It’s Halloween! Almost! And, as we cower with our loved ones at the fiends stalking our streets demanding tribute, we turn our minds to scary monsters. And what is the scariest monster of all? The dark reflection! The evil twin that looks back from the mirror that could be you, but is something… darker. Something more sinister. Something that, were you to encounter such a demon, you would surely perish from fright! Or at least pee a little!
So, to commemorate the spooky season, we are going to look at the surprisingly numerous “shadow” versions of our favorite Smash Bros.
But, like a good pedant, there must be some rules. First of all, we are not going to include any “possessed” versions of characters. Yes, Dark Ryu is big and scary, but Ryu cannot fight Dark Ryu without some manner of time travel device, and Ryu cannot even drive a car. Also, we are not going to fish out evil twins of already evil characters. Is Ganon Pigman the dark reflection of Ganondorf Thiefdude? Don’t know, don’t care. And Kazuya has committed enough genocides to count as a villain, dammit! Beyond that? Let’s get crazy with it! A shadow self doesn’t have to be literal! Let’s have some fun with the rot at the core of the human soul!
So we are starting with…
Cosmic Mario
Super Mario Galaxy
Did you think Wario was Mario’s evil twin? Well, no dice. That is more of a situation where Mario’s worse impulses (collecting coins, wearing primary colors, not one confirmed shower in 40 years) are taken to a grotesque extreme. Cosmic Mario, though? That is the true Dark Mario. He has all of Mario’s moves, but he is silent save ominous giggles. And that’s the essence of Mario! He is our beloved Jump Man, but focused only on the absurd nonsense available in some Super Mario Galaxy course. All the power, none of the purpose. A nightmare for the mushroom kingdom.
Manky Kong
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong is a mute gorilla that runs around and likes bananas. There is not a lot of interiority there. So, logically, his evil twin is an orangutan that joined the Kremlings, let himself go, and tosses barrels around. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat’s Ghastly King/Final Kong might qualify as a “dark Donkey Kong”, but he is a gorilla that knows he is a king, and has royally rotten intentions. Manky Kong is a primate that forsook wearing a tie and going to the dentist. That is more on Donkey’s level.
Dark Link
The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
The classic! Link first fought his dark shadow back in the 80’s, and it has returned many times since. But that first appearance is still the scariest! What could top the battle against the nefarious Thunderbird? Why, only a fight against the strongest creature in Hyrule, Link! Dark Link has continued through the ages with a similar setup: he is an ongoing challenge for Link, and very rarely is a creature with its own goals. But when we are talking about the dark version of the wielder of the Triforce of Courage, do we really need something with the mental capacity to do more than toss around some pots?
For the record, every “version” of Link (Young, Toon) has had occasion to square off against a shadow opponent, but we’re not going to bother to screenshot all of those. Halloween only lasts so long!
SA-X
Metroid Fusion
You want to nominate Dark Samus? Sure. Fine. That is certainly a viable choice. But SA-X is a better “Dark Samus” because she is a bloodthirsty monster that is only doing what Samus Aran would do anyway. SA-X is (basically) a possessed version of Samus’s powersuit animated by the X Parasites. X Parasites are normally (literally) Metroid food, so they want to use Samus’s abilities to eradicate the Metroid species. And Samus Aran already did that two games back! It is literally Samus’s job across multiple adventures. So SA-X is a proper shadow of the Samus self, because it forces our heroine to face how she is already making some poor choices.
Boshi
Super Mario RPG
What if Yoshi was cool and wore shades and a collar and made everyone race for cookies but only some people (dinosaurs) could race? That is an evil Yoshi. That’s all we need him to be.
Shadow Kirby
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Like Dark Pit, Shadow Kirby is a literal reflection of the franchise’s titular hero. Also like Dark Pit, Shadow Kirby is initially seen as a villain, but proves to be a helpful little dude (most of the time). Also also like Dark Pit, Kirby owes an awful lot to Masahiro Sakurai, and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror not coincidentally includes the “Smash” ability. So it is possible that Kirby’s shadow self is just a prototype for Dark Pit…
Star Wolf
Star Fox 64 / Star Fox 2 if you’re nasty
You probably remember all this from kindergarten, but Star Fox reminds us that the opposite of a fox is a wolf, and the opposite of a bird is a chameleon (see also: Swan Boy). It is less relevant to Smash Bros, but we all remember the rabbit/pig, frog/ape dichotomy, too. That’s why Chrono Trigger was so good[citation needed]! The Star Wolf Team are the bad guy versions of Star Fox because they exist in a Saturday Morning cartoon. Our heroes could have a pleasant day where nothing galaxy-threatening happens, but they can’t let ‘em do that.
Waluigi
Mario Tennis
Wario is not the opposite of Mario. Waluigi is the opposite of Luigi. Why? Because Luigi has enough of a personality to hate that guy. Luigi knows he is the second banana of the Mario universe, and, as such, he knows that position is expendable. The Nintendo 64 more than proved you could make an amazing Mario “Brothers” game without Luigi. And then who should appear a couple of years later but Waluigi? You know he is gunning for you, Weeg. Your days are numbered. Fight back against the darkness, or you will be consumed in purple overalls.
Ness’s Nightmare
Earthbound
Ness has (apparently) long suppressed his own dark side, and it is haunting the world created by his own mind, Magicant. And, alright, that is a pretty traditional way for an RPG to go, so there is not much special about Ness’s Nightmare. Persona has made a whole franchise out of this malarky! But this is also the first “shadow self” for a character to have fought in their first and only adventure, so Ness gets props for appearing opposite his evil self in 100% of all appearances.
Blood Falcon
F-Zero X
Blood Falcon was created by illicit means as an evil clone of Captain Falcon. He races against his blood brother on the orders of Black Shadow, the head of an evil criminal syndicate. And it looks like the implication here is that, in the F-Zero universe, racing aptitude is just genetic. Wouldn’t it be easier to train some dude on all of Captain Falcon’s races, and compete that way? Just show him his moves? You have to create a whole clone and dress him up in different colors for the exclusive purpose of being kind of a nuisance on the track? I’m not saying you are wrong to do this, Black Shadow, just you could give this plan a second pass.
Hilda
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
The entirety of Hyrule has a mirror opposite in the dark realm of Lorule. The ruler of Lorule is Princess Hilda, the mirror opposite of Princess Zelda. Princess Hilda is smart enough to hatch a cunning plan that will allow her kingdom to save itself through Hyrule’s Triforce, but she lacks the wisdom to realize that she could have just asked. Not everything has to be a war between worlds, Hilda! Anyway, Hilda is Zelda’s shadow self, because Hilda actually does something, and we all know the real Princess Zelda never does anything.
Dark Meta Knight
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
Another literal dark reflection, but this one maintains a generally evil baseline. Maybe this is because Meta Knight has a greater attention span, so his evil version can stay on task? We do not know much about Dark Meta Knight’s objectives, but we do know that he has gradually started to define himself more and more as the franchise goes on. He can create shadow clones! And he has bat wings! And a really gnarly sword! This is all in contrast to Shadow Dedede, who no one has been able to pin down as actually existing…
Dark Pit
Kid Icarus: Uprising
It’s our boy! The reason for the season! Dark Pit is less “evil twin” and more “what if Pit was a brat”. And that’s great! Because Pit is a baby! His dark reflection is basically Bart Simpson. Go feel bad about stealing videogames or something, Dark Pit, and then you can save the day. Don’t forget to tell us to eat your shorts, you rascal!
Liquid Snake
Metal Gear Solid
Alright, I have reviewed the Metal Gear wiki, and I am reasonably sure I can keep this to a paragraph if I just say he is Solid Snake’s brother… well… uh… clone brother? Insomuch as a clone can have a family? And he only survived to be Snake’s opponent one time… except… if we count him as a ghost… or an arm… or… a ghost arm? And… I think he wants to kiss his brother… really bad? But that might be a trick. Like, “Oh no, the arm is making me kiss you.” So maybe he is not a gay incest clone. Maybe?
Solid Snake has a complicated life. His evil twin is also complicated. Let’s call it there.
Pokémon Trainer Blue aka Gary Oak
Pokémon Green/Red
The Pokémon franchise has saved me a lot of time, as they have a lot of representatives on the Smash Bros. roster, but the only “Shadow Pokémon” in the official Pokédex are Clefairy/Gengar, Lugia that one time, and maybe Wiglett. But trainers always have rivals! And the greatest rival of all is Pokémon Trainer Blue/Gary Oak. He has all the same capabilities as you, but he chose the Pokémon starter that beats your best friend, and he’s a nepo baby. He has been granted every advantage! And is still a dick about it! He is the ultimate in modern dark reflections.
Claus
Mother 3
Lucas’s ultimate rival is his twin brother, Claus. And I don’t want to talk about it right now.
Metal Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Sure, you could choose Shadow the Hedgehog. You know, if you are a basic bitch. Shadow the Hedgehog, like Knuckles the Echidna before him, has gained a kind of interiority over the years that can only be described as Kingdom Heartsian. Meanwhile, Metal Sonic still only has one goal: beat Sonic the Hedgehog. And he is quiet about it! Dude has to steal a speech synthesizer to so much as disparage a chili dog. And he might even be faster than Sonic! Shadow the Hedgehog is “Sonic the Hedgehog, but Batman,” Metal Sonic is Sonic’s (metal) nightmare.
Copy Mega Man
Mega Man
If I had a nickel for every time an 8-bit hero that would go on to appear in Smash Bros had to fight an evil clone summoned by a weird old man in a videogame that was released in Japan in 1987, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much, but it is weird that it happened twice. At least this wannabe hero has all of Mega Man’s abilities, while Shadow Link cannot even master a down-stab. Dr. Wily is apparently a better old man than some anonymous elf.
Chain Chomp
Super Mario Bros. 3
The rare cross-company dark reflection! Pac-Man can go everywhere in a maze, but Chain Chomp is chained in one place. Pac-Man thinks of nothing but eating, while Chain Chomp is rarely granted so much as a strawberry. Pac-Man must avoid nefarious ghosts, but Chain Chomp turns Mario into a ghost. This is a clear matter/anti-matter situation.
Grima
Fire Emblem Awakening
We are going to allow one Fire Emblem character on a technicality. Grima is a separate fell dragon that has existed for thousands of years. Robin-Possessed-by-Grima is, by definition, a possessed version of Robin, and is mostly just Grima. But Grima wearing Robin’s skin is the source of a lot of time travel-based misunderstandings in Fire Emblem Awakening, and, thanks to that previously mentioned time travel, Robin can directly confront Robin-Possessed-by-Grima. So we are going to allow Grima on this list because challenging a version of you that incidentally killed everyone you know and care about would be pretty scary. But! We are going to ignore all the other Fire Emblem characters that have evil twins in other timelines/dimensions. You hear me, Byleth? Your jerkass Warriors version is not going to count! And since we are remembering Warriors games exist, same for your “Shadow” in Persona Strikers, Joker! That was, like, one boss fight!
Akuma
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Akuma started as a weird head on Ryu’s body, so I do not want to hear a peep about Ryu’s true dark shadow being Kage or Asura or some such nonsense. And Akuma fits the shadow role so much better than “what if Ryu got super angry”. This is Ryu, a man who punches faces for a living, taken to his most violent extreme (and with an air fireball). We do not need a Ryu that gives into the darkness, we need a Ryu that is going to murder M. Bison before you even get a chance to have a nice, clean match. Oh! And his signature move is totally a random sequence of button presses, just like a Mortal Kombat fatality. Akuma is not only Ryu’s evil twin, he is the dark reflection of the entire franchise.
Violent Ken
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
I know I said I wasn’t going to do “possessed” evil versions of fighters, but Violent Ken is so stupid, he is the exception that proves the rule. Ooooh! Ken is so violent now! Look out! He has an afro (sometimes)! This is why we don’t do this! Kage Wolf, you lost your spot to this.
Dark Eve
Bayonetta 3
At the finale of Bayonetta 3, Bayonetta REDACTED, but REDACTED is still ready to go, so REDACTED is able to fight Dark Eve, who is secretly REDACTED. Normally, this would disqualify Dark Eve, but Dark Eve does manage to exist and influence the plot during the opening of the story. So maybe she is less of a literal REDACTED, and more of a deadly deus ex machina. And, considering how cool she is at all times, wouldn’t Bayonetta be most afraid of her dark reflection being nothing more than a silent plot device?
Doppelgänger
Castlevania Chronicles
The Belmonts fight nothing but dark monsters, and that poor family also spends like half their lifespan worrying that humanity is the true monsters. You would think they would face more nefarious mirror matches, but it looks like they mostly just deal with bats and skeletons. Trevor Belmont got a doppelgänger in his initial adventure, a side-fight on the PS2, and then a posthumous zombie clone. But Trevor’s descendant Simon only faced one doppelgänger in a remake. And we are going to count it! Mostly because this opponent is made from Simon’s reflection, and we are all about that nonsense today. We can do a roundup of “Evil Version of Simon as a Boss” critters some other time. For completion’s sake, we will note that Richter can fight his own doppelgänger in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, but that was a solid century after Richter’s death, so it is assumed to be non-canon.
Shadow Sora, AntiSora
Kingdom Hearts
What if Sora was a Heartless? Oh, that actually happens in the story. Well what if Sora let the darkness in his heart take over? Actually, that is just Anti Form from Kingdom Hearts 2. And pretty much every third guy Sora encounters is some “reflected” version of himself. Kingdom Hearts is a very all-metaphors-are-literal series! But we do get a straight up “Shadow Sora” during the introductory dream before Sora even gets his first keyblade. And then when Riku (who is like a dark reflection rival of Sora or something) gains Heartless powers, he is able to summon a series of (weak) Shadow Sora pureblood heartless, and top it off with a powerful AntiSora heartless. So point is that Sora has had to fight a small army of shadow selves.
Look, they can’t all be as cool and unique as Dark Pit.
SBC #56 Dark Pit
Dark Pit in Super Smash Bros Ultimate
- He any Good? Did we cover Pit already? No? Alright, then let’s say that Dark Pit and Pit both feel “right”. Maybe it is the Sakurai bias? Regardless, Dark Pit is an excellent mirror of Pit. If you are curious, he has a different arrow and “electro punch”, but is otherwise identical. At least he gets a little variation!
- That final smash work? Dark Pit shoots you with a gun. This is the other Pit-difference, and it is so Dark Pit can use his eponymous staff to shoot opponents in the face. It does more damage the closer you are to the muzzle! It’s a shotgun!
- The background work? Reset Bomb Forest is basically two separate stages with a transition. The castle is vaguely boring but reliable, while the Reset Forest section is all 45° angles and dissolving platforms. I am a boring person, so I prefer the regular castle. At least that gives me a reason to defeat foes quickly! The Reset Forest also includes a flying lurchthorn, so there are some spikey bones to play with.
- Classic Mode: Created Warriors sees Dark Pit battle against a series of jerks that spent far too long gestating in tubes. Mewtwo, Dark Samus, Blood Falcon, and Dark Link are all obvious picks, but it is nice to be reminded that Cloud Strife is more Jenova Cell than man. The final battle is a team up with Pit to take down Galleom the Robot Gorilla. Duon would have been a more appropriate Kid Icarus-style monster, but nobody remembers he exists.
- Smash Trivia: Dark Pit in the only Echo Fighter to appear in the opening of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s World of Light. Sorry, Lucina!
- Amiibo Corner: Is there such a thing as “sandal gauntlets”? Dark Pit has excellent sandal gauntlets. Other than that, he is appropriately dark and grumpy, and has a superb piece of headwear. Feel free to set Dark Pit in a position where he is executing a fellow amiibo.
- Does Smash Bros Remember Today’s Game? Oh crap! I forgot to associate this article with a distinct game… Uh… uh…
Dark Pit in F-1 Race
System: Today, in a totally planned move that we are not rapidly slapping together, we are markedly looking at the Gameboy version of F-1 Race.- Number of players: Man, there is an option for “Multi Game” right there on the title screen. Could two Gameboys working together support head-to-head action? Probably!
- Maybe actually talk about the game for a second: So this was a cool little racing game made by Iwata and HAL back in 1984, and then it returned six years later on the Gameboy. It may have been mind-blowing back in the age of Wrecking Crew and Excitebike, but it feels like an expired tech demo today. A really good tech demo! That map works really well! But a tech demo all the same. You can see how later racing games came from these ten or so tracks, though, so we should acknowledge its influence.
- What’s in a name? The Famicom version was named F1 Race. The Gameboy version is F–1 Race. F-Zero was released 19 days later. This is not a coincidence.
- Favorite track: Egypt is one of the later tracks, but it is not exceptionally difficult. It is just plain fun. And there is a sphinx in the distance sometimes. I’m a cat person, so I approve.
- So why is Dark Pit assigned to this game? You get a cameo from a different Nintendo character after every first-place finish. Mario, Luigi, Princess, Toad, Link, Samus Aran, and then…
That’s Dark Pit. Sure, you could claim it is Pit, but he looks pretty dark right there. Spread the word that Dark Pit premiered in 1990 on the Gameboy.
- Did you know? The Famicom version saw your racer explode every time you hit another car. You just kind of “bump” on the Gameboy, and there are very few disadvantages to doing so. This makes the game infinitely more survivable.
- Would I play again: I am glad I played this game entirely to satisfy a requirement on my silly website. It is the ancestral monkey to today’s evolved human of racing games. That said, I am never going to engage with this monkey again. I might get lice.
What’s next? October may be over, but Random ROB has chosen… Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse! Yes, there is a Castlevania game that hasn’t been reviewed on this site yet, and we are rectifying that mistake! Please look forward to it!
Breakneck gameplay!