Death and the Black Forest
It's sometimes said that, if you ever meet your Doppelgänger, you should kill him. This works two ways, though, since he'll also try to kill you, for exactly the same reasons. Your Doppelgänger is, potentially, your Nemesis, and you his.

I have a Doppelgänger. One of us must die.

It was a hot day in Tübingen; I had spent the last half-hour wandering around the town killing time, but was now sitting on a wall just by the Neckargasse eating a rapidly-melting orange ice-cream, and wondering idly whether I should have chosen lemon or pistachio instead. I’d noticed that a few people had done a double-take as I walked past earlier, but hadn’t really thought much of it. But now it was undeniable: across the way, there was a small group of kids in their early teens staring at me. And, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that they’d been following me for a while.

I ran through a mental checklist of the reasons why they might be so interested in me, but could think of nothing. I tried to ignore the kids and concentrate on my ice-cream; but, my attention having been drawn to them, I couldn’t help but notice them further. One of them was holding a piece of paper, and alternately looking from it to me but trying – and failing – to be crafty and surreptitious about it. By now, it was obvious that I had clocked them, and one of the kids crossed the street towards me, and politely but shyly said something.

I have very little German, and explained that I didn’t understand. The kid crossed back across the street, and came back with the piece of paper. On it was a publicity photo of someone who looked like…

Well, not all that much like me, to be perfectly honest. Like I might have looked 10 or 15 years ago in a slightly different universe, but not like me now, and not like me 10 or 15 years ago in this universe. But still enough like me for these Germans to think that I and the person in the photo were the same, and that I was therefore for some reason noteworthy.

It would appear that I have a Doppelgänger, that my Doppelgänger is the kind of person of whom German teenagers have photographs, and that the resemblance between us is obvious to Germans.

But that’s enough. I know he, my Nemesis, is out there. And, should we ever meet, I shall kill him, lest he kills me.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 11:01, 14 replies)

the hoff?

( parttimedogfish is a Born-Again Reincarnationist, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 11:05, closed)

Go to my profile and look at the pic.
Do you think that anyone could confuse me and DH?

*fears*
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 11:07, closed)

surely
identical twins must have each other as an arch nemesis then
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 11:07, closed)

True. But I didn't make up the killing thing.
Blame Alfred Hitchcock.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 11:11, closed)

Oddly enough, Alfred Hitchcock was my doppelganger.
He should have heeded his own advice.
(Cave Duck, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 12:31, closed)

And killed you?

( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 13:04, closed)

I ain't saying nuttin', but
he ain't around no more.
(Cave Duck, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 13:24, closed)

Don't go looking for him
If I remember my folklore correctly, if you see your own Doppleganger, you die..
( DeadEyeDick, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 12:20, closed)

So if you don't see him
you become immortal?
( Bob Todd whee, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 12:46, closed)

And what about photos of him?
In what hinterland does that put me? The shady realms of those with an average life-expectancy?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 13:04, closed)

so if it's not the hoff
who the hell is it?
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 14:12, closed)

I have no idea.
Just someone who looks a bit like I had used to if you squint at his photo.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 14:26, closed)

A certain b3tan is convinced Matt Smith (the lad who plays Doctor Who these days) is my Doppelgänger.
He is in a minority of one - I think he needs to get the prescription on his glasses checked.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 22:58, closed)

Ha, useless fact
but listening to Itunes while reading this post and its Pulp 'A little Soul'. Jarvis is singing over and over about how you "look like me but you're not like me at all".

Apparently I have several doppelgangers, wherever I live people always feel the need to tell me there's someone who looks just like me around. At least 2 people in very different situations have told me this in the last 2 weeks.
I'm amazed, given that people rarely remember my name and/or my face, on a regular basis, that my Doppelgangers would even register.

Obviously I need to tool up before leaving the house then, just in case I run into one of these unfortunates
(maggotriddendirtbox fast, feral and sharp as a tack since, Fri 30 Apr 2010, 23:30, closed)