10 Times Video Games Made You Fight Yourself

It’s a trope games love to indulge in: Pitting the player against an evil clone or an opponent who is equally matched, with an almost identical moveset to boot.

Why is this trope so popular? So, the player can be challenged by a tough opponent, or so developers can save time by re-using character models? You decide!

It’s not unique to games, the other medium that uses it just as often is comics; almost any superhero you’d care to mention has at least one villain with the same superpower, but instead of fighting crime they prefer to rob banks!

It’s hard to find any iconic video game characters that haven’t battled their doppelganger, developers seemingly giving little thought to the psychological damage inflicted on poor heroes such as Mario as he stomps yet another clone into non-existence, defiantly shouting: “It’s-a me, the real Mario!”

Sometimes these enemies are long lost siblings of the hero, who instead of being paragons of goodliness, turn out to be complete and utter scumbags. Other times, the mirror match is even more direct, with malevolent images literally bursting out of mirrors to step to our beloved protagonists.

Lara first encountered a clone of herself in the original Tomb Raider while exploring the ruins of Atlantis. This copy - created by the villainous Jacqueline Natla - was a mindless and skinless version of Lara which simply mimicked the players movements. This weird meat effigy of Lara was affectionately named “Bacon Lara” by fans. It was defeated when Lara tricked it into hurling itself into molten lava.

However, Natla wasn’t done cloning Lara and later created a far more convincing copy in Tomb Raider: Underworld. This doppelganger is identical to Lara only now her hair and clothing are jet black. It’s very much the same approach Spiderman 3 took when it wanted to show Peter Parker had gone all dark side (except minus Tobey Maguire’s finger snapping and distinctive dancing).

This wicked doppelganger attacks Croft Manor late in the game, killing Lara’s friend Alastair during the assault. The doppelganger also possesses superhuman abilities such as enhanced speed and strength; the clone easily defeats Lara during their first encounter.

Towards the end of the adventure, Lara manages to free the doppelganger from Natla’s control. The doppelganger was a playable character in the game’s DLC, Lara’s Shadow.