Street Fighter

Mirror matches can be fun and you don’t have to be too complicated.  Then again, making things very simple can have the whole thing fall flat.  What are some ways to make the mirror match more effective?

1. Put some thought into how the characters are the opposite of each other.  It can’t be solely cosmetic if you want it to last longer than a single fight.  Do they have powers and skills that negate each other?  Are their personalities polar opposites?  This is supposed to the hero facing a dark version of themselves, which requires clarity of differences.
2. Mirror match villains are not obligated to make the ‘I am your reflection’ speech.  I see this a lot in fiction.  It comes off as corny.  The better way to do this is the have their actions and words make this clear.  They should be doing the opposite of each other at most points.
3. A way to make the mirror situation more obvious is to have the hero and villain be placed in matching situations.  It doesn’t have to be together.  All they need to do is face the same challenge and solve it in opposing ways.  For example, they can run into people feuding.  The hero diffuses the situation before violence starts.  The villain chooses a side and make sure violence happens.
4. When in battle, these characters need to be able to land some blows.  While they are perfect reflections of each other, a fight where they are repeatedly negating each other can get boring.  This can happen on some level like with superpowers and magic.  I did this with Nyx and Trinity in Tribe of the Snow Tiger.  Once they negated each other’s magic, it became a fist fight where contact was made.
5. If you want these characters to be in a story for the long haul, you may want to slowly pull them away from the mirror concept.  They can still be opposites on some level, but an author may want them to develop some individuality.  Otherwise, the rivalry can get stale and predictable.
6. Supporting characters can be the ones to note the mirror situation.  The hero and villain aren’t always aware of the situation.  They have senses of self and even ego, which means they can’t themselves in each other.  It’s especially true of personality types because there’s a lot of nuance to such things.  They can recognize opposing powers, skills, and even clothing.  Yet, pointing out that their personalities are total opposites might come off better from a third party.
7. If the mirror match concept isn’t working out for the story, you can easily move away from it.  Change powers, skills, and whatever else over the course of the adventure to make them more distant.  This is probably one of the easiest ‘failed’ concepts to undo in a story.