History Main / BackUpTwin

* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', the team heads to the secret base Providence, run by Eric Koenig. In the very next episode, Eric is murdered by [[TheMole Ward]] and the team is forced to abandon the base while chasing the villains. At the very end of the Season 1 finale, they travel to another previously-unseen secret base, only to be greeted by the equally previously-unseen Billy Koenig who welcomes them to the base in a nearly-identical opening speech. Later episodes introduces two more Koenig brothers named Sam and Thurston, as well as one sister. The series hung a [[{{Lampshade}} lampshade]] on it with characters openly wondering how many Koenig brothers there were, and Billy trolling Trip by implying he was a mass-produced android, in a MythologyGag of the comic version of SHIELD who has a long history of using such androids, called LMDs, as an explanation for characters coming back from the dead.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': An unusual version occurs in the backstory of [[spoiler: David/Prince Charming]] who, as it turns out, isn't actually [[spoiler: a prince at all. He's actually one of the twin sons of a poor shepherd; the family couldn't feed both sons, so Rumplestiltskin, per his modus operandi, arranged for one of the two to be adopted by a childless king. The royal twin - Prince James - was raised by the tyrannical king to be a selfish, amoral, and cruel PrinceCharmless, only to get himself killed. Since the king had already set up an ArrangedMarriage with King Midas's daughter Abigail, he forced David to impersonate his dead twin... just in time to meet Snow White]]. It's not entirely clear how many Storybrooke residents know that David isn't James (or if they would care).

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': An unusual version occurs in the backstory of [[spoiler: David/Prince Charming]] who, as it turns out, isn't actually [[spoiler: a prince at all. He's actually one of the twin sons of a poor shepherd; the family couldn't feed both sons, so Rumplestiltskin, per his modus operandi, arranged for one of the two to be adopted by a childless king. The royal twin - Prince James - was raised by the tyrannical king to be a selfish, amoral, and cruel PrinceCharmless, only to get himself killed. Since the king had already set up an ArrangedMarriage, he forced David to impersonate his dead twin... just in time to meet Snow White]]. It's not entirely clear how many Storybrooke residents know about this (or if they would care).

** After Barry's father Henry Allen was killed by [[BigBad Zoom]] in ''The Flash'' Season 2, we are introduced to Jay Garrick, his AlternateSelf from Earth-3. It's also a CastingGag since [[Creator/JohnWesleyShipp John Wesley Ship]], who plays both characters, also played [[Franchise/TheFlash The Flash]] in the short-lived [[Series/TheFlash1990 '90s live-action show]].

* ''[[Creator/TimDorsey Serge A. Storms]]'': Sharon from the first and fourth books and Rachael from ''Atomic Lobster'' turn out to be sisters and are portrayed almost exactly the same way. Both are six feet tall and have large breasts, long blonde curls, full lips, shapely legs, freckles, an addiction to cocaine, a job at a strip club, and HairTriggerTemper and TokenEvilTeammate tendencies. Furthermore, there is a ten-year age gap between them, and Serge and Coleman meet them ten years apart, causing them to comment on the similarities between Sharon and Rachael long before their relationship is revealed.

* Inverted in ''Film/GlassOnion''. [[spoiler: The real Andi was DeadAllAlong. Her twin sister Helen (played the same actress, Creator/JanelleMonàe) has only been successful at [[TwinSwitch impersonating her]] because the Disruptors forgot Helen existed.]]

* Inverted in ''Film/GlassOnion''. [[spoiler: The real Andi was DeadAllAlong. Her twin sister Helen (played the same actress, Creator/JanelleMonàe) has only been successful at [[TwinSwitch impersonating her]] because the Disruptors forgot Helen existed.]]

* Inverted in ''Film/GlassOnion''. [[spoiler: The real Andi was DeadAllAlong. Her twin sister Helen (played the same actress, [[Creator/JanelleMonàe JanelleMonàe]]) has only been successful at [[TwinSwitch impersonating her]] because the Disruptors forgot Helen existed.]]

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'': Neil Dylandy a.k.a Lockon Stratos was killed by the end of the series but came back for the second season as his twin brother Lyle Dylandy a.k.a Lockon Stratos II. In this case [[ChekhovsGunman the twin's existence was revealed in a brief scene]] early in the series, and later on it veers into DeconstructedTrope. The first thing Lyle made sure to tell his teammates in Celestial Being is he's ''not'' his older twin Neil's ReplacementGoldfish, even preferring to put on a facade of a jerk rather than leading Feldt on, since she was in love with his deceased brother. He also prefers to use a different style of gun fighting to contrast Neil's sniping method, although he also uses it frequently. Basically, both twins are Lockon Stratos, but they are at the same time their very own persons with different views on life, love, and revenge.

* In the first ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar1'', Anthony Carmine gets shot, and dies. In the sequel, his brother Ben Carmine (who sounds exactly the same and is almost a clone in personality) shows up, makes himself at home as a MauveShirt, and then dies. In the third game, we meet their brother Clay Carmine, whose life or death was the subject of a viral marketing campaign. [[spoiler:He survives and presumably [[SincerityMode lived a long, full life]].]] [[AllThereInTheManual The fourth brother, Dietrich Carmine, was a civilian who died long before any of his brothers did.]]

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Gears of War|1}}'', Anthony Carmine gets shot, and dies. In the sequel, his brother Ben Carmine (who sounds exactly the same and is almost a clone in personality) shows up, makes himself at home as a MauveShirt, and then dies. In the third game, we meet their brother Clay Carmine, whose life or death was the subject of a viral marketing campaign. [[spoiler:He survives and presumably [[SincerityMode lived a long, full life]].]] [[AllThereInTheManual The fourth brother, Dietrich Carmine, was a civilian who died long before any of his brothers did.]]

* In ''Film/DumbAndDumberTo'': [[spoiler:Travis Lippincott, the boyfriend and accomplice of Adele, gets ran over by a train in a [[DroppedABridgeOnHim rather anti-climatic way]], then is introduced his twin brother (played by the same actor) who essentially fills the same role, even becoming the new lover of Adele]].

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': A rather bizarre time-based variation occurs in "Visionary", where an accident results in Chief O'Brien repeatedly getting hurled forward several hours into the future before getting pulled back. Hes able to prevent several deadly incidents, but each jump gives him a high dose of radiation. By the last jump, he has device to control it, but the radiation kills him during an attack that would destroy the station. In order to prevent this, the future O'Brien takes the device and goes into the past.

[[caption-width-right:275:[-DeusExMachina at its finest.-] ]]

!!'''As a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* ''Anime/GoLion'': Takashi Shirogane (Sven) was killed in the sixth episode (but merely "wounded" in ''Anime/{{Voltron}}''), but when the audience demanded he be brought back, they did it in Japan by introducing his identical twin brother. (Since he wasn't actually dead in ''Voltron'', they just called him Sven and said he'd finally recovered.)

* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', the team heads to the secret base Providence, run by Eric Koenig. In the very next episode, Eric is murdered by [[TheMole Ward]] and the team is forced to abandon the base while chasing the villains. At the very end of the Season 1 finale, they travel to another previously-unseen secret base, only to be greeted by the equally previously-unseen Billy Koenig who welcomes them to the base in a nearly-identical opening speech. Later episodes introduces two more Koenig brothers named Sam and Thurston, as well as one sister. The series hung a [[{{Lampshade}} lampshade]] on it with characters openly wondering how many Koenig brothers there were, and Billy trolling Trip by implying he was a mass-produced android, in a MythologyGag of the comic version of SHIELD who has a long history of using such androids, called LMD's as an explanation for characters coming back from the dead.

In the case of the former, don't try this in RealLife. In fact this should probably go on the Evil Overlord List, because [[MagicGenetics that's not how genetics works guys]]. Real identical twins can of course be as different in personality as any other siblings: they just LOOK the same. While they might share some similar preferences (there's a great story told in a lot of parenting books about twin boys that loved cinnamon) or even say similar things: they are two completely different people. One could be straight, and the other gay: one could be a killer, and the other a committed pacifist. They could even eerily manifest personality traits of two very different ancestors leading them to become nemeses. This also applies to clones. Genetics are just a part of the foundation of who we are: you can build two completely different houses on the same foundation.