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* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' {{Elseworld}} ''Avataars: Covenant of the Shield'', those who develop strange powers in their childhood with no obvious cause are believed by the superstitious to have been "exchanged" for a fairy child, and are therefore known as [[Comicbook/XMen X-Changelings]].

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* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' {{Elseworld}} ''Avataars: Covenant of the Shield'', those who develop strange powers in their childhood with no obvious cause are believed by the superstitious to have been "exchanged" for a fairy child, and are therefore known as [[Comicbook/XMen [[ComicBook/XMen X-Changelings]].
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* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: (Earth-One) ComicBook/{{Nubia}} was stolen by ComicBook/{{Ares|DC}} rather than the fey, and not replaced, but her tale remains the same. Taken from her family and raised as something she's not, only to learn as an adult she's actually an Amazon and has a twin sister.

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* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: (Earth-One) ComicBook/{{Nubia}} was stolen by ComicBook/{{Ares|DC}} [[Characters/WonderWomanAres Ares]] rather than the fey, and not replaced, but her tale remains the same. Taken from her family and raised as something she's not, only to learn as an adult she's actually an Amazon and has a twin sister.
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** A similar plotline occurred in the first season of Series/AlertMissingPersonsUnit. The sister of the boy who was kidnapped long ago believes that the one who was recently rescued is an imposter.
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* ''[[https://www.deviantart.com/crocodile-kuro/art/A-Cloud-Leaf-Affair-1015099526 A Cloud-Leaf Affair]]'' applies the basis of this trope during [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Cloud's plot to take a toddler Hinata Hyuuga]] by swapping her with Karui, with a rare Justu applied on both to make the Hyuuga clam believed that ''Karui'' is their heiress while Hinata is taken to Cloud to be raised by the Raikage.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse:'' As Luz spends her summer on the Boiling Isles instead of at summer camp like she was supposed to, someone kept up the charade by writing letters to her mother Camila, and after camp ended, took on Luz's form to continue tricking Camila into thinking they were her daughter. [[spoiler:This ultimately turns out to be far less sinister than it appears at first glace. The {{Doppelganger}} (a shapeshifting [[BasiliskAndCockatrice basilisk]] by the name of Vee) was on the run from the Emperor's Coven, snuck through Eda's portal a few minutes after Luz first came through, took on Luz's form due to her having been the only human she had seen up to this point, and was immediately mistaken as the real Luz by Camila. The only reason she continued keeping up the charade for so long is because Camila was the first person to show her kindness. Camila is understandably shocked when she learns the truth, but after she gets over it, she tells Vee that she's free to stay as long as she'd like, and by the end of the series has officially adopter her as a second daughter.]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse:'' As Luz spends her summer on the Boiling Isles instead of at summer camp like she was supposed to, someone kept up the charade by writing letters to her mother Camila, and after camp ended, took on Luz's form to continue tricking Camila into thinking they were her daughter. [[spoiler:This ultimately turns out to be far less sinister than it appears at first glace. The {{Doppelganger}} (a shapeshifting [[BasiliskAndCockatrice basilisk]] by the name of Vee) was on the run from the Emperor's Coven, snuck through Eda's portal a few minutes after Luz first came through, took on Luz's form due to her having been the only human she had seen up to this point, and was immediately mistaken as the real Luz by Camila. The only reason she continued keeping up the charade for so long is because Camila was the first person to show her kindness. Camila is understandably shocked when she learns the truth, but after she gets over it, she tells Vee that she's free to stay as long as she'd like, and by the end of the series has appears to have officially adopter her as a second daughter.]]
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* ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles'': Changelings don't appear in the series, but they are detailed in ''The Field Guide'', which explains them to be a form of faerie that assume the appearance of a human child whilst the original child is whisked away to be raised by faeries. Due to their supernatural origins and BlueAndOrangeMorality, changelings are prone to strange behavior (one might only eat flowers and leaves, another might speak entirely in songs and riddles) and often have strange traits (for example, appearing extremely old despite still having the size and proportions of a child). While many changelings eventually leave their human families and return to their faerie kin, some end up BecomingTheMask and lose their faerie qualities entirely to live their lives as regular humans.
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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In 5th edition Hags reproduce by kidnapping babies, [[EatsBabies eating them]], and then giving birth to a baby that initially looks identical to the eaten one. They then typically leave their child with the unknowing parents of their meal, until the kid turns into a Hag in their teens. Previous editions didn't have any official material on Hag reproduction, though Creator/{{Paizo}} published an article in ''Magazine/Dragon'' that stated Hags typically seduced human men and left the resulting children in their fathers' communities, a backstory they'd later reuse for ''Pathfinder''.

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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In 5th edition Hags reproduce by kidnapping babies, [[EatsBabies eating them]], and then giving birth to a baby that initially looks identical to the eaten one. They then typically leave their child with the unknowing parents of their meal, until the kid turns into a Hag in their teens. Previous editions didn't have any official material on Hag reproduction, though Creator/{{Paizo}} published an article in ''Magazine/Dragon'' ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' that stated Hags typically seduced human men and left the resulting children in their fathers' communities, a backstory they'd later reuse for ''Pathfinder''.
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In folklore, there were several “solutions” for changelings and getting the “real” child back. While a couple were benign (like confusing the changeling into revealing itself), the vast majority, such as whipping the changeling child to sticking it in the oven, consisted of torturing or attempting to murder the child until its real fairy parents reveal themselves and return the human child. This belief was widespread. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation, was a large advocate for killing “changelings”. Keep in mind, while changelings were folklore, this folklore gave instructions on how to deal with a real phenomenon: children with disabilities, and [[NightmareFuel these “solutions” were used in real life on real, innocent children]]. While there were a few incidents where adults were accused of being changelings and tortured or murdered (see Bridget Cleary example below) and these cases gained more attention, it was much more common for it to happen to children, particularly disabled children, who had little, if any, rights at that time.//
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In folklore, there were several “solutions” for changelings and getting the “real” child back. While a couple were benign (like confusing the changeling into revealing itself), the vast majority, such as whipping the changeling child to sticking it in the oven, consisted of torturing or attempting to murder the child until its real fairy parents reveal themselves and return the human child. This belief was widespread. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation, was a large advocate for killing “changelings”. Keep in mind, while changelings were folklore, this folklore gave instructions on how to deal with a real phenomenon: children with disabilities, and [[NightmareFuel these “solutions” were used in real life on real, innocent children]]. While there were a few incidents where adults were accused of being changelings and tortured or murdered (see Bridget Cleary example below) and these cases gained more attention, it was much more common for it to happen to children, particularly disabled children, who had little, if any, rights at that time.//
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* Spare a thought for poor, doomed Bridget Cleary, who in 1895 was murdered by her husband because he believed her to be a fairy changeling. Already a topic of contention in her small village in County Tipperary (she was proudly of independent means and had had no children in the eight years she had been married to her husband) at the age of 26 she fell deathly ill -- to the point when the priest was called in to perform the last rites. Relatives complained that the nearly-dead Bridget was "much changed" and "not herself" (apparently unfamiliar with the concept of delirium), and so her husband Michael became convinced she had been replaced by a weak and sickly changeling-- psychiatrists today believe that Mr. Cleary had a mental disorder known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_syndrome Capgras Syndrome,]] where the patient believes their loved ones were replaced by identical duplicants, [[note]]it was still thirty years away from being formally described at the time of the murder[[/note]] and that as he convinced others that she was really replaced by a fairy, it slowly but surely became a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shared_psychosis shared psychosis.]]\\

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* Spare Changelings were one of the most universal folkloric beliefs in Europe. In nearly every culture in pre-Industrial Europe, there were myths of fairies or other creatures swapping a thought human infant with one of their own, and procedures to protect your infant. The symptoms of a changeling ranged from misbehavior, not learning to walk or talk, constant crying, and a large appetite. The reason for poor, doomed Bridget Cleary, who in 1895 the near universality of this myth was murdered by her husband because he believed her it was an explanation for various developmental disabilities and birth defects. The large appetite, researchers theorize, had to do with anxieties, in pre-industrial Europe, around family members that were not able to be a fairy changeling. Already a topic of contention in her small village in County Tipperary (she was proudly of independent means and had had no children in the eight years she had been married to her husband) at the age of 26 she fell deathly ill -- to the point when the priest was called in to perform the last rites. Relatives complained that the nearly-dead Bridget was "much changed" and "not herself" (apparently unfamiliar with the concept of delirium), and so her husband Michael became convinced she had been replaced by a weak and sickly changeling-- psychiatrists today believe that Mr. Cleary had a mental disorder known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_syndrome Capgras Syndrome,]] where the patient believes their loved ones were replaced by identical duplicants, [[note]]it was still thirty years away from being formally described at the time of the murder[[/note]] and that as he convinced others that she was really replaced by a fairy, it slowly but surely became a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shared_psychosis shared psychosis.]]\\productive.\\


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In folklore, there were several “solutions” for changelings and getting the “real” child back. While a couple were benign (like confusing the changeling into revealing itself), the vast majority, such as whipping the changeling child to sticking it in the oven, consisted of torturing or attempting to murder the child until its real fairy parents reveal themselves and return the human child. This belief was widespread. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant Reformation, was a large advocate for killing “changelings”. Keep in mind, while changelings were folklore, this folklore gave instructions on how to deal with a real phenomenon: children with disabilities, and [[NightmareFuel these “solutions” were used in real life on real, innocent children]]. While there were a few incidents where adults were accused of being changelings and tortured or murdered (see Bridget Cleary example below) and these cases gained more attention, it was much more common for it to happen to children, particularly disabled children, who had little, if any, rights at that time.//
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Court records from Europe from 1850-1900 have numerous incidents of cases where defendants were accused of murdering children they thought to be changelings. Prior to that time, such incidents would not have been recorded, but they are likely to be more numerous. However, it should be noted while this is one horrifying chapter in the history for people with disabilities, it is not the whole picture. There is concurrent archaeological evidence of children with disabilities who were well-cared for during this period.
* Spare a thought for poor, doomed Bridget Cleary, who in 1895 was murdered by her husband because he believed her to be a fairy changeling. Already a topic of contention in her small village in County Tipperary (she was proudly of independent means and had had no children in the eight years she had been married to her husband) at the age of 26 she fell deathly ill -- to the point when the priest was called in to perform the last rites. Relatives complained that the nearly-dead Bridget was "much changed" and "not herself" (apparently unfamiliar with the concept of delirium), and so her husband Michael became convinced she had been replaced by a weak and sickly changeling-- psychiatrists today believe that Mr. Cleary had a mental disorder known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_syndrome Capgras Syndrome,]] where the patient believes their loved ones were replaced by identical duplicants, [[note]]it was still thirty years away from being formally described at the time of the murder[[/note]] and that as he convinced others that she was really replaced by a fairy, it slowly but surely became a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shared_psychosis shared psychosis.]]\\
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* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica''. Faeries do the standard "kidnap children and replace them with changelings" routine.

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* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica''. Faeries do the standard "kidnap children and replace them with changelings" routine. In one inset story, a villager talks about having killed the faerie creature that had been left in their baby's place -- and a nearby wizened stranger disgustedly mutters that they would have traded the brat back if the humans had only asked.
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* In ''Literature/TheDoorInTheHedge'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the Faerie folk regularly steal male infants and young girls from the inhabitants of the "Last Mortal Kingdom". They assume that the mortals won't mind so much since they can have more children — eventually they learn better.

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* In ''Literature/TheDoorInTheHedge'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the Faerie folk regularly steal male infants and young girls from the inhabitants of the "Last Mortal Kingdom". They assume that the mortals won't mind so much since they can have more children -- eventually they learn better.



* In ''Literature/{{Poison}}'', the heroine's baby sister is kidnapped and replaced by a changeling, kicking off her quest. [[spoiler:It's actually all part of the Hierophant's {{plan}} to recruit her as his heir, and her sister is actually returned as soon as she sets off — as the girl Poison passes on the boat.]]

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* In ''Literature/{{Poison}}'', the heroine's baby sister is kidnapped and replaced by a changeling, kicking off her quest. [[spoiler:It's actually all part of the Hierophant's {{plan}} to recruit her as his heir, and her sister is actually returned as soon as she sets off -- as the girl Poison passes on the boat.]]



** Dys runs into the notion of human babies getting replaced by beings of another species and comes to wonder if it could have happened to himself and his twin sister, Tang. Both of them are knowledge-craving introverts who have trouble connecting with their peers [[spoiler:and also see a lot of appeal in the idea of discarding their human body to come an AI]].

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** Dys runs into the notion of human babies getting replaced by beings of another species and comes to wonder if it could have happened to himself and his twin sister, Tang. Both of them are knowledge-craving introverts who have trouble connecting with their peers [[spoiler:and also see a lot of appeal in the idea of discarding their human body to come become an AI]].

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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In 5th edition Hags reproduce by kidnapping babies, [[EatsBabies eating them]], and then giving birth to a baby that initially looks identical to the eaten one. They then typically leave their child with the unknowing parents of their meal, until the kid turns into a Hag in their teens. Previous editions didn't have any official material on Hag reproduction, though Creator/{{Paizo}} published an article in ''Magazine/Dragon'' that stated Hags typically seduced human men and left the resulting children in their fathers' communities, a backstory they'd later reuse for ''Pathfinder''.



* In {{TabletopGame/Pathfinder}}, changelings are the daughters of Hags, who copulate with (usually unwilling or bewitched) human men. As in classic versions of the legend, the changeling will be [[DoorstopBaby left on a doorstop]] or swapped for a regular child. In the latter case, Hags being irredeemably evil, it's probably best not to speculate [[ImAHumanitarian what happens]] to the original baby. Changelings are AlwaysFemale, and generally grow up to be rather attractive, although there is always some physical abnormality that identifies them for what they are, most commonly heterochromia. They are not inherently evil like their mothers, nor are they all destined to become witches when they grow up, although if they do so they will likely have a natural aptitude for it. At some point in their young adulthood, changelings will experience a psychic call from their biological mothers. If they choose to heed this, they may decide to undergo a ritual in which they pledge themselves to the cause of evil and are transformed into Hags themselves. However, they are free to ignore or reject this summons and choose their own path in life, making them an appropriate race for player characters.

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* In {{TabletopGame/Pathfinder}}, ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', changelings are the daughters of Hags, who copulate with (usually unwilling or bewitched) human men. As in classic versions of the legend, the changeling will be [[DoorstopBaby left on a doorstop]] or swapped for a regular child. In the latter case, Hags being irredeemably evil, it's probably best not to speculate [[ImAHumanitarian what happens]] to the original baby. Changelings are AlwaysFemale, and generally grow up to be rather attractive, although there is always some physical abnormality that identifies them for what they are, most commonly heterochromia. They are not inherently evil like their mothers, nor are they all destined to become witches when they grow up, although if they do so they will likely have a natural aptitude for it. At some point in their young adulthood, changelings will experience a psychic call from their biological mothers. If they choose to heed this, they may decide to undergo a ritual in which they pledge themselves to the cause of evil and are transformed into Hags themselves. However, they are free to ignore or reject this summons and choose their own path in life, making them an appropriate race for player characters.
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* In the ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' {{Elseworld}} ''Avataars: Covenant of the Shield'', those who develop strange powers in their childhood with no obvious cause are believed by the superstitious to have been "exchanged" for a fairy child, and are therefore known as [[Comicbook/XMen X-Changelings]].

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* In the ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' {{Elseworld}} ''Avataars: Covenant of the Shield'', those who develop strange powers in their childhood with no obvious cause are believed by the superstitious to have been "exchanged" for a fairy child, and are therefore known as [[Comicbook/XMen X-Changelings]].
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* ''WebOriginal/LoomingGaia'': Changelings are a type of monster created by the divine Allmother that takes the form of a normal-looking child, which constantly cries without sleep and is always hungry, while the real child is taken away to be raised by Allmother and her followers. She only sends changelings to replace the children of abusive and neglectful parents to ensure that they never want to have children again.

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* ''WebOriginal/LoomingGaia'': ''Literature/LoomingGaia'': Changelings are a type of monster created by the divine Allmother that takes the form of a normal-looking child, which constantly cries without sleep and is always hungry, while the real child is taken away to be raised by Allmother and her followers. She only sends changelings to replace the children of abusive and neglectful parents to ensure that they never want to have children again.

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Trope was declared No Real Life Examples Please via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=ju8ngqwd


%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=ju8ngqwd



[[folder:Folklore]]
* Spare a thought for poor, doomed Bridget Cleary, who in 1895 was murdered by her husband because he believed her to be a fairy changeling. Already a topic of contention in her small village in County Tipperary (she was proudly of independent means and had had no children in the eight years she had been married to her husband) at the age of 26 she fell deathly ill -- to the point when the priest was called in to perform the last rites. Relatives complained that the nearly-dead Bridget was "much changed" and "not herself" (apparently unfamiliar with the concept of delirium), and so her husband Michael became convinced she had been replaced by a weak and sickly changeling-- psychiatrists today believe that Mr. Cleary had a mental disorder known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_syndrome Capgras Syndrome,]] where the patient believes their loved ones were replaced by identical duplicants, [[note]]it was still thirty years away from being formally described at the time of the murder[[/note]] and that as he convinced others that she was really replaced by a fairy, it slowly but surely became a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shared_psychosis shared psychosis.]]\\
\\
Regardless of the reasons, soon the whole village was surrounding the cottage, chanting, force-feeding her milk with herbs, pouring human urine on her (a popular fairy repellent, apparently), and eventually holding her over the fire and prodding her with a red-hot poker. Again and again she was asked if she was the wife of Michael Cleary, and again and again she said yes. She eventually disappeared, and the villagers naturally assumed she had gone off with the fairies. But no; her charred corpse was uncovered a few days later in a shallow grave. The coroner ruled that she had been burned alive, and Michael said that yes, he had burned her alive, but had not killed his wife; he had driven the fairy changeling away, and his real wife would be waiting by the fairy fort on a white horse. She never turned up and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. To this day, Irish children often chant, "Are you a witch or are you a fairy? Are you the wife of Michael Cleary?" There is, rather oddly, an Irish folk band called Burning Bridget Cleary.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* Children with the hereditary genetic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_syndrome Williams syndrome]] are sometimes called "fairy children." They are often smaller than average and show typical facial features: upturned snub nose, full lips, wide mouth, small chin, large eyes set wide apart. Children with blue or green eyes may show a starburst pattern in their iris. They are often intellectually impaired but empathic, commonly have strong social skills and great verbal and musical talent.
* There is another medical phenomenon that fuels this, known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion the Capgras Delusion.]] Basically, a person with a specific brain injury thinks that their child (or another relative) is not theirs, has been replaced by a {{doppelganger}} who [[TheOtherDarrin looks alike]], and cannot be convinced otherwise (in the age of mythology, [[HandWave elves]] would be a convenient explanation). It was referenced in ''The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat''.
* Common symptoms of autism, which frequently don't manifest for several months after birth, include: [[UsefulNotes/LackOfEmpathy Struggling with cognitive empathy (or realizing when they're harming or offending people)]], rigid adherence to seemingly-nonsensical rules, trouble telling lies, sensitivity to loud noises (i.e. church bells), slow to develop creativity, and the lack of facial expressions mean it takes longer to develop wrinkles, giving the illusion of youth. Any of those traits sound [[Analysis/TheFairFolk familiar?]] Even today, the debunked link between vaccination and autism has shades of this trope, where parents feel that their child was perfectly normal before science "took him away," and caution other parents to stay vigilant.
** Even without anti-vaccine ideas being present, there are still parents of autistic children who feel that their "real child" has been "hidden/locked away" behind their autism, as if autism is a malevolent third party, or a "curable" condition. A lot of parents who express this sentiment usually describe wanting to cure, or "rescue" their children from the condition, and it's a common sentiment expressed in books describing unproven or controversial "cures" (such as diets or intensive, potentially abusive, therapy). Despite all the progress made, it's a common enough way of framing the condition.
** Rather horrifyingly, no lesser personage than Martin Luther described a "fairy child" in some of his writings with symptoms we'd now call autism. He recommended that the boy be ''drowned''. [[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/gerchange.html#LutherTableTalks They didn't follow his advice, but it died anyway,]] supposedly due to being exposed to too much prayer.
** Unfortunately, these exact traits combined with TheFairFolk's supernatural abilities resulted in a lot of fear towards cursed or part-fairy changelings. The most common way of "breaking the curse" WAS to [[HarmfulToMinors beat or kill the child.]]
* The closest equivalent to real-world changelings is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite Brood Parasitism,]] practiced by half of the species of cuckoos. They replace another species of bird's egg with their own, tricking the parents that the impostor is their own child. This relieves the cuckoo from the investment of rearing young or building nests, enabling them to spend more time foraging, producing offspring, etc. Despite the cuckoo chick not resembling the "parents" at all (and are sometimes even ''bigger'' than the "parents"), the strategy works fairly often since most birds are just that stupid. If the host birds do get a clue and remove the cuckoo egg, the adult cuckoos (who occasionally check up on their eggs) will attack them and destroy their nests. Cuckoos basically run an egg protection racket as a "cuckoo mafia", one in which you always lose since young cuckoos are well-known for hatching first and throwing the other eggs overboard.
** Cowbirds, whydahs, honeyguides, and indigobirds also practice this mode of egg-laying. In many cases, this habit has allowed the adult birds to maintain a more nomadic lifestyle than would be possible if they had to rear their own young in place. Many other bird species will opportunistically lay eggs in the nests of others of their ''own'' species, but in those cases it's mostly a response to intensive competition for nest sites.
* There are fish species that do the same thing, sneakily laying their eggs among those of other fish that engage in parental care. In some cases, the parasitic young fish don't just compete with or force out the legitimate offspring of their unwilling foster parents, but actually ''eat'' their unwitting caregivers' real babies.
* The larvae of two species of butterflies mimic the pheromones of the larvae or drone males of specific ant species, encouraging the ants to carry them home and care for them inside their nests. Once the caterpillars pupate, the inert-seeming pupae are ignored as "debris" until the mature butterflies break out and depart.
* Spare a thought for poor, doomed Bridget Cleary, who in 1895 was murdered by her husband because he believed her to be a fairy changeling. Already a topic of contention in her small village in County Tipperary (she was proudly of independent means and had had no children in the eight years she had been married to her husband) at the age of 26 she fell deathly ill -- to the point when the priest was called in to perform the last rites. Relatives complained that the nearly-dead Bridget was "much changed" and "not herself" (apparently unfamiliar with the concept of delirium), and so her husband Michael became convinced she had been replaced by a weak and sickly changeling-- psychiatrists today believe that Mr. Cleary had a mental disorder known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_syndrome Capgras Syndrome,]] where the patient believes their loved ones were replaced by identical duplicants, [[note]]it was still thirty years away from being formally described at the time of the murder[[/note]] and that as he convinced others that she was really replaced by a fairy, it slowly but surely became a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shared_psychosis shared psychosis.]]\\
\\
Regardless of the reasons, soon the whole village was surrounding the cottage, chanting, force-feeding her milk with herbs, pouring human urine on her (a popular fairy repellent, apparently), and eventually holding her over the fire and prodding her with a red-hot poker. Again and again she was asked if she was the wife of Michael Cleary, and again and again she said yes. She eventually disappeared, and the villagers naturally assumed she had gone off with the fairies. But no; her charred corpse was uncovered a few days later in a shallow grave. The coroner ruled that she had been burned alive, and Michael said that yes, he had burned her alive, but had not killed his wife; he had driven the fairy changeling away, and his real wife would be waiting by the fairy fort on a white horse. She never turned up and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. To this day, Irish children often chant, "Are you a witch or are you a fairy? Are you the wife of Michael Cleary?" There is, rather oddly, an Irish folk band called Burning Bridget Cleary.
[[/folder]]
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* ''{{Webcomic/Nimona}}'': A flashback to Nimona's past reveals that she was once a little girl who lived in a village, when it was attacked by raiders. Nimona seemingly inexplicably gained shapeshifting powers and killed all the raiders, but her parents feared her and no longer viewed her as their child, and so gave up to the sinister Institute for experimentation. Legends aboard about a shapeshifting creature that on occasion assumed the identity of those it killed, and it's left vague if Nimona was actually replaced by such a creature or became it or in some way merged with it.
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* ''Film/{{Us}}'': Red, a.k.a. [[spoiler:the original Adelaide, was kidnapped and replaced by her Tethered counterpart in 1986, and the Adelaide we've been following this whole time has actually been the replacement. Adelaide's parents raised the Tethered version of their daughter as their own and never suspected a thing. Interestingly enough, by the time the movie takes place, the Tethered Adelaide has started a family and has become a loving mother while Red has been driven insane, suggesting that Tethered [[NurtureOverNature are not inherently evil but are simply a product of the conditions they are raised in.]]]]

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* ''Film/{{Us}}'': Red, a.k.a. [[spoiler:the original Adelaide, was kidnapped and replaced by her Tethered counterpart in 1986, and the Adelaide we've been following this whole time has actually been the replacement. Adelaide's parents raised the Tethered version of their daughter as their own and and, though distressed by their child's seemingly sudden muteness, never suspected a thing. Interestingly enough, by the time the movie takes place, the Tethered Adelaide has started a family and has become a loving mother while Red has been driven insane, suggesting that Tethered [[NurtureOverNature are not inherently evil but are simply a product of the conditions they are raised in.]]]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse:'' As Luz spends her summer on the Boiling Isles instead of at summer camp like she was supposed to, someone kept up the charade by writing letters to her mother Camila, and after camp ended, took on Luz's form to continue tricking Camila into thinking they were her daughter. [[spoiler:This ultimately turns out to be far less sinister than it appears at first glace. The {{Doppelganger}} (a shapeshifting [[BasiliskAndCockatrice basilisk]] by the name of Vee) was on the run from the Emperor's Coven, snuck through Eda's portal a few minutes after Luz first came through, took on Luz's form due to her having been the only human she had seen up to this point, and was immediately mistaken as the real Luz by Camila. The only reason she continued keeping up the charade for so long is because Camila was the first person to show her kindness. Camila is understandably shocked when she learns the truth, but after she gets over it, she tells Vee that she's free to stay as long as she'd like, and treats both her and Luz as her daughters.]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse:'' As Luz spends her summer on the Boiling Isles instead of at summer camp like she was supposed to, someone kept up the charade by writing letters to her mother Camila, and after camp ended, took on Luz's form to continue tricking Camila into thinking they were her daughter. [[spoiler:This ultimately turns out to be far less sinister than it appears at first glace. The {{Doppelganger}} (a shapeshifting [[BasiliskAndCockatrice basilisk]] by the name of Vee) was on the run from the Emperor's Coven, snuck through Eda's portal a few minutes after Luz first came through, took on Luz's form due to her having been the only human she had seen up to this point, and was immediately mistaken as the real Luz by Camila. The only reason she continued keeping up the charade for so long is because Camila was the first person to show her kindness. Camila is understandably shocked when she learns the truth, but after she gets over it, she tells Vee that she's free to stay as long as she'd like, and treats both by the end of the series has officially adopter her and Luz as her daughters.a second daughter.]]
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* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': A setting-appropriate version of the trope gets discussed a couple of times:
** Dys runs into the notion of human babies getting replaced by beings of another species and comes to wonder if it could have happened to himself and his twin sister, Tang. Both of them are knowledge-craving introverts who have trouble connecting with their peers [[spoiler:and also see a lot of appeal in the idea of discarding their human body to come an AI]].
** During their childhood, Nomi-Nomi thought that themself and Rex, who are the MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch members of the ''Heliopause'', were changelings. Their active imagination went as far as getting {{Teleportation}} technology involved in their theory.
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* ''The Stolen Child'' by Keith Donohue is all about this trope -- from the viewpoints of the changeling as well as of the stolen child. And there's a kicker; it's an apparently endless cycle, each stolen child eventually becoming a changeling in turn, having to steal and replace someone else's child in order to return to the normal world: sort of an "Our Changelings Are Different" take on the concept.

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* ''The Stolen Child'' ''Literature/TheStolenChild'' by Keith Donohue is all about this trope -- from the viewpoints of the changeling as well as of the stolen child. And there's a kicker; it's an apparently endless cycle, each stolen child eventually becoming a changeling in turn, having to steal and replace someone else's child in order to return to the normal world: sort of an "Our Changelings Are Different" take on the concept.



* ''The Five Black Swans'' by Sylvia Townsend Warner takes place at the fairy court of Elfhame, where Queen Tiphaine has adopted humans twins Morel and Amanita and allowed them to do whatever they pleased. They cause a terrible ruckus by killing the dying queen's pet monkey, and [[spoiler:shortly after Tiphaine dies the other fairies strangle them and throw their bodies on the moor to be eaten by crows.]] The other stories by Townsend Warner taking place in Elfhame mention other changelings. They are treated as precious pets, kept as lovers by the queen and other fairies, and when they get old they are thrown out of Elfham, which leaves them confused and obsessed with the idea of going back there.

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* ''The Five Black Swans'' ''Literature/TheFiveBlackSwans'' by Sylvia Townsend Warner takes place at the fairy court of Elfhame, where Queen Tiphaine has adopted humans twins Morel and Amanita and allowed them to do whatever they pleased. They cause a terrible ruckus by killing the dying queen's pet monkey, and [[spoiler:shortly after Tiphaine dies the other fairies strangle them and throw their bodies on the moor to be eaten by crows.]] The other stories by Townsend Warner taking place in Elfhame mention other changelings. They are treated as precious pets, kept as lovers by the queen and other fairies, and when they get old they are thrown out of Elfham, which leaves them confused and obsessed with the idea of going back there.



* ''Literature/FairestOfAll'': {{Deconstructed}} and {{subverted}}. Mahon and Siofra are both thought to be changelings by their parents as a result of being autistic, with abuse because of it. Both initially believe this and live with (also abusive) fairy folk, but ultimately realize they are indeed human, just different from most. It's clear this is simply a way to explain autistic children by people who don't understand them (as some scholars posit that such tales were for autism and other conditions).

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* ''Literature/FairestOfAll'': "Literature/FairestOfAll": {{Deconstructed}} and {{subverted}}. Mahon and Siofra are both thought to be changelings by their parents as a result of being autistic, with abuse because of it. Both initially believe this and live with (also abusive) fairy folk, but ultimately realize they are indeed human, just different from most. It's clear this is simply a way to explain autistic children by people who don't understand them (as some scholars posit that such tales were for autism and other conditions).
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* In Brenna Yovanoff's debut ''The Replacement'', the main character Mackie is a changeling (or a castoff, or a child left in someone else's bed... the Morrigan gives a lot of names). There is a rather sinister purpose to the child-switching here. The faeries (although they're never named as such) don't want a pet or anything nice like that. No, what they want is a child for the Lady to sacrifice. What's more, the fae kids who get switched into the human world usually don't survive, due to their weaksauce weaknesses of being allergic to iron and blood. Mackie only survived to high school because his older sister loved him so much. The kid who was switched with his girlfriend's little sister? Not so lucky. She does show up in the book, but [[spoiler:as a revenant to be re-switched for Natalie]].

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* In Brenna Yovanoff's debut ''The Replacement'', ''Literature/TheReplacement'', the main character Mackie is a changeling (or a castoff, or a child left in someone else's bed... the Morrigan gives a lot of names). There is a rather sinister purpose to the child-switching here. The faeries (although they're never named as such) don't want a pet or anything nice like that. No, what they want is a child for the Lady to sacrifice. What's more, the fae kids who get switched into the human world usually don't survive, due to their weaksauce weaknesses of being allergic to iron and blood. Mackie only survived to high school because his older sister loved him so much. The kid who was switched with his girlfriend's little sister? Not so lucky. She does show up in the book, but [[spoiler:as a revenant to be re-switched for Natalie]].
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* The plot of Linda Haldeman's ''The Lastborn of Elvinwood'' largely revolves around the whys and hows of making such an exchange to save TheFairFolk from extinction.
* One in John Crowley's ''[[Literature/LittleBigOrTheFairiesParliament Little, Big]]''. After a while, it starts to disintegrate.

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* The plot of Linda Haldeman's ''The Lastborn of Elvinwood'' ''Literature/TheLastbornOfElvinwood'' largely revolves around the whys and hows of making such an exchange to save TheFairFolk from extinction.
* %%* One in John Crowley's ''[[Literature/LittleBigOrTheFairiesParliament Little, Big]]''. After a while, it starts to disintegrate.
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* In ''The Door in the Hedge'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the Faerie folk regularly steal male infants and young girls from the inhabitants of the "Last Mortal Kingdom". They assume that the mortals won't mind so much since they can have more children — eventually they learn better.

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* In ''The Door in the Hedge'' ''Literature/TheDoorInTheHedge'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the Faerie folk regularly steal male infants and young girls from the inhabitants of the "Last Mortal Kingdom". They assume that the mortals won't mind so much since they can have more children — eventually they learn better.
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* Creator/RogerZelazny's 1980 novel ''Changeling'' has its plot built on this trope, and its sequel, ''Madwand''. It's a subversion of the typical "ChangelingFantasy" because Pol (né Daniel) acknowledges that the family that raised him was nothing but supportive, and openly admits that his real father was a terrible man when he went off the deep end.

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* Creator/RogerZelazny's 1980 novel ''Changeling'' ''[[Literature/TheChangelingSaga Changeling]]'' has its plot built on this trope, and its sequel, ''Madwand''. It's a subversion of the typical "ChangelingFantasy" because Pol (né Daniel) acknowledges that the family that raised him was nothing but supportive, and openly admits that his real father was a terrible man when he went off the deep end.
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* Creator/MargeryLawrence's supernatural detective stories featuring sleuth-mystic Miles Pennoyer include ''The Case of the Leannabh Sidhe'', wherein Pennoyer undertakes an investigation of a child whose personality has suddenly shifted. The child, Patrick, [[spoiler:turns out to be a changeling who was left in place of the ''real'' Patrick when his nurse left him sleeping in a fairy glen belonging to the "Shee" -- the same fairy glen Patrick's father had clear-cut in an ill-advised bid to construct a nine-hole golf course on his Killeen estate. Knowing that the changeling will continue to wreak havoc in the human realm if left alone, Pennoyer enlists the help of the child's Aunt and her chauffeur to "exorcise" the changeling and demand the Shee return the real Patrick. When they succeed, the real Patrick is restored with no memory of his years spent amongst the fairies.]] It was published with Lawrence's other Miles Pennoyer stories in the 1945 collection ''Literature/NumberSevenQueerStreet''.

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* Creator/MargeryLawrence's supernatural detective stories featuring sleuth-mystic Miles Pennoyer Literature/MilesPennoyer include ''The Case of the Leannabh Sidhe'', wherein Pennoyer undertakes an investigation of a child whose personality has suddenly shifted. The child, Patrick, [[spoiler:turns out to be a changeling who was left in place of the ''real'' Patrick when his nurse left him sleeping in a fairy glen belonging to the "Shee" -- the same fairy glen Patrick's father had clear-cut in an ill-advised bid to construct a nine-hole golf course on his Killeen estate. Knowing that the changeling will continue to wreak havoc in the human realm if left alone, Pennoyer enlists the help of the child's Aunt and her chauffeur to "exorcise" the changeling and demand the Shee return the real Patrick. When they succeed, the real Patrick is restored with no memory of his years spent amongst the fairies.]] It was published with Lawrence's other Miles Pennoyer stories in the 1945 collection ''Literature/NumberSevenQueerStreet''.

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