Fittingly for the two who stand across from each other in the courtroom, the ace attorney Phoenix Wright and his rival, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Phoenix is a Crusading Lawyer who will go to any lengths to see his client acquitted. Edgeworth, in the same vein, will go to any lengths to see the guilty convicted. In the first game, Edgeworth's pursuit for justice takes a darker turn, as he uses all manner of underhanded tactics, from fabricating evidence to manipulating witnesses, to get his guilty verdicts. After his past demons are finally laid to rest and he takes the time to reflect on himself, however, he becomes much more noble in his pursuit of justice. While he continues to work as a prosecutor, he no longer focuses on just winning and instead pursues the truth along with Phoenix; Phoenix's desire to see the innocent acquitted and Edgeworth's desire to see the guilty pay are not mutually exclusive, and through their opposite and antagonistic roles in the courtroom, they can both achieve their goals.
Throughout the series, Edgeworth and Gumshoe are paired with one another in ways that suggest a strong foil dynamic, especially in the Investigations games. Though Gumshoe is relatively flat compared to Edgeworth, the two maintain their "opposites attract" (though not in a romantic way) dynamic throughout the Ace Attorney series via Edgeworth's firm, commanding, capable presence and Gumshoe's lighthearted, bumbling assistance. This is especially true in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, where their trusting relationship is juxtaposed with a series of relationships which fall apart due to a lack of trust.
The Trials and Tribulations character Iris shares one pivotal trait with Phoenix: they will both do anything to protect their loved ones. However, Phoenix is emblematic of everything good about that trait, and Iris learns firsthand how much suffering it can cause. Several people die because Iris directs unconditional love and loyalty towards her sister, who has done nothing to deserve it. This is why Iris doesn't resent the court for sending her to prison.
Arknights: Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals and The Reunion Movement. Both organizations seek to improve the lives of infected people, but while Rhodes Island (the primary protagonist faction) is trying to do it through medical and other means largely recognized as legal by the various nations of the world, the Reunion Movement (the primary antagonist faction) seeks to tear down the establishment that ostracized them and replace it with something better... regardless of how much violence that takes. This is even lampshaded in Chapter 2, where Exusiai and Franka discuss why some of the Infected had to choose between Reunion or Rhodes Island, wondering what makes one faction different from the other.
Azur Lane: Between factions, the NorthernParliament versus the Sardegna Empire. These two relatively minor factions on opposite sides of the war are nonetheless treated very differently, with the Northern Parliament's events tending to be Wham Episodes with a ton of startling revelations, while the Sardegna Empire's events are mostly the humorous struggle of their Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain shipgirls' attempts to defeat the Royal Navy and gain recognition from their Ironblood allies. In terms of aesthetics, the Sardegna Empire girls have a "high-life" aristocratic look and tend to prefer the finer things in life, while the Northern Parliament ladies wear winter furs (and BDSM lingerie) and tend to have a much more ruthless and pragmatic attitude. The Northern Parliament are explicitly Chummy Commies like their historical counterparts (which leads to Token Evil Teammate ideological rivalry with their Eagle Union and Royal Navy allies), while Sardegna is explicitly non-fascist and non-militaristic (being based more on modern Italy and the Roman Empire) despite its alliance with the Germanic Iron-Blood.
Baldur's Gate III has Shadowheart and Lae'zel, the party's resident Token Evil Teammates. Shadowheart is a cleric for Shar who gave up her memories and identity as part of the mission she was tasked with. She is the more gentle of the two, tending to prefer peaceful resolutions, although still possessed of a biting wit. In combat, as a cleric, she also favors using magic to protect and heal allies. By comparison, Lae'zel is a gith'yanki, a member of a race of warriors devoted to a less-than-benevolent deity who seek the mind flayers' extermination above all else. As a gith'yanki, she has a strong case of Blue-and-Orange Morality that is differently skewed from that of most of your other party members, one that favors decisive action and violence as a solution. As a fighter, she also favors fighting on the frontlines and doling out damage.
Gorath and Owyn from Betrayal at Krondor can be considered this for each other, starting with their appearance — a towering menacing-looking dark elf warrior with greying slate black hair in armor and a cloak, and a very scrawny 19-year-old human boy mage apprentice with fair hair, innocent blue eyes and wearing a light robe in warm, sunny colors. Then there are the personalities — stoic, reserved, guarded and pragmatic vs. bubbly, expressive, emotional and generally trusting and eager like a puppy.
Comes up a lot in BlazBlue between many of its central characters:
Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi have the added complication that they're also brothers. Despite growing up together, they end up leading very different lives; Ragna is brash, outspoken, and has one hell of a Hair-Trigger Temper, and is considered a destructive force of nature because of his powers and his crusade against the ruling government. Jin is The Quiet One and prefers to avoid unnecessary fights as he considers them "obstacles" and is hailed as a hero by the same government and determined. In their end, their paths and ideologies constantly put them at odds with each other.
Kagura Mutsuki is also this to Jin Kisaragi. They're both high-ranking and highly-competent heads of Duodecim families. However, Kagura is a Nice Guy and a Tall, Dark, and HandsomeHunk, a stark contrast to Jin Kisaragi. It could also be said that Kagura would be a close approximation to what Jin would be like if he got over his deep-seated issues. Several characters over the course of the game point out that had Jin never been born, Kagura would've been the Hero of Ikaruga.
Ragna the Bloodedge and Ruby Rose are both red-and-black-clad protagonists who come from fantasy-esque settings and fight with transforming scythes, but Ragna is cynical and unfriendly while Ruby is kind and optimistic. Ragna is also an older brother while Ruby is a younger sister.
Ragna actually has a lot more in common with Ruby's sister, Yang. Both of them grew up in isolated homes in the woods, have blonde hair (or Ragna had before his turned white), both have powerful abilities that involve their eyes turning red, and they're both older siblings with a selfless and protective attitude. They also both rarely open up to others and there's more going on under the surface than they'd like others to see: Yang puts on a warm and friendly smile to deflect away from her inner turmoil, and Ragna acts rude and hostile so others will stay away from him.
Yu Narukami and Hyde Kido are both Ordinary High School Students who wield katanas and come from 21st Century urban settings, but Yu is mature and leader-like while Hyde is brash and confrontational.
By the same token, secondary protagonists Jin Kisaragi and Weiss Schnee are both characters with powers over ice and Jerkass tendencies who act as contrasting rivals to the main character of their respective works. The difference is, Weiss gradually developed a healthy respect for Ruby and came to befriend her, but Jin still despised Ragna and even after Jin performed a Heel–Face Turn, their co-operation is strictly an Enemy Mine.
Blake Belladonna (RWBY) is a mirror of Makoto Nanaya (BlazBlue). Both girls are a Little Bit Beastly (Blake is a catgirl, Makoto is a squirrel girl) and their early lives were dominated by Fantastic Racism and how they coped with it defines who they are now; Makoto quickly made human friends and embraced her non-human heritage in a healthy way, but Blake more cynically hides her cat ears from everyone - her own teammates only found out because she slipped up in an argument with Weiss. In personality terms, Blake's intelligent introvert couldn't be more different to Makoto's airheaded Nice Girl. Interestingly enough, Makoto is also actually a Mirror Character to Weiss: they both had troubled upbringings and went to military school to get away from it all; Weiss is a perfectionist who fights skilfully with quasi-magical abilities while Makoto uses brute strength and generally prefers to just wing it.
In Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Miriam and Dominique are eventually revealed to be this to each other. They have both endured a lot of suffering in their lives no thanks to the Alchemist Guild and the Demonic Invasion they instigated out of pettyavarice. What makes them different is that Miriam is a genuine Nice Girl who uses her suffering as a reason to help others, whereas Dominique's Nice Girl personality is revealed to be a façade to conceal a power-hungry sociopath, using her suffering as an excuse to gain power at the expense of others.
In Borderlands 2, Handsome Jack has two foils: Torgue Flexington and Professor Nakayama. All three are CEOs or high corporate executives (and in the second case, founder) of their respective corporations, but Torgue and Nakayama are both basically exact opposites of Jack in terms of his different dimensions.
Ciel nosurge and its sequel, Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star, has Ionasal.kkll.Preciel, one of the main protagonists, and Zillillium Rimonite, one of the main antagonists. Both characters desire peace among humans and Genom, and fight to protect the Genom and planet Ra Ciela. However, Ion is a heroic, optimistic idealist who believes there is good in everyone, while Zill sees humans as selfish beings and believes the only way to peace is an Assimilation Plot. They even have inverted clothing colors: Ion wears a lot of white and sometimes blue while Zill is more partial to red and black.
In the Rising Tide expansion for Civilization: Beyond Earth, the newly introduced hybrid affinities each act as this to one of the base affinities present in the original. Purity/Harmony uses biology to optimize humanity while pure Supremacy uses robotics to optimize humanity. Supremacy/Purity pushes forward a philosophy where humans use machines and ingenuity to tame and overcome nature, which clashes with Harmony's use of biotech and genetic modification to better harmonize with the alien environment. Harmony/Supremacy presents an unfamiliar mish-mash of alien biology and cybernetics which would horrify an advocate of Purity, who would put the preservation of human form and identity first.
In Cookie Run, Purple Yam Cookie and Milk Cookie are foils to one another. Purple Yam Cookie has a Hair-Trigger Temper and hates Dark Choco Cookie, where his travel partner and friend Milk Cookie has seldom lost his temper, and idolizes Dark Choco Cookie for saving his life a long time ago.
Cyberpunk 2077: The two main characters, V and Johnny. V is a young, optimistic (relatively speaking) materialist, who firmly believes that they can make the current system work in their favor. Johnny, on the other hand, is an old, embittered idealist, who has spent most of his life trying to shake up the status quo V insists on living and working in. They get along as well as you'd expect.
Johnny is also one to Saburo Arasaka. Both men went to war and came back with crippling injuries and new thoughts about what the world should be like. Arasaka doubled down on Japanese ethno-nationalism, founded the Arasaka corporation and set about forging a Japan that could take revenge for World War II, whether it wanted to or not, and became a cornerstone of the reactionary establishment. Johnny on the other hand, lost all faith in any authority, even himself should he be given power, and took to the chromatic rock scene to preach rebellion, anarchism and anti-corporatism.
Darkstalkers has Donovan Baine and B.B. Hood, both of whom are professional hunters. Donovan himself, is half-vampire, but hunts demonic monsters to protect all of humanity while struggling with the impulses that his dark blood threatens to bring about. B.B. Hood is the only human character in the roster, but beneath her innocent Red Riding Hood looks, she is wicked, sadistic, selfish, and downright evil, enough that even demons dread her. Her reason for hunting monsters is similar because she is Only in It for the Money.
Despite only being at a demo state, Deltarune already has characters severely contrasting each other:
In regards to Kris, Susie is just another loner with no friends who has the reputation to eat a lot and hides her eyes with her hair, though how both choose to act with regards to shutting out others are opposite one another.
Spamton's obsession with Kris comes from the fact he recognizes himself in them: both are the respective puppets of unknown entities and try to free themselves from their control and have to give a lot of themselves to do so. However, while Kris manages to do this twice (while becoming a zombie in the process, but still), Spamton's attempt to free himself from his puppeteer killed him in the process.
Noelle can be considered one to both Susie and Kris:
Susie starts out as a ruthless bully whose favorite tactic is to threaten to bite somebody's face-off, but for all of her savage bravado, she's shown to be unable to kill someone, even if she thinks they betrayed her or abused her best friend, and starts becoming nicer during the first chapter. Noelle, on the other hand, starts out as sweet and inoffensive, but even on a Pacifist run, she shows some hidden darkness when she strangles Berdly after he announces his romantic interest in Susie, and she becomes far worse on the Weird Route, getting worn down by the Player through emotional abuse until she becomes a mass murderer.
Like Kris, she's a reserved teenager who idolizes her older sibling and whose fathers don't live at home during the events of the game. But while Kris has a caring mother, their brother Asriel is far from home only because he's at college and Asgore, while far from home, is still in good (physical) health, Noelle's mother is implied to be busy and / or abusive with her, her father is stuck to the hospital due to a possibly fatal disease and her sister is implied to be already dead. Also, the same way the player already uses them like this, Kris makes Noelle their puppet to corrupt the game in the Weird Route.
While not exactly the main protagonist, "V" and his familiar Griffon in Devil May Cry 5. V himself is quiet, levelheaded and mysterious, quoting William Blake and guiding his familiars in battle, watching from the sidelines until he can execute a weakened demon. Griffon is loud-mouthed, cocky, playful and provocative at times, doing the actual fighting being commanded by V.
Makoto and Joe. Both are adults who act as loyal Number Two and trusted right-hand man of the leaders of the two most prominent organizations during the lockdown in Meritocracy and Egalitarian route, respectively and work alongside the protagonist for the majority of the game. However, Joe is laid-back, childish, goofy and loves teasing people, while Makoto is stoic, mature, serious and is easily teased.
Otome and Fumi. Both are doctors allied with JP's, have their odd little eccentricities and have their own ways of teasing the party. But Otome is a warmhearted and motherly medical doctor, while Fumi comes across as a doctor of science with little nastier personality and more concerned with her machinery than humans. They even end up on opposite factions for the Meritocracy VS Egalitarian option.
Airi and Keita. Both of them are the younger, rowdier and feistier members of their respective branches of JPs in the Nagoya and Osaka branch, respectively, and have a head-butting relationship with their partners. But while Airi believes it is the duty of the strong to protect the weak; Keita believes that strength is the only quality that validates a person, has little interest in helping those he sees as weak and looks down on the weak as a result.
Jungo and Hinako. Both are the older and more laid-back members of their respective branches of JPs who form a Vitriolic Best Buds duo with their partner. But, while Hinako is a peppy, fast-talking and loudmouth, Jungo is sincere, quiet and soft-spoken.
Miyako towards Yamato and Al Saiduq.
Yamato was an inherent believer of meritocracy, believing that the corruption and idiocy of the masses were causing Japan to rot, thus aiming to recreate the world through Polaris by placing a value on power rather than social standing. He also cared very little about civilian casualties unless the ones involved were those he considered exceptional. Miyako, on the other hand, subscribes to the belief that in order to save as many people as possible, she has to sacrifice the few. Regarding their handling of JP's, Yamato centralized all their power and resources in Osaka so as to act as the main center of operations while Miyako unites all the branches rather than allocate valuable assets in one place.
Al Saiduq is a Septentrione who became distanced from Polaris after discovering humanity's seemingly endless potential and gave them the means to fight back against Polaris and her Swords through the demon summoning program. In both the Kingmaker ending from the original and in Record Breaker's opening, he manages to overthrow Polaris and replace her as the new Administrator. Miyako Hotsuin is a Triangulum-Human hybrid created to fill the void left behind by Yamato's absence and was otherwise unaware of her true nature until Al Saiduq sought her out. She wants Al Saiduq to stay on the Heavenly Throne as a proper Administrator, under the belief that defeating Canopus is impossible, but the party's insistence and influence give her the push needed to rebel against it properly.
Invoked in Disco Elysium: Kim will always act as a foil to the player character, no matter what choices the player makes. This is done overtly, by Kim letting the player choose to be good or bad cop in interrogations and playing the other character, or offering less out-there explanations for things to a Mulder and more out-there ones to a Scully, but also covertly. As an example of the latter, if you wait patiently for someone to answer the phone, Kim will become antsy, but if you grow impatient, Kim will calmly wait.
Dragon Quest IV: To Rose, as highlighted by use of the same sprite. While there's no official romance on the table like Psaro's love for Rose, Elisa is the closest to the hero as their best friend, with pretty heavy Ship Tease. They also have directly inverse roles and circumstances, being protected by Psaro while separated from the nearby community and protecting the hero along with the local community, respectively, and their deaths are also keenly felt by both Psaro and the hero. The CD Theater adaptation further strengthens the resemblance by indicating Elisa cries ruby tears exactly like Rose does.
Dagoth Ur, the deranged Physical GodBig Bad of Morrowind, is one to the Underking, a key player in the main quest events of the previous game in the series, Daggerfall. They both died originally and became what they are now after being betrayed by someone they trusted. However, while Dagoth Ur wants the Tools of Kagrenac so that he can complete Akulahkan and use it to declare war on his enemies and secure his rule forever, the Underking wants the Mantella to prevent anyone else from using the Numidium for war and so that he can finally die. Also, the Hero of Daggerfall is able to join the Underking, while the Nerevarine is unable to join Dagoth-Ur.
In Skyrim, the Last Dragonborn is one to the Big Bad, Alduin. Those who are Dragonborn are (eventually) immensely powerful mortals that can eat the souls of dragons. Alduin is an immensely powerful dragon that eats the souls of mortals. Alduin was the first dragon in existence, while the Last Dragonborn is said to be the last Dragonborn in existence. Both are said to have been created by (or are aspects of) Akatosh, the draconic God of Time and Top God of the Nine Divines pantheon.
Fable III: Reaver is a Faux Affably Evil owner of an Industrial firm that uses child labor, and routinely shoots his workers for a variety of reasons. Once the player becomes the Ruler of Albion, Reaver recommends almost every evil option in the game. Page, the leader of the Bowerstone resistance, detests child labor and the abuse of the workers of Bowerstone. While Reaver disregards the lives of Bowerstone's citizens, Page fights for them. Page's Good Is Not Nice demeanor is the opposite of Reaver's Faux Affably Evil nature.
For many of the judgments as to the ruler of Albion, it's Page who stated her case against Reaver. In the first half of the game, much of the antagonism between the two is shown, especially in the emansion sequence.
The Followers of The Apocalypse and The Brotherhood of Steel are both organizations looking to gather lost knowledge and technology from the old world, in an effort to help humanity, but otherwise couldn't be more different: The Followers are very inclusive to others, unprejudiced, non-violent (to a fault), and are trying to help others through humanitarianism; trying to provide other with clean water and food, offering medical aid, teaching others how to care for themselves etc. The Brotherhood on the other hand (with the exception of Elder Lyons and his followers), are reluctant to work with outsiders at best, opening xenophobic at worst, are very prejudice against mutants, very militant, and generally only "protect" people from themselves, by hoarding advanced weapons and technologies, that they feel humanity is too irresponsible to use safely... unless you're one of them, than it's okay to use high-tech weapons.
Similarly, Fallout 4 has this for all the major factions:
The Minutemen combine the parallels in their early history to the NCR (both started out as a bunch of tiny settlements sticking together for mutual survival and prosperity) with invoking a virtuous and romantic memory of pre-war America, as opposed to the Enclave with their twisted vision of a re-emergent United States built on the genocide of most of the mutated Wastelander population.
The Institute has a lot in common with both Mr. House and Caesar's Legion. Like House, they built a technocratic, highly-advanced and secretive oasis in a wasteland, but House used his scientific genius to find commercial success, while the Institute are purely science-centered. House was also motivated by a wish to preserve what little exists of the pre-war world, while the Institute wants to completely destroy all traces of pre-war America and existing emergent cultures throughout the Commonwealth and replace it with their own, very much like Caesar's Legion. The Irony of course is that Caesar's Legion are textbook Evil Luddites and the Institute would probably be revolted by them.
The Railroad tend to have a lot in common with the Followers of the Apocalypse with their humanitarian ideals, but place far more emphasis on anarchism, while the Followers actively tried to distance themselves away from this stereotype. The Railroad also contrasts with the Brotherhood of Steel, as the former treat Synths as oppressed people while the Brotherhood don't see any humanity in them and wish only to exterminate them, and the Railroad are covert while the Brotherhood are fond of big, loud entrances.
The Sole Survivor is also this to the Lone Wanderer. The Lone Wanderer was a young lad/lass who left their safe, secure life in comfy Vault 101 to venture out into the Wasteland to find their missing father. The Sole Survivor is a family man/woman who leaves their decaying, frozen tomb of a Vault (as well as the pre-Great War world that they survived) and ventures out into the Wasteland to find their missing son. It does make you wonder what kind of conversation they'd have if they ever met.
Kellogg, the Disc-One Final Boss, is something of an Evil Counterpart to Sole Survivor. Both of them had a loving family that was taken from them (in Kellogg's case, his family was killed by raiders; while the Survivor's spouse was shot and son was kidnapped by Kellogg), but whereas Kellogg coped by becoming a ruthless gun-for-hire, the Survivor went on to become a force of good in the Commonwealth (though the degree of "good" varies depending on which faction they side with).
Among companions, X6-88 is this to Curie and Nick Valentine. Nick Valentine is a badly degraded Gen. 1 Synth and is obviously a machine from a glance, but is a kind soul because his personality was based on that of a pre-war police officer. Curie is a Miss Nanny robot who nonetheless is sentient and sincerely wants to be seen as a person. X6-88, however, remains a thoroughly heartless and cold machine in spite of the Institute's efforts to make him and his Courser ilk flawlessly human on the outside.
Preston Garvey is a Minuteman who stands out for being relatively normal and straightforward, with a professional soldier's personality. Deacon is an enigmatic Railroad agent who speaks with a breezy tone and uses a lot of lingo.
Strong and Cait are both bloodthirsty savages who revel in violence. The big point of divergence between them is Strong's belief that strength comes from sharing, which leads him to altruism and being interested in humans. Cait, on the other hand, is self-centered and cynical, having little interest in helping anyone except herself.
Preston Garvey and the Nuka-World companion Porter Gage: Preston Garvey represents everything good about those living in the wastes as a Minuteman, while Gage represents everything evil about people as a hardcore Raider.
Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin from Fate/stay night are foils to each other. Shirou is a mediocre and unorthodox magus that has to rely on determination, perseverance and his own cunning in order to make it through the holy grail war, with his desire being world peace. Rin is a rare genius magus that only shows up once every century due to her incredible magical potential, with her main desire being proving she is the strongest. Due to having some mutual respect towards their differences, (and both of them being the most ethical characters in the series despite what Rin might lead you to believe) they always end up working together regardless of the route and end up making up for each other's weaknesses. It's to the point that they stop each other when the other one is about to do something risky. Due to the extremes in which a magus follows his ideals, they always put themselves on the line for their goals. Rin always stops Shirou when he is about to do something reckless out of his own selflessness, serving as his superego. And Shirou is usually the one who ends up stopping Rin when she is about to do something unethical and against what she really thinks because she is acting through her jerkass magus facade. (Rin always tries to fool herself into thinking this is her true self) Despite what she might say, It's obvious she respects Shirou enough to the point that she is willing to listen. Also yes, there is a lot of romance sub-text between the two, becoming a couple in the UBW route and the whole reason why they fall in love with each other is because of the mutual respect that they have towards their similarities and differences.
The dual protagonists of the game, Alm and Celica. While both are fundamentally kind and begin as naive to the world due to their sheltered upbringings, Alm is the more militant of the two, eager to drive the invading forces of Rigel out of their homeland Zofia through battle, while Celica seeks peaceful negotiations with them. Their disagreement ends up driving a rift between the two during the course of the game. Alm as he's portrayed in Fire Emblem: Awakening is even morseo, as his Adaptation Personality Change turns him into something of a Blood Knight, and in dialogue he notes that Celica tells him that he should be more compassionate.
The remake of Gaiden, called Shadows of Valentia, turns Gray and Tobin, two villagers from Ram and Alm and Celica's close friends, into this. Gray is carefree, laid back, witty and fairly street savvy, while Tobin is excitable, cautious, somewhat socially oblivious, and prone to insecurity. They're Those Two Guys over the course of the game, though, and remain close friends.
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem: Luke and Roderick, two members of Altea's 7th Platoon. Luke is the somewhat dim-witted, excitable go-getter, while Roderick is calm, much more serious, and focused. They're close friends and partners regardless.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade: Two of the three protagonists, Eliwood and Hector. Eliwood is somewhat frail and slightly built, well-spoken, thoughtful and polite, while Hector is very physically imposing, blunt to the point of being somewhat rude, and tends toward recklessness. The two are Heterosexual Life-Partners regardless, and support one another over the course of the game.
Xander and Ryoma, the crown prince of Nohr and high prince of Hoshido, respectively. Xander is friendly and approachable, while Ryoma is more strict and stoic. Both use swords, but Xander's weapon of choice is a Flaming Sword while Ryoma's is a lightning-infused katana.
Camilla and Hinoka, the elder sisters of Nohr and Hoshido. Camilla is voluptuous, flirtatious, and fights using an axe on the back of a dragon; while Hinoka is athletic, tomboyish, and fights with a spear on a pegasus.
Leo and Takumi, the younger brothers of Nohr and Hoshido. Leo is calm, calculating, and a talented magician; while Takumi is Hot-Blooded, impulsive, and a skilled archer.
Elise and Sakura, the younger sisters of Nohr and Hoshido. Elise is perky and friendly, while Sakura is a Shrinking Violet.
The three house leaders are all foils to one another. Edelgard is a prim and proper young lady who values order and sets high standards for everyone, herself included. Dimitri, by comparison, is more approachable, earnest, and easy-going, although he harbors intense feelings of guilt and growing mental instability. Claude is laid-back and has a very extroverted personality, but is also a schemer who, unlike his peers, is not above using underhanded methods to achieve his goals.
Hubert and Ferdinand are two of the closest members of Edelgard's inner circle. While Hubert is perfectly fine with playing the villain to keep Edelgard's hands clean, Ferdinand strives to be an Honest Advisor to Edelgard to keep her from going astray in the first place. While Hubert has total Undying Loyalty to Edelgard no matter how far she falls, Ferdinand can (at least in Three Houses) be convinced to desert the Empire after her goals of conquest become known.
Dimitri and Felix have known each other for a long time, and both are among the strongest warriors in the Kingdom. Where they differ is that Dimitri is much more friendly and easier to approach than the brusque and standoffish Felix. That is, until the midpoint of the game. Then the dynamic is turned on its head: while Felix is still the same as he ever was, Dimitri has succumbed to Sanity Slippage and has become obsessed with vengeance, as Felix had always feared.
Aside from the Player Character, there is the other two professors at the Academy, Manuela and Hanneman. Both are experienced teachers, and both have a gift for magic. Outside of that, Manuela is a Genius Slob in her private life who just can't seem to get her shit together, while Hanneman is a very tidy and efficient man in comparison. They also differ in how they employ magic: Hanneman's starting class is Mage, which favors offensive Reason magic; while Manuela starts off as a Priest and favors supportive Faith magic.
Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske in Guilty Gear: Sol is older, cynical, Tall, Dark, and Handsome with red eyes, Brilliant, but Lazy, wears red, uses fire, and has connections & motifs with darkness. Ky is younger, idealistic, a blonde Bishōnen with blue eyes, by-the-book, wears blue, uses lightning, and has connections & motifs with light.
The Knight and Zote from Hollow Knight share similar features (to the point of being Ambiguously Related), but Zote is a talkative Boisterous Weakling braggart, while the Knight is a silent and skilled fighter.
The King of All Cosmos and RoboKing from Katamari Damacy. The King is flamboyant and stuck-up, while RoboKing is withdrawn and insecure.
In Katawa Shoujo, Hisao points out Shizune and Misha contrast with Lilly and Hanako. Lilly is elegant, refined, calm and popular in the school (although she doesn't let many people close to her), whereas Shizune is brutally honest and driven, which has resulted in her being somewhat unpopular (despite her desire to have friends and make people happy). Misha is cheerful, energetic, but also blind to social cues, while Hanako is meek, timid, and pays careful attention to social cues.
Kid Icarus: Uprising: Hades is very much the exact opposite of Pit: where Pit is kind, nice, and has a pure heart, Hades is malicious, petty, and a monstrous being of pure evil; where Pit represents order, good and hope, Hades represents evil and is the supreme leader of monstrous beings who are Always Chaotic Evil; while Pit is an angel who embodies the Light Is Good trope, Hades is a grotesque being who embodies the Dark Is Evil trope. Even the sense of humor of both characters could not be more different.
Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. Both are arrogant pyrokinetics who occasionally work together to prevent Orochi's resurrection, but are wildly different in traits - Kyo is associated with the sun, while Iori is associated with the moon. Additionally, while both of them are happy to fight each other, Kyo never wants to take Iori's life, while Iori openly and repeatedly declares his intent to kill Kyo.
Ángel and Isolde. Both characters are white-haired women that are significantly close with a 9999th clone (Ángel with K9999 and Isolde with Nameless, respectively). Ángel is a well-endowed brawler, ill-tempered enough to snipe at K9999, and dons a provocative black and blue outfit; Isolde was a petite waif, is noticeably gentle and serene towards Nameless, and wore a modest white dress. And while Ángel is alive and well enough to fight by herself, Isolde has been dead for quite some time and only lives on within Nameless's Power Limiter.
A late-game reveal in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is that the Jedi Exile and Darth Nihilus are these to one another. The Exile, especially in a light-side playthrough, is a charismatic mother to her men who easily befriended people because of her unconscious tendency to form strong Force bonds with people. In the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars at Malachor V, the widespread death of so many people under her command forced her to sever her connection to the Force to evade the backlash through those Force bonds; she's only able to call upon the Force again in gameplay because she's started to travel with people and form those bonds again, many of whom turn out to be Force-sensitive themselves - she draws off of their excess power. Nihilus, meanwhile, is a faceless Eldritch Abomination who doesn't command men so much as dominate them through strength alone, and has no care for those under his command except for what use they hold to him. It's likely that he was in a very similar situation to the Exile's at Malachor, but rather than cutting himself off from the Force like the Exile, he instead chose to fill the void of death and destruction by feeding upon the energies of other beings. This difference between them is one of the tricks to defeating him when it finally comes time to confront him - if the Exile can convince him to try to feed off of her, he'll end up weakening himself instead, because there's nothing there for him to feed on.
Ahri and Warwick used to serve as foils to each other. Originally, Ahri was a fox who wished to be human, and was granted it by a dying wizard. However, her humanoid form was still somewhat incomplete, so she searched for a way to become fully human without taking lives, if at all possible (since her new human form came with a conscience). Warwick, on the other hand, was a human hunter who wanted to become stronger, so he drank an incomplete potion that turned him into a wolf-man. He reveled in his newfound form and greatly enjoyed killing people and tearing them into bloody shreds, but due to the incompleteness of the potion, his wolfish form caused him to lose a little more of his humanity every day. This is no longer the case, however, as the two's respective stories have since been completely rewritten to the point that they no longer mirror each other.
Former friends and fellow Warmothers Ashe and Sejuani are foils to each other. Ashe has a graceful and kind Lady of War who desires to unify the Freljord in peace, while Sejuani is a cruel jerkass unable to let go of a grudge whose Social Darwinist views lead her to try to conquer the Freljord. From a gameplay perspective, Ashe is a long-ranged Glass Cannon, while Sejuani is a short-ranged Mighty Glacier.
Azir serves as a foil to a few characters:
Azir serves as one to Taliyah. Both are Shuriman Champions, but Azir is The Emperor of the ancient Shuriman empire, while Taliyah is a lowly peasant of modern Shurima. Both are associated with birds, but whereas Azir is a literal giant humanoid eagle, Taliyah is compared to a little sparrow. And while both dress in Shurima style clothing, Azir is dressed in a regal outfit with large amounts of gold, while Taliyah dresses in more common and tattered clothing with a large amount of rocky materials. From a gameplay standpoint, both have abilities based around using elements of the earth, but whereas Azir summons warriors from the sand to fight for him, Taliyah uses the earth itself and fights with it as a weapon.
Azir serves as a foil to his friend turned Arch-Enemy, Xerath. Azir was the heir and eventual ruler of the Shuriman empire, while Xerath was a lowly slave under the empire. From a gameplay standpoint, both are long-ranged mages, but whereas Azir is a Mook Maker focused on summoning warriors to get close to his enemies and attack, Xerath is completely reliant on his own ability to snipe at his enemies from a distance.
Caitlyn, Jinx, and Vi all serve as foils to each other:
For Caitlyn and Jinx, Caitlyn has a mature and focused personality who works to uphold the authority of Piltover, while Jinx is a Psychopathic Womanchild only interested in causing chaos in the opposing city of Zaun. From a gameplay standpoint, Caitlyn is a long-ranged sniper focused on hanging in the back of fights and taking precise shots at her enemies, while Jinx is focused on getting as close as possible to the enemy and attacking indiscriminately with explosions.
For Caitlyn and Vi, besides the obvious Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple nature of their relationship, Caitlyn is a calm and matter of fact By-the-Book Cop and Consummate Professional who tries to do her job as quickly and efficiently as possible, while Vi is an aggressive and violent Cowboy Cop and Blood Knight who couldn't care less about a clean job as long as she gets a good fight out of it.
For Jinx and Vi, Jinx is an anarchist living in the city of Zaun, who causes chaos simply for the fun of it, while Vi is a Reformed Criminal who tries to bring order to Piltover. Jinx fights using a plethora of guns, while Vi fights with a pair of gauntlets. And from an appearance standpoint, Jinx has bright blue hair, is flat-chested, and dresses in a Stripperiffic outfit, while Vi has pink hair, has a large chest, and dresses in a heavily armored outfit.
Similarly, Camille serves as a foil to both Caitlyn and Vi. All 3 desire to preserve the peace of Piltover, but whereas Caitlyn and Vi are a duo of law abiding police officers who arrest and lock up criminals, Camille works alone from outside the law and ruthlessly assassinates anyone who she considers a threat to the city's order.
For Caitlyn specifically, both of them are Consummate Professionals with British accents who prefer to do things as efficiently as possible. However, Camille works outside the law and kills anyone who stands against her, while Caitlyn, as the sheriff of Piltover, is the driving force behind upholding the city's law, and only arrests and locks up criminals. From a gameplay perspective, Camille is a Diver style Champion designed to jump right into the enemy team and fight at close range, while Caitlyn is a marksman who fights from afar.
For Vi specifically, both are very similar gameplay wise, being Diver style Champions abilities that include a shield granting passive, a gap-closing ability with light crowd control, an ability that strengthens their base attack, and an ultimate designed to lock down on a single target. However, outside of their desire to protect the peace of Piltover, they couldn't be any more different characterization wise. Camille is a ConsummateProfessional Killer who works outside the law and targets anyone she believes may disturb Piltover's order, while Vi is a brash Blood Knight and police officer who only targets criminals. And whereas Camille is a refined Kick Chick who fights with leg blades, Vi is an aggressive fist fighter who wields a pair of gauntlets. Camille's voice line against Vi in-game even outright lampshades their foil status.
Camille: Hmmm, it's like looking into a crude, boorish mirror.
Ex-girlfriends Diana and Leona serves as foils to each other. Beyond the Solar and Lunar contrast of Diana being the Aspect of the Moon and Leona being the Aspect of the Sun, Diana's design is sleek and asymmetrical, while Leona's design in bulky and symmetrical. From a gameplay standpoint, Diana's style is based around going on the offensive and attacking independently, while Leona's style is based around defense and setting up her teammates to do damage.
Evelynn and Tahm Kench are demonic entities whose modus operandi is based around exploiting one of the Seven Deadly Sins (lust and greed, respectively). However, Evelynn's hunting ground is that of the streets and targets people who are currently well off so that they'll have much further to fall, while Tahm roams rivers and other such waterways and targets people when they're at their most desperate so that their rise in power provides a greater meal. Evelynn makes her move very quickly, usually only waiting a few minutes after seducing her target before she strikes, yet spends hours torturing her victims, while Tahm spends years waiting for his target's fortune to grow, yet simply devours his victims quickly once he's finally ready to collect. And from a gameplay standpoint, Evelynn is fragile assassin based around independently attacking enemies before they have a chance to react, while Tahm is a support focused tank who excels at drawn out fights and saving his allies.
Per Word of God, Galio, both before and especially after his VGU, serves as one to Sion. Galio is a stone golem given sentience and a sense of humanity who plays the role of Demacia's unwavering guardian, while Sion is a human brought Back from the Dead and stripped of his humanity who plays the role of Noxus' unstoppable juggernaut. From a gameplay perspective, Galio is Warden style Champion designed to rush to the aid of his allies and defend them, while Sion is a Vanguard style Champion designed to charge recklessly into the enemy team. Even their respective splash arts contrast each other, with Galio standing gloriously with a smile on his face as a group of enemies run away during a sunny day, whereas Sion is depicted with a grim expression as he stands atop a victim he is in the process of murdering in a war-torn landscape.
From a gameplay standpoint, siblings Garen and Lux serve as one to each other. Garen is a Close-Range Combatant designed to stay in the fray as long as possible, has an ability kit with no utility due to being entirely focused on damage dealing, is focused on doing damage over time before finishing off the opponent with Demacian Justice, and has no mana, while Lux is a Long-Range Fighter, has a large amount of utility via abilities based around crowd control and a shield to protect allies, is focused doing as much damage as possible in an instant with a single attack, and her kit is entirely based around using mana.
From a gameplay standpoint, Outlaw Couple Graves and Twisted Fate serve as one to each other. Graves is an attack-focused Champion whose ability kit encourages the player to get in the enemy's face as much as possible, while Twisted Fate is an ability-focused Champion whose ability kit and Glass Cannon status encourages the player to keep their distance from the enemy.
Hwei and Jhin are both artists overflowing with ideas and theatric means of expression. However, Hwei is a Sensitive Artist with an empathetic personality left in a state of mourning over the lives he's lost, whose art form is that of a painter who uses magic to merge various inks as a basis for spells, while Jhin is a Mad Artist who uses murder as a medium for his expression, all while styling himself in a way reminiscent of a theatre director guiding his victims towards an artistic end.
Irelia and Swain are both people who became military leaders despite having not previously been raised with that role in mind, are empowered via supernatural means, love their respective homelands and in turn are respected deeply by them. However, Irelia loves the people of Ionia, and was forced into the fighting role when she really just wants to be normal, while Swain only cares for Noxus itself and hold little regard for its people, and willingly chose the military role in order to get power.
Jayce and Viktor are both representative of the pinnacle of scientific progress within their respective cities, but whereas Jayce is representative of the Art Deco and Clock Punk-esque science of Piltover, Viktor is representative of the Bio Punk and Diesel Punk-esque science of Zaun. Jayce has a reputation as an Ideal Hero and the poster boy of Piltover, when his actual personality is that of an Insufferable Genius, while Viktor has a reputation as a Mad Scientist in line with what is traditionally found in Zaun, when he's actually a fairly nice, if somewhat misanthropic, man. From a gameplay standpoint, the two are completely opposite of each other, with Jayce being a combo based Champion who uses physical attacks, with one of his abilities, Acceleration Gate, being used to speed up his allies, Viktor is focused on magic damage and has the ability Gravity Field, which allows him to slow down his enemies.
Arch-Enemies Kassadin and Malzahar serve as foils to each other. Prior to respective backstories being retconned, the two contrasted each other with Kassadin actively seeking out the power of the Void, only to end up siding against it, while Malzahar never dreamt of being involved with the Void, only to become one of its most powerful minions as Bel'Veth's prophet. From a gameplay standpoint, both are Champions capable of disrupting channels, are capable of powerful combos that can cause trouble if used improperly, and are heavily reliant on their ultimates. However, Kassadin is a melee focused Assassin Champion built around countering mages, who has an ability that allows him to escape fights, but also poor pushing skills, while Malzahar is a ranged mage with no real escape ability, but great farming skills.
Sisters Kayle and Morgana serve as foils to one another. Kayle dresses in full body covering armor with a large amount of gold and white, evocative of angels or Valkyries, while Morgana dresses in a revealing dress with a large amount of dark purple, evocative of Fallen Angels or witches. Kayle is a warrior who fights with a sword, while Morgana is a Lady of Black Magic. Kayle is stoic, impartial, and desires to fulfill her role as the Aspect of Justice no matter what she must do to achieve it, while Morgana is emotional, openly rational, and rejects her duty in favor of helping mortals. The two also foil each other from a gameplay standpoint. Kayle is an offensive focused Combat Medic who starts out fairly weak but gets incredibly strong as the game progresses, and has an ability that gives her ally a shield that makes them immune to all damage, but extremely vulnerable to crowd control effects, while Morgana is a Support Party Member with a Simple, yet Awesome kit, who has an ability that gives her ally a shield that only protects them from certain magic based attacks, but makes them immune to crowd control effects.
Kayn and his Living Weapon scythe, Rhaast, both serve as foils to another Champion:
Kayn serves as a foil to Akali. Both are Blood Knights who are the greatest pupils of their respective orders, fight using stealth, and have a scythe as their main weapon, but whereas Kayn wields a more traditional scythe, and has an Undying Loyalty to the Order of Shadows and his master Zed, Akali fights with a smaller variant of a scythe called a kama, and grew disillusioned with the Kinkou Order and her master Shen and has since left.
From a gameplay standpoint, rivals Kha'Zix and Rengar serves as foils to one another. The two have very similar ability kits, but are used in opposite ways, with Kha'Zix being designed around taking out singular enemies, while Rengar is used best when taking on a large group of enemies.
Lee Sin and Udyr serves as foils to one another. Lee Sin has a tidy appearance with only a single dragon spirit inside him, while Udyr is a Wild Man with several animal spirits inside him. Lee Sin started out as an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy whose ego was tempered after making grave mistakes, while Udyr started out as a self-deprecating man who was able to find purpose for himself. From a gameplay standpoint, Lee Sin is a Lightning Bruiser who finds the most favorable position to attack from, while Udyr is a Mighty Glacier who endures any bad position he finds himself in and just overpowers his enemies.
Brothers Nasus and Renekton are Champions from Shurima whose designs are based on Egyptian Mythology. However, Nasus has a calm and collected personality and served an intellectual profession as the curator the Shuriman archives, while Renekton has a destructive and Ax-Crazy personality and served a physical profession as bodyguard of the royal family. From a gameplay standpoint, both are Fighter style Champions who have ultimates that increase their size. However, Nasus is a late-game focused Champion who starts out weak but grows stronger over time until eventually becoming basically unstoppable, while Renekton is an early-game focused Champion whose kit is very good for the laning phase but falls off over time.
Lovers Rakan and Xayah serve as foils to each other. Rakan is a show off and Large Ham to the point of being Fun Personified, while Xayah is a bored-sounding Deadpan Snarker who's a jerkass to everyone except Rakan (and also Amumu). Rakan dresses in bright colors like yellow and has a wing on the right side of his body, while Xayah dresses in dark colors like purple and has a wing on the left side of her body. From a gameplay perspective, Rakan is a support focused Champion designed to keep Xayah and other allies active, while Xayah is an AD carry Champion focused on doing damage.
Ryze, prior to his VGU, served as one to Xerath. Both were beings of energy magic, but Ryze was a master of magic and an overall good character, while Xerath was consumed by his magic and is to ambitious to not stop there. From a gameplay perspective, Ryze was a mage Champion with little skill required to use, has low spell range, no reliance on skillshots, and has an ability that locks enemies in place, while Xerath is a mage Champion who is very hard to use, great spell range, relies heavily on skillshot abilities, and locks himself in place when using abilities. However, after Ryze's VGU, he has been changed so much from a story and gameplay perspective that he no longer fits as a foil to Xerath.
Samira and Sivir are both mercenaries from Shurima, but whereas Samira does her job for the fun of it and has closer ties to modern colonized Shurima, Sivir does her job just for the money and has closer ties to ancient imperial Shurima.
Former friends turned Arch-Enemies Shen and Zed are foils to each other. Shen is the son of a master of the Kinkou Order who showed great talent from his youth, while Zed was an outsider taken in by the Order who desired to surpass Shen despite initially not being as skilled as him. From a gameplay standpoint, both have abilities based around positioning themselves on the battlefield, but whereas Shen is a tank designed to protect his allies and endure damage in the thick of battle, Zed is a squishy Assassin designed to work alone by jumping out and attacking his enemies.
Viego serves as a foil to a few characters:
Per Word of God's statements regarding the two, Viego and Akshan are meant to foil each other. Both are handsome Walking Shirtless Scenes with brash personalities who are defined by the loss of their loved ones and a desire to bring them back. However, whereas Viego is a selfish villain who will willingly doom the world to get what he wants, Akshan is a selfless hero who fights to protect others and will put his own life and goals on the line in order to do so. From a gameplay standpoint, Viego is a Close-Range Combatant whose defining power is to steal the body of his enemy is order to cause chaos among their team, while Akshan is a Long-Range Fighter whose defining power is to revive his fallen allies.
Viego serves as a foil to Mordekaiser. Both are undead Evil Overlords with an enslaved army of the undead behind them and completely selfish reasons for their goals, but contrast in every other way. Viego was a flawed but not outright villainous man, genuinely loves his wife Isolde, desires nothing more than to get her back, and usually speaks with a lot of aggression, while Mordekaiser was a monster even before becoming undead, cares about no one except himself, desires world domination and godhood, and speaks calmly. Viego is a Walking Shirtless ScenePretty Boy, while Mordekaiser is a Tin Tyrant whose physical body is non-existent. From a gameplay standpoint, Viego is a small AD fighter with a lot of mobility, while Mordekaiser is a huge AP fighter with little mobility.
Yasuo serves as a foil to a few characters:
Yasuo serves as a foil to Riven. Both are combo based Champions, fight with wind magic, went on the run from their nation for a crime against them, and seek to atone for their past. But whereas Yasuo is a man with long, black hair, wields a nodachi, fought for Ionia in the Ionian Invasion, and was forced to go on the run after being accidentally framed for the murder of his master (by Riven herself, no less) and has since been forgiven after the truth came out, Riven is a woman with short, white hair, wields a large great sword, fought for Noxus in the Ionian Invasion, and willingly abandoned her nation and hasn't been forgiven by them for it. These contrasts would ultimately come to a head when the two finally met in the "Confessions of a Broken Blade" short story.
Like with Azir, Yasuo serves as a foil to his protégé, Taliyah. Yasuo is a somber, experienced man with extreme confidence whose goal is centered around clearing his own name, while Taliyah is a cheerful, inexperienced girl who lacks confidence whose goal is centered around wanting to save others, namely her family. From a gameplay standpoint, both are Champions that require a lot of skill to play, but Yasuo is a short-ranged Fighter with wind abilities designed to slip through the enemies' defenses and attack them head on, while Taliyah is a long-ranged mage with earth abilities whose gameplay is based around zoning.
Legacy of Kain: Kain and Raziel. One's a vampire, one's a wraith. One feeds on blood, the other on souls. One wields a sword that feeds on blood, the other wields a wraith-blade version of the same sword that feeds on souls. One has telekinetic powers that allow him to fling people around like ragdolls, the other can just knock people over with them. One transforms into mist and walks through barred doorways, the other shifts into the spectral realm and phases through them. One spends most of the series running a very complex scheme across time and space, the other spends most of the series being manipulated by anyone with half a brain. One of them has a very concrete desire to rule the world, the other swings between wanting revenge, wanting to understand himself, and wanting to save his own life. One's a king, the other used to be his right-hand man... and yet, both of them are messiah-figures.
Rean and Alisa in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel are foils to one another as both do meddle in the affairs of their own classmates, both are truly neither commoner nor noble (Rean is an adopted noble while Alisa's too rich but is still technically a commoner), and both are studying at Thors though Rean wants to find his place in the world while Alisa wants to gain independence from her family. Rean is more rational and calm while Alisa is more hotheaded and Rean uses a sword while Alisa uses a bow. Finally, Rean's primary and secondary elements (Time and Fire) contrast Alisa's two elements (Fire and Space).
Two examples from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The first example is Midna for Zelda. Midna is a Tsundere, whereas Zelda is a Proper Lady. Midna is a Deadpan Snarker, whereas Zelda is far less abrasive in her words. And let's not forget that they're both princesses. This is even reflected in their Leitmotifs, with the melody for Midna's theme being a minor key version of Zelda's. The second example is Zant for Ganondorf. Zant is secretly a Psychopathic Manchild who maintains a calm demeanor up until the very end, whereas Ganondorf is deathly calm inside and out. Zant borrows the power of another being in order to achieve his ends, whereas Ganondorf had gained his power by means of his own resourcefulness and deceit.
Ghirahim is also a foil of Fi. While she is stoic, subdued, reserved, and very technical, Ghirahim is flamboyant, lets all his feelings out, and is a drama queen. Turns out both of them are sword spirits.
In a strange case of a character being the foil for themselves, the Ganondorf in Twilight Princess was specifically designed to contrast his appearance in Wind Waker. In the Wind Waker timeline, Ganondorf is humbled by his defeat at the hands of the Hero of Time and the Goddesses' flooding of Hyrule, leading to an Older and Wiser Ganon who, while still evil, shows signs of being a Noble Demon and Well-Intentioned Extremist who seems to genuinely regret some of his past actions, or at least the way they turned out. In the Twilight Princess timeline, however, Ganondorf's initial plan to get the Triforce is thwarted before it even begins, only for him to later get the Triforce of Power anyway due to a "divine prank" that was the result of the Hero of Time's Time Travel. This turns Ganon into a manipulative, sadistic brute with a god complex and no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Link has a foil in the form of Ravio. Link is a Heroic Mime whose main character trait is that he's courageous and often willing to help out anyone without expecting a reward. Ravio, while a good guy, is a talkative coward who only appears to care about making a profit. It turns out that Ravio is actually Link's Alternate Self from Lorule, Hyrule's Alternate Universe. It's also revealed that they both deeply care about their respective worlds and their princesses, Zelda and Hilda.
Mipha and Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Both are princesses with great duty resting on their shoulders, with a strong desire to make their fathers proud. Mipha is Link's childhood friend when Link met Zelda after he became the chosen hero. Where Zelda is tsuntsun towards Link and vocally wished he would stop following her, Mipha is deredere and wanted to be with Link after their duties are over. Mipha strongly implies that she would think about Link in order to tap into her healing power. Zelda would obtain her own power when she protected a badly injured Link from the Guardians.
Each of the four races has both a Champion from the backstory and a modern ally of Link's who each contrast each other in terms of personality and other traits. Revali of the Rito is a boastful and flashy archer who sees the coming battle against Ganon as a chance to show off his skills to the world, while Teba is a terse and stubborn man who just wants to protect his people; both start off dismissive of Link but gradually come to acknowledge his skills. Daruk of the Goron is a boisterous warrior who acts as The Leader of the Champions in the flashbacks, while Yunobo is a young Cowardly Lion who must be guided by Link to incapacitate Vah Rudania. Mipha of the Zora is The Quiet One, very reserved, and uses healing magic, while her brother Sidon is energetic, sociable, encouraging, and is portrayed as relying more on his physical combat prowess than his sister did. Urbosa of the Gerudo is a composed Cool Big Sis for the Champions, while Riju is a young ruler who feels like an Inadequate Inheritor to her mother.
Lenna's Inception: Delvin is this to Lenna. Delvin was an ordinary human who gained the powers of an archangel and used it to corrupt the game, all while thinking he's the hero, whereas Lenna is an archangel turned into an ordinary human who becomes an actual hero to save the game from glitches.
Series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and his best frenemy Goro Majima are foils to each other. Kiryu is a Hot-BloodedEmotional Bruiser, who hides a rolling sea of powerful emotion beneath a façade of grim stoicism. Majima is a calm, intelligent and introspective man who hides his true self beneath a mask of Joker-like Ax-Crazy nuttiness. Kiryu generally eschews weapons, preferring to fight with his fists. Majima's signature weapon is a tanto, but he also likes baseball bats, and will fight with whatever he can get his hands on. Kiryu is a bear of a man whose fighting styles are mostly built around power, Majima is lithe, almost cat-like, and favors mobility and speed. Kiryu is most comfortable punching his problems, Majima is business-savvy and has run several legitimate businesses on the side of sitting in the upper echelons of the Tojo clan. Kiryu was ultimately forced out of the yakuza to protect the people he loved, in spite of not really wanting to leave, while Majima, who would probably have been happier as a civilian, was drawn deeper into the world of crime for his loved ones.
In the first game and Yakuza 0, we have Kiryu and his sworn brother/future nemesis, Akira Nishikiyama. Nishiki is knowledgeable about what's popular, while Kiryu is entirely clueless. Kiryu tends to be standoffish and aloof, while Nishiki is, at least in the beginning, more personable and social. While the two are best friends in the beginning, Nishiki undergoes trauma during Kiryu's time in prison that change him for the worse: while Kiryu maintains his sense of integrity and honor, Nishiki becomes consumed by ambition and a thirst for power that leads him to abandon his friends in exchange for a shot at control of the Tojo Clan. Their differences also extend to their choice of tattoos, Kiryu's dragon and Nishiki's koi fish: in Eastern Asian mythology, the koi swims up the Yellow River, gaining strength from fighting against the currents, until it emerges at the top of a waterfall and gains the favor of the gods, becoming a dragon. The symbolism strongly aligns with Nishiki fighting against the adversity he faces, with the death of his sister and his inferiority complex towards Kiryu, to ultimately surpass the legendary Dragon of Dojima.
Ichiban Kasuga, the new protagonist from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is also a foil to Kiryu. As mentioned, Kiryu is a man who keeps his powerful emotions restrained behind his stoicism, while Kasuga wears his heart on his sleeve and is far more emotional. While Kiryu prefers to fight with Good Old Fisticuffs, Kasuga's not above using weapons such as a baseball bat. Kiryu is not very tech savvy, but while Kasuga is no computer wiz himself, he does adapt to technology a bit more readily, and is an avowed gamer who loves to name-drop Dragon Quest. Both Kiryu and Kasuga grew up as orphans, but while Kiryu's parents were murdered by the man who would later bring him into the yakuza, Kasuga is a Son of a Whore and Heroic Bastard who was Kamurocho-born and raised. The biggest contrast between them is that Kasuga is a man who is at his best when he has his trusted friends and allies by his side, while Kiryu is a man who tries to bear his burdens alone without being a bother to others, and never really learns how to depend on others until the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, where he is given a crash course in letting others shoulder his burdens after his health begins to fail him.
In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, one substory has Kiryu crossing paths with Masaharu Kaito, the deuteragonist from Judgment and Lost Judgment. Both of them are former Tojo men who found themselves thrown out for doing what seemed to be the right thing at the time — taking the fall for Sohei Dojima's death, in Kiryu's case; and cooperating with an armed robber and letting them steal from his family's coffers to keep people safe, in Kaito's case. Both are also well-meaning men who have lived and worked outside of the law, but in different ways: by the time they meet, Kiryu is a secret agent working with the Daidoji political faction, while Kaito works as a private eye for the Yagami Detective Agency. They also contrast in their Red Oni, Blue Oni dynamic: Kaito is the red oni, being brash, hot-headed, and more likely to jump the gun and rush headlong into danger; whereas Kiryu is the blue oni, being comparitively more cautious, observant, and prefering to gather the facts before taking action — ironically, not unlike Kaito's employer, Takayuki Yagami.
Little Busters! has Rin and Sasami. Sasami's a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak who is usually seen with her Girl Posse. Rin is a Tomboy with a Girly Streak whose only friends were the male members of the Little Busters before Riki started recruiting other girls to join. Rin is a Kindhearted Cat Lover, while Sasami prefers dogs. Both are very popular among the male students, but react differently. Rin is oblivious to their feelings because she doesn't understand the concept of love, whereas Sasami doesn't care if a guy is interested because her focus is on Kengo. Sasami is a member of the girls' baseball team and an ace hitter, whereas Rin is an ace pitcher for the Little Busters who only took an interest in baseball because of her brother Kyousuke's sudden interest in the sport. Their routes are even foils to one another. Rin's route involves her transferring to a new school and eventually running away with Riki, whereas Sasami's route involves her remaining confined to Riki's room because she'll transform into a cat if she goes outside.
Lots and lots of foils in the Mass Effect series, almost all of them with Shepard. No matter how you play as Shep, the following foils apply:
Shepard and Garrus. They have exactly the same morals, but where Shepard is confident and certain, Garrus is confused and looking for guidance. He's basically the living embodiment of the game's Karma Meter.
Shepard and Saren. Both are charismatic individuals who can convince anyone to follow them. The differences are large when you're Paragon, and almost minimal when you're Renegade. Whereas Saren used trickery, false promises and mind-control to gain the support of the Geth, Krogan, and Rachni, Paragon Shepard can earn their loyalty through trust, cooperation and mutual respect.
Shepard and Javik. Both hold the rank of Commander and lead the fight against the Reapers during their respective Cycle, causing them to be revered throughout the Galaxy. However Javik is essentially a more hardened version of Shepard, one who lost his ship, his crew and ultimately his entire race to the War.
Mass Effect: Andromeda introduces "the Builders," the ones who created all the Remnant technology that does anything interesting in the cluster. They are foils to the Reapers. The Builders were benevolent creators who left behind tech that looked sharp and dangerous, while the Reapers were malevolent destroyers who left behind tech that looked soft and useful. The Builders wanted people to understand their technology (but got wiped out before they could finish teaching the angara), while the Reapers didn't want anyone to progress at all except along pre-planned paths.
The Mega Man (Classic) series has this. The most prominent example is Bass and Mega. Going by the coloring of their armors, Mega leans towards brighter colors and simplistic design in contrast to Bass's darker and more complex looking armor. The reasons why they fight are different: Mega fights to protect people and is asked to become a fighter, whereas Bass was created to fight and continues to do so only to prove that he is the strongest.
Proto Man operates as this to both Mega Man and Bass. He's free-willed and independent in contrast to Mega Man. Similarly to Bass, he used to be Wily's Dragon. However, he eventually becomes more heroic and allies himself with Mega Man of his own free will, unlike Bass who is single-mindedly driven to prove himself the strongest.
On an ideological level, the Mega Man (Classic) series could be seen as a conflict between the ideals of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. Whereas Dr. Light wants to have a future where robots can benefit mankind and eventually develop their own free will, Dr. Wily only seeks to further his own goals with his robots. This can even be seen in the X series, where Wily created the initial Maverick virus to sow further chaos between robots and humans.
Solid Snake and Raiden in Metal Gear. Snake is older and grizzled, Raiden is young and inexperienced. Snake is cynical, Raiden is idealistic. Snake is Tall, Dark, and Handsome, Raiden is a Pretty Boy with white hair. Snake... has a healthy libido, Raiden has a steady relationship. Snake is a modern stealth operative, Raiden is a more traditional ninja. Snake likes guns, Raiden prefers blades. Total opposites.
Ocelot is also this to Solid Snake. Both are super soldiers created by Big Boss who excel at infiltration and have given up everything in life to accomplish their mission. The difference is that Snake is the (sort of) son of Big Boss who prefers the direct approach during infiltrations and always ends up Just Following Orders from higher ups until the events at Shadow Moses convince him to start doing things for himself. Ocelot was created through Stealth Mentorship, infiltrates through lying, manipulation, and sabotage, and has been following his own orders since pretty much day one.
Monster Prom: Zoe and Leonard are this to each other. Both are huge geeks deeply devoted to fandoms. Zoe however, represents the positive sides of fandoms, like her openness to new things, how she dedicates herself to have fun with the source material and how she applies her own creativity to create more content based on sources she likes. Leonard, meanwhile, represents the negative sides of a fandom, he's overly critical and nitpicky, cynical, entitled and is constantly complaining about not being catered to.
As the series progressed, the differences between fellow students Liu Kang and Kung Lao became more visible. Kung Lao hails from a Heroic Lineage of heroes who defended Earthrealm, while Liu Kang was an orphan of common birth who would be raised by Shaolin monks and eventually become Earthrealm's champion. Where Liu Kang is humble and duteous, Kung Lao has a greater drive to prove himself, and is more given to arrogance. After Liu Kang becomes a god by the time of Mortal Kombat 1, he would no longer have this dynamic with Kung Lao: instead, that relationship would now be shared with Raiden, who takes Liu Kang's place as the calmer and humbler part of the Red Oni, Blue Oni dynamic with Kung Lao.
The two Lin Kuei assassins to hold the title of Sub-Zero, Bi-Han and his younger brother Kuai Liang, differ greatly from one another despite being cryomancers in the same clan. Bi-Han's morals were more flexible, and he has no problem being evil; while Kuai Liang is more heroic and, after becoming grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, reorganizes the clan into a force of good. The differences become all the more starker after Bi-Han becomes the dark menace Noob Saibot. This also comes up in the new timeline of Mortal Kombat 1, where the Lin Kuei are made into an order of shadowy protectors, and the two brothers fight side-by-side with Bi-Han as Sub-Zero and Kuai Liang as Scorpion: but whereas Bi-Han envisions transforming the Lin Kuei from Earthrealm's protectors into its rulers, Kuai Liang chooses instead to uphold the clan's tradition as the realm's guardians. By the end of the game, after Bi-Han completes his Face–Heel Turn and transforms the Lin Kuei into a conquering force, Kuai Liang — along with their adopted brother Tomas (Smoke) — splinters off from the Lin Kuei to found a new clan to carry on their tradition as Earthrealm's guardians, the Shirai Ryu.
The two original ninja characters, Scorpion and Sub-Zero (both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang), also differ from one another. In addition to possessing the opposing powers of fire and ice (respectively), both Sub-Zeros have chillier personalities, while Scorpion is more Hot-Blooded. Also, whereas Bi-Han is villainous and Kuai Liang is heroic, Scorpion is more of a Wild Card, going from vengeful revenant to an ally of Kuai Liang, back to being a bitter revenge-obsessed hellion over the course of the original timeline. This carries over into the first rebooted timeline as well, as Scorpion goes from Quan Chi's puppet to Quan Chi's executioner over the course of Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X: while Bi-Han and Kuai Liang's moral compasses remain consistent, where Scorpion falls in terms of "hero", "villain", and everything inbetween is subject to change.
From Mortal Kombat 1, we have two of the Guest Fighters in the game's first season pass: Homelander and Omni-Man, two not-so-sterling examples of Beware the Superman who possess the Man of Steel's powers, but none of his morals (and unlike Regime Superman, none of his scruples). It is how they are unlike Superman that they also contrast with each other: Homelander is an Attention Whore and Control Freak beneath his thin corporate "wholesome as apple pie" veneer who believe he can do "whatever the fuck [he] wants". Omni-Man, on the other hand, is a cold-hearted conqueror who hails from a Proud Warrior Race of other conquerors, and a Manipulative Bastard who is adept at hiding how much of a bastard he truly is until it's time to take off the kid gloves.
From No More Heroes, Henry to Travis, "Don't look at me. I'm just the cool, handsome foil, who also happens to be your twin brother."
Persona 4 has this with the Player Character against the murderer, Tohru Adachi. Both have the power of Persona, knowledge of the world on the other side of the TV screen. Both also sharethe same VA in the English dub. Beyond that, Adachi is a nihilistic fatalist who takes a very grim view of humanity, who joined the police simply because he always wanted to hold a gun (only to be disappointed with the realities of working for the police), got transferred to Inaba because he couldn't cut it in the city, and turned to murder simply because he was bored out of his gourd. The protagonist, on the other hand, is an earnest high school student who wants to protect his friends, his family, and his community, and has a more optimistic outlook on humanity as a whole. The anime also further points out how Adachi is a loner due to his own antisocial tendencies. The protagonist was also a loner, but through his time in Inaba, came to treasure his friends to such an extent that one particular Shadow, as well as the Greater-Scope Villain, actually weaponizehis need for companionship against him.
Pillars of Dust: Carlton and Gregg are both given missions to discover their blood ties to Alluriga. Carlton is a well-off prince with some combat training while Gregg is a poor blacksmith with little combat experience, which is reflected in Carlton having higher starting stats and more money events in his prologue. Carlton is suspicious of Almera's suggestion to explore Alluriga and has reservations about this quest while Gregg is eager to accept Elmer's request in order to improve his station in life and trusts his quest giver.
First is the rivals, gain their starter from the same place as the protagonist, go on parallel journeys and are often the few trainers that get a varied team in contrast with the mono-flavored teams everyone else has.
Many Pokémon species are foils to each other, most notably the version mascots and version exclusives for each pair of games.
Magikarp and Feebas are good examples of cross-generational foils. Both start out as weak fish with limited movepools, but evolve into powerful serpentine Pokémon with enough effort. However, while Magikarp's evolution Gyarados is focused on brute force and is perpetually angry, Feebas evolves into the beautiful and tranquil Milotic; and while Magikarp is found in almost every body of water, Feebas is limited to a single route per game.
The man-made Legendary Mewtwo and Mythical Genesect are also foils to each other. Both were created to harness the power of the ancients from a remaining piece of DNA, and both are a warped reflection of the being that they were created from (Mewtwo is more masculine to the androgynous Mew, Genesect is a cyborg with a cannon) and have opposite types. Where Mewtwo is a Blood Knight in the games and has a mostly special-based movelist, Genesect is obedient to whoever controls it and has a physical-based movelist. Its implied, both in-universe and out, that this was deliberate.
Pokémon Sun and Moon has Kukui and Guzma, who had given up to become Trial Captains note Alola's version of Gym Leaders. Kukui decided to use his talents to instead become a Pokemon Professor, while Guzma instead lost hope and founded Team Skull.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart: A recurring theme throughout the game are the differences between the three main characters (Ratchet, Clank, Dr. Nefarious) and their dimensional counterparts (Rivet, Kit, Emperor Nefarious).
Rivet is essentially Ratchet in his early adventuring days, versus the more amiable Lombax he's become since becoming best friends with Clank. Rivet isn't exactly anti-social, but her solitary and self-sufficient nature makes her rather brusque and tactless at times, especially around Clank, a new person she doesn't initially trust; learning to open up to others becomes a big part of her arc.
While Clank was at first glance a flawed creation (deliberately made different and independent with the cosmic intervention of the Zoni), had a clear sense of right and wrong from the beginning, and could only turn into Giant Clank in specific situations, Kit was a fully functional warbot who could switch between her larger and smaller forms at will, and worked dutifully for Emperor Nefarious until, believing she had killed Rivet, she abandoned her mission in horror. Additionally, Clank didn't seek out the Zoni, but was contacted by them, and through them found a deeper understanding of himself and the universe; Kit became a record keeper for the Dimension Monks of her own volition, trying to hide from what she believed was her true nature.
On a superficial level, Emperor Nefarious is everything Dr. Nefarious wants to be, but once their true characters come to light, both can't stand the other. While both are galaxy conquering villains with egos the size of ten supernovae, Emperor Nefarious is treated as a genuine Knight of Cerebus to contrast his counterpart's Laughably Evil mustache-twirling brand of evil. Their personalities continue to diverge as the Emperor shows himself to be even more egotistical and self-absorbed, and when stripped of his power is really a Dirty Coward who has never experienced defeat to the point he's unsatisfied with it while Dr. Nefarious is so familiar with defeat, he's elated just to get one victory, has some genuine appreciation for Lawrence, and is much more bold when the time comes for him to get his own hands dirty.
Edgar Ross and Dutch van der Linde (the Big Bad Ensemble) from Red Dead Redemption. Both are fighting for what they believe to be best for society, Ross for civilization and Dutch for anarchy, and both display a complete willingness to Shoot the Dog if that's what it takes to get there. But the game shows that both of them are hypocrites and neither of their plans are without flaws anyway. The only real difference is that in the end, Ross is remembered as the hero and Dutch as the vicious outlaw, but then the game points out that had more to do with civilization ultimately triumphing and history being Written by the Winners than any real moral superiority of one over the other.
On the heroes' side, we have Chris and Leon. Both men were thrown into the Zombie Apocalypse early in their careers on the police force. As the years went on, both characters developed quite differently from each other. Leon becomes The Snark Knight and will apply it to friend or foe, but he'll always go out of his way to save and protect people that are defenseless against the bioweapons. Chris, however, falls into Knight in Sour Armor and becomes The Cynic, wondering if all this fighting is even worth it at this point. Not only does he becomes even more sour and cynical, he even briefly becomes The Alcoholic to null the pain of the endless fighting and the loss of his squad. Thankfully he does get a bit better.
Sabres of Infinity has this in your fellow officers and your superior officers:
Elson and Cazarosta. Elson is sociable, emotional, and places a high value on honorable conduct in war, Cazarosta is cold, stoic, and believes that in war, expediency comes before honor.
Major Hunter and Captain Lefebvre. Major Hunter is bold, friendly, and effusive, Captain Lefebvre is cold, cautious, and reserved.
Wealthy, elegant Yumi's idealism is contrasted with jumpsuit-clad Yomi's pragmatism and destitute childhood.
In Shadowverse, Odette and Odile, the White and Black Swans of Swan Lake, have mirrored stats, flavor texts, and voice lines. They even summon their rival under the enemy's control. Obviously, their color themes already give away their differences.
Rie and Runa. Apart from being the Tomboy and Girly Girl duo, Rie is casual, playful and from a wealthy family, while Runa is polite, mature and poor. Rie tries to win over Taiko, while Runa had once been in love with Hiro, but had gotten over it (although she still doesn't realize what kind of person he is).
Rie and Taiko. The former is the kind of person who would believe in her friends even if the facts are against her, while the latter has a strong sense of justice, and is willing to suspect his friends to find the truth. Ironically, Rie's belief in Runa's innocence is entirely justified, while Taiko's anger over what happened to Kotoba causes him to become irrational.
Runa and Momoko. Both of them love Hiro, but are blind to his true colors, and they contrast in how they react upon learning of them. Momoko, believing that Hiro cheated on her with Kamen, kills him and herself in a Murder-Suicide in order to frame Kamen. In the good ending, Runa is heartbroken to learn about how awful Hiro was, but gets together with another guy.
Raiko and Momoko are both introverted and have few people they trust, but while Raiko is emotionally detached, Momoko is a Clingy Jealous Girl who takes betrayal (whether perceived or actual) poorly.
Sonic the Hedgehog has many foils, including the most noticeable examples:
Dr. Eggman is the scientist who wishes to rule through technology and a tyrannical, totalitarian rule which contrasts Sonic's nature-loving free spirit.
Knuckles is the Blue Oni to Sonic's Red, his strength to Sonic's speed, and his duty as guardian of Master Emerald contrasts Sonic's carefree "go where I please" lifestyle.
Shadow is the deadly cynical and serious lethal enforcer contrary to the fun-loving adventure seeker in Sonic. While both hedgehogs are heroes, both of them have contrasting methods on how to take action which usually ends in both of them fighting each other.
Blaze is very introverted and devoted to her duties as a princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds while Sonic is very extroverted and free-spirited. Despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, they get along very well, and develop a strong bond.
Eggman also contrasts with Sonic's sidekick Tails: both love to tinker with machinery, but Tails uses his skills to help his friends while Eggman only acts in his own interests. Tails also act very mature for an 8-year old having the occasional kiddish moment to remind you of his age, while Eggman appears to be in his middle 50's but acts incredibly childish and immature. This also extends to their relationship with Sonic. Eggman is Sonic's greatest and most persistent arch enemy, while Tails is Sonic's best friend and most persistent ally.
The End serves as a foil to Sonic and the complete antithesis of him, even more so than Eggman and other villains before it. The End is a nihilistic cosmic abomination that wants to box others into a world anathema of light or existence, and attempts to crush the hope of those that confront it, making it an embodiment of order. Sonic, on the other hand, is a free-spirited being that embraces the freedom of others, and always pushes forward no matter how hard things seem, and encourages others to do the same, which makes Sonic an embodiment of chaos.
The two Ninja characters, Taki and Yoshimitsu. Taki is a more "classic" kunoichi who uses a kodachi and ninpo and she is stoic and a consummate professional. Yoshimitsu is a Fighting Clown who speaks like a Large Ham and treats everything as a joke (but is every bit as dangerous and competent as Taki is), and he uses a katana. Both believe in fighting evil and protecting the innocent, but Taki slays demons and other supernatural monsters, while Yoshimitsu is a Karmic Thief who goes after corrupt and wicked humans. Taki's Spy Catsuit leaves nothing to the imagination, while Yoshimitsu's ridiculous garb leaves everything to the imagination - even his humanity is called in question a few times.
Maxi and Cervantes, the two pirate characters. Maxi is actually quite a decent guy, but Cervantes is an unrepentant Sadist and conquerer. Maxi also stays human and relies on sheer skill to win battles, but Cervantes readily adopts powerful magic and uses brute force to win fights.
Splatoon: The first game introduces the Inkopolis idols Callie and Marie. Callie is more optimistic, bubbly, and a little ditzy, while Marie is more mature and a little bit sarcastic. Splatoon 2 introduces their successors Pearl and Marina, with Marina having a softer and more responsible personality and Pearl having a bolder, more confident, and slightly childish personality.
In Stardew Valley, this comes up with the bachelors and bachelorettes. On the female side, the sweet blonde and dumb, girly-as-can-be Haley is the total opposite of the Black and Nerdy and rather-tomboyishlocal scientist's daughter Maru. On the male side, the town doctor Harvey is a kind-hearted and more mature bachelor with a respected position in the community, and thus contrasts with the more anti-social basement-dwelling teenager Sebastian.
In Star Wars: The Old Republic, the early Korriban sections of both Sith classes feature a rival character who is a foil to the opposite Sith class: the Sith Inquisitor's rival, Ffon Althe, is, like the Sith Warrior, the proud scion of a powerful Sith bloodline and is being given special treatment by the overseer training them — but unlike the Warrior, Ffon doesn't have any ability to back up his boasting and when faced with a challenge he can't overcome, he just gives up while the Sith Warrior verges on being an Implacable Man who doesn't let anything stop them from accomplishing their goals. He also turns out to be a massive coward, quickly cracking under pressure when questioned about his failure by Darth Zash and gets killed for it; meanwhile, when similarly grilled by Darth Baras, the Warrior keeps their cool and is allowed to live. The Warrior's rival is Vemrin who, like the Inquisitor, comes from a lower status (the Inquisitor is a former slave; Vemrin is mixed blood) and fought hard to get to their current positions — however, Vemrin lacks the Inquisitor's cunning and is unable to outthink his opponents. In the end, it causes him to try and ambush the Warrior during the final trials, despite the latter being clearly stronger than him.
Street Fighter has Ryu and Ken. Ken is a world famous martial artist who is married with a child, while Ryu is currently a wandering warrior who always travels the globe to seek new opponents to fight.
Rosé and Seiji have a fair few traits in common, and even their differences tend to mirror each other, which is made clear by Rosé replacing Seiji as one of Akira's companions: both are good-looking, polite, dexterous people who hide a darker side, have criminal ties, know unscrupulous skills like picking locks, and have little problem with going against the law. Whereas Seiji is a young man who likes older women, Rosé is an older woman who likes cute young men, and while Seiji is terrified of the supernatural, Rosé is an expert on it.
Ooe is revealed to be one for the Killer Peach. Both are (or were, in Peach's case) women of the law who prioritized the exposure of injustices over following the rules. They both also lost their families thanks to the employees of Sumii Co. It's this connection between them that causes Ooe to act rashly towards Killer Peach. Later on, she admits that she understands Peach's murderous rage, but that her methods are wrong and Ooe wants to do right for her by pursuing justice within the realm of the law (somewhat, at least).
First, you have Mario and Luigi, and their evil counterpartsWario and Waluigi. Their favorite colors reflect this contrast: while Mario and Luigi are represented by their cap colors (red and green), Wario and Waluigi are often represented by their overalls colors (purple and eggplant).
Mario is a humble, adventure-loving hero who always has in mind the means to help other people. Wario is a greedy and arrogant Anti-Hero who is always looking out for himself, despite not being that bad overall.
The Mario brothers are also foils to each other, since Mario is bold and adventurous, while Luigi is timid and cowardly.
In a similar manner, there is also Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. Peach is usually elegant, classy and quite polite. Princess Daisy, on the other hand, is characterized as ultra-competitive and is generally full of spirit. Peach's usual role in most of the games she appears in is that of the Damsel in Distress, while Daisy has only been one once.
Rosalina can also be seen as another foil for Peach. Whereas Peach is a peppy princess of the Mushroom Kingdom with Toads as her loyal subjects, Rosalina is more of a High Queen who travels the stars in a Comet Observatory with the Lumas as her children. She has also never been captured by any evil forces (yet in her ship did lose power and became stranded once).
While Daisy and Rosalina are friendly with Princess Peach, Madame Grape is much more hostile. While Peach never (intentionally) seeks harm upon others, Grape is not above imprisoning and tormenting the Theets and Sparklas while distorting their own plays into tragic mockeries of their original selves. And while Peach seeks to inspire others, Grape works to deflate them, desiring only tragedy and despair. Grape even reveals that she allowed Peach to rise so high in the first place to make the ensuing tragedy of her fall all the more crushing, and even outright refers to Peach as her foil just before the final battle.
Yoshi and Birdo are two dinosaurs of Ambiguous Gender that regularly interact with Mario and friends. Yoshi is an egg-laying dinosaur that is more than happy to give Mario a ride on his back and is one of his closest friends. While he technically doesn't have a sex (or is both), he's often thought of as male. Birdo on the other hand, is an egg-spitting dinosaur that has an alignment that is all over the map. She may be friendly in one part of the game while a boss character in another (she can even be bothin the same game). She's been implied to be Transgender, and identifies as female.
Master Hand and Crazy Hand from Super Smash Bros. are both foils to each other, but Master Hand is relaxed, peaceful, analytical and quiet while Crazy Hand is enthusiastic, active, short-tempered and irritable.
The God-Generals in Tales of the Abyss are carefully designed to reflect each member of the main party. Fitting for a game that revolves heavily around clones.
Luke and Asch are clones of each other. One wears white, one wears black. Luke is eventually repentant, deeply bonded with his companions, forgiving, and accepting of his identity. Asch is aggressive, unapologetic, solitary and believes his identity has been destroyed.
Legretta and Tear are both staunchly loyal fighters doing what they believe is right. Both are love interests to major male characters, but Legretta is bitter because her love is dictated by the Score, and Tear honestly falls for someone who isn't even supposed to exist.
Anise and Arietta are both Fon Master Guardians. Both are also having a bit of family trouble: Arietta's mother is the liger you kill in the first hour or so of the game, and Anise's parents are basically being held captive by Mohs. They both have a single goal that drives them - Arietta wants the Fon Master back and Anise wants a rich husband. Arietta doesn't get over her desire, and Anise does. Also, Arietta is openly sad most of the time and Anise is deceptively cheery.
Jade and Dist are both scientists credited with developing fomicry and they're both showboats in their own way. However, Jade keeps his emotions in check while Dist is wildly expressive, and Jade recognizes the flawed and morally ambiguous nature of their creations while Dist wants to continue studying them.
Natalia and Largo are both honorable and duty-driven, and they both get Heroic BSoD 'd upon losing their love interests. Natalia manages to stay optimistic while Largo crosses the Despair Event Horizon pre-game.
It would seem that Sync and Guy are designed to be foils based on their speedy fighting style, but when it's revealed that Sync is another replica of Ion, he becomes the foil for the Fon Master. Both see their lives as worthless, but this realization makes Ion dangerously passive and Sync destructively aggressive. As a survivor of the Hod War who hopes to take revenge, Guy's foil is actually probably Van, considering how Guy manages to get over his feelings (mostly) while Van doesn't.
Zelos and Colette are both The Chosen One, but while Colette is wholeheartedly dedicated to her role, Zelos is a hedonistic playboy who couldn't care less. Both of them also see their own lives as expendable, but for different reasons. They can also both give Lloyd gifts that will protect him on the final run to the Tower of Salvation, and both can snap Lloyd out of his Heroic BSoD when he finds out Kratos is his father.
Zelos also serves as a foil and Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Kratos - they fight in the same style, they both have red hair, etc. They have both given up on escaping the corrupt Cruxius system until they meet Lloyd, and they both appear to betray him for exactly that reason. This is a bizarre case in that their roles are the same, but their personalities are entirely reversed.
Flynn and Yuri in Tales of Vesperia were designed to be perfect opposites: Yuri is dark, snarky, cynical, rebellious, and a good cook. Flynn is blonde, serious, optimistic, by-the-book and his food is terrible. The only thing they share is their past in the Knights and the fact that they're exactly the same height.
Milla and Gaius. Both are fiercely loyal to their respective missions, ranging into Blood Knight territory to achieve it. But while Milla slowly begins to warm up a bit, Gaius remains on the path of his mission and gets close to becoming what he hates. Jude even lampshades that Gaius' words about his intentions sounds similar to Milla's about hers.
Milla and her sister Muzét. Milla is a very independent person and believes in following one's own will. On the other hand, Muzét is very lonely and severely dependent on someone, becoming dangerously psychotic when she doesn't have someone. When the real Maxwell drops her by stating she's just a tool, this was one of the reasons why she willingly gave her strength to Gaius. There's even a skit where Milla mentions that Muzét is her 'dark shadow'.
The Protectorate is Practical, Cynical and Pro-Alien. They believe that the aliens are too powerful to be defeated and secretly, that humanity's worst enemy is itself. Their goal is to pacify Earth and submit to conditional surrender terms. This results in arguably the game's worst ending, as humanity is subjugated by terms that even the Servants (the fanatical religious movement who want the aliens to win) find ridiculous.
The Servants are Fanatical, Idealistic and Pro-Alien. They are an alien-worshipping Cult who try to brainwash the population of Earth into voluntary vassalage to the aliens. However the initial terms the aliens offer (the ones the Protectorate agree to) are deemed insulting, and the Servants manage to negotiate better ones.
The Academy is Realist, Idealistic and Pro-Alien. They are scientists and pacifists who want to broker a peace with the aliens on equal terms, after proving humanity's equality if necessary. If they succeed, it arguably results in the Golden Ending: you saved Earth and the aliens by uniting the planet and ending a cycle of violence, maintaining mankind's independence and ensuring their prosperity as well, without resorting to atrocities or mass murder.
The Initiative is Practical, Cynical and Neutral. The Initiative just want to profit from the turmoil and covertly Take Over the World while everyone else is busy running around putting out fires. However they eventually subvert the aliens' civilization as well.
Thing-Thing: The main antagonist of the third and fourth games is this to the protagonist. Project 154 is a genetically-enhanced Human Weapon designed to be the ultimate infantryman, while the antagonist is also a Human Weapon created by the same MegaCorp to be an Ace Pilot. Project 154 hates the corporation that created him and is hell-bent on getting revenge on his creators no matter how many people have to die in the process, frequently railing against them for their unethical practices; by contrast, Project 153 serves the company loyally (seemingly out of his own free will) and frequently rails against 154's desire for freedom, decrying him as a traitor and seeking to kill him with the aid of a corporate army.
The two playable factions in Timberborn are the Folktails and Iron Teeth. The Folktails are described as farmers who live in harmony with nature, and the flavour text for their unique buildings references old sayings and songs. The Iron Teeth have a more industrial and military feel to them; their babies are grown in vats, and their default houses are called barracks.
Two characters present themselves with alliterative names, are constantly smiling, watch for the Human Child in the shadows, have a talentfor imitations and became nihilistsafter they discovered they are characters in a video game. One realized this after he acquired the power of determination while the other's revelation is still a mystery to this day, one shows an innocent side before stabbing you in the back while the other threatens you before welcoming you arms opened, one becomes the strongest boss in the game twice while the other actually is the weakest (but far fromthe easiest), and one subtly encourages you to save everybody for his own benefit while the other clearly shows his disapproval if you decide to commit genocide. These characters are Flowey the flower and Sans the skeleton.
Lee Everett to Rick Grimes, mainly before the ninth volume of the comic series. Both are strong and dependable men who lead a group of survivors to safety while trying to protect a young child in their care. While Lee is a convicted criminal, Rick is an officer of the law. While Rick misses the first month of the apocalypse due to being in a coma, Lee was there during the early days. Rick is eventually reunited with his family while Lee's family died by the time he returns home. The comparison becomes quite apparent in No Time Left when Lee can lose his arm like Rick. However, while Rick survived many years into the apocalypse, Lee died within a few months. Additionally, while Lee dies slowly from a walker bite and is accompanied by Clementine during his final minutes, Rick dies from being abruptly shot to death at first on accident, but then on purpose by an angry kid and is left to die alone.
Clementine and Sarah in are children that are similar to each other and yet are quite different. Clementine was taught by Lee on how to use a gun to defend herself and how to be resourceful when the going gets tough. Sarah, on the other hand, is completely sheltered by her father, whom she relies on to protect her. Unlike Clementine, Sarah does not know how to defend herself or how to do anything else and the moment things start to turn bad, she'll either freeze up, panic, or completely lose it. Sarah is also a few years older than Clementine, yet acts almost younger than her due to a possible disorder and her being sheltered by her father.
Warcraft universe:
In World of Warcraft King Varian Wrynn is a foil to Warchief Thrall. Thrall is an orc raised by humans, with the cunning and patience more associated with humans, while Wrynn was forced to fight in orc gladiatorial matches, giving him a bloodlust and vendetta against orcs, things found in orcs more often. Their histories also mirror each other's (Thrall had his clan destroyed when the humans defended themselves and had to rebuild it, while Wrynn had his kingdom destroyed by the orcs in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and also had to rebuild it).
Back in Warcraft III, Thrall's story arc seemed to very strongly mirror Arthas'. Thrall starts off as a slave but eventually becomes the warchief and saves the world through his sheer charisma and decision to ally with his people's former enemies. Meanwhile, Arthas has everything going for him in the beginning but his single-mindedness and arrogance lead to his becoming a slave to the Lich King and the death of his people. Unfortunately, this relationship doesn't get any spotlight in the game itself.
Word of God is that Garrosh Hellscream is also foil to Thrall. He replaces him as warchief and is a warlike, hot-headed, eventually evil orc, like the typical stereotype except in intelligent, whereas Thrall is a sensible peacemaker. In the Mists of Pandaria expansion, when Garrosh turns evil, King Varian learns to be less like him by comparison and thus also becomes a bit of a foil to him.
In Tides of War, Garrosh and Jaina are foils. Garrosh is described by author Christie Golden as a weak person with a malleable core, who is molded by his environment. By contrast, Jaina is often wounded by traumatic events, such as the destruction of Theramore, but her "core" remains intact.
The coarse Sheriff Bigby is overseen by Snow White, a strait-laced, immaculately clad bureaucrat. This is mirrored in their past selves: a savage wolf and a beautiful princess.
Snow is also contrasted with Ichabod Crane: he's an authoritarian jerk who's embezzling money from Fabletown citizens, she's a compassionate mediator who honestly believes in the law's power to help people.
Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Shen of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. They're both scientists, but they both take opposite approaches to it. The young, spirited Vahlen is analytical and idealistic but destructive; while she acknowledges that science can be used badly, its progress must be unhindered, and in the end, it will work itself out. The older, wiser Shen is creative and constructive but cynical; he believes that scientific progress must be slow, and he's very cautious about the moral implications of his work. It is left up to the player to decide which attitude is correct.
XCOM: Chimera Squad has some loading screen transcripts that highlight the differences between John Bradford, who served as Mission Control in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2, and Jane Kelly, the Director of XCOM's new Reclamation Agency and Chimera Squad's boss. Bradford fought in the original Alien Invasion 25 years ago, never got over XCOM's defeat then, and is still bitter about the resulting occupation. Kelly fought with Bradford to liberate the planet five years ago, but is now a major proponent of integrating aliens into Earth's postwar society, and considers her time in the Resistance to be "the old days." Bradford took to Drowning His Sorrows after Earth's initial defeat, while Kelly is almost never seen without a coffee cup in hand. Bradford is cynical and focused on the past, Kelly is a pragmatist looking to the future.
Ace, an unrepentant murderer who uses his prosopagnosia to justify his crimes, is contrasted with Snake, a blind man who is self-reliant, proud of it, and genuinely heroic. The two literally fight at one point.
VLR contrasts Akane Kurashiki with Tenmyouji. She's a compassionate yet distant esper whose plans are global in scope and involve sacrificing the few for the many; he's an humanist normal man who despises Akane's micromanaging and contents himself with caring for one person (his son, Quark). This is one reason why players are often surprised that they used to be lovers. Used being the operative word here.
, Viego and Akshan are meant to foil each other. Both are handsome Walking Shirtless Scenes with brash personalities who are defined by the loss of their loved ones and a desire to bring them back. However, whereas Viego is a selfish villain who will willingly doom the world to get what he wants, Akshan is a selfless hero who fights to protect others and will put his own life and goals on the line in order to do so. From a gameplay standpoint, Viego is a Close-Range Combatant whose defining power is to steal the body of his enemy is order to cause chaos among their team, while Akshan is a Long-Range Fighter whose defining power is to revive his fallen allies.