Double Trouble – Daytime Soaps’ Most Famous and Controversial Doppelgängers (POLL)

Doppelgängers (aka evil twins) are a standard soap opera plot device perhaps second only to paternity secrets and secret babies. Today we’ll take a look at some of the famous and controversial doppelgänger plots – one for each of our favorite soaps. Check these out then share your thoughts in the comments below!

General Hospital
Thanks to Helena Cassadine [Constance Towers], Port Charles has had more than its fair share of evil twins roaming the town wreaking havoc. But it’s Anthony Geary that takes the cake for doppelgänger story lines. In addition to his core character, Luke Spencer that he’s played for more than 35 years, Geary has also portrayed both Bill Eckert and Fluke.

Eckert was actually the look-alike cousin of Luke who was created by show runners in 1991 when Geary was tired of playing Luke. Bill enjoyed a two year run before he died in look-alike Luke’s arms after being shot when mistaken for Luke. Then, over the last two months, we were convinced that Luke had another doppelgänger when Fluke started wreaking havoc.

Fans speculated that Fluke might be Luke under Helena’s mind-control or Bill Eckert back from the dead. Turns out, though, this evil twin was really Luke’s own dark side created when he accidentally killed his mother back in the day then, on purpose, killed his ultra-abusive father Tim. It was a bit of a let down, particularly since this role was Geary’s swan song as he prepared to leave GH for good.

Days of Our Lives
Rafe Hernandez [Galen Gering] rolled into Salem as an FBI agent sent to speak with Sami Brady [Alison Sweeney] who was then in witness protection. She had already been in a relationship with EJ DeMira [James Scott] that began with obsession and a rape. After Sami rebelled against her WitSec security, Rafe became her full-time guard then, ultimately, her husband.

But the evil twin plot came about when EJ and his bad dude dad Stefano DiMera [Joseph Mascolo] wanted Rafe out of Sami’s life, they created “Robo Rafe” aka Arnold Finnegan. He was intended to treat Sami so terribly that she would dump Rafe and go running back to EJ so they could be happily ever after with their kids and Rafe would be out of the picture for good.

Rafe was tossed into a dungeon for safe storage and EJ and Stefano used plastic surgery to convert thug Arnold Finegan into Fake Rafe. Rafe was later drugged and sent to an institution where he was able to escape. Sami and Rafe then captured Robo Rafe but Fake Rafe was killed while in a holding cell because he was mistaken for the real Rafe. Another fail for EJ!

Bold & the Beautiful
B&B is not known for many evil twin plots – they’ve only had two over the years. April and Amber plus Rush and Johnny. We’ll talk about the more major of the two – April and Amber. April Knight and Amber Moore, both portrayed by Adrienne Frantz, are long lost twin sisters. Tawny Moore [Andrea Evans] gave both the girls up for adoption, but Amber’s adoption flopped.

April showed up just in time to save Amber (who knew nothing about her, the adoption or their mom) from having to resign over an adult video. April said the video was hers and Forrester Creations was saved a lot of embarrassment. Usually the doppelgänger that shows up in town is the evil twin making trouble, but in this case, the opposite was true.

Amber is a kidnapper, cheater, seducer, design stealer, skank, baby paternity liar, occasional drug dealer, gossip and all-around ne’er do well. April, however, seems to be a nice girl who just wants to pursue her dream of being a singer. Maybe April was better off for having been adopted out than her evil twin Amber who stayed with their birth mother!

Young and the Restless
This doppelgänger plot is still underway. Jack Abbott [Peter Bergman] was spirited away on his wedding day just after he swapped I do’s with Phyllis Summers [Gina Tognoni]. Victor Newman [Eric Braeden] swapped Jack out with Yack (or Fake Jack, whatever you prefer to call him). Evil villain Victor found Yack in a Peruvian prison and recruited him to take over for his arch rival Jack.

Victor has a knack for finding doppelgängers, it seems, since Newman also pulled this with Mariah Copeland [Camryn Grimes]. Fake Jack is busy shagging Phyllis who, as of now, thinks that Yack is her real hubby Jack. Kelly Andrews [Cady McClain] is holding Jack hostage – she must have really enjoyed that hot closet sex with Yack and is now all-in on the evil twin plot.

Kelly has convinced Jack that the world thinks he’s dead and Phyllis is dead too. Jack made a run for it but Kelly was able to keep him captive. Meanwhile, Yack is buying fancy cars, dressing up and seems to have the hots for his half-sister Ashley Abbott [Eileen Davidson]. Of course, Yack is no relation, but Ashley doesn’t know that. It will be interesting to see just how far this doppelgänger plot will go!

So what do you think? Leave a comment below with your favorite evil twin or doppelgänger storyline on the soaps!

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