Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,171
edits
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
(17 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 6:
So why are fictional twins always identical? Well, for starters, identical twins are visually striking. They allow for [[Twin Switch|comic plots]], and they add [[Plot Parallel|symmetry]] and [[Rule of Symbolism|symbolism]] to a story. An [[Evil Twin]] is almost always an Identical Twin; how else could they [[Spot the Impostor|impersonate the "good" twin]]? Fraternal twins, for all intents and purposes, are just regular siblings, and [[Rule of Drama|regular doesn't cut it in fictionland]].
This trope is so pervasive that it even manifests when the twins are [[Unto Us a Son
There are sometimes aversions, almost exclusively in live action productions where twin actors or [[Double Vision]] are not available. The main ''subversion'' of this trope is [[Non-Identical Twins]], when twins are [[Informed Attribute|said to be]] identical but are obviously not.
Line 12:
Identical twins are highly prone to [[Speak in Unison|Speaking In Unison]] or [[Finishing Each Other's Sentences]].
In reality, fraternal twins are significantly more common than identical
{{examples}}
== Identical Twins ==
=== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ===▼
▲== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==
* Fujio Akatsuka's ''Osomatsu Kun'' is about identical ''sextuplets''. Yes, SIX characters that look exactly alike. The running gag in the early episodes was that other characters couldn't tell which is which.
* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' has the Hitachiin twins, who are so alike that no one had ever been able to tell them apart until they met Haruhi. Of course they use that similarity for their own amusement.
* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' has {{spoiler|Fai and Yuui}} , the "twins of misfortune" who are practically the same child made twice.
** Horitsuba Gakuen has the above mentioned twins as well as {{spoiler|Syaoran and Syaoron}}.
* It is fairly common in most harem-type series to have a pair of identical twins as part of the cast.
* Played with in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. Agon and Unsui dress and act very different from each other and whether they were fraternal or identical was left somewhat ambiguous for most of the series. However after Agon gets a haircut, everyone is amazed to see he and his brother are very much identical.
* Mion and Shion Sonozaki from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
* ''[[Naruto]]'' features two sets of identical twins (Hiashi and Hizashi and Sakon and Ukon). Coupled with [[Me's a Crowd|Shadow-Clones]] and [[Generation Xerox]], Masashi Kishimoto seems fond of twins; he himself is one.
* Yoh, the protagonist of ''[[Shaman King]]'', is revealed to be the identical twin of Hao, the Big Bad of the series.
* Played with in ''Maomarimo'': Mao and Ako remain fraternal twins even after Mao's [[Gender Bender]], but the issue is raised by a background character who wonders why this trope wasn't invoked.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* Wendy and Goldie, twin prostitutes from Frank Miller's ''[[Sin City]]''. According to Marv, they even [[The Nose Knows|smell identical]].
* [[Mandrake the Magician]] and his [[Evil Twin]] Derek.
* The Trigger Twins, from DC Comics ''All-Star Western'' series.
* Lightning Lad and Lightning/Light Lass of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]], who are [[Half-Identical Twins|fraternal twins]], come from a planet where nearly everyone is born with a twin sibling. The reason their older brother Lightning Lord is evil is because he was born without a twin.
* Huey, Dewey, and Louie from the ''[[Disney Ducks Comic Universe]]'', with bonus rhyming names. They have [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience]] hats: red is Huey, blue is Dewey, and Louie is green or yellow, depending on the colorist. Yellow was more prevalent in the 4-color era, but by the time of ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' green became the standard, possibly because of RGB screens.
=== Fanfiction ===
* Ethan and Evan Brightman from the ''[[Glee]]'' fanfic ''[[
=== [[Film]] ===
* There are identical twin brother cops in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' -- {{spoiler|the Sergeants Turner (Bill Bailey's characters)}}.
* Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in everything they've done (except ''[[Full House]]'', where the twins both played the same one character to stretch limits on how long very young child actors are allowed to work). They're actually fraternal twins, but look alike enough for identical-twin plots to work.
* Both versions of ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]''.
* ''[[The Prestige]]'': {{spoiler|Borden and Fallon}}.
* The Stabbington Brothers in ''[[Tangled (
* A pair of elderly women twins appear in the French film ''[[Amelie]]'', buying food at the local fruit stand. They also [[Finishing Each Other's Sentences|
=== [[Literature]] ===
* ''[[Harry Potter (
* The main character and his brother from ''[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]''
* The main characters of the ''T*Witches'' series.
* Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield of ''[[Sweet Valley High]]''.
** Not to mention the identical ''evil'' twins Nora and Margo, who other than hair color are so like Elizabeth and Jessica that they're even able to fool the twins' ''parents.''
* Subverted in ''[[
* Elladan and Elrohir of ''[[
* Lampshaded in ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', where the Edirr produce so many twins they usually do everything in twos.
* "The twins" ([[No Name Given|No Names Given]]) in ''[[Peter Pan]]'', "who cannot be described because we should be sure to be describing the wrong one." Note that Peter doesn't really know what "twins" are, and the animated series ''[[Peter Pan and The Pirates]]'' brutally [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] this trope by making the twins different colors and heights, the implication being that they're merely good buddies who were labelled "twins" because they [[Those Two Guys|are always together]] and finish each other's sentences.
* [[Polar Opposite Twins|Jory and Nia]] from [[Circle of Magic|Cold Fire]].
=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell on ''[[Sister, Sister]]'' are long-lost identical twins, played by real life twins Tia and Tamera Mowry.
* Zack and Cody on ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'', also played by Real Life twins. Puberty made them not so identical.
* Nearly every set of twins in ''[[The Pretender]]'', from regular character Sydney and his brother Jacob down to the briefest one-off appearance. Particularly notable was the episode where Sydney visits a Twins Convention, which is populated entirely by identical twins sticking together and wearing co-ordinated outfits.
* ''The Bold And The Beautiful'' had a rather interesting example. Twins Stephanie and Phoebe Forrester were identical twins until they graduated high school. From that point on they've been fraternal.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* The [[Ravenloft]] setting has Laurie and Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, identical twin monster-hunting heiresses, as well as Jacqueline and Louise Renier, identical wererat littermates.
=== [[Theatre]] ===
* The mix-up in ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'' is caused by two sets of identical twins confusing themselves for each other.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Dante and Vergil from ''[[
* Redmond and Blutarch from ''[[
* Ami and Mami Futami of ''[[The Idolmaster (
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* ''[[
=== [[
* Melanie and Militia Malachite from ''[[RWBY]]'', twin [[Elegant Gothic Lolita]] bouncers at a [[Bad Guy Bar]].
* Patty and Selma and Sherri and Terri from ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]''▼
* Dee Dee and Di Di from ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]''▼
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Lo and Li, Azula's ancient caretakers, from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. ATLA also had a set of twins in the episode "The Fortuneteller," who were identical except one was an Earthbender and one wasn't.▼
▲* Lo and Li, Azula's ancient caretakers, from ''[[
* [[Kim Possible]]'s little brothers are identical twins who can only be told apart by the colour of their shirts.
* The Scottish Twins from ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' zigzag with this trope. In their backstory the twins intentionally removed their number plates so as to appear completely identical and pull a [[Twin Switch]] and escape from a railroad that threatened to have them scrapped. After being employed at Sodor, though, they were given number ''and'' name plates, specifically so they could be told apart.
* Ingrid and Latoyah from ''[[Slacker Cats]]''.
* Más y Menos from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''.
=== Real Life ===
* The village of Kodhini, India has 6 times as many twins as the global average. On top of that, the majority of the twins are identical.
== Fraternal Twins ==
=== [[Anime]] ===▼
▲== NOTE: This section is reserved for twins who do not look alike at all; brother-sister twins who look alike go to [[Half-Identical Twins]]. ==
▲== [[Anime]] ==
* Kirio and Kirika from ''[[Kamichama Karin]]''.
* In ''[[
* {{spoiler|"Syaoran Li" and "Watanuki Kimihiro"}} aka {{spoiler|"Tsubasa Li 1" and, presumably, "Tsubasa Li 2}} of ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' and ''[[
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
* Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi from ''[[
* Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki of ''[[Bleach]]''.
* [[Single-Minded Twins|Mairu and Kururi]] {{spoiler|Orihara}} from ''[[Durarara
* Rin and Yukio Okamura from ''[[Blue Exorcist
* Princess Fine and Princess Rein of ''[[
* Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi of ''[[Clannad (
=== [[Comics]] ===
* Ember and Suntop from ''[[Elf Quest]].''
* [[The Phantom (
* Crystar and Moltar from ''[[Crystar Crystal Warrior]].''
* Northstar and Aurora from ''[[Alpha Flight]].''
* [[X
* [[Quicksilver (comics)|Quicksilver]] and [[Scarlet Witch]]: different genders, different hair colors, and different power sets.
=== [[Film]] ===
* {{spoiler|Luke and Leia}} from ''[[Star Wars]]''
* ''[[High School Musical]]'': Sharpay and Ryan are twins.
* Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear in ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]''
* Leto and Ghanima Atreides, twin children of Muad'dib in [[
=== [[Literature]] ===
* In [[
* ''[[House of Leaves]]'': Will Navidson, the main character of [[Framing Device|his piece]] of the story, has a fraternal twin brother, Tom.
* Faith<ref>[[Overly Long Name|Katherine Honor Stephanie Miranda]]</ref> and James<ref>Andrew Benjamin</ref> Harrington, [[
* The [[Bobbsey Twins]].
* Caramon and Raistlin Majere of [[Dragonlance]]. Caramon's a strapping warrior, Raistlin's a sickly wizard, and this difference drives 90% of their character development and plots.
Line 129 ⟶ 134:
* Kit and Holly Fielding in ''[[Dick Francis|Break In]]'' and ''[[Dick Francis|Bolt]]''
=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* On ''[[The Hogan Family]]'' the twins were explicitly fraternal.
* On ''[[
* Buffy and Jody from ''[[Family Affair]]'' were fraternal twins.
* Emily and Katie Fitch from ''[[Skins]]'' are fraternal twins.
* {{spoiler|Miss Parker and Mr Lyle}} in ''[[The Pretender]]''.
* Brenda and Brandon Walsh ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' are fraternal twins.
* ''[[The Bold And The Beautiful]]'' had a rather interesting example. Ridge and Taylor's daughters Stephanie and Phoebe were identical twins and played by identical twins up until the point where the characters left for London. Phoebe is the first to return, now played by a new actress. When Stephanie returns a while later she is played by a different actress than Phoebe and the twins are now fraternal.
* One episode of [[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]], called "Twins at the Tipton" had Dirk and Kirk, fraternal twins Maddie and London dated.
* [[The Big Bang Theory]] has Sheldon and his twin sister, Missy, who look nothing alike except for hair color.
* {{spoiler|Subverted}} on ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' with Lindsay and Michael {{spoiler|when it's revealed that Lindsay was adopted and is actually three years older than Michael.}}
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Alexander and Rosella from ''[[King's Quest]]''.
* {{spoiler|Kid and Sara}} from ''[[Ever 17]]'' are fraternal twins.
* For a series that's so out of touch with reality, you wouldn't expect ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' to feature realistic fraternal twins, but the heroes are, in fact, same-sex twins that look similar enough that they're clearly related, but different enough that they're easy to tell apart.
* Yuki Kudou and his bubbly idol obsessed "younger" sister Erika Kudou of the ''[[Chou Soku Henkei Gyrozetter]]'' 3DS game look nothing alike.
=== Newspapers ===
* ''[[Weekly World News]]'' once ran a [[Cover Story]] on a set of [[Conjoined Twins|conjoined septuplets]]: [[You Fail Biology Forever|5 male, 2 female]].
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* Alex and Dan in ''[[The Dreamland Chronicles]]'' are a rare case of fraternal twins of the same gender. This is likely inspired by the creator's fraternal twin sons.
* [[Slightly Damned]] has Kieri and her twin brother, Kazai. Despite being different genders, they are very similar, right down to the cowlick on the back of their heads.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[
* Jackal and Hyena of [[Gargoyles]] both have brown hair and are completely [[Ax Crazy]], but that's where the similarities end.
Line 161 ⟶ 167:
[[Category:Twin Tropes]]
[[Category:Always Identical Twins]]
|