The DCU
Shadow Archetype in this franchise. open/close all folders
Comic Books
Comic Books
The following have their own pages:
- Justice League of America:
- The Crime Syndicate of America are the Justice League if they decided to rule the world instead of helping it. They demonstrate how important it is for the League to act responsibly.
- As with the Crime Syndicate, the Justice Lords are the League if they decided to establish a dictatorial regime after a tragic event that caused them to snap.
- The Hyper Clan are copies of the Justice League who are more aggressive and are willing to execute criminals.
- Red Hood and the Outlaws:
- Red Hood, to Batman. After being revived, Red Hood trains with the All-Caste, a secret, somewhat mystical sect of warriors who mirror Batman's League of Assassins. Red Hood is also Crazy-Prepared like Bats, with safehouses around the globe, each one full of weapons and supplies.
- Starfire to Superman. She's the flip side of Clark's coin, both being nearly all powerful aliens that are powered by the yellow sun. Both came from being traumatically removed from home into unfamiliar surroundings, with two very different upbringings. Starfire's perceptions of humanity, along with her tendency to attempt to kill whatever she doesn't like directly contrast Clark's. Star wishes to remain very private, only presenting herself willingly to the public eye when it's unavoidable. She doesn't wish to come off as friendly or there for others' protection, she just wants to do what she wishes. In issue 14, they meet... and it nearly breaks out into all out brawl involving the "team" and Sups, mostly due to her and Jason's character traits. It takes Jason's date, Isabel, from keeping things from getting out of hand while getting them all to sit down and talk.
- While LeTonya Charles/Cyborgirl is a foe of Wonder Woman, she's established as an evil Distaff Counterpart to Cyborg. Like Victor Stone, who was cyborgized following a horrific accident, Cyborgirl damaged her own body, but was saved by one of the scientists who repaired Victor. But unlike Cyborg, who used his newfound gifts as a Teen Titan and a member of the Justice League, LeTonya is a drug addict who deliberately damaged her own body and used her cybernetics to focus on personal gain. Her life is just a haphazard mudslide over which she has relatively little control due to her own failures, and choosing to destroy her body with Tar is what led her to become a cyborg. For all intents and purposes, she's an insane psychopath even after being robotized.
Films
Films
- DC Extended Universe:
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: After two decades of fighting crime, Batman has become cynical and apathetic towards the world. His crimefighting methods are less about protecting the innocent and more about punishing the guilty, to the point even ordinary citizens fear him. Superman, who also struggles with insecurities in this film, begins to see Batman as the kind of person he could become if he ever lost his faith.
- The Suicide Squad: Peacemaker is this to Rick Flag, representing a warped version of Flag's loyalty to the United States government. Although Flag is a patriotic military man, he turns against his country and decides to expose their corruption when he discovers that they helped fund Project Starfish, in which innocent Corto Maltese citizens, including children, were experimented on for the purpose of developing a WMD, while Peacemaker is a Knight Templar who firmly believes in My Country, Right or Wrong, and even kills Flag to prevent him from releasing the Project Starfish records to the public.
- The Dark Knight Trilogy
- Harvey Dent and Batman of The Dark Knight are shadows of each other — both had a day where they lost the people most important to them, which changed their lives forever. The difference being that Rachel Dawes was there to push Bruce back into believing there's good in the world worth fighting for, whereas for poor Harvey there was just the Joker showing up to mess with his head some more.
- The Dark Knight Joker tries to draw parallels between himself and Batman:"Don't talk like you're one of them [normal regular citizens]...To them, you're just a freak. Like me."
- Bane to Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. To Batman. Christopher Nolan said Bane was what Bruce Wayne could have become if he had stayed in the League of Shadows in the first film.
- Superman: Doomsday features Superman's clone, who still holds Supes' desire to help people and protect his city, but goes into extreme measures to do so, from threatening civilians to killing Toyman. Superman even calls him "My reflection in a cracked mirror."
- In Superman Returns, Richard White is essentially a reflection of the man that Superman could have become if he had fully embraced his human side as "Clark Kent" instead of traveling across the galaxy in search of his home planet. Like Superman, he's a brave, kind-hearted, square-jawed heroic figure who loves Lois Lane and can fly (in a plane); unlike Superman, he's a fully committed family man who actually marries Lois, and becomes a father to the son that Superman unwittingly abandoned.
Live-Action TV
Live-Action TV
- In Smallville Lex Luthor was always being warned about the darkness that he carried within himself. Enter Lx-3, a failed clone of Lex in the Season 10 premiere, "Lazarus". Lx-3 was essentially Lex without the facade, with all the rage and anger simmering at the very surface. An Ax-Crazy psycho to Lex's Manipulative Bastard, Lx-3 showcases exactly what is lurking beneath the surface of our favourite Corrupt Corporate Executive, while demonstrating how vital that restraint really is if Lex is to be a successful supervillain.
Video Games
Video Games
- Batman: Arkham Asylum: Victor Zsasz claims his life reached a turning point when his wealthy parents died, leaving him rich but lost and alone in the world, and a desire to find some purpose to live for. Just like Bruce Wayne back then, except that Bruce didn't find his purpose in killing people.
- Batman: The Telltale Series: At his core, John Doe/The Joker is a mirror of Bruce and Batman... but with the worst traits overshadowing the good ones. Both he and Bruce have established issues with socializing with people (John's lack of social awareness, and S1 Bruce's struggle to host a fundraiser), they both have romantic tension with dangerous women, need people to help set them on the right path (Bruce's potential support to steer John right and Alfred's disapproval of violent actions and subsequent approval of non-violent actions), they both hide a darker aspect to themselves (John has a growing dark side — the Joker — just waiting to get out, while philanthropist Bruce Wayne beats criminals with his bare hands as the Batman). In the Vigilante Path the Joker becomes a Vigilante after being inspired by Bruce's trust and being enraged at the corruption of the Agency, not unlike how Bruce lost his parents to a corrupt Mayor. This is Lampshaded by Alfred, who notes the Joker is a mirror of Batman even where Bruce is darkest.
- Injustice: Regime Superman in Injustice: Gods Among Us represents what mainstream Superman can become if a tragic event caused him to snap, let his emotions consume him, and lose his moral compass for good. At the end, the main universe Superman even comments that if he were to experience similar conditions after understanding what drove his Regime counterpart to villainy, he would've done the same things.
- He's also one to Supergirl in Injustice 2, as while he still hasn't recovered from the Despair Event Horizon, she wishes to actually give people hope (and make them trust the House of El again) and not be a Well-Intentioned Extremist dictator unlike her estranged cousin. Not that one could rightly call her a heel in the first place, but she ultimately turns against the Regime and joins up with Batman in the endgame. Even then, she feels she failed her cousin, who she was supposed to protect from people like the Joker, and her family by being unable to stop the House of El's reputation from being tarnished.
Western Animation
Western Animation
- DC Animated Universe
- Batman: The Animated Series:
- This version of the Clock King, Temple Fugate, shadows Batman's Crazy-Prepared tendencies.
- The rare heroic version in Harvey Bullock. He very much does what Batman does as he bends (read: breaks) the law quite regularly to get results. Also, much like Batman and his seemingly harmless alter-ego Bruce Wayne, Bullock seems inept as all hell but is as capable of a fighter as Batman when surrounded by bad guys or Mooks. He also has that "one rule" he'll never, ever, EVER break, for all his flaws, Bullock is one of the few regular Joes in Gotham that will never take a bribe.
- Batman Beyond
- Zander was supposed to be a dark mirror to Terry before he turned into a dinosaur man.
- Like Bruce, Ra's al Ghul wants to carry on his goals via a younger successor.
- Batman: The Animated Series:
- My Adventures with Superman: The General is the logical corruption of all of Superman's good qualities. Superman is dedicated to doing the right thing, and so is the General — but where Clark is filled with self-doubt, the General is firmly stationed within his biases and refuses to compromise his worldview. They swap roles in "Zero Day, Part 2"; while Superman becomes more confident in his abilities and role as a protector of Metropolis, the General begins to doubt everything he's believed for the past 22 years.
- Teen Titans (2003)
- Red X and Slade are both Robin's shadows—X represents what Robin could become if he decided looking out for himself was more important than helping people, while Slade represents what could happen if Robin gave in to evil completely (as Slade is an Evil Mentor, he's also a shadow of Robin's actual mentor, Batman).
- Raven
- Though it isn't really played up, Terra can be seen as Raven's shadow. Both are Dark Magical Girls with powers tied to emotions, but Raven practices intense self-discipline to keep herself on the good guys' side, while Terra is an emotional wreck who doesn't really mean evil, but turns out to be very susceptible to serious temptation the first time it comes down the pipe. Raven calls Terra out on how much she has to work to control her powers while Terra won't take that responsibility.
- To a lesser extent, Raven and Jinx. Raven tries to be a hero in spite of being the daughter of an Eldritch Abomination (and being one herself when she gets angry enough), while Jinx became a villain solely because she figured her 'bad luck' powers couldn't be used for good.
- Blackfire is, in many ways, the Shadow of her sister Starfire. She is what Starfire could’ve been, as she was a selfish royale who only cared for herself and had no friends. Fittingly, the origin episode revealed that Starfire was originally an untrusting warrior who didn’t even know what kindness was, with the closest thing to her language being weak. Being around friends mellowed her out into a kind girl, showing what would’ve happened if Starfire had remained alone and probably would’ve been as honest and caring as her sister Blackfire. They even have [[Hynden Walch, the same voice actress]].
- Young Justice (2010)
- Ma'alefa'ak (M'comm M'orzz) shares a lot of M'gann's insecurities about being racially discriminated and abuses his powers the way she did. Unlike M'gann however, he lets these insecurities consume him and he continues to abuse his powers.
- To his clone, Roy Harper II aka Red Arrow. Arsenal represents what could've happened to him had he let his obsessive, jerkish nature be his main attributes.
- Metron to Silas Stone. Metron's debut showcases him as a very disconnected individual who cares only about his work, not unlike Silas. But where Silas has been humbled by the consequences of his Workaholic behavior, Metron is completely uncaring of unconventional morality, giving Silas a good view of how he came off to his son, but on an even greater extreme. And while Silas legitimately reconciles with Victor, both the latter and Violet do not trust Metron due to his Blue-and-Orange Morality.
