What is a doppelgänger? Kuya Kim explains

Jillian Ward plays two characters in "My Ilonggo Girl," Tata and Venice, who are called each other's doppelgänger because of how much they look alike.

But what is a doppelgänger?

According to Kuya Kim, the word comes from German and means "double goer." In German folklore, it refers to a spirit double—a person's exact replica. 

It is believed that meeting your doppelgänger is a bad omen, so people are scared of it.

Now, the word doppelgänger is used to refer to someone who looks so much like someone else but does not have any familial relation to the person.

There's a theory that each person in the world has six doppelgängers.

Meanwhile, a study published in Cell Reports found that doppelgängers or human doubles share similar genes and lifestyle traits. Nine out of 16 pairs studied were found to have a common generic variation after researchers looked into their DNA, making them virtual twins.

In my "My Ilonggo Girl," Tata and Venice are exact copies of each other, but they are so far from each other when it comes to their personality.

The series, which also stars Michael Sager, airs weekdays on GMA Prime at 9:35 p.m. after "Widows' War."

—MGP, GMA Integrated News