Superheroes often represent the best of what humanity has to offer, but, occasionally, even the best hero has a bad side that comes out in the form of an evil doppelgänger. The history of comics is littered with villains who offer readers a dark mirror image of their favorite characters.
Whether it's classic DC baddies such as Professor Zoom or Marvel mainstays such as Evil Deadpool, it seems as if every hero has their own evil twin. Though many of comic history's best doppelgängers are memorable, users on Ranker took to the site to vote for their absolute favorites.
Note: Ranker lists are live and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after this publishing.
Hawkeye/Trick Shot
While Hawkeye might be well remembered as a stalwart member of The Avengers, his original mentor and eventual enemy Trick Shot is less remembered. The archer named Buck Chisholm met the young future hero in the traveling circus and actually helped to impart much of his archery skill upon him.
Unfortunately, their lives took different paths and Trick Shot eventually returned to attempt to collect a bounty on the purple clad marksman. Trick Shot is an interesting doppelgänger because he essentially shows what Hawkeye could have become if his life had taken a few wrong turns.
Deadpool/Evil Deadpool
The mercenary anti-hero known as Deadpool may be known for his quips, but his doppelgänger Evil Deadpool was truly no laughing matter. Evil Deadpool was constructed using discarded limbs from Wade Wilson's many escapades, and the Frankenstein-like monster returned to plague his unwitting creator.
Evil Deadpool possesses all of Deadpool's powers, and that made him one of the mercenary's best comic book villains. Determined to smite his namesake, Evil Deadpool even formed a legion of evil versions of Deadpool who hoped to wipe the original Wade Wilson off of the map for good.
Adam Warlock/Magus
The Marvel Comics Universe is filled with tales that span multiple universes, and it is from an alternate universe that Adam Warlock became his own strange familiar. Magus has dotted the Marvel landscape over the years, but he was essentially born of the evil half of Warlock's soul, a soul that had been twisted by the education he received from Chaos and Order.
Magus returned in the Infinity War comic storyline, and once again represented the dark half of Adam Warlock in an attempt to oppose Thanos. Magus is an excellent doppelgänger because there are elements of Warlock within him, just as there are elements of Magus within Warlock.
Jean Grey/Madelyne Pryor
The Dark Phoenix Saga is generally considered one of the best X-Men storylines of all time, and Madelyne Pryor was at the heart of one of the most gripping elements of the arc. Bearing a striking resemblance to the presumed dead Jean Grey, Pryor eventually married Cyclops but their relationship was strained.
Created as a clone of Grey in an attempt by Mister Sinister to create the ultimate mutant, Pryor took on a life of her own and eventually turned evil. Assuming the moniker of the Goblin Queen, she did battle with Phoenix in an epic showdown. Somewhat more tragic than most twin characters, Pryor's evil shift was earned by the hardships she endured.
Ghost Rider/Vengeance
Marvel's Ghost Rider is often recognized as a hero who is darker than his villains, but his evil doppelgänger Vengeance gives him a run for his money. Originally a police officer who blamed Ghost Rider for his father's death, the being known as Vengeance was created when Michael Badilino made a deal with Mephisto.
Possessing similar demonic powers as the skull-faced fiend, Vengeance eventually learned that he had been manipulated and became a force for good. Even so, Badilino's dark backstory kept him on the anti side of anti-hero and he often returns to offer a dark mirror to the various incarnations of Ghost Rider.
Batman/Owlman
Though many readers would consider Batman a darker character than most, his Earth-3 counterpart is even darker. Owlman is an alternate universe version of the Caped Crusader who is actually Thomas Wayne Jr., Bruce's brother in that timeline.
Twisted by witnessing the murder of his entire family, including his brother Bruce, Owlman's tactics were an evil exaggeration of Batman's. Owlman works so well because he represents an alternative interpretation to Batman's character. While some see Batman as a hero, others see him as a violent tyrant who operates outside of the law, much like Owlman.
Wonder Woman/Super Woman
DC's Earth-3 universe turned everything on its ear, and that universe's version of Wonder Woman was known as Super Woman and had an entirely different life story. Instead of Diana, Super Woman is actually Lois Lane who broke away from her Amazonian life and went rogue.
Empowered with all of the same Amazonian gifts as the familiar version of Wonder Woman, Super Woman is driven by evil intentions and is an all around perversion of heroic ideals. Super Woman, like most of her Earth-3 counterparts is an interesting reminder of how easily a superhero can become a super villain.
Beast/Dark Beast
The Earth-616 Version of Dr. Hank McCoy is known as a brilliant scientist and an important member of the X-Men, but the Earth-295 version is something completely different. Without Charles Xavier's guidance, the brilliant geneticist Henry McCoy became Dark Beast and was an important piece of Apocalypse's regime in that timeline.
Imbued with the same mutant abilities as his 616 cousin, Dark Beast illustrates how simple changes in a timeline can completely change a person's trajectory. Even when Dark Beast landed in the 616 universe, he kept up his evil ways and actually helped to form the Dark X-Men team.
The Flash/Professor Zoom
Some character's doppelgängers are subtle, while others act as literal mirror images of the hero they oppose. Professor Zoom, also known as Reverse Flash, is The Flash's arch-nemesis and the foe that has returned to oppose him the most over the years.
Super powered by the speed force like The Flash, Reverse Flash immediately began using his gifts for evil as opposed to good. One of the reasons he is considered one of The Flash's best comic book villains is because he is equal to the Scarlet Speedster, but they ultimately cancel out one another. Like any force in the universe, The Flash cannot exist without his dark mirror image.
Shazam/Black Adam
When it comes to quintessential evil doppelgängers, Shazam's dark familiar is perhaps the most easily recognized. Gifted with the same superhuman abilities as Shazam, Black Adam couldn't resist using his skill set for evil, and was quickly corrupted by the absolute power he was given.
Donning a costume that is the inverse of his nemesis, Black Adam soon began tangling with his do-gooder counterpart. While he started as a traditional villain, recent interpretations of Black Adam have given the character more depth, and essentially turned him into an anti-hero who still butts heads with Shazam on occasion.