#doppelganer

1) Doppelganger

Doppelgangers are unbiological and unrelated doubles of a living person. It’s translation from its original German meaning is “double-walker”. In folklore, myths, and fictions doppelgangers are seen as harbingers of bad luck, evil twin/self, or an alter ego. A doppelganger is an exact copy of the original person and even has the same feelings, experiences, and emotions. Basically nothing good comes from a doppelganger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger explains more about doppelgangers. If you read the link you will notice a common theme in fiction, media, and folklore: a doppelganger is the double of a person with ill intent. Creepy Luz could be a doppelganger either from a rift in another world or from the Boiling Isles. If this is true, from how ominous Creepy Luz is, their reason for impersonating Luz will come with bad intentions. In the Camila clip in the trailer, we see red lines connecting to a newspaper clipping of a hooded figure with a staff and a key. We initially thought it was Camila looking for her daughter, but what if it’s Creepy Luz either trying to find their way back to the Boiling Isles? Would be counterintuitive as they want to impersonate Luz but we don’t really know why. Dana did mention she loved the “evil doppelganger theory” but kept it quiet probably for this reason (respect for keeping the secret so well). Now there are holes in this such as how did this doppelganger come into existence (probably magic but by whom?), their reasoning for going back to the Boiling Isles, how does Creepy Luz sound mechanical if they are an exact copy, and why Luz since she went to the Boiling Isles by accident.

2) Changeling

Changelings are human-like creatures (usually fairies but not exclusively) that have been left in place of a human stolen by fairies. In folklore, changelings are usually switched from sickly or underdeveloped newborns and either stay with the human family or return to the realm of magic. There are rare instances where changelings do switch with grown humans (usually for marital reasons or for nurturing the young).  Sometimes a changeling does not know they are one and usually exhibit unusual behavior when left alone. However, there are some instances where they do know about their identity and want to return to their fairy family. Sometimes the human child switched will also stay with the fairy family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling explains more about changelings. Creepy Luz being a changeling could be likely. It is not impossible for a changeling to switch with someone after childhood and their reasoning could be outside of marital and nurturing reasons such as wanting a family of their own or just messing with Luz. Like their name, they can change into a human and be a copy of the one they wish to impersonate. It does not mean they can copy their experiences, feelings, or emotions which would explain why the letters looked mechanical and the misspelling of Luz.  However, they are trapped in the Human Realm and from the Camila clip in the trailer may be trying to find their way back; they know their identity as a changeling and want to go back to the Boiling Isles. Interestingly, changeling folklore is theorized to be derived from children who were born underdeveloped or abnormally (deformed, disabled, or neurodivergent). In autistic culture, some adults have identified with changelings for this reason and for feelings of being in a world where they do not belong and not being the same species as others around them. The creator confirmed Luz is neurodivergent and I would not be surprised if the team made Creepy Luz a changeling because of the history and folklore behind them. Only holes in this theory are why they chose Luz, how they were able to impersonate her so well, and how much of a copy is Creepy Luz to Luz.

3) Shapeshifter

Shapeshifters are beings that can physically transform their bodies at will through inherent ability, divine intervention, magic or sorcery, demonic manipulation, or spells. Shapeshifters mostly shift into animal forms in folklore, myths, media, and literature. But that does not mean there are stories of shifting into human forms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapeshifting explains more about shape shifting. Usually done with animals turning into people but the myths/powers of shapeshifters is very flexible in fiction. It wouldn’t be far off for Creep Luz to be a shapeshifter. Probably a creature from the Boiling Isles who saw Luz and decided to shift into her, has some ill intentions or other reasons for stealing/impersonating her life, and used the summer camp to learn human culture. However, this only implies there are shapeshifters that can turn into humans, why impersonate humans to begin with, and how long they can hold out.

4) Clone

An interesting theory out there is Creepy Luz is a clone of Luz. Both in fiction and reality, clones are exact copies of an object, organic and/or man made. In fiction, a clone is usually copying a person for either experiments, research, labor/army force, or to extend one’s life span through another. In this case, it seems cloning Luz is for another plan outside those reasons. Since Creepy Luz went to summer camp, there is a theory that the camp cloned Luz. In the beginning of the series, Eda explained that folklore and myths are caused by leaks from the Boiling Isles. Although rare, like humans coming to the Boiling Isles, it could be possible for residents from the Boiling Isles to slip into the Human Realm. Maybe a creature from the Boiling Isles was able to clone Luz from their magic and has some reason for doing so.  However, there are holes in that theory such as reasons for a camp doing that, how they would clone Luz when she never went, and no information on said camp. If Creepy Luz is a clone, it was most likely done by some type of magic in the Boiling Isles. It could be from someone who has watched Luz for a while or it just happened out of nowhere. This theory does not have much merit as clones are usually scientific (Belos does use technology but doesn’t know about Luz until coming to the Boiling Isles) and there is no one who would want to clone Luz besides the camp or Belos/other magic organization. Still worth mentioning at least since Creepy Luz was already a surprise to us.

5) Another Creature Entirely/ Non-Existent 

Creepy Luz could be an entirely different creature all together. “The Owl House '' does take some of the residents from folklore in fantasy genres and ancient mythology but there have been creatures who are unique in the show (Tiny Nose, Warden Wrath, Grometheus, Hooty, etc). Creepy Luz could be a new creature from the Boiling Isles. Which means we have absolutely no idea what Creepy Luz actually is. All we know is Creepy Luz sent letters to Camila meaning they went to summer camp, seem to have a vague concept of what Luz and Camila’s relationship/interactions are, probably got Luz’s personality from the letters and interaction with Camila, knows about the Boiling Isles and wants to go back somehow, and has the ability to appear as Luz. There have been other theories going around in the fandom as well. Creepy Luz could be an illusion conjured by another witch. However, this means there was a witch watching Luz this entire time even before entering the Boiling Isles. Not impossible as there is a mysterious hooded figure from the trailer. But it would entail that they have a connection to the Human Realm or have access to see the Human Realm and have magic powerful enough to sustain Creepy Luz in the Human Realm. It’s not impossible but I think Belos would notice and try to get rid of them. Either this witch is crafty or Belos’s men are not doing a good job. Another theory is that Creepy Luz doesn’t exist and is just a hallucination from Camila’s stress and sadness of Luz missing. There are instances where if the trauma is too much, the brain can cause hallucinations that are very real to cope with. However, Camila seemed okay in ‘Enchanting Grom Fright” and “Keeping Up A-fear-ances” and interacted with Creepy Luz normally. The home also looked well kept and organized and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. She also received physical letters and it’s not possible she wrote them herself because she knows Luz’s name and what they do for activities together. Camila also looks content that she received texts from Luz so she does not know she is missing from camp. This theory is probably the most far-fetched, but it’s worth mentioning at least. Honestly Creepy Luz can be anything from the Boiling Isles which means we have no idea what they are yet.

A doppelganer is an unknown kind creature. Their vary nature makes them hard to study and even dangerous to do so. Little is known about them as a doppelganger is a duplicate of another person, and it would be hard to tell them apart from identical twins. You would also be unaware that you’ve met a doppelganger until you’ve met the person that they are a double of.

Key differences said to be in a doppeler is that they are not identical but look very similar to a person where you could confuse a doppeler for their double, but this is only speculation.

The main danger with doppelgangers is that you could never introduce them to those they are doubled from, to do so would result in one or both of their deaths. It is also unknown as to why this occurs when they meet.

Doppelgangers many not actually be copies but similar people linked by an unknown connection living their own individual and separate lives. Like the study of matter and antimatter, when these two opposing forms of matter meet, they destroy each other.