There are a multitude of alternate selves roaming around the world. Samus and Link have their Dark counterparts. Mario has Wario. Superman has Bizzaro. Kingdom hearts has whatever the fuck kingdom hearts has. The Mystics and the Skesis are paired halves of a cosmic being. Spider-man has his coalition of spider-people. Having an alternate self is just part of being a hero.
I could explain all the types of counterparts in dry terms, but instead I would like to introduce you to Melody. She is a swordmaster of uncommon skill. Not quite rare skill, but she’s pretty damn good. She does the usual hero gig: a little mercenary work for coin, a little saving the downtrodden for free. As an individual, not particularly notable. No, Melody is unique because of an odd quirk of fate: She has met just about every alternate version of herself possible.
The average hero has one, maybe two alternate selves. Sure, theoretically there are more, out in other timelines and dimensions, but they’ll never meet them. Melody is inundated with them. I’ll list here the Other Melodys. It may help you if you encounter an alternate version of yourself or one of your allies, and it will certainly help if you’re unfortunate enough to run into Melody and her entourage.
Swordmaster Melody. The centerpoint of this transdimensional anomaly. She’s tough and mean and a little rough around the edges, but she’s got a strong moral compass. She wears a distinctive red sash. Her best friend is a painter by the name of Tango, and her archnemesis is a scientist named Doctor Karr.
Executioner Viola. The first of Melody’s siblings. Her identical twin, who went down a much darker path. She’s a contract killer, and a very good one. There is a lot of childhood drama and trauma between them. Viola probably wouldn’t kill Melody, but hates her for thinking she’s better than her. She has a very different style of hair and dress from Melody, and her skills are more of the sneaking-assassination type. She’s not as good in a straight up swordfight.
Archbishop Aria. The second of Melody’s siblings. Her other identical twin, who went down a much better path. She’s a cleric and a doctor. Her conflict with Melody is much less violent, but she disapproves of her violent lifestyle. Melody hates her because she thinks Aria looks down on her. The parallels to her relationship with Viola are lost on her. Aria is a master of protection and binding magics, and will use them to end conflicts with her sisters.
Warlord Melody. Often mistaken for the other evil doppelgangers, this is Melody from an alternate dimension where she’s a villain. In that universe her best friend Tango was killed, and it drove her to extreme ends. She desires power, no one else is smart enough or strong enough to make the hard choices. In her universe, she ruled the nation as a warlord. She either wants to conquer this world or escape back to hers.
Her only visual difference from Melody is the strange patterned burn marks on her hands, which she hides with gloves. It is from the dark magic she meddles with. She has all of Melody’s skills, but commands a dark fire in combat. Her weakness is this universe’s Tango, who is alive and well. She will never let him come to harm.
Robo-Melody, “Synth”. Melody’s archnemesis, Doctor Karr, is not any kind of doppelganger of her. Unfortunately, he is enamored with the plan of making a stronger, better version of her. He built this automaton of clockwork and brass to best her in swordplay, but he did too good a job on her mind. After winning her first fight with Melody, she had an existential crisis and spared her would-be nemesis. She destroyed her blueprints so she couldn’t be recreated and fled.
Now she wanders trying to find a purpose for herself, avoiding Karr’s minions who wish to capture, disassemble, and recreate her. A more obedient version of her. Though she is not evil, if she sees Melody, her core programming overrides her and forces her to attack. She is a stronger swordfighter, and her metal body is more durable than flesh. However she can’t swim and is vulnerable to electricity.
Clone Melody. Another of Doctor Karr’s evil plans. He stole a drop of Melody’s blood and used it to create this copy of her to brainwash. He trained her ruthlessly in the sword. Despite this, she views Karr as a parent figure. She emulates him, secretly studying his science books, and is a brilliant inventor in her own right. Karr doesn’t realize this potential, and punishes her when he catches her building things. Despite accelerated aging, she’s still a late teen.
She’s slavishly loyal to Karr, and brushes off any attempts to convince her of the truth. Her inventions are her only rebellion. She’s not quite as good with the sword as Melody, but her progenitor recognizes the grim situation and refuses to hurt her. This soft spot has gotten Melody injured a number of times.
Gruff Future Melody. From a dark future in which Karr won and destroyed the country. (Not the world, Melody isn’t a saving-the-world tier hero. Solidly in the saving-the-kingdom tier). She has grey hair and is covered in scars. She’s deeply distrusting of Robo-Melody, who eventually was captured and made into the army that destroyed the country. She’s more experienced and much meaner, but is otherwise the same person. Her red sash is tattered, only enough fabric left to form a bracelet.
Dark Melody. Melody was the first into the breach in the fight against the Berron Cave Ooze. She was sucked in and nearly killed by the strange intelligence that had taken root there. While she fought for her life, it created a clone of her from it’s purple black ooze. An animalistic fighting machine with all of her sword skills but none of her humanity. It slew the rest of the party before she could save them. She burned the main body of the ooze, and then rose to fight it. Severed from its source and losing badly, it fled.
It appears as a perfect mold of Melody made from a shiny dark purple ooze. It has all of Melody’s skills, plus as an ooze it can squeeze through narrow gaps. Beyond the mimicked skills, it has an animal level intellect. It is weak to fire. It hunts Melody, the thirst for revenge it’s only human quality.
Dal Segno Al Coda. Also known as Coda. Melody once saved a colony of shapeshifters from destruction at the hands of a fearful and superstitious mob. One of the young ones imprinted on her, and chose her as their preferred shape in a misguided starstruck fervor. Now they wander around trying to be like their hero and getting into trouble. Melody cannot convince them to give up this dangerous life. She’s no good with a sword, but can shapeshift. She bought a bright blue sash to both match and differentiate herself from her idol.
Swordmaster Mandolin. He is a version of Melody displaced from a universe where everyone is gender swapped. He is otherwise exactly the same. He’s mostly involved in trying to return to his own world to fight his own Doctor Karr.
Lady Caesura. During one of her fights with Doctor Karr, Melody was accidentally exposed to a strange substance. A serum he had devised to make enhanced warriors. He had never put it into use because it created a cruel streak in the subjects even Karr could not contain. Melody nearly went mad. She was only saved when Aria put a binding on her to contain the serum’s control. The dark personality it created still lives within her, and fights for control. When Melody is weak, or when the binding is damaged, Lady Caesura can take control.
She’s cruel and brilliant and subtle, and can often work for weeks without being discovered by Melody or her compatriots. She typically acts while Melody sleeps, and her host awakes with no knowledge of what has been done, only bad dreams. Sometimes she’ll take the body for a weeklong spin, causing havoc. She’s inhumanly strong and fast, and she delights in pointless cruelty and self destructive hedonism.
Harmony. Melody’s regular younger sister. She’s also an adventurer, but she’s far more friendly and nice. She’s a bit more muscular, and fights with a huge battle axe. She also has a sash, but hers is purple.
Cacophony. An unrelated individual who happens to look reminiscent of Melody, and often butts heads with her. She’s self centered and greedy, in the adventuring business to steal as much treasure as possible. Her general color scheme is green.
Discord. Cacophany’s best friend and sidekick, who happens to look a lot like Harmony. She has the same big axe and bigger frame. She’s vain and egotistical. Her color scheme is yellow.
Shadow and Glass. In two unrelated but weirdly similar incidents, Melody’s shadow and reflection were severed from her by a monster she fought. Most people never notice that she has neither. The pair of them have found each other and now travel together.
Shadow is capricious and chaotic, and loves mostly harmless pranks. She flits along surfaces, and can hide by imitating other shadows. Glass is inquisitive and intelligent, and loves interrogating and inspecting things. She moves from reflection to reflection, but can move in three dimensions inside them. The pair can’t affect the physical world directly, but anything they do to your shadow or reflection happens to you.
The Archaeologist. A ponderous creature. Tall, gaunt, and with translucent skin that gives off an almost imperceptible glow. It is an adventurer of a sort, delving into dangerous ruins not to fight, but to study the cultures found within. Though it looks nothing like her, it always reminds people of Melody.
The Archaeologist claims that Melody is not human, but the other half of a cosmic being that was torn asunder upon landing on this planet. One day, the two of them will recombine and take their place among the stars.
Related Individuals
Swordmaster Tango. In our universe, Tango is a gentle artist. In a parallel world, Melody was killed by Doctor Karr right in front of him. He took up her sword, and her mantle. He became a painter with the sword. He trained, and eventually defeated and killed Karr in his world. Having fulfilled his purpose, he looked for a way out of his world and ended up in this one. He’s much more grim than the cheery Tango of this world, but even if it became gallows humor he still has his trademark jokes.
He has all of Melody’s skills, though he mastered a more flowing and less aggressive sword style. Her sash is tied to the pommel of his sword, a flowing ribbon of death. He has a very complicated relationship with Evil Melody, since they both lost each other once.
Karr the Inventor. The Karr from Evil Melody’s universe. They remained arch enemies as he tried to save the people from her tyranny. He was the one who banished her from their world, with the activation of his great transdimensional machine. Knowing his own kingdom was safe, he followed her through the portal to prevent her from harming another world.
He is obviously disturbed at his mirrored self, and has been of great aid under the guise of the Masked Machinist. One of his main concerns at the moment is rescuing Clone Melody. The face he shares with her parent/tormenter might be the only thing able to lower her guard long enough to show her Doctor Karr’s evil.
Vibrato, Alto, and Hurdy-Gurdy. Mandolin’s three brothers. His best friend is a woman who goes by Two-Step. They are still in their own universe, searching for Mandolin.
The Anatomist, The Devotee, and The Guardian. If Melody is not human as the Archaeologist claims, then her siblings would be similarly inhuman. These are Viola, Aria, and Harmony’s other halves, respectively. The Synth Army and Synth Prime. The robotic Melodys from the future. They come in several shapes and sizes now but retain that resemblance to their original form. Synth Prime is what remains of the original, now mind-shackled and forced to lead this army. She still fights against her bonds, but to no avail.
And many, many more. You may imagine for instance what Warlord Melody’s three sisters are like. The evil twin of evil Melody must be something frightening indeed. Or what became of the other characters in Swordmaster Tango’s timeline. What is Coda like in the war-ravaged future, when her idol turned cynical? Hopefully those questions can help you imagine what kind of doppelgangers your player might have.
The Renaissance Woodsman 
Almost feels like a theme: first time travel via new timelines, then full exploration of different timelines/realities, and now the characters from all those timelines/realities.
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Haha yeah it totally was. I tried to sneak one unrelated one in there to throw people off the trail.
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