Literature Lord Byron uses doppelgänger
imagery to explore the duality of human nature. In ''
The Devil's Elixirs'' (1815), one of
E. T. A. Hoffmann's early novels, a man murders the brother and stepmother of his beloved princess, finds his doppelgänger has been sentenced to death for these crimes in his stead, and liberates him, only to have the doppelgänger murder the object of his affection. In addition to describing the doppelgänger double as a counterpart to the self,
Percy Bysshe Shelley's drama
Prometheus Unbound (1820) makes reference to
Zoroaster meeting "his own image walking in the garden". 's story (illustration by
Arthur Rackham) In
Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 short story "
William Wilson", the main character is followed by a doppelgänger his whole life, with it troubling him and causing mischief. Eventually the main character kills his doppelgänger, and realizes that the doppelgänger was only mirroring him. First published in 1839, the story was also included in his 1840
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1846 novel
The Double presents the doppelgänger as an opposite personality who exploits the character failings of the protagonist to take over his life.
Charles Williams'
Descent into Hell (1939) has character Pauline Anstruther seeing her own doppelgänger all through her life.
Clive Barker's story "Human Remains" in his
Books of Blood is a doppelgänger tale, and the doppelgänger motif is a staple of
Gothic fiction. In
Vladimir Nabokov's 1936 novel
Despair, the narrator and protagonist, Hermann Karlovich, meets a homeless man in Prague, who he believes is his doppelgänger.
Jorge Luis Borges'
The Other (1972) has the author himself find that he's sitting on a bench with his older doppelgänger, and the two have a conversation. In
Bret Easton Ellis's novel,
Glamorama (1998), protagonist actor–model Victor Ward ostensibly has a doppelgänger that people mistake for Ward, often claiming to have seen him at parties and events Ward has no recollection of attending. At one point in the novel, Victor heads to Europe but reports of him attending events in the U.S. appear in newspaper headlines. Victor's doppelgänger may have been placed by Victor's father, a United States senator looking to present a more intelligent and sophisticated replacement for his son that would improve his own image and boost his poll numbers for future elections. While the novel is narrated by Victor, various chapters are ambiguous, leading the reader to wonder if certain chapters are being narrated by the doppelgänger instead. In
Stephen King's book
The Outsider (2018), the antagonist is able to use the DNA of individuals to become their near-perfect match through a science-fictional ability to transform physically. The allusion to it being a doppelgänger is made by the group trying to stop it from killing again. The group also discusses other examples of fictional doppelgängers that supposedly occurred throughout history to provide some context. In
Neil Gaiman's novel
Coraline (2002), the heroine meets up with improved look-alikes of her parents and all her neighbors when she enters the Other Mother's world.
Film In
Das Mirakel and
The Miracle (both 1912) the Virgin Mary (as
Doppelgängerin) takes the place of a nun who has run away from her convent in search of love and adventure. Both are based on the 1911 play
The Miracle by
Karl Vollmöller.
The Student of Prague (1913) is a German silent film where a diabolical character steals the reflection of a young student out of his mirror, leading it to return later and terrorise him. Animator
Jack King creates a doppelgänger for
Donald Duck in ''
Donald's Double Trouble'' (1946), where the twofold fowl speaks perfectly intelligible English and is well-mannered. The 1969 film
Doppelgänger involves a journey to the far side of the Sun, where the astronaut finds a
counter-Earth, a mirror image of home. He surmises his counterpart is at that moment on his Earth in the same predicament. English actor
Roger Moore plays a man haunted by a doppelgänger, who springs to life following a
near-death experience, in
Basil Dearden's
The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970). The 1972 Robert Altman film
Images has a doppelgänger for the hallucinating character played by Susanna York. Doppelgängers are a major theme of
Andrzej Żuławski's
Possession (1981), where the two protagonists, Anna (
Isabelle Adjani) and Mark (
Sam Neill), have two Doppelgängers. The 1991 French/Polish film,
La double vie de Véronique (
Polish:
Podwójne życie Weroniki), directed by
Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring
Irène Jacob, explores the mysterious connection between two women, both played by Jacob, who share an intense emotional connection in spite of never having met one another. In 2003, a Japanese thriller film,
Doppelganger directed by
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, was released, in which overworked scientist Michio Hayasaki (
Koji Yakusho) struggles to meet deadlines and make any further progress on his machine, a chair to enable people with no function of their arms to perform basic tasks. His prototype is impressive, but has many limitations, much to the disappointment of his boss. A disheartened Michio goes back to his apartment and encounters his doppelganger. Although their looks are the same, the doppelganger's personality and attitude are drastically different from Michio's. Doppelgängers are a major theme and plot element in the 2006 film,
The Prestige, directed by
Christopher Nolan and starring
Hugh Jackman and
Christian Bale. Illusionists Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) compete with each other to perfect a magic trick in which the performer appears to transport across the stage instantaneously. Angier initially performs the trick with a lookalike (also portrayed by Jackman), but later uses a machine that allows him to create an unlimited number of clones of himself. In the final scene, it is revealed that Borden had also been using a doppelgänger to perform the trick; the character "Borden" was actually two identical-looking men who took turns living out Borden's public life in order to create the illusion that they were a single man. In the 2007 children's film
Bratz Kidz: Sleep-over Adventure one of the stories involves Sasha being tormented and replaced by a doppelgänger she finds in a house of mirrors. In the 2008
psychological horror film
Lake Mungo, the film's climax contains a scene in which a young teenager, named Alice, is attacked by her disfigured doppelgänger, meant as a premonition of her soon-to-be death. In
Richard Ayoade's
The Double (2013), based on
Fyodor Dostoevsky's
novel of the same name, a man is troubled by a doppelgänger who is employed at his place of work and affects his personal and professional life. Estranged couple Ethan and Sophie find doubles of themselves trapped in the retreat house their marriage counselor recommended in
Charlie McDowell's
The One I Love (2014). The 2018 science fiction film
Annihilation features a doppelgänger in the climax.
Jordan Peele's horror film
Us (2019) finds the Wilson family attacked by doubles of themselves known as "the Tethered". In
The Rise of Skywalker (2019), when
Rey is looking for a
Sith wayfinder on the ruins of the
Death Star II, she encounters an evil version of herself.
Television The episode of
Alfred Hitchcock Presents which originally aired December 4, 1955, under the title "The Case of Mr. Pelham", starring
Tom Ewell as the victim of his own Doppelgänger and directed by Hitchcock himself. It is an adaptation of
The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham, a short story (later expanded in book form in 1957) by English writer
Anthony Armstrong. In the episode "
Mirror Image" of the first series of
The Twilight Zone (originally aired 25 February 1960), a young woman repeatedly sees her double in a New York Bus Terminal. After she is taken off to an asylum, the episodes ends with a second character trying to catch his double. In the 1985 reboot of the Twilight Zone, the first segment of the premiere episode was "
Shatterday", an adaptation of a short story of the same name by
Harlan Ellison. The segment follows a man who finds that a double of himself has moved into his apartment and is taking over his life. The plot of the "Firefall" episode of
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (originally aired 8 November 1974) revolves around the spirit of a deceased arsonist that becomes the doppelgänger of a renowned orchestra conductor. He starts killing off people close to the conductor (by
spontaneous human combustion), with the ultimate goal of taking over the conductor's body. The
Hammer House of Horror episode "The Two Faces of Evil" (originally aired 29 November 1980), focuses on the part of the doppelgänger mythology where meeting yours is a harbinger of your imminent death. In the season two finale of
Twin Peaks—"
Beyond Life and Death" (originally aired 10 June 1991)—Special Agent
Dale Cooper encounters a variety of doppelgängers in the Black Lodge, one of whom is a malevolent version of himself. Cooper's doppelgänger switches places with him at the conclusion of the episode, trapping the original in the Black Lodge. A total of three different doppelgängers are dispatched from the mysterious Black Lodge to bedevil the forces of good in Showtime's 2017 series
Twin Peaks: The Return. In
Buffy the Vampire Slayer season three episode "
Doppelgangland" (originally aired 23 February 1999), Willow encounters her vampire double who was first introduced seven episodes previously (in "
The Wish", originally aired 8 December 1998). In the fifth-season episode "
The Replacement" (10 October 2000), Xander discovers his own doppelgänger (portrayed by the actor's identical twin brother). In
How I Met Your Mother, all five main characters have run-ins with their doppelgängers at certain points. Ted, whose doppelgänger is a luchador, Marshall, whose doppelgänger has a mustache, Robin, whose doppelgänger is a lesbian, Lily, whose doppelgänger is a stripper connected to Russian gangsters, and Barney, whose doppelgänger is a doctor. In the 2010s CW supernatural drama series,
The Vampire Diaries, actress
Nina Dobrev portrayed the roles of several doppelgängers; Amara (the first doppelgänger), Tatia (the second), Katerina Petrova/Katherine Pierce (the third) and Elena Gilbert (the fourth). The series mainly focused on the doppelgängers of the sweet & genuine Elena and the malevolent Katherine. In the same series,
Paul Wesley portrays Stefan Salvatore and his doppelgängers Tom Avery and Silas. Starting with the
second season of
The Flash, doppelgängers play a key role in the development of the series. Doubles from various
Earths in the
multiverse are defined as such. The person with multiple counterparts who appeared in the series was
Harrison Wells. In the Italian supernatural drama television series
Curon (aired 2020), the lake of the titular town spawns murderous doppelgängers.
Music videos The theme of doppelgänger has been frequently used in music videos, such as
Aqua's "
Turn Back Time" (1998),
Dido's "
Hunter" (2001),
Madonna's "
Die Another Day" (2002),
Kelly Rowland's "
Commander" (2010), and
Britney Spears's "
Hold It Against Me" (2011).
Video games In
Prince of Persia the hero must fight his doppelganger only winning through
nonviolence. The 1987
Nintendo game
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link features an enemy known as Dark Link, also known as Shadow Link, who serves as the final boss of the game. Dark Link has since made appearances as boss characters in the following titles, and as a cameo appearance in the
Super Smash Bros. series. The 1995
Ubisoft platforming video game
Rayman, features and enemy during the final level in Candy Château, the main antagonist Mr Dark creates Bad Rayman using magic, an evil shadow "doppelgänger" of Rayman who copies every single move Rayman makes and if he touches Bad Rayman he will instantly die. The 1995 video game
Alone in the Dark 3 features a nameless enemy that Edward Carnby calls "his double", a doppelgänger that mirrors the protagonist's moves to stop him from climbing the Water Tank. He is fused to Carnby after they touch hands. The 1997
Konami game
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night features an enemy boss known simply as "Doppelganger", a duplicate of the main protagonist
Alucard. The enemy mimics the movement and attack patterns of the player. The 1998 computer role playing game ''
Baldur's Gate'' employs doppelgängers as a plot device, and as a type of enemy monster that antagonizes the player's party of characters, as do both of the games major sequels. The game series uses
Dungeons and Dragons mechanics, in which the existence of doppelgängers as evil magical creatures is a feature. In the 1999 game
Final Fantasy VIII, SeeD mercenaries and
Forest Owls resistance fighters devise a complicated plan to kidnap the president of Galbadia
Vinzer Deling, which includes switching the presidential train wagon from its tracks and replacing it with a mockup. Deling foresees the plan and sends a
shapeshifter monster to take his place, who attacks the game protagonists. The monster is ultimately killed, but the plan's failure forces the Forest Owls into hiding. The 2002 MMORPG
Ragnarok Online features a boss-type monster named "Doppelganger", a demon who summons Nightmares that looks like a shadow of the default appearance for the male Swordsman class. The 2005
Capcom game ''
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening'' also features an enemy boss known as "Doppelganger" that is fought near the end of the game. Resembling
Dante's Devil Trigger form, it also mimics several of Dante's moves. Upon defeating the demon boss, Dante acquires a style "referred to as the Doppelganger style" that allows him to create a shadow copy of himself to assist him in battle in exchange for consuming Dante's Devil Trigger Gauge. The 2007 videogame
Super Mario Galaxy features a doppelgänger named Cosmic Mario, where he appears in Honeyhive Galaxy, Freezeflame Galaxy, Gold Leaf Galaxy, and Sea Side Galaxy under the effect of the Cosmic Clone comet effect, and challenges Mario to a race. The 2010 video game
Alan Wake, along with its 2012 sequel ''
Alan Wake's American Nightmare and 2023 sequel Alan Wake 2'', feature the character of Mr. Scratch, a doppelgänger of protagonist Alan Wake created as a supernatural manifestation of negative rumors spread about the character after his disappearance at the end of the first game, and who seeks to take over and ruin Wake's life. The 2010 and 2011 videogames
Super Mario Galaxy 2 and
Super Mario 3D Land features Cosmic Mario clones that chases Mario through some levels. The 2015
Konami game
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain plot revolves around the story of
Punished "Venom" Snake who has been chosen as a decoy to replicate and take on the persona of the legendary soldier
Big Boss. He is referred to as Big Boss's Doppelgänger going forward. Venom Snake was originally a Combat Medic who worked closely with Big Boss and even dived in front of Big Boss during an explosion to save him leaving the medic with helicopter shrapnel stuck in the appearance of a horn in his forehead. Following the explosion whilst in a comatose state, the medic is unknowingly selected to be physically altered via plastic surgery to become Big Boss's Doppelgänger/Stand-in and also brainwashed to believe himself to actually be Big Boss. The 2015 and 2017 Touhou games
Urban Legend in Limbo and
Antinomy of Common Flowers feature the character of Sumireko Usami, whose legendary attack is labeled "Doppelganger". The 2016 game
Dishonored 2 features a character, Duke Luca Abele of Serkonos, who in the second-last mission of the game is revealed to have employed a "body double" as protection. Players must make a choice to either eliminate the Duke or work with his body double for a non-lethal approach to the mission.
Web series The Alternates, the main antagonistic force in the
analog horror web series
The Mandela Catalogue, are a race of demons that are marked by their ability to almost perfectly replicate human beings. ==In non-fiction==