History Main / InvisibleSubtleDifference

* In ''KOn'', Sawako-sensei is able to tell that Ui is impersonating Yui because her breasts are ''slightly'' bigger.

* In the DonRosa story ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse An Eye For Detail]]'', DonaldDuck is able to tell apart his identical triplet nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie). Uncle Scrooge tries to find a way to profit from this talent of Donald's. HilarityEnsues, naturally.

* ''Series/DiffrentStrokes'': An early first-season episode, "Goodbye, Dolly," revolves around Arnold's prized doll being sold at an apartment-wide garage sale. Apparently, his mother had given it to him when he was a toddler, hence his abnormal attachment to it, and Arnold is unable to sleep or even cope with his life after he realizes it to be missing; Drummond had absent-mindedly sold it. The trope kicks in when a private detective -- unable to track down the doll's new owner -- has a new one made, but Arnold immediately can tell the difference. (It is implied that Arnold eventually gets counseling and gets over the loss of the doll.)

* ''{{Zoolander}}'' provides the page quote: after an ''entire movie'''s worth of people gushing about Derek Zoolander's variety of "looks," [[VillainousBreakdown one of the villains can't take it any more]].

->"The man has only one look, for Christ's sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They're the same face! Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

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* Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub has IdenticalTwins Hikaru & Kaoru Hitachiin. The only one who can note the subtle differences is Haruhi Fujioka, the protagonist.

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* Some studies claim that women are, on average, better at distinguishing similar colors from each other than men are; this perhaps [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] the paint gag described under Comedy.
** Some women have more types of color receptors in their eyes than men (and other women), which gives a biological basis for some women having superior color discrimination.

* ''BabylonFive'': Nobody can tell the ten Zathras brothers apart, or hear the difference in their names, but the Zathrases themselves.

* In the DonRosa story ''[[DisneyDucksComicUniverse An Eye For Detail]]'', DonaldDuck is able to tell apart his identical triplet nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie). Uncle Scrooge tries to find a way to profit from this talent of Donald's. HilarityEnsues, naturally.

* In ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', each town has an Officer Jenny and a Nurse Joy, who all look identical—but Brock can tell them apart. Similarly, all {{mon}}s of the same variety look identical to the audience, but Pokemon trainers can distinguish ''their'' five magnamites, or whatever.

* In an early ''MadMagazine'' parody of ''{{Archie}}'', Archie reacts angrily to a claim that BettyAndVeronica are alike, claiming that they are very different. In the next panel, the two girls are drawn identically except for hair color. Their hair styles, poses, even the zits on their faces are the same.

* ''{{Film/Watchmen}}'': Ozymandias claims he can see subtle distinctions in Dr. Manhattan's face, showing his emotion, which to the average person are invisible. As he says this there's a shot of Dr. Manhattan's face, in which we see no emotion (but presumably Ozymandias can).

* The ''RedDwarf'' episode "Me[[superscript:2]]" has a scene where Rimmer is having a corridor repainted from "military grey" to "ocean grey". Lister can't tell the difference, and neither can the audience.

* ''{{Xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/915/ discusses it]].

Generally PlayedForLaughs. Often appears with LimitedWardrobe, EvilTwin, PlanetOfSteves, ThoseTwoGuys, and/or OnlySaneMan. Compare and contrast ShellGame, SpotTheImposter, NeedleInAStackOfNeedles, and IAmSpartacus.

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', each town has an Officer Jenny and a Nurse Joy, who all look identical—but Brock can tell them apart. Similarly, all {{mon}}s of the same variety look identical to the audience, but Pokemon trainers can distinguish ''their'' five magnamites, or whatever.
** In ''PokemonBlackAndWhite'', a young woman with four Patrats is aware that she can distinguish them and the player can't—so she challenges the player to a ShellGame with them.

* Some Nuzlocke comics having to do with Pokémon has a difference, such as the Pearl one featuring Lily, the Kanto champion; [[http://www.nuzlocke.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/nyapearl18.jpg Palkia appears on the Spear Pillar and not Dialga, making it similar to the DS game, Pokémon Pearl Version.]]
** There is a Diamond comic, [[http://www.nuzlocke.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kynim121-130.png and it acts the same way as Pokémon Diamond did; Dialga was awakened by Cyrus instead of Palkia, but the Dialga was fake; then the real Dialga appears! Also, unlike the games, Mesprit remains, and if you notice a thought bubble, that means Mesprit is using telepathy.]]

* ''VentureBros'': in the episode "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman." Hank was indiscriminately interested in both of Dr. Quymn's semi-identical twin daughters, Nancy and Drew, even though he couldn't tell them apart. Dean could tell them apart, and tried to clue Hank in, but it didn't help.

** There is a Diamond comic, [[http://www.nuzlocke.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kynim121-130.png and it acts the same way as Pokémon Diamond did; Dialga was awakened by Cyrus instead of Palkia.]]

* Some Nuzlocke comics having to do with Pokémon has a difference, such as the Pearl one; [[http://www.nuzlocke.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/nyapearl18.jpg Palkia appears on the Spear Pillar and not Dialga, making it similar to the DS game, Pokémon Pearl Version.]]

* In the DonRosa story ''[[DisneyDucksComicUniverse An Eye For Detail]]'', it turns out that DonaldDuck is able to tell apart his identical triplet nephews this way. Uncle Scrooge tries to turn this special talent of Donald into profit, but Donald still being just Donald, HilarityEnsues.

* DonaldDuck and Scrooge [=McDuck=] can tell Huey, Dewey, and Louie apart. Usually no one else can.

* DonaldDuck and ScroogeMcDuck can tell Huey, Dewey, and Louie apart. Usually no one else can.

* In the DonRosa story ''[[ScroogeMcDuckUniverse An Eye For Detail]]'', it turns out that DonaldDuck is able to tell apart his identical triplet nephews this way. Uncle Scrooge tries to turn this special talent of Donald into profit, but Donald still being just Donald, HilarityEnsues.