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{{trope}}
[[File:Double_Double_Boy_In_Trouble_3675.jpg|link=The Simpsons (
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
** 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
* [[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 ''[[
* ''[[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.
* ''[[
* Spritle and Prince Jam from one episode of ''[[
* 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
* In ''[[Hekikai no
* ''[[
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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 (
* 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 ''[[
** Andy discovers a pharaoh that looks just like him in [[Exactly What It Says
* One of ''[[
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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 (
* 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
** Another ''[[Discworld]]'' example is in ''[[Discworld
* 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 ''[[
* In ''[[
* In the last two [[
* [[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 ''[[
** In ''The Enemy of the World'', the Second Doctor was a dead ringer for [[Villain
** 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 ''[[
* 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.
* ''[[
** 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
* ''[[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
* 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
** As does the Hulu alien...
* [[The Mighty Boosh|The Flighty Zeus]].
* ''[[
** {{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 ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[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
* 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 ''[[
* 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:
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== Video Games ==
* Spoofed in ''[[
* 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:
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** 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?" }}
* ''[[
* ''[[Nedroid]]'': Over the course of the ongoing [[A Day in
** 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
* ''[[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
* ''[[
* ''[[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
* One episode of ''The Famous Adventures of [[
* ''[[King Arthur and
* 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.
* ''[[
* In one episode of ''[[
* 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
* In ''[[Yogi Bear
* 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 ''[[
* The ''[[Top Cat]]'' episode "The Missing Heir".
* ''[[Jimmy Two
* [[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.
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