article

A doppelgänger () is the ghostly double of a living person. The word doppelgänger is a loanword from German, written there (as any noun) with an initial capital letter Doppelgänger, composed from doppel, meaning "double", and gänger, literally as "goer" (though in this context, the meaning is closer to "walker"). In English, the word is conventionally not capitalized, and it is also common to drop the German diacritic umlaut on the letter "a" and write "doppelganger", although the correct spelling without umlaut is "doppelgaenger".

The term has, in the vernacular, come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person, most commonly in reference to a so-called evil twin, or to bilocation. Alternatively, the word is used to describe a phenomenon where you catch your own image out of the corner of your eye. In some mythologies, seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death. A doppelgänger seen by friends or relatives of a person may sometimes bring bad luck, or indicate an approaching illness or health problem.

In folklore

The doppelgängers of folklore cast no shadow, and have no reflection in a mirror or in water. They are supposed to provide advice to the person they shadow, but this advice can be misleading or malicious. They can also, in rare instances, plant ideas in their victim's mind or appear before friends and relatives, causing confusion. In many cases once someone has viewed their own doppelganger they are doomed to be haunted by images of their ghostly counter part.

Famous reports of the doppelgänger phenomenon

  • Emilie Sagée was a schoolteacher in the nineteenth century whose doppelgänger's public appearances were recorded by Robert Dale Owen after being reported to him by Julie von Güldenstubbe*.
  • Guy de Maupassant recorded his own doppelgänger experiences in his story Lui ( The light continent).
  • It is sometimes claimed that Percy Bysshe Shelley, English atheist and poet, met his doppelgänger foreboding his own death. However, Shelley met this "doppelgänger" in a dream*, not in real life.
  • John Donne, the English metaphysical poet, apparently met his wife's doppelgänger in Paris, foreboding the death of his yet unborn daughter.
  • Abraham Lincoln told his wife that he saw two faces of himself in a mirror soon after being elected president, one deathly pale. His wife believed this to mean he would be elected to a second term but would not survive (Sandburg, 195).
  • Rosalyn Greene claims that the doppelgänger phenomenon, via bilocation, is responsible for reports of werewolves and other shapeshifters (Greene, 87).

Emilie Sagée

Robert Dale Owen was responsible for writing down the singular case of Emilie Sagée. He was told this anecdote by Julie von Güldenstubbe, a Latvian aristocrat. Von Güldenstubbe reported that in the year 1845–46, at the age of 13, she witnessed, along with audiences of between 13 and 42 children, her 32-year-old French teacher Sagée bilocate, in broad daylight, inside her school (Pensionat von Neuwelcke). The actions of Sagée's doppelgänger included:
  • Mimicking writing and eating, but with nothing in its hands.
  • Moving independently of Sagée, and remaining motionless while she moved.
  • Appearing to be in full health while Sagée was badly ill.
Apparently also, the doppelgänger exerted resistance to the touch, but was non-physical (one* girl passed through the doppelgänger's body).

Doppelgänger phenomenon in popular culture

Doppelgängers appear in a variety of science fiction and fantasy works, in which they are a type of shapeshifter that mimics a particular person or species for some typically nefarious reason.

A temporal doppelgänger is any version of oneself one may meet during time travel. It is an exact likeness of one at a specific time in one's history (or future). Meetings with oneself may occur when one version of oneself travels backwards through the timestream and encounters a younger version of oneself, or when two or more of the same person from different timestreams travel to the same moment in their futures.

Nigel Watson writes about the doppelgänger phenomenon in flying saucer tales, which have a long history of lookalikes. In the February 2006 edition of Fortean Times (pp50-53) he does a double-take on u.f.o.s, fairies and their links to modern science fiction.

Literature

Film

Television

  • ''6teen
  • Alias episode "Doppelganger", written by J. J. Abrams.
  • Jake Long episode "The Doppelganger Gang" features Jake creating doppelgangers to do his chores and other tasks. He creates one to practice double dutch with Trixie and Spud, one to be in the Cougar Scouts that his dad enrolled him in, one to babysit Haley, one to do his chores, and one for school. He later inadvertadly creates one that is completely evil (Yang Jake) to fight Brad, but then goes too far and a weakened Jake must fight.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Doppelgängland", written by Joss Whedon.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Wish", written by Marti Noxon.
  • Cardcaptor Sakura episode "Sakura and another Sakura", a Clow Card ( G-R#鏡 The Mirror) is impersonating the series Protagonist Sakura Kinomoto and framing her for a number of incidents. Before it is captured the card lures her brother off a cliff and almost kills him. With the a change of heart, the card then allows Sakura to capture her.
  • Charmed episode "It's A Bad Bad Bad Bad World" has the sisters dealing with doppelgängers.
  • Crime Scene Investigation episode 213, "Identity Crisis," serial killer Paul Millander, pretending to be a Las Vegas judge, claims to have a doppleganger for whom Gil Grissom has mistaken him.
  • "David Lynch"'s television series Twin Peaks
  • The Night Stalker episode "Firefall"
  • Inuyasha - A major plot in the storyline is when the half-demon Naraku tricks Inuyasha and Kikyo into hating each other by transforming into Inuyasha and fatally wounding Kikyo. Kikyo uses her last bit of energy to pin Inuyasha to a tree with a sacred arrow, where he remains for 50 years. Naraku was formed when thousands of demons devoured a dying man, and might have doppelganger abilities.
  • Martin Mystery episode "Revenge of the Doppelgänger" features a young woman who has exorcised her doppelgänger, but it remains at large searching for her and stealing the face all three women who resemble the woman. Diana refers to it as "those little guys who appear on your shoulder in cartoons".
  • NCIS television series episode 2-12 "Doppelgänger". Despite the plot having nothing to do with doppelgangers, it is an interesting subplot, having a naval team being almost the same as the field team, though Ducky and Abby were not represented.
  • Neighbours episode “The Joy Flight”, Janelle briefly sees Dylan’s doppelganger when he is involved in the plane crash.
  • "Saturday Night Live" episode 1440, first aired 03/11/2006, contained a film called "Doppelgangers" about three cast members eating sandwiches outside.
  • "Sealab 2021", "Lost in Time"
  • Sliders episode "Season's Greedings" written by Eleah Horwitz first aired: 12/20/96. As well as a number of the show's other episodes since they move through different dimensions and sometimes encounter themselves on these other "Earths".
  • "Star Trek" The evil Captain Kirk from Star Trek's Mirror Universe
  • So Weird episode "Eddie's Desk" episode 4, 3rd season, Annie sees the doppelganger of the man in charge of desks. She's told that he's not dead and Fi tells her by chat that a doppelganger is the part of a person that separated of that person because it left something uncomplete. When he completes it, the doppelganger joins Eddie and they both form him.
  • Supernatural In episode 6, "Skin" The Winchesters encounter a shapeshifter, who have been framing people by morphing into them and killing people while in their form. It should also be noted that the shifter was killed in Dean's form, and the police pronounced him dead.
  • Teen Titans The character Larry is Robin's doppelganger who appears in a smaller and much more cartoonish form. His real name was Kcid Nosyarg, being Dick Grayson (Robin) backwards
  • Twilight Zone: "Mirror Image"
  • The Legend of Zelda Season 1, "Doppelgänger."
  • The Simpsons In episode 2F08, we see a Homer Simpson look-alike, Guy Incognito, being kicked out of Moe's Tavern shortly after Homer's lifetime ban.
  • The Vision of Escaflowne episodes 10 (The Blue-Eyed Prince) and 11 (Prophecy of Death) contains a race of shapeshifters called Doppelgangers.
  • The X-Files episode "Fight Club", written by Chris Carter and named after the Palahniuk novel
  • "Twin Peaks" When Agent Cooper enters the Black Lodge, he is confronted by his 'evil twin' who takes his place in the real world.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! There is a Duel Monster magic-type card called " Doppelganger", one of the cards in Maximillion Pegasus's deck. It looks like a ridiculously cartoony cat with an elasticated body and in the anime, it can take on the form of one of the opponent duelist's monsters.
  • "Zatch Bell!" - Zatch Bell has an evil twin named Zeno who hates Zatch for one reason or another.
  • In a 1994 World Wrestling Federation storyline, The Undertaker confronts another Undertaker played by Brian Lee.
  • In a 1996 World Championship Wrestling storyline, Sting confronts a fake Sting played by Jeff Farmer.
  • In a 2006 World Wrestling Entertainment storyline, Kane confronts a wrestler wearing his old mask and ring attire, played by Drew Hankinson.
  • "Vampire Princess Miyu" - A shinma demon, who could take the form of any person, took the form of Miyu and murdered humans with her appearance.
  • In the television show "Fullmetal Alchemist" the main villains, the Homunculi, are dopplegangers of the dead person used to create them.
  • In an episode of the Superfriends, Green Lantern is stripped of his Power Ring by the Legion of Doom and forced to face a doppelganger whom the Legion of Doom gave the ring to.

Video games

  • In the first game of Tomb Raider the main character Lara Croft has a Doppelgänger with no skin seen near at the near of the game. The player must kill it strategically to advance through the game.
  • In the game Bloodrayne, the Doppelganger Twins, Sigmund and Simon Kreiger, were a pair of narcissistic twins.
  • In level 5 of Prince of Persia, a classic videogame by Jordan Mechner released in 1989 by Brøderbund, the hero's reflection escapes from an enchanted mirror. Throughout the rest of the game, this doppelgänger acts as the evil double jeopardizing the player's mission.
  • In the computer game Guild Wars, the player must defeat their doppelgänger.
  • Heather, the protagonist of Silent Hill 3, fights a dark and bloody version of herself on a merry-go-round at the Lakeside Amusement Park.
  • In the Nintendo game Pokémon, the Pokémon Ditto can replicate its opponents and their abilities by copying portions of their DNA. Also in Pokémon Colosseum, at the end you battle an evil version of the protagonist who has been framing you for attacking local people at the Outskirt Stand. The Pokémon Gengar's name comes from the word doppelgänger.
  • Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog has multiple doppelgängers. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 contained one robotic version. Metal Sonic is another, sleeker robot appearing in many games, beginning with Sonic CD. Shadow the Hedgehog, first appearing in Sonic Adventure 2, is Sonic's darker moral and visual counterpart.
  • The Super Mario Series contains numerous doppelgängers. Wario and Waluigi are evil counterparts of Mario and Luigi, the Mario Brothers. Shadow Mario is a dark, transluscent imitation of Mario with glowing red eyes, but he is only Bowser Jr. in disguise. The shapeshifter Doopliss, from The Thousand Year Door also employs this strategy.
  • In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game for the NES, level boss "MechaTurtle" appears first as a doppelgänger of the character the player is currently using.
  • Certain modes of the NES game Super Dodge Ball require that "Team USA" defeat doppelgängers after toppling the final opponent, Team USSR.
  • In the video game series Metroid, two doppelgängers of Samus Aran exist: Dark Samus (Metroid Prime and Echoes) and the SA-X (Metroid Fusion). In Hunters, Samus trains in her own simulator versus a green doppelgänger.
  • In Suikoden II it is revealed that the vampire Neclord that you vanquished in the first Suikoden was nothing more than a doppelgänger of the real Neclord.
  • In Ocarina of Time, The Adventure of Link, Four Swords Adventures, and even Melee, Link must battle his doppelgänger Dark Link (also referred to as "Link's shadow") in the Water Temple, Great Palace, and other areas.
  • In Metal Gear Solid, Foxhound member Decoy Octopus is a master impersonator, who impersonates the DARPA chief. Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake are all clones of Big Boss and all share similar facial expressions.
  • In Metal Gear Acid, Hans Davis is portrayed as Solid Snake's second personality that separated from his body and became his doppelgänger.
  • One of Dante's combat styles in Dante's Awakening is called Doppelganger, which allows him to utilize a shadow to double attacks. Doppelganger is also the boss in mission 17. It looks like a shadowy version of Dante's Devil form, and uses attacks similar moves for Rebellion and Beowulf.
  • In Onimusha, Samanosuke fights Stylado, a Genma clone, but he does not possess an Oni Gauntlet.
  • In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, Doppelganger is a MVP (a boss), and is actually a sort of "shadowy" clone of the swordsman class. In the same game, the newest-added dungeon, BioLaboratory of the city of Lighthalzen, includes "Doppelgängeresque" versions of all the first-class jobs (Swordsman, Acolyte, Magician, Merchant, Thief, Archer) and versions of the first 6 trascendent class jobs (Lord Knight, High Priest, High Wizard, Whitesmith, Assassin Cross, Sniper). These monsters are meant to drop the strongest weapon for each class, depending on which one you kill.
  • In Four Swords, the four sword allow Link to create three doppelgängers. The Minish Cap also allowed the player, once their sword was sufficiently powered-up, to temporarily clone themselves up to three times in order to overcome certain puzzles.
  • In the Xbox game The Two Thrones, you fight against yourself in the very last level.
  • In the Gamecube game Lost Kingdoms, you can acquire a Doppelganger card by either transforming either a Great Turtle, White Tiger, Blue Dragon, Golden Phoenix, God of Destruction, or collecting all 100 red fairies. The card looks just like the main character, Princess Katia, and it walks around on the battlefield when summoned. When either friend or foe touches the Doppleganger, they are automatically killed, and the card is discarded.
  • In the game Chrono Cross, the character Sprigg has a level 3 tech called Doppelgang, which allows her to transform into certain monsters once they have been defeated by anyone carrying the Forget-Me-Not Pot.
  • In the game Grandia, Rapp learns a knife skill named Doppelganger where he splits into four copies of himself and attacks an enemy.
  • In the PlayStation game Saga Frontier, while acquiring shadow magic, the main party must defeat their shadows.
  • In the game Arc the Lad, the main protagonists must fight dark versions of themselves (the evil in their souls) during the final boss battle.
  • In Kingdom Hearts, you fight Anti-Sora, who is the Heartless form of Sora. In Kingdom Hearts II, Roxas has to fight his own reflection in a waterfall. Roxas could be considered Sora's doppelgänger, considering he is Sora's nobody.
  • In many of the Castlevania games, like Dracula's Curse, Lament of Innocence and Symphony of the Night, there is a doppelgänger that copies most of your abilities and attacks.
  • In Dawn of Sorrow, The Doppelgaenger is a soul that allows Soma to switch his weapons and equipment and a monster that took the form of Mina Hakuba used and killed by Celia to make Soma's hate grow in order for him to become a dark lord (Dracula).
  • In Final Fantasy IV, Cecil must fight his doppelgänger that was him as a Dark Knight while you use him as a Paladin.
  • In Zombies Ate My Neighbors, a horror-themed video game for the SNES and Sega Genesis consoles, there is an extra-terrestrial enemy known as Doppelgangers. They appear identical to the player's character and generally mimic his or her movements.
  • In Disciples 2, a unit called Doppleganger is a unit for the Legions of the Damned. It can transform to any unit on the field.
  • In the game Sudeki, the main characters meet their alternate versions when heading to the Aklorian Stronghold.
  • In Final Fantasy IX, when you go to Oeilvert, you can encounter an enemy called the Epitaph. If you attack it, it will send out a copy of one of the playable characters. If you have that copied character in your party, it will be killed.
  • In Secret of Mana, the three main characters must fight their doppelgängers inside the mountain where Sage Joch lives.
  • In Final Fantasy X-2, a character (generally Yuna, who is best suited for it), can be given the Blue Bullet Job, which can be used to transform into a doppelgänger of any enemies previously killed, so long as you copied their DNA.
  • In the Soul Calibur series, some characters, like Zasalamel and Nightmare may fight their doppelgänger in certain stages of Story Mode.
  • In Future Perfect, Jo-Beth Casey appears in 2 levels. 1 of these levels features zombie versions of her character.
  • In The Legend of Zelda series, Ganon uses his dark magic to create a doppelgänger of his own soul, Phantom Ganon, as well as copy Link into a dark blue evil version of himself called Shadow Link.
  • The online MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing features a familiar named the Doppelshifter. Described as an "amorphous blob", it changes its shape to match another familiar from the game at random. The name is derived from it being a Doppelgänger Shapeshifter.

Music

  • Doppelgänger is the title of the 1983 album by Daniel Amos. There is also a song entitled "The Double" on the disc that deals with the Doppelgänger theme.
  • Doppelgänger is the title of the sophomore album from the band The Fall of Troy.
  • Doppelgänger is the name of the debut album by the British band, Curve, comprised of Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia
  • Doppelgänger is the title of a song by American singer/songwriter Dory Previn which deals with paranoia and the latent savagery of humanity.
  • Doppelganger is the title of a song by Asian American singer/songwriter Cynthia Lin with a more jovial view of the "evil twin" phenomenon
  • The music video for the single "Poster of a Girl" by Canadian band Metric, features two versions of lead singer Emily Haines, a "real" Emily who wanders into a concert put on by the band, and another the "doppleganger" Emily who is playing with the band onstage. Throughout the video, the "real" Emily makes her way to the front of the stage to confront her double. At the end of the video, when the two meet eye-to-eye, the "real" Emily dies.

Other media

  • Freud's essay The Uncanny
  • Spider-Man's evil Doppelganger from the pages of Marvel Comics, his clone Ben Reilly, his other clone Kaine, and his third clone Spidercide.
  • In the flash animation "Krentz and the Hand of Shame Hepisode II" by David Homfray, the bounty hunter D-Mak plans to implicate the protagonists in crimes using "evil doppelganger(s)" puppets.
  • The Doppelganger from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, and adaptations thereof, such as the Baldur's Gate series
  • In the comic Bob and George, the characters are constantly meeting past, future, and alternate reality versions of themselves.
  • In the RPG published by Palladium Books, Nightbane, there exists 'Dopplegangers': Super-strong strong and tougher copies of humans that live in the Nightlands, the darker version of earth reached through mirrors. They live their lives in a haze unless something awakens them. They are playthings of the powerful Nightlords, the rulers of the realm, if actual humans are not available. They have lower PPE, minor psychic abilities (but a low incidence of master psionics). They are usually the opposite of their human counterparts on earth.
  • The Shonen Jump adaptation of the Naruto manga translates the ninjutsu 'Kage bunshin no jutsu'(lit. "Skill of the Shadow Copy") as "Art of the Doppleganger".
  • Karl Pilkington, Producer of the Ricky Gervais show is fascinated by the idea of the Doppelgänger, the topic is talked in a few of the radio shows, The Ricky Gervais Show
  • In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Scorpion must fight a version of himself in story mode.
  • In the DC Comics universe, the Justice League of America have a set of evil doppelgangers from an alternate universe known as the Crime Syndicate of Amerika.
  • In The Gathering's first set, the Vesuvan Doppelganger was a well-known blue creature that allowed a player to copy another creature, with the option of changing the creature the doppelgänger copied.
  • In Megaman: Battle Network 4 and 5, megaman and his friends must occasionally fight a shadowy projection of his evil heart, referred to as "Darkmega". This shadow also makes an appareance when normal megaman uses a darkchip and is deleted in the same battle.
  • In Volume Two of Kazuya Minekura's manga series Saiyuki Reload, Sanzo and party are attacked by clones of themselves, who are seemingly identical to their originals in every way; the only visual difference is the attire of the doppelgängers, which resembles the clothes worn by the main characters in the series's first installment, Gensoumaden Saiyuki. The doppelgängers are actually shikigami created by a minor youkai antagonist, and have been created using data from the party's previous battles, though it is noted by several characters that, unlike the originals, they do not utter any one-liners. The doppelgängers are unable to keep up with the group's constantly changing fighting styles, and are easily dispatched by the party.
  • On the old commodore 64 system, there was a gang of pirate software crews called "Doppleganger"

See also

References

  • Greene, R. (2000) The Magic of Shapeshifting. York Beach, ME: Weiser. ISBN 1578631718
  • Sandburg, C. (2002) Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years. Harvest Books. ISBN 0156027526
  • Thompson, Craig J., Aric Rindfleisch, and Zeynep Arsel (2006), “Emotional Branding and the Strategic Value of the Doppelganger Brand Image,” Journal of Marketing, 70

External links

Doppelgängers | German loanwords | Legendary creatures | Paranormal phenomena | Shapeshifting

Doppelgänger | Doppelgänger | Doppelgänger | ドッペルゲンガー | Doppelgänger | Допельгангер | Kaksoisolento | ดอพเพลแกงเกอร์

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Doppelgänger".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world