History Main / IdenticalTwinIDTag

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheBrotherbandChronicles'', where Gilan notices a scar on Wulf's (or possibly Ulf's) arm and thinks he's finally found a way to tell them apart...only for Ulf ([[RunningGag or possibly Wulf]]) to laugh and show him an identical scar.
** Hal attempts to enforce this in the first book by tying a rope bracelet to Wulf's wrist - Wulf just unties it and gives it to Ulf.

* In ''Literature/RDGRedDataGirl,'' Masumi and Manatsu (who technically have a triplet sister) are pretty much identical except for their skin tones. Manatsu is darker, presumably because of all the time that he spends outside with horses, while Masumi gets relatively little sun, what with being [[spoiler:[[DeadAllAlong a ghost and all]]]]. Also, [[{{Crossdresser}} Masumi likes to wear women's clothing]].

* In an early ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' novel, Jessica gets fed up with people mistaking her for Elizabeth and gets herself a makeover, including dying her hair black. She rapidly switches back when it turns her original look is what a modeling agent is looking for.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' games have the twins Rom and Ram, Rom has shorter hair (down to her chin) and a mostly blue outfit, while Ram has longer hair (down to her shoulder blades) and a mostly pink outfit. When in [[SuperMode HDD]], Rom has pink eyes and blue hair that is longer on her right side, while Ram has blue eyes and pink hair that is longer on her left side.

* Mona and Lisa ''Series/HalloSpencer have different hairstyles Mona has braids while Lisa has a ponytail.

** Twins Bash and Dash of Misty Island from the Nitrogen Era; Bash has a yellow cab and dome, and black boiler, wheels, and trimming, while Dash has the opposite. Also, Dash has freckles on his cheeks, while Bash does not.

* ''Series/{{Fargo}}'': The [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo second season]] gives us the Kitchen brothers, twin siblings who act as henchmen for Mike Milligan. They can be differentiated in that Gale wears a red trenchcoat while Wayne wears a brown trenchcoat. In addition, Gale has [[SkunkStripe a grey streak]] on the right side of his beard, while Wayne's is on the left side.

* In Season 5 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', Dr. Krieger meets three clones working for a Central American dictator. The clones wear neckties, while the original Krieger wears a bowtie. Towards the end of the season, they get in a fight and [[CloningBlues three Kriegers die]]. The one who survives is seen adjusting a necktie as he gets up, [[RiddleForTheAges but the evidence for and against him being a clone is never conclusive]].

* ''Series/{{Fargo}}'': The [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo second season]] gives us the Kitchen brothers, twin siblings who act as henchmen for Joe Bulo and later Mike Milligan. They can be differentiated in that Gale wears a red trenchcoat while Wayne wears a brown trenchcoat. In addition, Gale has [[SkunkStripe a grey streak]] on the right side of his beard, while Wayne's is on the left side.

** Most people can tell Fred and George apart, though it's never stated how; their EstablishingCharacterMoment shows that they can pull a quick TwinSwitch on their mother if she's distracted, though. In the final book, [[spoiler:George loses an ear, and later, Fred dies]]. In the film adaptations, it is possible to tell them apart by their voices, as James Phelps (Fred) has a slightly deeper voice than Oliver Phelps (George).
*** There are also subtle behavioral differences to tell the twins apart. Fred tends to be the main instigator and ringleader, while George is only slightly more serious and has just a teeny bit more moral restraint (in ''Goblet of Fire'', George is hesitant to blackmail Ludo Bagman, whereas Fred is pretty hot-headed about it and wanted to just rush in without a thought). In another example, George is slightly kinder than Fred. While Fred takes the lead in instigating mayhem, George is the one who offers to help Harry with his cart and starts the speech when they give him the Marauder's Map. Fred is always right on the same page with him, but George is the one who starts their nicer moments.

* Hal attempts to enforce this in the first book by tying a rope bracelet to Wulf's wrist - Wulf just unties it and gives it to Ulf.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' games have the twins Rom and Ram, Rom has short hair and a mostly blue outfit while Ram has longer hair and a mostly pink outfit.

* The ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Fortuneteller" features a pair of twin brothers named Poi and Ping. For the most part, they look like mirror images of each other, with hair parted on opposite sides, a patch on opposite shoulders, etc. The most interesting fact about them is that Poi is an [[DishingOutDirt earthbender]] while Ping is a {{Muggle}}; relatedly, Poi follows most earthbenders in [[DoesNotLikeShoes not wearing shoes]].

This also works as a visual aide in TV and film. If the twins were exactly alike, it could grow confusing for the audience to constantly keep track of which twin is doing what.

This is almost always TruthInTelevision — usually either because there's a biological distinction (e.g., a mole on one's cheek that the other doesn't have, a widow's peak in one's hairline, etc.) or because they like to do something to differentiate themselves (like a different hair style — even a different hair colour, sometimes). This usually happens naturally over time as the twins reach adolescence and older, and grow out of the cute dressing-alike phase and seek ''something'' to differentiate themselves from each other. Yet more TruthInTelevision: even identical twins can be told apart by their fingerprints. One thing which is normally ignored (even in online guides for telling twins apart) is that the ''navel'' is a scar, and as such, can be as different for twins as for anyone.

* {{Invoked|trope}} in ''Manga/CastleTownDandelion''. Haruka stated he wears PurelyAestheticGlasses to distinguish him with his {{Half Identical Twin|s}} Misaki and her [[LiteralSplitPersonality clones]].

* While the sextuplets of ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' were identical in terms of both [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins appearance]] and [[BrattyHalfPint personality]] (though they were color-coded on the covers in the tankoubon rereleases), the 2015 revival series, ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'', tosses in [[ColorCodedCharacters color-coded outfits]] and a few unique characteristics to let the viewers separate each brother from the primary Osomatsu -- [[CasanovaWannabe Karamatsu]] has thick eyebrows, [[PerpetualFrowner Ichimatsu]] has messy hair, half-closed eyes, and a tendency to wear surgical masks, [[{{Keet}} Jyuushimatsu]] is always smiling and has large pupils, [[TheDandy Todomatsu]] has a CatSmile and shinier eyes, and [[OnlySaneMan Choromatsu]] has smaller pupils and doesn't have an IdiotHair like the others do. In the movie, their 18 year old selves are similarly distinguished: Karamatsu has freckle-like acne, Choromatsu wears glasses, Ichimatsu's hair is less neat, Jyushimatsu is an angry PerpetualFrowner, and Todomatsu wears clothes that are too big for him.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub,'' where the twins can be told apart from how they comb their hair. [[spoiler: This is later taken to its expected conclusion when the twins finally ''do'' change enough emotionally that they want to look different and be individuals; they achieve this by one dying his hair black.]] Subverted in the anime, when Hikaru and Kaoru get fed up with being identical and dye their hair pink and blue. [[spoiler:It ended up being another game to mess with everyone.]] In the anime they also have different voice actors, though they sound similar enough to be mistaken for each other.

** Miku has headphones she usually wears around her neck, and has mid-length hair.
** Yotsuba wears a ribbon atop her head, and has the second shortest hair out of the five.

* In ''Literature/RDGRedDataGirl,'' Masumi and Manatsu (who technically have a triplet sister) are pretty much identical except for their skin tones. Manatsu is darker, presumably because of all the time that he spends outside with horses, while Masumi's gets relatively little sun, what with being [[spoiler:[[DeadAllAlong a ghost and all]]]]. Also, [[{{Crossdresser}} Masumi likes to wear women's clothing]].

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Yoh and Hao were born as identical twins, but by the time they met in the series, Hao has longer hair while Yoh keeps his short.
* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': When first introduced Tsuruba and Tariga are perfectly identical and frequently switch hairstyles to impersonate each other and further confuse things. When their brother realizes they're moving against him he sets assains on them that first cut off Tsuruba's ponytail while aiming for his neck and then start racking up wounds that will ensure the brothers are much easier to tell apart in the future should they both survive. [[spoiler:After each has aquired disinctive scars on their faces months later at least one of their brother's allies is still unsure which one has cornered him]].

* In ''Horitsuba Gakuen'' (the official omake of ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle''), [[spoiler:Fai-sensei]] and [[spoiler:Yuui-sensei]] have different hair lengths; the former has relatively short hair, while the latter's hair is long enough to tie in a ponytail (other than his bangs). Their voices are slightly different, too; [[spoiler:Yuui-sensei]]'s is slightly lower and calmer, though in the fourth voice drama they mention that their voices were the same when they were kids.

* The Saionji brothers from ''AudioPlay/YandereHeaven'' have distinctive hair styles and outfits. Ran has short hair and wears a vest over a green shirt while Wakasa has long hair and wears a green jacket over a dark top.
* The twins from ''AudioPlay/YandereNoOnnaNoKo'' volume 2 are identified by their hair length, outfit and weapons. Nana has long hair, wears a dress and carries an axe while Nono has short hair, wears shorts and carries a [[PsychoKnifeNut knife]].

** Huey, Dewey, and Louie from the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts and ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse dress in a ChromaticArrangement of hats and shirts (Huey being red, Dewey being blue, and Louie being green -- usually). In the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse they wear black shirts and frequently go hatless -- and when they ''do'' wear hats it's not a given that the colorist will follow the "official" colors, leaving it impossible at times to tell who's who. In one comic story from Don Rosa, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are shown to actually differences... It's just that they're subtle enough that only themselves and Donald (who is revealed to be able to see details as subtle as flea prints on a donut) can tell them apart without the hats. That doesn't prevent the triplets from taking offense by anyone else's inability to tell them apart. By ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack'', DivergentCharacterEvolution has given them different hairstyles and fashion choices (as well as more unique personality traits) while still keeping the color scheme. ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' goes a similar route by giving them different fashion choices and hairstyles while still keeping the color scheme; Huey wears a red polo shirt and is the only one to still wear a hat, Dewey wears a blue T-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt and has a hairstyle that sticks up, and Louie wears a green hoodie.
** Their {{Distaff Counterpart}}s April, May and June vary wildly whether they wear different colors or not -- or which colors they wear. Sometimes they follow the red/blue/green ChromaticArrangement of Huey, Dewey and Louie, sometimes they'll go for a yellow/magenta/cyan theme instead. However, in later years Dutch comics featuring the girls gives them more individual clothes and different hairstyles (yes, [[NonMammalianHair hair on ducks]], [[MST3KMantra just go with it]]): April has a ponytail, May has short hair and generally wears a headband, and June has twin pigtails.

* ''ComicBook/{{Loop}}'': The twins have different clothes, accessories, color-coding, hair styles, and teeth (the blue twin has a tooth gap and the red twin has buck teeth), and the red twin is the only one with freckles.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsKanan'': While the clone troopers often wear different hair styles to express their individuality Billaba's Battalion Commander Grey is quite easy to tell from the rest due to the scar across his face and the fact that he's managed to hold onto a more baby fat in his face than his similarly aged brothers, making his face a bit more smooth where theirs are angular.

* In [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2861885/1/The-Little-Cherub-IV The Little Cherub series]] Raven and Beast Boy have identical twins as their third and fourth child. One of them ''does'' have a birthmark, but they are still mixed up by their dad so often that Raven says at one point "I swear, I'm going to get them monogrammed clothes.". BB's response if an enthusiastic "Can we"?

* In ''Fanfic/{{Reflections}}'', a ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' fanfic where Asch returns and grows up alongside Luke, the only way to tell those two apart is with their clothing choices, which makes their favourite trick of [[TwinSwitch switching]] ridiculously easy to pull of (if you aren't Jade). Later it turns out [[spoiler: Asch has a scar hidden by his hair from when he tried to escape his captors when Luke was made/born, which lets the villains tell them apart]] which is truer to the trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'': While Lady's daughters Annette, Collette, and Danielle looks very much alike, they can be told apart by their collar colors (blue for Annette, red for Collette, white for Danielle), as well as a few characteristics (Collette has longer ears than the others, and Danielle has slightly scraggly fur).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Flotsam and Jetsam may or may not be twins, but they look exactly alike except for one thing which isn't that noticeable; both have one yellow eye and one white eye. Flotsam's left eye is yellow while his right eye is white, and for Jetsam, the reverse.

* ''Film/DeadRingers'': Elliot and Beverly [[MeaningfulName Mantle]] are identical twins who begin the film as nearly inseparable partners in a gynecological practice. As the story progresses, Beverly and Elliot personalities diverge due to one of the twins' advancing mental instability. This is reflected in their appearance, with Elliot maintaining a healthy, well-tanned look while Beverly develops bags under his eyes, a sickly pallor, and a nervous twitch. Guess which one's losing his marbles?

* Clone example, in ''Film/Oblivion2013'' Jack Harper 49 acquires a cut across the bridge of his nose, while 52 wears a gray bandanna.

* In ''Film/ThePrettyOne'', everyone knows that Laurel was the one who died, because Audrey is the one with short hair...

* Although not twins, the principle is used in ''Film/SlidingDoors'', to make it easy to tell which dimension we are in. First one version of Helen Quilley has a head injury, and once that heals, the other version has changed her hair style.
* ''Film/TenLittleMistresses'': The only ways to tell twins Valentin and Constantin apart is that Valentin has a trademark birthmark on his butt and a nut allergy.
* In some of the scenes of ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' the Winklevoss twins are differentiated through hairstyle: Cameron wears his nomrally and Tyler has his slicked back. Other features, such as differing ties, are sometimes used as well.

* The movie ''Film/TwinDragons'' had Jackie Chan portraying the titular twins, which are identical although one of them is a musician while the other is a fighter. The fighter has a ponytail to help audience tell them apart.

* The ''Literature/AllForTheGame'' series plays with this with the Minyard twins. Most of the Foxes can tell them apart based on interactions, but visually they are distinguished by the black arm bands Andrew always wears. The twins even jokingly claim that he wears them specifically so that people can tell them apart. [[spoiler: In reality they are knife sheaths and he wears them to hide his scars.]] They do make a world of difference, though. If Andrew is sober and they both wear long sleeves, few people can tell them apart.

** Identical twins Ruth and Louise Pym are difficult to tell apart and always dress alike. Eventually, Lori realizes that Ruth (the elder) always speaks first, and that Louise is slightly more soft-spoken than her sister.

* In the ''Literature/GarrettPI'' novels, Garrett makes the groll brothers, [[GenderBlenderName Doris and Marsha]], wear different hats so he can tell which is which. (He needs nothing to tell them apart from their third triplet, Dojango, who looks nothing like either, explained as all three of them having different mothers. However that works for grolls.)

*** There are also subtle behavioral differences to tell the twins apart. Fred tends to be the main instigator and ringleader, while George is only slightly more serious and has just a teeny-bit more moral restraint (in ''Goblet of Fire'', George is hesitant to blackmail Ludo Bagman, whereas Fred is pretty hot-headed about it and wanted to just rush in without a thought). In another example, George is slightly kinder than Fred. While Fred takes the lead in instigating mayhem, George is the one who offers to help Harry with his cart, and starts the speech when they give him the Marauder's Map. Fred is always right on the same page with him, but George is the one who starts their nicer moments.

* In ''Literature/ReginasSong'', Regina and Renata Greenleaf are given different color hair ribbon by their mother to tell them apart. The girls switch ribbons when their parents aren't watching on a regular basis. Their tendency to swap any identifying marks back and forth ultimately results in nobody being able to tell them apart, and when one of them gets raped and murdered, nobody is able to conclusively tell which girl is the dead one and which is the traumatized and insane survivor.

** Wiggle is distinguished from his similar looking (but slightly larger) brother Grunt by having a tufty neck.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Mark deliberately gains huge amounts of weight so that "not even a one-eyed sniper in a rainstorm at midnight a kilometer away" could mistake him for his clone-brother Miles. This is also a subversion in that being a clone of Miles means Mark ''already'' should look nothing like him, as a great deal of Miles's appearance stems from an irreproducable congenital condition (caused by chemical weapon exposure in the womb). A great deal of Mark's childhood was spent undergoing surgeries to systematically cripple him to ''make'' him look identical; he cultivated eating disorders as one coping mechanism and finds them still convenient.

* On ''Series/BananasInPyjamas'', the titular bananas, B1 and B2, are identical twins, and are distinguished by text on the collars of their pyjama shirts labeling them as B1 and B2.

* In the 80s sitcom ''Series/DoubleTrouble'', the main characters were twins Kate and Alison Foster. Alison (the studious one) regularly wore her hair in a ponytail while Kate (the outgoing one) wore hers loose.

** This was also used in the [[Series/LawAndOrder original series]], when an ex-con was the prime suspect in a murder until they found out he had a twin brother. A witness, who happened to be a nurse, was able to determine the difference between the two, however, noticing the ex-con had several signs of being a long time hard drinker, which the other brother did not.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has twins James and David. James was raised as royalty and so has short hair and wears armour. David was raised as a farm boy, so has long hair and wears peasant clothes. Oh and James is dead, which makes telling them apart really easy. [[spoiler: Until Season 5's trip to the underworld, by which time David looks exactly like James, having been his BackupTwin for years]].
* Played with on ''Series/OrphanBlack'', though with clones and not twins. Even though they're all genetically identical, they all are easily distinguishable. [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/orphanblack/images/a/a2/Beth.png/revision/latest?cb=20140809052348 Beth]] looks the closest to the clones' actor Tatiana Maslany, with long dark hair, and no other distinguishable features. [[http://images.amcnetworks.com/bbcamerica.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/104/files/2012/12/Sarah_OB1.jpg Sarah]] wears really heavy makeup, messy dark hair with blond streaks, dresses punk, and has a British accent. [[https://jerseymeetscountry.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/ob_ep101_102_d3_0066.jpg Allison]] wears preppy clothes and lots of pink and has hair with bangs. [[http://static.spylight.com/outfit_images/avatars/000/052/827/mobile_full/Cosima-Anthroplogy-blouse-Orphan-Black.jpg Cosima]] wears glasses, a nose ring, tattoos, and has dreadlocks and wears boho hipster clothes (or a lab coat). [[http://cdn2.thegloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/orphan-black-helena.jpeg Helena]] has bleach blond fizzy curly hair, red around the eyes, and a Ukrainian accent and is usually wearing whatever she could find. [[http://agentsofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/orphan+black+katja+obinger.jpg Katja]] has pinkish red hair and is German. [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zynRLgH3gIo/U3mq9k_TFLI/AAAAAAAAA2c/Cz2kgbYDFJ0/s1600/orphan.black-2010.JPG Rachel]] has short blond hair and a British accent and is usually wearing a business suit. [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/orphanblack/images/2/2f/MikaK.png/revision/latest?cb=20160422144650 M.K.]] has shoulder-length brown hair and a Finnish accent. [[spoiler: [[http://imagesmtv-a.akamaihd.net/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TonyOB.jpg?quality=0.85&format=jpg&width=480 Tony]] is a transman and has a beard and long hair.]] The differences between [[spoiler:the Castor clones]] are less pronounces. For example, [[spoiler:Mark has a curl on his forehead and is the most subdued; Ira is the most cultured, has a typical haircut parted on the right, and wears white button-down shirts; Rudy is the most crazed and has a mid fade haircut; Styles is the most soldier-like, has a close-shaven hair, and wears military fatigues; Seth has a mustache and tends to wear hoodies]].

** Invoked in an episode. Cody decides to dye his hair "Honey Mist Auburn" so that people would be able to tell him from Zack. To quote the episode: "Honey, you missed auburn big-time." He ended up with fire engine red hair, and ironically was forced to do a TwinSwitch for an interview. In Real Life, you could tell Dylan Sprouse from his brother because Cole (Cody) has a more gaunt face than Dylan. This also meant that as time progressed, it got much less difficult to tell the two apart.

** Most of the time (for the audience at least) it was easy to tell them apart from how they dressed. Zack the care-free jock tended to dress in loud t-shirts and athletic shorts while the nerdy neat-freak Cody usually wore buttoned shirts or sweater-vests.

** The only way to tell the twins apart is that Astra has a skunk stripe in her hair while Allura didn't. This one is semi justified by Astra explaining that twins were rare on their planet, so they looked alike to deliberately {{Troll}} everyone. Even so, Kara immediately recognises the woman she's confronted with as her aunt rather than her mother.

* The Wrestling/BellaTwins initially avoided this and usually the only way to reliably tell them apart was when they spoke - Brie has a much deeper voice than Nikki - or if their hemline was low enough to reveal Brie's tattoo. Otherwise the Twins never looked exactly alike, as there are subtle differences between their facial structures that a '''very''' good eye could spot such as Nikki having a square jawline, a thinner, more pronounced chin and thinner lips with Brie having smaller eyes, a slightly larger nose, a warmer smile and a higher brow but this is mostly only noticeable in stills, not on TV. But then in 2012 Nikki got breast implants and has developed a much curvier figure while Brie is noticeably skinnier. They've played it straight since turning face in 2013. Nikki wrestles wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap and has lightened her hair. Brie wears ruffled boot covers and typically wears her hair back with an Alice band. When they made their video game debut in ''Smackdown vs Raw 2010'' one twin wore red and the other wore blue.

** Twin sisters Phoebe and Roxxi. The former always wears girly and puffy clothes while the latter always dresses in leather and more rocker like. In addition, Phoebe wears pink lipstick while Roxxi wears red lipstick.
** There's also the Tweevil twins Kirstee and Kaycee. The one way to tell the two apart is Kaycee wears a bow in heir hair, while Kirstie does not.

* ''Toys/{{Hatchimals}}'': The "Surprise" variant issued twin Hatchimals, each given the term "Twin A" and "Twin B". To tell them apart, each has a letter on the bottom to indicate who's who. Also, Twin A's eyes can show multiple colors, while Twin B's eyes only show pink and blue. Twin A has a round, flat bottom, while Twin B has an indented bottom and a bouncing head. Twin A is also the only one who can move on its own.

* In ''VideoGame/BugFables'', the twin ant explorers Gen and Eri are completely identical to each other, and the only thing that sets them apart is the color of their scarfs; Gen wears a blue one, while Eri wears a green one.

** This is further referenced with their Custom Robos, who have side oriented gun and bomb parts matching the hand they hold their fans in. Eliza using Waxing parts, and Isabella using Waning parts.

* In ''VideoGame/GloriaUnion'', twin brothers Ishut and Ashley are very easy to tell apart--they have different hairstyles (ShonenHair versus a ponytail), different taste in clothing, and [[SiblingYinYang diametrically opposite personalities]]. Having lived completely separate lives for about ten years tends to do that.
* This is an important factor in the ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' Elusive Target contract "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Twin]]". The target is one of a pair of identical twin brothers who look, dress and act exactly the same, the only difference being that the target twin wears an expensive, one-of-a-kind wristwatch. Since harming the wrong twin in any way will fail the mission, keen observation skills are a necessity here.

* Ami and Mami Futami in ''VideoGame/TheIdolMaster''. One has a side ponytail on the right (Ami) the other on the left (Mami). Becomes even more pronounced when Mami grows her hair out for the second game and anime.

** The Subway Bosses Ingo and Emmet in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' look identical, but Ingo wears black where Emmet wears white. Ingo is also a PerpetualFrowner where Emmet is a PerpetualSmiler, and Emmet speaks in flat, clipped sentences where Ingo speaks loudly and expressively.

* Angela and Lilith Pleasant in the ''VideoGame/TheSims2''. To distinguish themselves from one another in their mutual antipathy, Angela is a stereotypical preppy-looking girl in a light summer dress and sparse, natural-toned make-up, while Lilith is a full-on goth girl complete with spiked leather collar, entirely black clothing, black lipstick and white face powder. Despite this, they wear their hair in identical fashion and have remarkably similar personalities and life goals.

* [[RedOniBlueOni Redmond and Blutarch Mann]], founders of RED and BLU respectively, in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. They both wear identical suits with bowler hats, [[ColorCodedCharacters dressed completely in their respective colors]]. Although they look identical, the family portraits hanging in each of their respective mansions portray the respective brother as tall and handsome, with the other as a short, weasel-y gremlin. [[spoiler: Gray Mann, their long-lost triplet, doesn't follow suit, [[SubvertedTrope instead looking almost nothing like them]]. He also considers both of them morons not worth of recognizing in any form, let alone demeaning them in paintings. The person he ''really'' has a beef with is Saxton Hale.]]

** ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations Trials and Tribulations]]'': Twins [[spoiler: Dahlia and Iris Hawthorne]] are identical right down to the hairstyle, with the only difference being that the former has cherry-red hair while the latter's hair is black. [[spoiler: The color is most likely dye, since Dahlia's mother Morgan also has black hair. Iris impersonates Dahlia by dying her hair red, and Dahlia impersonates Iris when channeled by someone with black hair.]]

** In the DatingSim spin-off ''Sunrider Academy'', [[ShyBlueHairedGirl Chigara]] wears a hair ribbon to distinguish herself from her physically identical twin sister Lynn. Apart from that, their personalities are very different: Chigara is shy, nervous and friendly, while Lynn is [[TheEeyore sullen, moody, and quick to anger]]. [[spoiler:Then they pull a TwinSwitch in her route, and pull it off so well that Kayto ends up losing his virginity to Lynn while thinking that she’s Chigara, leaving him confused and angry for the rest of the route.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', the twins Kohaku and Hisui are (physically) identical apart from their different outfits and their eye color, which also [[ThemeTwinNaming matches their names]] (''kohaku'' and ''hisui'' translate to "amber" and "jade" respectively). This is also a major plot point in the twins' respectively routes of the story, [[spoiler:since the flashback is deliberately [[MonochromePast shown in monochrome]] to hide which twin Shiki met and when]]. Personality wise it's a whole 'nother matter, as Kohaku is a GenkiGirl and Hisui is a [[TheStoic stoic]] and withdrawn ShrinkingViolet. [[spoiler:At least at first, and then Kohaku puts in colored contacts and starts pretending to be her sister]].

* In ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' Fasha/the False Guenevere wears her hair in bunches, rather then Real Guenevere's ponytail. (Or, in the baseline arc, wears a divided hennin, rather than a conical one). Since the whole ''point'' of the False Guenevere story in the baseline and space arcs is that no-one can tell them apart, there's a NoFourthWall strip where Lancelot [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/2296.htm explains]] that this is for reader convenience, and is invisible in-universe. This may or may not be the case in the contemporary arc; Arthur [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0507.htm initially says]] the problem with adding Fasha to his own webcomic would be distinguishing her from Guenevere, but later ''Thing of Shapes to Come'' strips [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1529.htm suggest]] he figured it out eventually.
* While not technically twins, ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge''[='=]s AuthorAvatar put name tags on the alternate future and alternate far-future Megaman and Bass to differentiate themselves from each other, because he knew things would become confusing shortly. Not long after, the far-''far''-future versions of the alternates appeared with the appropriate tags... [[spoiler: And then they took them off, revealing themselves to be the ''present day'' alternate Mega Man and Bass]].

* In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', [[https://hummingfluff.tumblr.com/image/151251791300 The author drew a picture of main character Mikkel with his twin brother Michael]]. Michael doesn't wear Mikkel's sideburns, is much better at the whole smiling thing (the corners of Mikkel's mouth tend to come across as physically unable to bend upwards in th comic proper) and is technically the oldest according to the picture's description.

* From Website/{{Killerbunnies}}, we have [[https://img00.deviantart.net/85dc/i/2014/299/2/5/killerbunnies_xlv_and_xlvi__the_reaping_twins_by_akaichounokoe-d848kxs.jpg Duranta and Belladonna Reaping]] who look the same and there isn't much difference between them, aside from the moles under their eyes being on different sides (Right for Duranta and left for Belladonna), different weapon, accessories, and sidetail, along with length in dresses. Aside from those things, they can be confused for one another.
* Megan and Ciera from [[https://www.youtube.com/@TheCheernastics2 TC2]]. They were originally very hard to tell apart, until Ciera cut her hair short and dyed it blonde.

* The ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Fortuneteller" features a pair of twin brothers named Poi and Ping. For the most part they look like mirror images of each other, with hair parted on opposite sides, a patch on opposite shoulders, etc. The most interesting fact about them is that Poi is an [[DishingOutDirt earthbender]] while Ping is a {{Muggle}}; relatedly, Poi follows most earthbenders in [[DoesNotLikeShoes not wearing shoes]].

* In "One of These Goats" from ''WesternAnimation/ElinorWondersWhy'', there is a substitute teacher, Mr. Hamster, teaching Elinor's class. He explains to Elinor and her friends how he can quickly remember the students that he meets by identifying what makes them different. It seems, however, that he may at first have trouble telling apart the goat twins Mary and Lizzie, who are identical. Mary usually wears a green dress and Lizzie a blue dress, but today they're both wearing blue dresses. Elinor, Olive and Ari, however, make careful observations of the two during playtime and discover several other subtle differences between the two, such as the slightly differing lengths of their horns and their differently-patterned hair accessories.

** All the pixies are very much alike each other. Sanderson, the second-in-command to HP however, stands out from amongst the pixie folk because he has more natural toned skin while the other pixies' skin tones are paler.

** In "The Farnsworth Paradox" the Planet Express crew visit a an alternate universe; each of their alternate twins has some differentiating feature, usually [[PaletteSwap differently-colored hair]], although the bald Professor has a "stylish" ring of stitches around his head.

** In the third season, there are twins Wei and Wing, both metalbending prodigies. Both of them have few visual cues (Wei parts his hair to the left, wears a bracelet on his left arm, and wears a rounded necklace and round belt buckle. Wing parts his hair to the right, wears a bracelet on his right arm, and wears a necklace that has a tapered point and a hexagonal belt buckle)
* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': The show's resident {{alpha bitch}}es Whittany and Brittany Biskit are indestiguishable physically (and personality wise for that matter), except for the fact Whittany has black hair and Brittany has white hair, and Brittany's hair parting is reversed.
** They later adopt a pair of twin chinchillas, Cashmere and Velvet, who are [[UncattyResemblance uncannily similar to their owners]], including being interchangeable, except for that fact that one has patch of black fur on her head while the other has pink fur on her head and reversed parting.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The Flim-Flam Brothers each sport a slightly different hairstyle, but there are two easier ways to tell them apart. Flam is mustachioed while Flim is clean shaven. Flam's cutie mark is an apple missing one segment. Flim's cutie mark is the segment taken from said apple.

** Phil and Lil De Vil are [[HalfIdenticalTwins identical fraternal twins]]. They can be distinguished in several ways: Lil wears a bow in her hair while Phil does not, Lil's shoes are pink and Phil's are blue, Phil's sleeves are tight, while Lil's are flared, Lil's overalls are flared like a skirt, and Phil wears blue shorts under his while Lil wears only her diaper. Also, in the pre-[[UnCanceled uncancelation]] episodes, Lil had earlobes and Phil did not (they both have them in the subsequent episodes). However, the bow is all that their [[ParentalObliviousness oblivious parents]] ever notice; on several occasions they're able to confuse the grown-ups by putting Lil's bow on Phil. One episode has Lil give herself pigtails and Phil mess up his hair so they can be told apart.
** Angelica {{invoked|Trope}} this trope when she pretended to have a twin sister named "Ballina." To portray Ballina, she tied up her GirlishPigtails and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. She also spoke in a higher pitched voice.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': The clone troopers, being genetically identical, use different hairstyles, facial hair, tattoos and scars to differentiate themselves, and often customize their armor with designs of their choice. In addition, while they all have the same voice actor, their voices often vary slightly in tone or even accent.

** The Brendham Bay Twins and Scottish Twins both wear actual name tags. In the case of the Scottish Twins, the names are painted on because they pulled one too many {{twin switch}}es in in their backstory.

** Twins Bash and Dash of Misty Island from the Nitrogen Era; Bash has a yellow cab and dome, and black boiler, wheels and trimming, while Dash has the opposite. Also, Dash has freckles on his cheeks, while Bash does not.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' featured a pair of twin brothers named Evan and Myles, who often committed crimes only to be thwarted by the Rescue Bots and the Burns family. The brothers were completely identical except Evan wore glasses, had neater hair and never spoke.

** During their time as [[Series/FullHouse Michelle Tanner]], the way to tell them apart was that Mary-Kate is left-handed and Ashley is right handed. Now it's a lot easier, even without the dye job, and while both of the twins continue to collaborate on their fashion and business ventures, only Mary Kate has continued acting as well, making her more visible as a solo presence than Ashley.

* The Houghton Brothers are, despite looking fraternal, have ways of telling who's who; Chris has a long shoulder length mullet, and Shane has a buzzcut and wears glasses.
* Bill and Tom Kaulitz's... everything. From a young age, Bill cut his hair short and spiked it, Tom got dreads, then Bill got an eyebrow piercing, Tom got a lip piercing, Bill got a tongue piercing, Tom starting dressing 'gangsta', Bill started wearing make-up...

* The Turnley twins are award winning photojournalists, and identical twins who [=HATE=] being confused for one another. One decided to grow a goatee while the other remains clean-shaven, which helps.

* Cesar and Constantin Faucher were two French generals from the Revolutionary Wars who wore differently coloured flowers on their coats so that others may tell them apart. (To make the resemblance worse, they fought in the same units, were always promoted on the same day and were even wounded on the same battlefields. Also, they were executed together.)

* Parents to newborn identical twins learn to differentiate between them by the shape of their belly-button, which is a scar and thus unique to everyone.

* Although not twins (they aren't even related), Thompson and Thomson from ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' have slightly different mustache styles. [[CatchPhrase To be precise]], Thompson's mustache curls in while Thomson's flares out. In the licensed game based on the Jackson/Spielberg film, one also wears a white suit in co-op, while the other keeps his black one.

* In ''Regina's Song'', Regina and Renata Greenleaf are given different color hair ribbon by their mother to tell them apart. The girls switch ribbons when their parents aren't watching on a regular basis. Their tendency to swap any identifying marks back and forth ultimately results in nobody being able to tell them apart, and when one of them gets raped and murdered, nobody is able to conclusively tell which girl is the dead one and which is the traumatized and insane survivor.

* In ''Three Faces of Me,'' a standalone by Creator/RLStine, the protagonist knows a pair of twins. One of them always wears red, which apparently started as a way for their parents to tell them apart when they were babies.
* In ''The Truth-Teller's Tale'' by Sharon Shinn, Eleda and Adele are "mirror" twins, able to be told apart by which of their mismatched eyes is on which side, their handedness, and the way they part their hair. However, since Eleda is a [[CannotTellALie Truth-Teller]] and Adele is a [[SecretKeeper Safe-Keeper]] and the consequences of them pulling a twin-switch on you are ''very'' serious, the townspeople have worked out a question to tell them apart: "Is it safe to tell you a secret?" Eleda will always say "no" and Adele will always say "yes."

* In Ngaio Marsh's ''Death of a Peer'' (UK title ''A Surfeit of Lampreys''), A pair of near-identical twins both claimed to have taken the elevator with their uncle just before he was found dead in it. Only one of them did, and Alleyn points out that the twins can't cover for each other since he can tell which twin is which.

* The Disney Channel original movie ''Model Behaviour'' has {{Identical Stranger}}s, high school student Alex Burroughs and supermodel Janine Adams, decide to swap lives. Alex is distinguished by wearing glasses and her hair up, while Janine wears her hair down and of course doesn't have glasses.