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Anime & Manga
"When there's light, there are also shadows. It's a casual relationship in life."
— Madara Uchiha, Naruto
Comic Books
Scourge the Hedgehog: I've got you figured out. I know why you hate me. I know... And it's just not the Fiona thing or that I'm better looking... It's that all it takes is one bad day and you'd be just like me.
Sonic the Hedgehog: No, that's not it, Scourge. It's because all it would take is a little bit of selflessness... a little bit of decency... And you'd be just like me.
Sonic the Hedgehog: No, that's not it, Scourge. It's because all it would take is a little bit of selflessness... a little bit of decency... And you'd be just like me.
"Sometimes... sometimes I think the Asylum is a head. We’re inside a huge head that dreams us all into being. Perhaps it’s your head, Batman. Arkham is a looking glass. And we are you."
— The Mad Hatter, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
"He calls himself 'Scarecrow.' Psychologist turned psychopath. He preys on the innocent and instills them with fear. When I chose to wear my... costume, it was to prey upon the criminals, and instill them with fear. The irony is not lost on me..."
Fan Works
That was it. Pinkamina Diane was, in some way, a physical reflection of Pinkie Pie. The reflection of Pinkie's element, Laughter, wasn't the absence of the action. It was the absence of the joy. Despair. A fear for tomorrow.
But, if Pinkamina was a physical reflection of Pinkie, it stood to reason that other physical reflections might exist. Thinking back, Twilight realized that past all the grime and sweat, Temperament shared a startling resemblance to Rarity. The purple mane, the white though soot-stained coat, the three-diamond cutie mark, a seemingly random symbol for a lowly blacksmith.
Rarity was the Element of Generosity. The reflection must be Avarice. Yes. That was it. Temperament had seemed rather off-put by their request, as if she didn't want to help them despite it being a simple question. Then she went and cheated them out of some money. And now, she realized that Temperament had started to greet Pinkie, or rather Pinkamina, as if she recognized her. But she had stopped as if she remembered something, or saw something that cut her off. And then Temperament had directed them to Spectral Slash.
Ah. Spectral Slash. It was then Twilight began to see this world for what it was; a mirror to Reality. But she had been thrown off the trail by Slash's outgoing demeanor. She had seemed friendly, helpful, almost like an old friend. But it went with her Element. The reflection of Loyalty, Rainbow's Element, was Betrayal. It had all been a setup. An elaborate scheme. Which had ended...
Here. Twilight looked up. “You're us. In some way, you're a twisted form of our mentality, our body, our Element.”
But, if Pinkamina was a physical reflection of Pinkie, it stood to reason that other physical reflections might exist. Thinking back, Twilight realized that past all the grime and sweat, Temperament shared a startling resemblance to Rarity. The purple mane, the white though soot-stained coat, the three-diamond cutie mark, a seemingly random symbol for a lowly blacksmith.
Rarity was the Element of Generosity. The reflection must be Avarice. Yes. That was it. Temperament had seemed rather off-put by their request, as if she didn't want to help them despite it being a simple question. Then she went and cheated them out of some money. And now, she realized that Temperament had started to greet Pinkie, or rather Pinkamina, as if she recognized her. But she had stopped as if she remembered something, or saw something that cut her off. And then Temperament had directed them to Spectral Slash.
Ah. Spectral Slash. It was then Twilight began to see this world for what it was; a mirror to Reality. But she had been thrown off the trail by Slash's outgoing demeanor. She had seemed friendly, helpful, almost like an old friend. But it went with her Element. The reflection of Loyalty, Rainbow's Element, was Betrayal. It had all been a setup. An elaborate scheme. Which had ended...
Here. Twilight looked up. “You're us. In some way, you're a twisted form of our mentality, our body, our Element.”
"Teddy watched as Jake beat the life out of his father. Jake didn't care that I saw the killer in him set to work. No matter the fact I'm glad the piece of shit is dead, he murdered someone right in front of me and my son. He showed us how easy it was. How good it felt... He showed me what I could easily become..."
An uneven silence fell over the room. Of course, Beans knew nothing of the darker aspects of Grace's life, and so the whispered comment was more for Grace's own benefit. The confession made her feel lighter somehow, to speak the realised words and know they were true. The bulk of the reason she now kept Jake out. He didn't terrify her. She terrified herself. She'd seen him murder someone with absolute conviction and sense of righteousness. Hell, a small coherent part of her had even relished it... and that had frightened her.
An uneven silence fell over the room. Of course, Beans knew nothing of the darker aspects of Grace's life, and so the whispered comment was more for Grace's own benefit. The confession made her feel lighter somehow, to speak the realised words and know they were true. The bulk of the reason she now kept Jake out. He didn't terrify her. She terrified herself. She'd seen him murder someone with absolute conviction and sense of righteousness. Hell, a small coherent part of her had even relished it... and that had frightened her.
— Old West
"She's me, Asami. She's me if I fell a little too far. If I grew up angry. If I didn't have anyone around who loved me." She gazed up at Asami with a terrified look in her eyes. "She's a living, breathing, example of what happens if I lose control, okay? If I ever lost sight of who I was, and where the line is."
— Korra about Kuvira, Repairs, Retrofits and Upgrades
Adel is a full-tilt diva of an omnicidal maniac, he wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a world where it's all about him! I'll admit, I'm not so different from that son of a bitch you so-called a brother who is bitterly jealous of his own sibling who likes their fathers better.
— Micchy, Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations
Supergirl had been rocketed backward in the starry void by the collision with Satan Girl. Unlike Black Adam, Satan Girl didn't bounce off her opponent or waste time with an introduction. She stayed with Kara, grappling, punching, kicking, and scratching. Kara was aghast. She'd been in tough fights before, even against Satan Girl herself, but the viciousness of her cloneling's attack was like that of a rabid leopard.
The worst part of it was looking at Satan Girl's face. Her own face. Twisted in hatred and fury, brimming with viciousness and lust, void of mercy or love. Her Dark Side.
With all of her world-staggering power.
Kara would sooner have been grappling with a Kryptonian rattlesnake.
The worst part of it was looking at Satan Girl's face. Her own face. Twisted in hatred and fury, brimming with viciousness and lust, void of mercy or love. Her Dark Side.
With all of her world-staggering power.
Kara would sooner have been grappling with a Kryptonian rattlesnake.
"Oh, Captain, you truly amuse me. Look at us. Thesis and antithesis. Each of us was no more than a symbol, Captain. A symbol our governments created to spur on the ones who fought for them. Did you know there were fiction magazines devoted to my exploits in the Fatherland, Captain? Not unlike your cheap pamphlets of colored paper over here, fictionalizing your battles. The Red Skull was their hero, Captain. He was the fearsome foe of the enemies of the Reich, the upholder of truth, justice, and the Aryan way, the only one strong enough to stand against the damnable traitor, Hauptmann Amerika, who slaughtered the flower of Deutschland's youth! That was what I was, Captain America. That is what I am. I am no less a hero than you."
— Red Skull, FIRE! (DarkMark)
"There but for my efforts you go, Sasuke. There is pride, arrogance, and above all, the terminal stupidity of a shinobi who, faced with an unstoppable foe, does not consider anything beyond blindly charging into the fray."
— Kakashi Hatake regarding Neji Hyuga, One Eye Full Of Wisdom
Film — Animation
"You were right! I should've gone back to my family! They told me not to be like de la Cruz, but I didn't listen!"
— Miguel to Héctor, Coco
"You're self-righteous, misguided, my reflection in a cracked mirror."
"There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked."
— Batman to Owlman, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Film — Live-Action
Darren Cross: All those years ago, you picked me. What did you see in me?
Hank Pym: I saw myself.
Darren Cross: [hurt] Then why did you push me away?
Hank Pym: Because I saw too much of myself.
Hank Pym: I saw myself.
Darren Cross: [hurt] Then why did you push me away?
Hank Pym: Because I saw too much of myself.
— Ant-Man
"It is purpose that created us. Purpose that connects us. Purpose that pulls us. That guides. That drives us. It is purpose that defines. Purpose that binds us."
— Agent Smith, The Matrix
"I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light."
— Belloq, Raiders of the Lost Ark
"Don't talk like you're one of them [normal regular citizens]...To them, you're just a freak. Like me."
— The Joker, The Dark Knight
"Hello James, welcome. Do you like the island? My grandmother had an island when I was a boy. Nothing to boast of — you could walk along it in an hour — but still, it was a paradise for us. One summer, we came for a visit and discovered the whole place had been infested with rats. They'd come on a fishing boat and had gorged themselves on coconut. So how do you get rats off an island, hmm? My grandmother showed me. We buried an oil drum, and hinged the lid. Then we wired coconut to the lid as bait. The rats come for the coconut, and they fall into the drum, and after a month, you've trapped all the rats. But what did you do then? Throw the drum into the ocean? Burn it? No. You just leave it. And they begin to get hungry, then one by one. They start eating each other, until there are only two left. The two survivors. And then what? Do you kill them? No. You take them, and release them into the trees. Only now, they don't eat coconut anymore. Now they will only eat rat. You have changed their nature. The two survivors. This is what she [M] made us."
— Raoul Silva, Skyfall
Literature
The end of this story can only be related in metaphors since it takes place in the kingdom of heaven, where there is no time. Perhaps it would be correct to say that Aurelian spoke with God and that He was so little interested in religious differences that He took him for John of Pannonia. This, however, would imply a confusion in the divine mind. It is more correct to say that in Paradise, Aurelian learned that, for the unfathomable divinity, he and John of Pannonia (the orthodox believer and The Heretic, the abhorrer and the abhorred, the accuser and the accused) formed one single person.
Music
I tried to be someone else
But nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside
I've finally found myself
Fighting for a chance
I know now, this is who I really am
But nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside
I've finally found myself
Fighting for a chance
I know now, this is who I really am
All of us got a shadow
Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men?
The shadow knows
We become what we do, not what we pretend
Between the intention and the expression
Between the emotion and the response
Falls the shadow
Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men?
The shadow knows
We become what we do, not what we pretend
Between the intention and the expression
Between the emotion and the response
Falls the shadow
— Devo, "The Shadow"
But have you tried for just one second
Living as the man you script?
I’m the parts you were ashamed of, I’m the parts you tried to fight
I’m the parts you told yourself didn’t keep you awake at night
I’m the part of you that’s better, you just can’t concede I’m right
So, you poured me into pages, then I guess I’m just your type
Living as the man you script?
I’m the parts you were ashamed of, I’m the parts you tried to fight
I’m the parts you told yourself didn’t keep you awake at night
I’m the part of you that’s better, you just can’t concede I’m right
So, you poured me into pages, then I guess I’m just your type
Yu's vocals: You and I we ain't so different
I guess I had more blessings
Without it, got belligerent
But I totally understand
Glass was half full for mine
Adachi's vocals: And it looked half empty for me
Both: Maybe that one glass made the path we took, who knows?
I guess I had more blessings
Without it, got belligerent
But I totally understand
Glass was half full for mine
Adachi's vocals: And it looked half empty for me
Both: Maybe that one glass made the path we took, who knows?
— "Yin Yang", "Persona 4: The Golden Animation"
Live-Action TV
"You know you're just one bad day away from being me."
Video Games
"But remember this, because you are looking at your own future. One day, you will see through all the lies... and then the dead... will come for you as well..."
— Avitus to Tarkus, Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
"I am a shadow... The true self..."
— The Shadow Selves, Persona 4
"Farewell, my shadow. You who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow."
— Mithos to Lloyd after the final boss battle, Tales of Symphonia
Webcomics
"You are who you are on you very worst day Durkon. Anything less is a comforting lie you tell yourself to numb the pain. And that's who I am, your worst day personified. Hel may have created me, but she shaped me perfectly to fit in the hole in" your heart.
— High Priest of Hel, The Order of the Stick
Web Original
One of the USA's greatest historical achievements was sending Captain America to punch Adolf Hitler square in the jaw. But what you may not know is that, prior to the U.S. tossing its military might in against the Axis powers, Hitler had a well-known obsession with all things American, from Coca-Cola to Mickey Mouse.
And although we tend to think of Nazi Germany as the very antithesis of truth, justice, and the American way, it turns out that some of the shittiest ideas lurking within the darkest corners of Hitler's shitty evil brain were directly inspired by things he learned from relentlessly studying American culture. Basically, if Hitler is The Joker, America is the Batman who dropped him in a vat of ooze.
...we're not saying America created Hitler. But it's easy to look back and portray WWII as Uncle Sam versus the man who is the polar opposite of everything America stands for. That's taking a revisionist approach, though; in many cases Hitler was just taking some American ideas to their awful, logical conclusion.
It's, uh, kind of important that we not forget that.
And although we tend to think of Nazi Germany as the very antithesis of truth, justice, and the American way, it turns out that some of the shittiest ideas lurking within the darkest corners of Hitler's shitty evil brain were directly inspired by things he learned from relentlessly studying American culture. Basically, if Hitler is The Joker, America is the Batman who dropped him in a vat of ooze.
...we're not saying America created Hitler. But it's easy to look back and portray WWII as Uncle Sam versus the man who is the polar opposite of everything America stands for. That's taking a revisionist approach, though; in many cases Hitler was just taking some American ideas to their awful, logical conclusion.
It's, uh, kind of important that we not forget that.
Western Animation
"The brighter the picture, the darker the negative."
— Rupert Thorne, Batman: The Animated Series, "Two Face Part 1"
Starfire: I am sorry.
Robin: You're sorry? For what?
Starfire: When things were bad, there was a moment where I truly believed that you were...like Slade. I doubted you. And for that, I am sorry.
Robin: I doubted myself, Star. Focused, serious, determined...as much as I hate to admit it, he and I are kind of alike. But there's one big difference between me and Slade. (smiling) He doesn't have any friends.
Robin: You're sorry? For what?
Starfire: When things were bad, there was a moment where I truly believed that you were...like Slade. I doubted you. And for that, I am sorry.
Robin: I doubted myself, Star. Focused, serious, determined...as much as I hate to admit it, he and I are kind of alike. But there's one big difference between me and Slade. (smiling) He doesn't have any friends.
