Identical Stranger: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:Double_Double_Boy_In_Trouble_3675.jpg|link=The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|right]]
 
They say that everybody has a double somewhere. After all, the Earth has a human population of 7 billion, it would be actually stranger if no two people were at least vaguely similar. On the other hand, it's not as common in [[Real Life]] as it seems to be in media.
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* Spoofed in a filler episode of ''[[Naruto]]'' (one of the infamous two-years worth of fillers) where Ino is asked to substitute for a princess that "looks just like her," which she does...if you don't count the fact that said princess probably weighs two to three times more than Ino. That was because she ''used to'' look at lot (though not exactly) like Ino, but when she was nervous about meeting the guy she was arranged to marry she started eating a lot and got fat.
* Queen Diana Soleil and [[The Ojou|Kihel Heim]] from ''[[Turn a Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]'' are pretty much identical, so they pull a [[Twin Switch]]. {{spoiler|In the end Diana stays in Earth and lives happily with [[The Hero]] Rolan and Kihel becomes the Queen of the Moon.}}
* After having a discussion about identity, Major Kusanagi from ''[[Ghost in Thethe Shell]]'' notices a person that look exactly like her. It's something about finding identity when being a cyborg, but someone might just as well edit this example while explaining what the hell that scene was about...
** Kusanagi's prosthetic body has a stock appearance - other people can buy one that looks the same (the Major's has a whole heap of high performance, military grade equipment beneath the skin).
* In CLAMP's short manga series ''[[Wish]]'', the strong resemblance between demon prince Kokuyo and stoic human Shuichiro Kudo is repeatedly commented on by other characters. It being CLAMP, this is never given any vague hint of an explanation.
* In the [[Twincest]] manga ''Everyday Every Night'', protagonist Nohara Minato has no idea he has a twin until one suddenly shows up and starts following him around and professing his love to him all the time. Minato doesn't believe that the stranger is his twin (even though they're identical) until he shows him a cut in the same place that Minato has one. Nevermind that [[You Fail Biology Forever|twins do not work that way]].
* ''[[Cromartie High School]]'': Hokuto's Butler looks like he could be the grandfather of Kamiyama. When they meet for the first time, there is a moment of stunned silence until they declare they don't know each other at all. {{spoiler|Then again, Kamiyama wears a wig, while the butler's hair is all natural.}}
* One episode of ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka Dede|Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou]]'' has the main cast meeting a girl who looks exactly like Akane (minus the hair length) and even has the same name. Ironically, when they are trying to help said girl and her boyfriend, and come up with some plan that involves impersonating them, the idea of Akane performing the role of her "twin" gets rejected ''immediately'' on the grounds of being too dangerous.
* [[Cross Game]] ups the drama stakes by introducing Akane, a girl who looks identical to Kou's love interest {{spoiler|and dead older sister of Aoba,}} Wakaba Tsukushima.
* Izumi Isoyama from ''[[Ga-Rei]]'' looks almost exactly like the long-dead [[Big Bad]] Yomi Isayama. {{spoiler|Then it's revealed that since Kagura resurrected Yomi, Yomi and Izumi now share the same body. Their souls have even fused together.}}
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** The Detective Boys' schoolteacher Kobayashi-sensei has an uncanny resemblance to Officer Satou with glasses. In later manga issues, {{spoiler|Shiratori realizes that his affection for Satou was misplaced because he had met a police-obsessed Kobayashi at a bookstore when they were both children, and had subsequently mistaken the adult Satou for her.}}
** The three Osaka kids in the OVA, "Conan and Heiji and the Vanished Boy" strongly resemble the Detective Boys. Even their names sound very alike: Mayumi, Mikihiko, and Kenta.
* ''Gundam: The Origin'', an alternate retelling-slash-prequel to ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', introduces a '''real''' Char Aznable, who looks exactly like Casval Deikun (the Char fans know and love) except for eye color (Casval has blue, Char has brown). When Casval learns that the Zabis are out to get him, he pulls a rather [[Shoot the Dog|cold-blooded]] [[Twin Switch]], getting poor Char killed and assuming his identity. This actually briefly lead to an [[Epileptic Trees|Epileptic Tree]] that Full Frontal from ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'' was Real!Char who had [[He's Just Hiding|somehow survived]].
* ''[[One Piece]]'' features Kuina, Zoro's childhood friend from flashbacks {{spoiler|who died in a home accident}}, and Tashigi, a young woman in the Navy, who both look ''very'' similar. Given that [[Word of God]] has confirmed these two share the same year of birth and the fact that Oda is pretty much the undisputed master of [[Chekhov's Gun]]...
** Pay close attention to chapter 0... {{spoiler|Tashigi looks even more like ''Kuina's mom''. Which Zoro apparently doesn't realize, since apparently he never met said mother.}}
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* ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'' has two examples. One is anime-only, and the other is found only in the original novels: In the anime, Kaname gets one in ''TSR'', in the form of a Chinese prostitute who fancied Sousuke (who [[Platonic Prostitution|paid her just to talk]] because he was having huge psychological problems at the time). In the novels, there's a side story where Sousuke is revealed to be almost identical to a young teen heartthrob idol named Kousuke; when he got getting tired and wanting a vacation, [[Emergency Impersonation|switches places]] with Sousuke. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* In ''[[Nagasarete Airantou]]'', protagonist Ikuto just happens to resemble Takatora, {{spoiler|[[Disappeared Dad]] of Suzu, his best friend on the island.}} Anyone who had known Takatora has even noted the similarities between the two.
* ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]'''s Huey Laforet not only has [[Strong Family Resemblance|identical kids and grandchildren]], but also an [[Identical Stranger]] by way of [[Durarara (Literature)|Kasuka Heiwajima]], who is noted to look quite like his identical great-great-grandson Charon Walken in the eighth volume of ''[[Durarara (Literature)|Durarara]]''. How a Japanese model and actor ends up with such an uncanny resemblance to an immortal French terrorist and his offspring is anyone's guess, but fans [[Luke, I Am Your Father|have theories.]]
* Spritle and Prince Jam from one episode of ''[[Speed Racer (Anime)|Speed Racer]]''.
* Ichigo Kurosaki and [[Posthumous Character|Kaien Shiba]] in ''[[Bleach]]'', though were never close to meeting each other or alive at the same time. Aside from Kaien having black hair and Ichigo having orange hair, they look so much alike that Ukitake, Kaien's captain, briefly wonders if Ichigo could somehow be Kaien, despite having personally witnessed Kaien's death. This lead to some people theorizing Ichigo was Kaien's reincarnation, but this was [[Jossed]] when we saw {{spoiler|Kaien's soul was consumed by the Hollow which became Aaroniero}}.
** There are still plenty of [[Epileptic Trees]] about the possibility of some larger connection between the two characters than just coincidental resemblance, though. {{spoiler|Given that Ichigo's father is a former Shinigami captain, yet none of the Shinigami (even the ones who would've been Isshin's contemporaries) recognize the name "Kurosaki", he must have changed his name when assuming a human identity. If his original last name was "Shiba", it would explain more than just Ichigo's resemblance to Kaien.}}
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* Asuna Kagurazaka and Nekane Springfield from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]],'' though on the more realistic side of things as one merely strongly reminds you of the other.
* In ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', Faye Valentine first met Spike Spiegel when she mistook him for a similar-looking but ''identically'' dressed contact.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (Anime)|Gundam 00]]'' has a [[Justified]] version thanks to cloning; [[Flash Back|Flashbacks]] will occasionally feature people who are the genetic source material for modern clones. ''[[Gundam 00: a WakeningAwakening of Thethe Trailblazer (Film)|Gundam 00 a Wakening of The Trailblazer]]'' introduced Meena Carmine, whose ancestor's DNA was used to make [[Ax Crazy|Nena]] [[Tyke Bomb|Trinity]], and a flashback shows that Aeolia Schenberg was friends with E.A. Ray, whose DNA would be used to make {{spoiler|Ribbons Almark, the TV series' [[Big Bad]]}} as well as the lookalike who menaces Setsuna during the events of the movie.
* In ''[[Hekikai no AionAiON]]'', Sheila and Tatsuya's mother, who happens being called Umi. The reasons of this have not being revelated yet.
* ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force (Manga)|Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' has an antagonist Mariya Ranevskaya who looks suspiciously like a tattooed punk version of Vivio. Doesn't qualify for [[Criminal Doppelganger]] because no one seems to have cottoned on [[In -Universe]].
 
 
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* In a ''Why Not?'' crossover from ''Dynamite Comics'' featuring [[Evil Dead|Ash Williams]] and [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] Bruce Campbell's likeness played a triple role, Ash, a mini Ash called Ash-It, and Autolycus. The two "full size" Bruces being mistaken for each other is a plot point. (And very ''Xena''-appropriate; see below.)
** Ash also met an identical stranger in the ''Evil Dead/Marvel Zombies'' crossover...but it was actually Ashley G. Williams, a supermarket employee who happened to be the Marvel Universe version of Ash.
* In the [[Western]] [[Shojo]] manga [[Miriam (Mangamanga)|Miriam]], a lawman uses his uncanny resemblance to wanted killer Silver King (they both have long, blond hair, blue eyes, and a diagonal scar on their face) to infiltrate a criminal organization from the inside.
* In [[Marvel Comics]], Flatman, aka Dr. Val Ventura, looks exactly like and has roughly the same exact powers as Mr. Fantastic of the [[Fantastic Four]]. The only difference is that Flatman is, well, flat, his entire body being less than an inch thick. This is pretty much never ever [[Ignore the Disability|commented on, no matter how obvious it is.]]
** Later became a [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Great Lakes Avengers]].''
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== Fan Works ==
* Socrates, of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes The Series (Fanfic)|Calvin and Hobbes: The Series]]'', is identical to Hobbes save for red stripes on his tail.
** Andy discovers a pharaoh that looks just like him in [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|"Pharaoh Andrew".]]
* One of ''[[Turnabout Storm (Fanfic)|Turnabout Storm]]'s'' [[Original Character|Original Characters]], Sonata, is uncannily identical to [[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Mia Fey]], to the point of making Phoenix confuse her with Mia. To make things even more wierd and eerie, she's also ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|an unicorn from Canterlot]]''.
 
 
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* One episode of ''[[The Little Rascals]]'', "Alfalfa's Double", features the titular boy meeting up with his identical upper-class double; naturally they decide to switch places for the day. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* In ''[[Dave]]'', Kevin Kline plays both the President of the United States and Regular Guy Dave, who resembles and winds up impersonating the POTUS.
** And in [[The Film of the Series]] of ''[[Wild Wild West (Filmfilm)|Wild Wild West]]'', he plays President Grant and Artemus Gordon, who occasionally disguises himself as a perfect double of Grant.
* The [[Leslie Nielsen]] movie ''Wrongfully Accused'' has a scene where the main character defaces his wanted poster so no one will make the connection that it's him. Another character played by Nielsen inexplicably appears with the same features he drew on the picture, and is promptly arrested. This same gag was used in ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]''.
* In ''[[History of the World Part One]]'', during the segment on the French Revolution, [[Mel Brooks]] plays King Louis XVI, and the "piss boy" who works at the palace. When a double for the king is needed, the piss boy is given the part.
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** It doesn't end there: Rogers and Hart wrote a musical, ''[[Boys From Syracuse]]'', based on ''A Comedy of Errors''. Now you can have all the [[Identical Stranger]] goodness you want, plus [[The Musical|singing]]!
* ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' has this as the central plot point.
* Lord Vetinari gets one in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Truth|The Truth]]''.
** Another ''[[Discworld]]'' example is in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'', where the hidden heir to the throne looks almost exactly like the Fool. Seemingly subverted {{spoiler|when we find out that the Fool is the bastard son of the former King and a peasant woman}}. Then re-subverted in a different way {{spoiler|when we find out that it's the other way round: the Fool's parents were correct, but the supposed heir is actually the son of the former Queen and the former Fool, meaning they still share the same father.}}
* The Flashman novel Royal Flash relies on this trope, as the title character's uncanny resemblance to a Danish prince is the reason he gets dragged into his adventures in said story in the first place.
* The actor in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Double Star]]'' isn't perfectly identical to the politician he is assigned to impersonate, but he is close enough to fake it.
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{{quote| ''"But there are the scum of the low country in the army these days, who would do anything for money, and it is these that the king must guard against. I could not help but note that mein Herr spoke too perfect German for a foreigner. Were I in mein Herr's place, I should speak mostly the English, and, too, I should shave off the 'full, reddish-brown beard.'"<br />
Whereupon the storekeeper turned hastily back into his shop, leaving Barney Custer of Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S.A., to wonder if all the inhabitants of Lutha were afflicted with a mental disorder similar to that of the unfortunate ruler. '' }}
* In ''[[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel ''Only in Death'', an allied regiment's Major Berenson bears a startling resemblance to {{spoiler|the now-dead}} Caffran.
* In ''[[Wise Blood (Literature)|Wise Blood]]'', when a huckster turns Hazel Motes' Church Without Christ into a moneymaking scheme, Hazel cuts off ties with it. Said huckster then goes and finds a guy who looks a lot like Hazel--and even drives a similar car--to continue serving as the church's prophet.
* In the last two [[Time Scout (Literature)|Time Scout]] books, Skeeter Jackson and Noah Armstrong look very similar. It's the coloring and the bone structure, and a complete coincidence.
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s ''[[Darkover]]'' universe has a principle that everything except the psychic matrix stones has one exact duplicate somewhere in the universe; a couple of the novels have people locating their doubles for plot purposes. In another book, a Terran who simply happens to look extremely similar to a Darkovan nobleman is kidnapped by mistake.
 
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== Live-Action TV ==
* An ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' special featured an American Mafia boss who looked exactly like Del.
* At least four ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' stories, most notably ''The Androids of Tara'', where Mary Tamm ended up playing four roles: Romana, Princess Strella and android versions of each.
** In ''The Enemy of the World'', the Second Doctor was a dead ringer for [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] Ramón Salamander.
** In ''The Massacre'', the First Doctor was a dead ringer for the Abbot of Ambroise.
** In the Fifth Doctor story ''Black Orchid'', Nyssa was a dead ringer for Ann Talbot.
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* ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' had Meg (a harlot), Diana (a princess) and Leah (a priestess) who all happened to look like Xena. In addition to all of them having being confused for Xena at some point, there were also stories in which they were being confused for each other ''before'' Xena arrived on the scene!
** Lucy Lawless also had two ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' roles that were not Xena ''or'' the doppelgangers from her own show. Both - an Amazon and Lyla - predated Xena. After Xena's own show got started, [[Lampshade Hanging|Salmoneus compared the similarity between Lyla and Xena for Hercules]].
* In ''[[BeakmansBeakman's World]]'', all of the Famous Dead Guys (and girls!) looked like Beakman, or Lester, or Josie/Liza/Phoebe. Except Beakmom. She looked like Edith Bunker.
* Featured in, believe it or not, ''[[Green Acres]]'', when a criminal who looks exactly like Oliver Douglas comes to town.
* Used in an episode of ''[[Up Pompeii!]]'' where the plot revolved around a visit from Caesar who looked identical to Frankie Howerd's roman slave Lurcio. As with everything in this show, the fact that Frankie Howerd was playing two separate characters was heavily lampshaded, with constant references by Howerd to the audience about his versatility in playing two characters and many occasions where Howerd would come in the wrong costume and have to change rapidly.
* ''[[GilligansGilligan's Island]]''. "Gilligan vs. Gilligan" sees the arrival of a Russian spy who looks identical to Gilligan, thanks to plastic surgery.
** As did the identical-to-Ginger but [[Hollywood Homely]] woman who ended up on the island, got a makeover, {{spoiler|and stole Ginger's identity when returning alone to the 'States.}}
** And we also see the impostor who was living as Thurston Howell III before falling off of a yacht and washing up on the Isle.
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** Likewise, Frasier himself once goes out with a woman who very strongly resembles his late ''mother,'' in both the way she looks and the way she acts. He is the only one who doesn't notice: when he finally does, he breaks it off because it's all just too damn awkward.
* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]''. In "Two Petes in a Pod," Peter meets his exact double in school. Wacky hijinx ensue.
* In ''[[Primeval]]'' the character of Claudia Brown has a [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him|bridge dropped on her]] by the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] and the identical looking, but very different, character of Jenny Lewis replaces her. A rare case where it isn't undone by the [[Reset Button]] by the end of the episode and Claudia is for all intents and purposes [[Killed Off for Real]].
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'': In an early episode called ''Deadlock,'' Harry Kim is killed and an alternate version is drafted in from another universe where it was the rest of the crew that died. This means that for the bulk of the series the person we see as Harry Kim is an [[Identical Stranger]] for the one who started it. Surprisingly for ''Voyager'', the [[Reset Button]] is not mashed and this state of affairs is left unaltered, unsurprisingly though [[Negative Continuity|this is never mentioned again]]. [[There Are No Therapists]] it seems.
** In the episode proper, the ship was duplicated by a [[Negative Space Wedgie]], and both Voyagers were equally 'ours.' Where the extra mass came from is anybody's guess. The other-dimension thing is a [[Retcon]] that exists only in a non-canon novel Echoes, which does address the fact that Harry ''has'' long felt as if he's taking another man's place. Apparently, a lot of versions of the starship ''Voyager'' had been through the experience, meaning only every ''second'' dimension has a version of the ship.
*** The double was created by some odd energy wave, 'twinning' the Voyager, and presumably the extra mass came from the initial energy wave. Also, continuity is nodded to throughout the series in that Naomi Wildman was an infant who died during childbirth on one ship, and was brought along with the other Harry Kim. In a later episode involving some odd [[Negative Space Wedgie]], Harry and Naomi are unaffected due to them not being entirely 'in-sync' with the dimension around them.
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* ''[[The Nanny]]'' loves this. In one episode, Maxwell dates a woman who looks and acts just like Fran. And neither Fran nor Maxwell ever realize the similarity. Then on another occasion, C.C. dates a man who looks and acts just like Niles, which makes Niles {{spoiler|hopelessly jealous.}}
* This trope is the pilot episode of ''[[Sister Sister]]''. Tia and Tamera meet each other in the mall. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
** Of course, they end up being twin sisters [[Separated Atat Birth]] and Tia and her mom go to live with Tamara and her dad for the entire series.
* In ''[[The Colbert Report]]'', Stephen's Doppelganger takes over during one of his Better Know A District Segments.
** He seems to have quite a few of these.
** Don't forget Esteban Colberto.
* Jack from ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]'' has a doppleganger who seems to differ only in being Mexican and [[Camp Gay|apparently extremely gay]]. He plays the Generalissimo, the villain of a soap opera.
** As does the Hulu alien...
* [[The Mighty Boosh|The Flighty Zeus]].
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother (TV)|How I Met Your Mother]]'' featured references to multiple Doppelgangers, something the gang is always on the lookout for, in a recent episode. So far, they've seen {{spoiler|Lesbian Robin, Mustache Marshall, Stripper Lily, and Mexican Wrestler Ted.}} Lily has promised Marshall that as soon as they see {{spoiler|a Barney doppelganger, she'll see that as a sign it's time to have children.}} [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
** {{spoiler|They finally saw Barney's doppelganger. It turned out to be Lily's fertility expert.}}
* In a gag for Conan-era ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', the back-seat rows (the ones you never see from the cameras) are decided to not get any love - so they have huge bodybuilders march out and flex for the back row. One looked ''exactly'' like one of the cast members. Down to the glasses.
* One episode of ''[[Get Smart (TV)|Get Smart]]'' involved the discovery that KAOS had launched a campaign to find the doppleganger of everyone in CONTROL. ''Get Smart'' was the king of doppelganger shows - there were at least three doubles of Max, and 99 and the Chief had at least one apiece.
* ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]''. In "Doppelganger" Team Gibbs is dumbfounded to find a Metro PD squad whose members are identical in personality to their own. A [[Perp Sweating]] leader who [[Dope Slap|Dope Slaps]] and [[Must Have Caffeine|drinks Starbucks coffee]], a probie geek who [[You Get Me Coffee|fetches said coffee]], a [[Handsome Lech]] Italian-American whose attempts to flirt with Kate are crushed with sarcasm and a [[Deadpan Snarker]] female cop who does the same thing to DiNozzo.
* ''[[The X-Files]]''. Done as one of the many [[He Is Not My Boyfriend]] gags in "The Rain King." Scully and Mulder arrive at a TV station and are at first assumed to be the married couple about to appear on the program. When the real couple arrive they look like country hick versions of the two FBI agents.
** Not to mention season seven's "Fight Club", which had this trope as its central plot. The [[Cold Open]] of that episode has a pair of FBI agents investigating the mysterious events, and it takes a couple minutes of dialogue before the camera shows their faces and reveals that they are two strangers who just happen to look and sound a lot like Mulder and Scully.
* In the ''[[Monk]]'' episode "Mr. Monk is Someone Else," Adrian Monk and a contract killer look almost identical.
* Janet from ''[[Two Pints of Lager and Aa Packet of Crisps]]'' and Michelle from ''[[Grown Ups]]'' in the ''Two Pints...'' [[Comic Relief]] special.
* Miner and mountain climber [[Ultra Seven|Jiro Satsuma]] to Dan Moroboshi.
* There's an episode of ''[[The Phil Silvers Show]]'' where Bilko turns out to have a double. They never meet until the final scene but they keep getting mistaken for each other and much [[Hilarity Ensues]].
** Another episode involved Bilko promising a Bing Crosby concert to the troops. Unfortunately Bing was late to arrive so Bilko tried to placate the troops by passing off as Bing a soldier who happened to be a lookalike. The double couldn't sing, however, with his only talent being able to recite Longfellow's poem ''The Wreck of the Hesperus.'' Bing saved the day by arriving at the end of the episode--and proceeded to entertain the troops by reciting ''The Wreck of the Hesperus''.
* ''[[The Incredible Hulk (TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]'': It had one episode in which David Banner ran into someone who looked almost like him with the exception that his doppelganger was and looked a little bit older. The doppelganger, unfortunately, was a crook. Both parts were played by Bill Bixby.
* On ''[[Perfect Strangers]]'', following his break-up with Mary Ann, Balki happily declared to Larry and Jennifer that he was over her because he had met the woman of his dreams...and then promptly introduced them to a woman who ''looked exactly like Mary Ann''. The trope is then played twice when the foursome go out to dinner and encounter Mary Ann, who of course, is dating someone who looks just like Balki. Interestingly, they both immediately notice the similarities in each others partners, although of course, they don't see the similarities in their own--although Balki realizes it after slipping up and calling the new woman "Mary Ann".
* A strange case cropped up on ''[[All My Children]]''. Tad got [[Easy Amnesia]] and ended up in California, where he met Nola Orsini, who instantly recognized him as her long-lost son Ted. Ted had disappeared as a child, but Nola saw Tad and knew this was what Ted would grow up to look like. After a few years, Tad returned to Pine Valley and got his memory back. The following year, it turned out Nola was right. The real Ted showed up, and he looked ''exactly'' like Tad.
* In-universe example - Eric Szmanda from ''[[CSI]]'' & Jonathan Togo from [[CSI: Miami]] - [http://totallylookslike.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/128899385224151431.jpg\]. I believe that Szmanda is even in the [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot|backdoor pilot]] for the miami spin-off as well. It would be.....interesting to say the least were they to ever meet.
* On ''[[Community (TV)|Community]]'', Abed is coerced into approaching a girl he's attracted to because one of her old textbooks has a sketch of him in it - which turns out to be a sketch of her boyfriend, a caucasian Abed-lookalike.
* When Diana Rigg left ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'', it was stated that Emma Peel's husband had finally turned up alive. He looked exactly like Steed, leaving viewers to wonder how she dealt with ''that'' emotionally all the time they worked together.
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' episode "The Schizoid Man" screws with Number Six's sense of identity by secretly conditioning him to alter his reactions, then introducing an Identical Stranger who's been trained to react the way Six is supposed to.
* [[Denshi Sentai Denziman|Denzi Blue]], [[Battle Fever J|Battle Kenya]] and ''[[Space Sheriff Gavan]]'' ([[Acting for Two|all played by]] Kenji Ohba) are treated as this when they are brought together in ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: theThe Movie (Film)|Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan the Movie]]''. Except here, it turns out that the three have been friends for a long time.
 
 
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== Video Games ==
* Spoofed in ''[[Wario Ware (Video Game)|Wario Ware]]: Smooth Moves''. Not only is Jimmy P. an [[Identical Stranger]] for Jimmy T., they have nearly the same storyline in their stages. Jimmy P. has a tan, though, causing an anonymous flyer on the town message board to say that Jimmy T. "Must have gotten some sun" and "Looks like a different person!"
* You take this role in ''[[Infinite Undiscovery]]'' as Capell, who is mistaken for the hero of the land, Sigmund. It forms a major part of the plot.
* In the opening dialogue of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: LinksLink's Awakening]]'' Marin is at first mistaken for Princess Zelda.
* In ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story (Video Game)|Star Ocean the Second Story]]'', [[The Hero|Claude]] and Prince Chris look exactly alike. Interestingly, this isn't used for a [[Prince and Pauper]] bit; at most, Claude can meet Chris during a Private Action and go hit the local bar with him.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' has Celes being nearly identical in appearance to Maria, the famous opera singer, and ends up having to substitute for her as part a [[Zany Scheme]] to get the party onboard Setzer's airship. Some theorize that, as Celes is a [[Designer Babies|Designer Baby]], she may well either be a clone or close genetic relative of Maria (she certainly seems to share Maria's talent for opera, after all, being able to perform well enough to fool the obsessed fan Setzer despite never having sung before in her life). [[Wild Mass Guessing|This has not been officially endorsed by the source material]]. We never actually see Maria in the game, so we have to take the other characters' word for it about their resemblance.
* ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' makes Tidus an Identical Stranger to two unrelated characters. In FFX, he's a coincidental doppleganger of Wakka's dead brother and Lulu's lover Chappu, opening the door for Wakka's [[Big Brother Instinct]] and Lulu [[Stepford Snarker|snark]]. In ''[[Final Fantasy X 2 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X-2]]'' we learn that {{spoiler|Tidus was actually a dream simulation loosely based on some real person named Shuyin}}. Wait, so why did he look like Chappu?
** He didn't look exactly like Chappu, [http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/9/96/Ffx-chappu.jpg just had a slight resemblance.]
* Happens in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' with Luke and Asch. Later subverted when {{spoiler|it's revealed that Luke is actually a replica of Asch, and Asch is the "true" Luke}}.
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{{quote| "Wait a minute! You just taped a picture of Riff's head to this painting."<br />
"Makes the story more dramatic, don't it?" }}
* ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'': Diane is physically identical to Susan. The two are distinguishable only by hair color<ref>Susan ''used'' to dye hers dark blue, being a natural blonde just like Diane, until magical shenanigans made her hair permanently the same shade as her hair dye.</ref> and fashion sense. Despite this it appears that they have never met. Considering the amount of lampshade hanging around this one, as well as the fact that we know of at least one way for this to be perfectly possible (not counting identical twins separated at birth), this is probably going to become important later.
* ''[[Nedroid]]'': Over the course of the ongoing [[A Day in Thethe Limelight|Harrison Stories]] arc Harrison comes across two creatures underground who look exactly like his friends [http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/253869.html Beartato and Reginald] only to find out that they're Buttfranklin Buttwhistle and...His friend Reginald who's a little insulted Harrison didn't recognize him
** During an earlier arc Beartato [[It Makes Sense in Context|jumps into outer space]] and encounters an alien who looks exactly like his friend Reginald with a pair of antenna. It's then subverted when Space Reginald [http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/242619.html wipes some dirt off his face] and [http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/242873.html crawls out of the crater] he's standing in, revealing himself to be [[Nightmare Fuel|quite different]] from regular Reginald
* ''[[Brawl in The Family (Webcomic)|Brawl in Thethe Family]]'' has Kingsonnn Dededoo, who looks exactly like [[Kirby|King Dedede]] with a mustache. And he's here to [[Literal Metaphor|clean your clock]].
* ''[[Nintendo Acres]]'' has Link from [[The Legend of Zelda|LoZ]] and Lionk, Link's part-time door-opening stunt double and full-time employee of ''all'' the town's restaurants
* [[Akuma TH]] has the "Superhero" Mathman, who looks like the title character [[Clark Kenting|in a cape and a not particularly concealing mask]]. ''Everybody'' who sees Mathman assumes that he's actually Akuma, and neither of them is particularly convincing when denying it. However, the third annual World Spriter's Tournament showed that they were, in fact, separate people.
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** A similar plot to that first example is used in an episode where an alien sends androids down to Earth that not only happen to look exactly like Fred, but also [[Contrived Coincidence|"Yabba dabba" just happens to be all they can say]]. This episode has a happier ending where "Fred's" strange behavior is blamed on the diet he was on and he's taken off it, much to his delight.
* In one episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'', Peter and three [[Identical Stranger|Identical Strangers]] (except for facial hair and glasses) all get free samples of sausage at the grocery store, one after the other, then all show up at the same time for seconds.
* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' Season 1 episode "The Girl of the Dreams," a [[New Transfer Student]], Taelia, is believed to be a materialized Aelita. But besides similar looks and [[Significant Anagram]] names, they have nothing in common (unless you choose to believe some [[Code Lyoko (Animation)/WMG|Wild Mass Guessing]]).
* ''[[SpongebobSpongeBob SquarePants]]'', "No Weenies Allowed": a sponge identical to Spongebob only with dark hair and the real deal (wearing a Rainbow Clown Wig) both appear at the Salty Spittoon at the same time.
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'', "Chasing Rufus": There is a couple exactly identical to Kim and Ron only with a pair of glasses and shaggy mustache respectively.
* ''[[Class of 3000]]'', "Westley Side Story": The kids from Eastley school like exactly like our protagonists from Westley.
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** Flexo and Bender are both bending units, AKA the same model of robots. They were made to look identical on purpose by Mom's factories. While they are strangers yes, they're technically related.
** Flexo has a goatee to tell each other apart.
* In the first ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, April O'Neil is revealed to look identical to Mallory, princess from the fictional country of Malicuria. Hilarity ensues when Shredder decides to capture Mallory in order to ransom her for the [[MacGuffin]] of the week.
* One episode of ''The Famous Adventures of [[Mr. Magoo (Animation)|Mr. Magoo]]'' has the actor Mr. Magoo asked by the police to impersonate an identical gangster in order to catch the whole gang.
* ''[[King Arthur and The Knights of Justice (Animation)|King Arthur and Thethe Knights of Justice]]'' Had Arthur King, Lance and to a lesser extent, the other ten replacements for King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and the rest of the true knights of the round table.
* Colonel Chicken in ''[[Chowder]]'' (who looks exactly like Chowder but dressed like Colonel Sanders) was mistaken by Mung as a ploy to get him to bake schmeanut blutter flookies. Then Chowder comes in with his actual ploy while Colonel Chicken is confused at their resemblance.
** Another episode features Porridge, who looks exactly like Chowder except that he wears glasses and his fur is in a different shade of purple.
* ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'': Stan has a CIA double named Bill who he has do all the stuff Stan doesn't want to do. In one creepy development, Bill ends up dating Stan's daughter Hayley!
* In one episode of ''[[Storm Hawks (Animation)|Storm Hawks]]'', Piper meets her double: Princess Peregrine of Klockstoppia, or Perry, as she prefers to be called. A [[Prince and Pauper]]-type plot ensues, albeit not with total consent on Piper's part...
* In ''[[The Weekenders]]'', Tony Tortallero looks almost identical to main character Tino Tonitini and says "Sure!" in almost the same voice. However, in neither of Tony's appearances does he ever say anything ''except'' "Sure!"
* An episode of ''[[Pepper Ann]]'' featured a girl and her family moving into town and they happened to look just like her and her family members with a few differences and having slightly difference names.
* On ''[[Rugrats]]'' Angelica is mistaken for the daughter of an Italian restaurant owner. As a [[Spoiled Brat]], she takes advantage of the situation.
* One episode of ''[[Josie and Thethe PussycatsPussy Cats]]'' involces a princess who looks just like Valerie.
* In ''[[Yogi Bear (Animation)|Yogi's]] Great Escape''<ref>The first of the "Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10" series of TV movies</ref>, in the "western ghost town" scene, [[Quick Draw McGraw]] mistakes Yogi and Boo-Boo for an identical pair of outlaws who were wanted for cattle rustling.
* Similarly to the Josie example, this happens to Kimber in an episode of ''[[Jem]]'' when she meets (you guessed it) a princess who looks just like her.
* An episode of ''[[Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats (Animation)|Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats]]'' involves Henry, a lost cat with orange fur, thin black stripes, a round head, and a round black nose...<ref> Heathcliff: "There goes one heck of a good-looking cat!"</ref>
* The ''[[Top Cat]]'' episode "The Missing Heir".
* ''[[Jimmy Two -Shoes]]'' gives us TCFM, who looks exactly like Beezy only green, and uses this to get the people of Miseryville to do what he wants.
* [[South Park|Eric Cartman]] looks a lot like Marlon Brando...and a bit like Dakota Fanning.
* The animated [[Punky Brewster]] episode "Double Your Punky" had Glomer creating a clone of Punky from a photograph to keep him company at home while the real Punky was at a school picnic. The clone, however, was obnoxious, and in his confusion, Glomer zaps the sweet Punky back into the photograph and throws it away. Having retrieved it and getting her back, Glomer is unable to tell who the real Punky is. It's up to Brandon (Punky's dog), who recognizes her scent.