has a no non-aggressive contract with anyone except his father and no one is invited to his house. Even their houses play off of each other. Gru's house is normal, though slightly large and foreboding, with a secret underground lair and is between other houses. Vector's house just screams look at me! look at me! and is all alone.
- Ronin the seasoned warrior, to Nod, the rookie warrior in Epic (2013).
- Frozen:
- Anna and Elsa, as a Sibling Yin-Yang.
- Hans manages to be a Foil for almost every major character as he is shown as an Evil Counterpart to several of them, such as Elsa, Olaf, and even the Duke, Sven, and Anna herself.
- In particular, Kristoff and Hans are foils to each other. Hans is a sensitive, gentleman prince who experiences Love at First Sight with Anna. Kristoff is a grumpy ice harvester who chastises Anna for getting engaged to someone she just met. When Hans is revealed as the villain, the foils are switched around: Kristoff actually has a Hidden Heart of Gold and has genuine feelings for Anna while Hans is a Villain with Good Publicity who manipulated her to think he was her One True Love. In the sequel, Kristoff essentially succeeds where Hans failed, as Kristoff marries Anna out of genuine love rather than lies and deceit. And Kristoff primarily wears black in the sequel epilogue, while Hans was primarily in white during the first movie's beginning. Plus, while Kristoff and Hans have animal companions, Sven remains on Kristoff's side to the end, but Sitron runs off during the ice castle siege. Metaphorically, both Sven and Sitron could serve as Kristoff's and Hans's respective consciences: Kristoff's persona as "Sven" is what drives him to help others despite his own grouchiness, but Hans rarely interacts with Sitron, showing how the prince views everything from an utilitarian viewpoint.
- While the Duke is an old man who makes blatant comments about Arendelle's riches but does show compassion, Hans is a charming young prince who wants the throne and is able to fake his intentions, but appears to delight in tormenting a dying Anna when the mask drops. This is taken further in spin-off material, which often treats Hans as a Hate Sink. Both are deported from Arendelle for their respective attempts on Elsa's life in the movie, but while Anna and Elsa are avoiding Hans, they have had several meetings with the Duke in spin-offs and seem more willing to make peace with him.
- Hans is a foil to Olaf as well, as the Snowlem represents the love between the sisters, but Hans represents that bond breaking apart, especially when Anna and Hans ask for Elsa's blessing of their Fourth-Date Marriage. Also, Hans comes off as a suave young man who hides a ruthless and cold-hearted personality, while Olaf is a goofball who genuinely cares for his friends.
- Hans and Anna are foils in that while both have older siblings who shut them out, Anna retains her optimism despite the odds and mends her relationship with her estranged sister, but Hans became a selfish man who would do anything to elevate himself over others and refuses to reconcile with his brothers. In short, he represents her darker feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt coming out in the open.
- Elsa wears Conspicuous Gloves in an attempt to control her out-of-control, emotion-driven ice powers. Hans also does wear gloves, but to mask his true persona and selfishly manipulate others. Just as the removal of Elsa's gloves is accompanied by the expression of her ice powers, Hans removes his right glove to show his darker side to Anna during The Reveal before putting it back on to keep on with his charade. Elsa also feared becoming a monster due to her magic but retains the support of her family and friends. Hans grew up friendless and has no Morality Pet.
- How to Train Your Dragon franchise:
- Hiccup and the Big Bad Drago in How to Train Your Dragon 2. Both grew up fearing dragons before overcoming that fear and realizing that dragons could work with humans. They even both have artificial limbs; by contrast, Hiccup uses a gentle touch and Drago uses a harsh boot. But whereas Hiccup is curious and compassionate with working together with dragons, Drago seeks to rule over them through fear, brute force and intimidation. Hiccup works as a team with his dragon while Drago commands and orders his dragon.
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World again features a villain who serves as a foil to Hiccup in Grimmel the Grisly, who not only controls dragons using drugs (specifically venom taken from one of the dragon species he controls) but who actually copied Hiccup's feat of shooting down a Night Fury when he was a child, except that Grimmel freely killed that dragon and all other Night Furies he could find where Hiccup was inspired to bond with the dragon and became a dedicated protector of all dragons.
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Quasimodo, Esmeralda, the Archdeacon, Phoebus, and even Clopin are all foils to Frollo in their own way.
- The defining trait that separates Quasimodo and Frollo is not their appearance or their standing in society, but their relations to Esmeralda. Both possess want towards her as a member of the opposite sex, but while Quasimodo loves her because she saw him as a person and not a monster, Frollo saw her as a target either to arrest on account of her heritage and misguided zealotry or as a sexual object. While Quasimodo is heartbroken that she would rather be with Phoebus, he values her friendship enough that he wants her to be happy even if he is not the one who can do that, while Frollo would burn down all of Paris — unconcerned with the innocent lives he ruins and ends — to get to her and tries to burn her at the stake when she rejects him. Even their respective songs about her — Quasimodo' "Heaven's Light" and Frollo and "Hellfire" — are on opposite ends of the spectrum, Quasimodo wishing to see the good while Frollo "saw corruption everywhere... except within".
- Esmeralda's song "God Help the Outcasts" also contrasts sharply with "Hellfire". While both songs are addressed directly to Mary, Esmeralda asks selflessly for the well-being of her people and the poor, while Frollo selfishly asks to kill and/or possess Esmeralda.
- Phoebus' strong sense of justice and protecting the innocent contrasts with Frollo's flagrant disregard for justice when it benefits himself.
- Frollo's Holier Than Thou attitude stands in contrast to the Archdeacon, who calls him out for repeatedly disregarding the Church's authority and using religion as a cover for his atrocious actions.
- Frollo and Clopin are both high-ranking men: one being the French Minister of Justice, the other the leader of the gypsies and Parisian underworld. Both won't shy away from committing murder, but Frollo is a Holier Than Thou and bigoted man, seeing gypsies as inferior, which is why he wants them all dead. Clopin genuinely cares about his people, and his determination to keep them safe drives him to more extreme measures. Frollo also acts more poised and regal before his insanity really starts to show, while Clopin is lively, and always appearing a bit off his rocker, but as a whole, retains his sanity.
- In Incredibles 2, the Deavor siblings are a study in contrast. Winston is idealistic and a people person, perpetually dressed in an impeccable suit and focused on the bottom line. Evelyn is a cynic and fairly withdrawn, wearing casual, comfortable clothes and more interested in inventing than marketability. Both were also deeply affected by their parents' deaths, but while Winston believes that was proof heroes were needed, Evelyn blames their father for relying on them instead of other means.
- Po and Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2. Both are the victims of traumatic pasts, Po witnessing the deaths of his mother and most of his species, and Shen being banished by his parents for causing it. But while Po eventually comes to grips with his past and moves on, Shen is consumed by his past and refuses to let go which ultimately gets him killed.
- The Lion King:
- In the first movie, Simba and Scar start the movie sharing the same goal, and that's wanting to be king for the perks. But over the course of the movie, Simba eventually learns to take responsibility and learn what it truly means to be a king, while Scar (AKA Mr. "I'm the king, I can do whatever I want!") squanders his potential at being king by being very unhelpful during his reign.
- In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Vitani and Nuka are foils. Both grew up with an abusive, neglectful mother, and both were embittered by the experience. But Vitani takes the first opportunity she can to leave her mother, and grows up to be a respected member of the Outsiders. Nuka never breaks away from his mother's beliefs and seeks validation through bullying others (eventually dying in an attempt to murder Simba).
- The Monsters, Inc. franchise:
- Waternoose and Dean Hardscrabble from Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University respectively are excellent foils to each other. Both are arthropod monsters in a high position and rooted in the old ways of scaring. Dean Hardscrabble's cold, harsh personality and her demonic design contrast with Waternoose's grandfatherly, warm personality and his relatively harmless appearance. More about them is revealed throughout the films and Waternoose goes to extreme lengths (including kidnapping children) to support his company without showing remorse, while Dean Hardscrabble learns from her errors of prejudice. In the end, the kindly old man becomes hard and villainous, hindering the heroes and the strict headmistress becomes kinder, wishing Mike and Sulley good luck.
- Mike and Sulley, especially in Monsters University. Mike is very knowledgeable and skilled in scare tactics and theory but lacks the physical appearance and instinct of a true scarer. Sulley is gifted at scaring, having the build and natural abilities but lacks the technical aspect. Not to mention how people react to them. Mike is mostly ignored or seen as a nuisance whereas Sulley attracts attention and others admire him.
- The Scare Floor scene in the first film highlights how different Sulley and Randall are when it comes to their job. Sulley is clearly enjoying what he does, remains energetic even to the end and has great teamwork with his assistant/coach Mike. Randall on the other hand is obsessed with outdoing Sulley, seen being tired halfway into the job and shouting abuse at his assistant.
- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games emphasizes this, introducing the Shadowbolts who are introduced with Versus Character Splash. Of particular note is Human Twilight Sparkle contrasting to Sunset Shimmer. Besides being a Shrinking Violet loner contrast to Sunset Shimmer's tight circle of friends, she's a major contrast to Sunset's own path to villainy. Sunset was an Alpha Bitch who sought to use magic to dominate and was stopped by Pony Twilight Sparkle. Human Twilight Sparkle was driven to villainy by peer pressure and sought to understand magic.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas:
- Jack and Oogie Boogie. Both are great at terrifying others but whereas Jack has good intentions and never meant for anyone to get hurt, Oogie Boogie delights in torturing and killing others. Jack is also noticeably thin and thoughtful while Oogie is fat and rude.
- Also, Jack and Sally. He is outgoing, cheerful, loud and very enthusiastic. She is shy, reserved, quiet and usually melancholic.
- Ratatouille: Rémy is a talented chef who's determined to break free of the norm; Linguini is horrible at cooking and has no ambitions greater than holding a steady job. On the other hand, Linguini is attractive and, well, human, making him a great maitre d'. Rémy is a blue rat, and it's best he remains hidden and in the kitchen, not interacting with the public.
- Robots has quite a few characters who act as foils to one another:
- The first and foremost examples would have to be Bigweld and Ratchet. Both of them are the heads of Bigweld Industries during different points in the movie, but their motivations are complete opposites. While Bigweld is an Honest Corporate Executive who wants to make the world a better and easier place for everyone to live in, Ratchet is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who places making money over the endangered lives of others and wants to wipe every outmode out by manufacturing upgrades, which old and rusty robots can't afford.
- Ratchet can also be seen as a foil to Rodney, with both of them being characters who get a significant amount of focus and having an ambition to get a position in Bigweld Industries. The difference between them is that Rodney is a humble and altruistic Wide-Eyed Idealist who is a strong believer in Bigweld's motto "you can shine no matter what you're made of" and wants to bring Bigweld back out of hiding to start making things better for everyone again, while Ratchet is an arrogant and materialistic scumbag who refers to robots who can't afford upgrades as "scrap metal" and wants to destroy Bigweld and every outmode so that everyone can be shiny like him.
- Similarly, Rodney and Ratchet have parents that act as foils to each other. The former has Herb Copperbottom, a very warm and encouraging father who never stops believing in his son despite what may happen in a situation and values what happens to Rodney more than himself, while the latter has Madame Gasket, a cruel, bad-tempered and pushy mother who cherishes the benefit she gets out of Ratchet being the head of Bigweld Industries from being able to melt down outmodes into upgrades.
- The two main girls who come into Rodney's life during the events of the film, Piper and Cappy, are foils to each other through being a Betty and Veronica pairing. They differ greatly in personality and express their attractions to Rodney in contrasting ways. Piper, for starters, is an outgoing, passionate and aggressive Tsundere who expresses her beginning admiration for Rodney by calling him "kind of cute" and doesn't find out what his ambition is until a bit later on. Cappy, on the other hand, has a much quieter, gentler and more level-headed personality, conveys her appreciation for Rodney through facial expressions rather than words, and is aware of his love for inventing from the get-go. The only things they seem to have in common are that they're both Nice Girls who are openly supportive of Rodney and his aspiration, and they also greatly demonstrate how competent they are in the midst of action, especially during the final battle.
- Rodney also responds to their admiration for him in different ways. With Piper, he doesn't seem to be aware of her crush on him and shows no signs of having any romantic feelings for her, but with Cappy, he was instantly smitten with her from the moment they met and they eventually become the film's Official Couple by the end.
- Kingpin serves this role to the main characters in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The Spider-People all lost someone, but took responsibility for their role in the deaths and became heroes who fought to prevent it happening to others. Kingpin lost his wife and child, blamed Spider-Man, and is willing to hurt anyone it takes in order to get his family back.
- Clayton is a foil to Tarzan. This example is quite similar to Gaston and the Beast. Despite Clayton growing up in civilization and Tarzan growing up thinking he was a wild animal, it is the former who acts more like a wild animal and the latter who is more civilized.
- Toy Story:
- Toy Story: Woody and Buzz are designed to contrast each other in several ways. Woody is a simplistic cowboy doll with a pull string while Buzz is a complex spaceman action figure with a variety of functions. Woody is the Only Sane Man who knows he's a toy from the start, while Buzz is a Cloudcuckoolander who doesn't realize he's a toy until near the end of the first movie. Woody is a Primary-Color Champion while Buzz is a Secondary Color Nemesis. Woody lost his right arm while Buzz lost his left arm. 2 reveals Woody is a very rare antique while Buzz is a mass-produced action figure. By the end of 4, Woody is a free-spirited "lost toy" without a single owner while Buzz is still owned exclusively by Bonnie.
- Toy Story 3: Lotso is very much the exact opposite of Woody. Like Woody, Lotso serves as the leader of his "family" of toys, and while Woody decides to prioritize what's best for Andy rather than himself, Lotso grows to hate Daisy and children in general when she replaces him. Woody also leads Andy's group with friendship and love, while Lotso lords over Sunnyside using coercion and threat. The Foil even extends to Toy Story 4, as while Woody shows no resentment for Bonnie neglecting him and ultimately leaves confident that she and the others will be okay without him, Lotso is driven to madness when he learns Daisy replaced him, and forces Chuckles and Big Baby to come with him so that they can't be with Daisy either.
- Their beliefs and viewpoints in particular are exact antitheses and couldn't be more different: while Woody during the last two sequels of the franchise only wants to give his life a purpose as a toy, Lotso is a Straw Nihilist who firmly believes that toys are useless.
- In Turning Red, Abby and Priya act as foils for each other. Priya's stoic personality is contrasted with Abby's excitable one.
- Quite a few foils appear in Wreck-It Ralph:
- First off, Ralph and Felix. The former is giant and destroys things while the latter is short and fixes things. Not to mention Felix is universally loved by everyone while Ralph isn't.
- There is also the cheerful, cute Felix with the cynical, rough Calhoun.
- Ralph's Gentle Giant nature is contrasted with Vanellope's initial Bratty Half-Pint behavior, though they eventually get along and bond over their desire for acceptance.
- The most major one would be Ralph and King Candy/Turbo, who is a dark reflection of what Ralph's dissatification could have led to. Both leave their game in order to take what they think is due but whereas Ralph is ultimately good-hearted and makes up for his mistakes, Turbo cares for no one except himself and never learned from his mistakes in attempting to take control of other games. Also, Ralph was the antagonist of his game but becomes a hero where Turbo started as the hero of his game but becomes a villain.
- Zootopia: Judy looks like a By-the-Book Cop, but is willing to be a Cowboy Cop in pursuit of justice and defy her species role, while Nick is a conman who deliberately lives up to the stereotypes about foxes while following the law to the letter. note Both faced prejudice, but while Judy became a determined optimist (who can also be manipulative), Nick became a manipulative cynic (who gradually becomes more of an optimist).
