Give characters a significant other/sidekick/sibling/partner in crime who is just like them in every way, only exaggerated. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Think Frasier Crane and his brother Niles. They were alike in so many ways, but Niles was more exaggerated.
The trick works because contrast needs a mirror, not just an opposite. A pure opposite highlights difference; a distorted echo highlights identity — you see your protagonist's traits pushed to their logical extreme, which clarifies what those traits actually are and often warns where they lead. Say your hero is a meticulous planner who values control. Give her a mentor who plans everything down to the minute, refuses to leave the house without a contingency binder, and has alienated everyone close to her. Suddenly the hero's careful nature reads as either wisdom or warning, depending on how she reacts to seeing it amplified. The caution: if the exaggeration becomes cartoonish or purely comic relief, the mirror stops reflecting anything true. Keep the resemblance sincere enough that the reader feels recognition, not just contrast.
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