History Main / JacktheRipOff

** Another episode features a woman who's trying to win back her convicted-serial-killer ex-boyfriend by killing women and arranging them in a particular fashion. At the trial, he (who considers his killings true art) looks over the crime scene and says that her work "lacks enthusiasm". He wants nothing more to do with her.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS08E06PreyPrey]]", a serial killer is on the loose. A young man named Randy Klein who has LivingShadow powers and wants attention starts killing people in similar ways.

Copycat killers are a very common plot twist in police dramas, movies, and mystery novels where the plot involves [[SerialKiller serial killings]]. The copycat may occasionally serve as a RedHerring - the detectives think they've caught the killer, but it turns out he was just a copycat and there's still a serial killer on the loose. (Although, in RealLife, investigators of a serial killer often keep some details from being released to the public ''in order to'' tell a possible copycat apart from the main suspect, and some realistic crime novels mention this as well.) Alternatively they could be tempted to doubt they have the right guy because the crimes haven't stopped.

* Happens at least once in ''Manga/CaseClosed'' - a man is murdered in a similar modus operandus as a serial killer whose original slayings neared the StatuteOfLimitations, but Conan deduces that [[spoiler: the victim ''was'' the murderer, killed by one of the victims' vengeful family members]] through the victim's DyingClue. ([[spoiler: The dead man put blood on the CTRL and C keys and died grabbing the mouse by its cord to imply that the murderer was a copy cat.]])
** It was {{defied}} in the ''Naniwa Serial Murder'' arc, when Heizo, like what the lead mentioned, withheld some information from the press [[spoiler:(Namely, a knife was stabbed through the victims' wallets)]] so that he was sure further incidents were ''not'' due to this trope.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', [[spoiler: Higuchi]] and Misa both attempt to rip off the original Kira, Light. [[spoiler: Higuchi]], in fact, was given a death note in the first place to imitate Light, and supposedly prove his innocence.
* Happens several times in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''; one recurring theme is that the massive information overload of the story's post-modern society is causing individuals to act identically without being in direct contact -- "copies without an original", the titular "Stand-Alone Complex". The primary example in-universe would be the legendary hacker "The Laughing Man," who inspires several ''layers'' of copycats.
* One of the tattooed convicts in ''Manga/GoldenKamuy'' attempts to recreate Jack the Ripper's prostitute serial killings down to the body placement, except in Sapporo instead of London. [[spoiler: He's a foreigner named Michael Ostrog and it's heavily implied [[SubvertedTrope he's the actual Jack the Ripper]].]]
* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:'''everyone''']] is doing this, trying to keep their true intentions unknown by making their crimes look like the result of Oyashiro-sama's curse. [[spoiler: As we learn in the second season, the real Oyashiro-sama is not pleased.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Gotham City Secret Files and Origins'' #1 introduced a new villain called the Skeleton who bore a grudge against Bruce Wayne and whose M.O. was impersonating other members of Batman's RoguesGallery and copying their M.O.s. With the use of unknown equipment, the Skeleton was able to physically transform himself/herself into any villain he/she pleases, and by studying patient records can also duplicate their every move and think their very thoughts. However, writer Creator/BrianKVaughan left the Bat-titles shortly after this, so all of the plot threads regarding the Skeleton were LeftHanging.
* Issue #2 of ''ComicBook/DylanDog'' has Dylan investigating murders in London linked to Jack the Ripper, who has supposedly returned from the dead after being summoned through a SpookySeance organized by Sarah Sarandon, who got slayed first. [[spoiler: It turns out that Sarah was a fraud con artist, and the killer is her stepdaughter Jane, who suggested her to use Jack in order to keep the legendary fear of the Ripper alive whilst creating a great alibi for herself. Jane dies when the wax museum she works at catches fire and a statue of Jack the Ripper seemingly comes to life and strikes her while melting, making it seem as if Jack has briefly manifested himself for real to punish the puny fool who tried to take his mantle]].
* A Creator/{{Wildstorm}}-published ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' comic had a woman lure her abusive boyfriend to Camp Crystal Lake, intending to murder him and make it look like he was killed by Jason. Unfortunately for her, the real Jason appears just as she's committing the deed and finishes him off before killing her. ( Don't feel too bad for her -- she had previously murdered her own mother in order to get with said boyfriend in the first place.)

* One ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' story concerns a {{serial killer}} who always leaves his victim's right hand. He is, naturally, a copycat of Lefty, a serial killer from an earlier story who always left the ''left'' hand.

* The second story in ''Comicbook/NewLineCinemasTalesOfHorror'' had an [[LoonyFan admirer]] of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] copycatting him, complete with replica hat and sweater. Freddy himself is not at all flattered by the imitation, especially when the copycat tries to blackmail him into letting him be his accomplice, and recruits another crazy fanboy of his to help take care of him--while being weirded out that he of all people has fans.
* ''ComicBook/{{Oxymoron}}'': Oxymoron's crimes inspires a legion of copycat killers who proceed to plunge the city into chaos. He admits that he hates all of them and intends to make them his next victims. They cheer.

* In the Britain-themed ''ComicBook/WisdomRudimentsOfWisdom'' miniseries by Creator/MarvelComics, one issue has a guy who can summon up things from alternate realities and because he's a Jack the Ripper fanatic, alternate Jack the Rippers keep appearing. Some of which look like bad movie villains, one of which is a riff on ''ComicBook/FromHell,'' one of which is an ape with a straight razor, one of which is apparently a rival prostitute, and one of which is actually Franchise/SherlockHolmes! (The last one was a reference to Michael Dibdin's notoriously trolling crime novel ''The Last Sherlock Holmes Story''.) Most are wearing top hats and capes, of course.

* The movie ''Film/{{Copycat}}'' is about a serial killer whose M.O. is copying the crimes of famous serial killers.
* This is part of the main tension in ''Film/TheExorcistIII'', where someone is apparently recreating the murders of a Zodiac-like SerialKiller called The Gemini Killer, who had been arrested and executed years before. The thing is, this new Gemini knows details about the murders that were deliberately kept from the public in order to [[BluffTheImposter immediately identify]] false confessions and copycat killers. So the question is, did they catch the wrong person the first time? It turns out that [[spoiler: they did get the right guy last time, but his ghost is possessing the living to carry on his murders, with demonic aid. This is, after all, an ''Exorcist'' sequel.]]
* The end of ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning'' revealed that [[spoiler:the killer wasn't Jason Voorhees this time, but ambulance driver Roy Burns, who donned Jason's costume to kill the teenagers (and other random people) because of his son's death. It was actually foreshadowed by giving "Jason" a slightly different appearance than usual for example.]]

** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' has the infamous serial killer Bloody Face who committed his crimes in the 1960s, and then re-appeared in the present day, killing a married couple who were poking around the abandoned Briarcliff manor. It turns out that a group of thrill-seekers posing as Bloody Face had accidentally killed the husband. And then the real Bloody Face shows up. [[spoiler: He kills the copycats and kills the wife, revealing himself to be Bloody Face's ''son''. He was actually attempting to emulate his father.]]

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'', the killer makes it look like someone is copying the crimes from novelist Richard Castle's books. The bestselling author is brought on as a consultant, and the police are surprised to realize how useful a GenreSavvy mystery writer is in solving crimes.

** "Won't Get Fooled Again": A [[MadBomber bomber]] terrorizing Palm Beach turns out to be a copycat of the imprisoned Boston Bomber, the man who single handedly killed Agent Gideon's original team.
** "A Real Rain": A [[VigilanteMan vigilante]] is on the loose in New York, and at one point a wannabe tries copying him in order to steal all the praise the actual killer is receiving.
** "Jones": A copycat of the actual UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper (but with genders reversed - the killer is a woman, and the victims are all male) resurfaces in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
** "Doubt": A [[EmoTeen college girl]] emulates an arrested killer, in order to get him released, so she can coerce him into [[CannotSelfTerminate killing her]].
** "Identity": After his mentor, a serial killer, commits suicide, the man's accomplice has a breakdown and tries copying him, even going as far as taking his name and altering his appearance to look like him.
** "Birthright": The killer was copying his long dead father, a serial rapist and killer.
** "The Angel Maker": A woman obsessed with an executed serial killer continues where he left off.
** "Zoe's Reprise": A fledgling serial killer emulates other infamous killers (including Jack the Ripper), in an attempt to find his own style (and succeeds).

** The second season has the titular serial killer catches the eye of the press as 'The Bay Harbor Butcher', and the police fear that it will lead to copycat crimes, especially considering the vigilante-theme of the killings. Sure enough, Dexter gets a copycat, and since he knows that any 'copycat killings' will lead to a much greater FBI presence - and thus worse odds for himself - he takes out the copycat while sending a clear message to other pretenders...

** He also routinely copies the killing method of [[SerialKillerKiller the killer he's killing]], if it's reasonably practical. He'll copy any specific knife or blunt instrument, but not electricity/poison/drowning/etc, since his thing is blood. And he also occasionally uses their ''actual'' weapon, if he can procure it; most notably [[spoiler:Trinity's hammer in season 4, ''given to him by Trinity himself''.]]
* ''Series/{{Endeavour}}'': In "Passenger", a pair of killers use the M.O. of uncaught killer from several years earlier to make it appear that he is active again. However, they miss several crucial details that were never released to the public, such as the original victim being strangled with her bra.

* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'': The killer in "The Frustrating Thing About Psychopaths" performs heavily researched recreations (though in truth he just used a well-researched graphic novel as a "How-To" guide) of murders by famous serial killers, successfully pulling off Jack the Ripper and Black Dahlia kills, and being stopped in the middle of attempting a Boston Strangler kill.

** In the episode "Entrée", a murderer imprisoned at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane kills one of his nurses using the MO of the notorious "Chesapeake Ripper". He claims it's because he ''is'' the Ripper, but really he's been psychologically conditioned to believe he's the Ripper by the SmugSnake hospital administrator, who wants credit for having found the Ripper out. The real Chesapeake Ripper soon makes it known that he's still at large.
** Dr. Hannibal Lecter himself, in addition to having [[ImAHumanitarian his own successful career as a serial killer]], also commits a handful of copycat murders during the first season. One is a deliberately crude imitation of the Minnesota Shrike, whom [[TheProfiler Will Graham]] and the FBI are trying to catch, and the details of the copy are so off that they actually ''help'' Graham build an accurate profile of the Shrike. Another was done to cover up his own malfeasance and pin the death on the latest killer being hunted by the FBI. At the end of the season, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Hannibal has been preparing to frame Graham for the murders the whole time.]]
** In the second season, [[spoiler: Matthew Brown]] kills someone in a way that combines elements from all of the copycat murders in order to [[spoiler: create reasonable doubt for Will.]] Many suspected Hannibal - which would have made him a serial killer pretending to be a copycat killer being inspired by kills that he did himself, which were themselves copycat killings.

** Inverted in "Hysteria" - the SVU track a homicide that leads them to a cop/serial killer who suffocated and strangled prostitutes. He then mentions that the original murder they were running down ''isn't'' one of his, because he wants his count to be accurate.
** The episode "Scavenger" dealt with a copycat of a BTK-based killer (who also appeared to have a little Zodiac thrown into the mix, considering the complicated puzzles, and his use of [[MalevolentMaskedMen a black mask]]).
** Another featured a woman who was trying to win back her convicted-serial-killer ex-boyfriend by killing women and arranging them in a particular fashion. At the trial, he (who considered his killings TrueArt) looks over the crime scene, and says her work "lacks enthusiasm". He wants nothing more to do with her.
** In "Justice Denied", the SVU discovers a rape case that uses the same MO of a case which lead to the arrest of Omar Pena, leading them to believe Omar has a friend on the outside. [[spoiler:It's ultimately subverted when it's revealed that Omar was actually innocent and the rapist was actually the same one responsible for the crime he had been accused of]].
* The ''Series/LieToMe'' episode "Blinded" dealt with a jailed killer being copycatted. Subverted (somewhat) in that he was a "mentor" figure to the new killer, which the cast figured out early on.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'': One of those appeared in the very first episode. The killer wanted to cover up a crime by killing a potential witness. Because the criminal whose modus operandi he decided to copy was known for killing families, he killed the witnesses' wife as well. One of the first things that made the main character suspect they were dealing with a copycat rather than the real serial killer was how the copied card was placed. The serial killer usually places it where people can see it ''before'' seeing the victims.

* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk's 100th Case", there is an interesting use of the withheld details issue: a homicidal photographer named Douglas Thurman strangles and kills three young actresses and takes each victim's lipstick. After a SWAT raid on Thurman's photo studio, evidence is found linking him to the murders, but Thurman is gone. Hours later, a young actress named Kate Kindel is found dead, killed in similar fashion to the first three victims. Monk then realizes that Kindel's murder can't fit in with Thurman's movements, because Thurman killed himself when cornered by police in a southern California hotel several hundred miles south of San Francisco, and had Mexican currency because he was fleeing for Mexico, and would have had to go out of the way to murder Kindel. Also, Kindel was strangled from behind while the first three victims were strangled from in front. He then determines that the documentary's host James Novak killed Kindel because she was his girlfriend and was threatening to tell his wife, and was able to frame Thurman for the crime because he had access to details about the case that the police never released to the media. To kill her, Novak went to Kindel's apartment the night before the police raided Thurman's studio, took some photos of her with a film camera (as Douglas Thurman was a rare photographer who still used film instead of digital work), then strangled her and took her lipstick. He went along with the SWAT team during the raid, and planted the roll of film while no one was looking.

** "Mind Games" had this, all perpetrated by [[spoiler:Kyle Boone's lawyer in an attempt to enact a stay of execution by committing copycat murders while he was still in custody, making this a unique case of being an official ripoff. This fails when the lawyer gets killed by his would-be victim [[ActionGirl Paula Cassidy]].]]

* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'': In "No One Mourns the Wicked", the team pursue a killer who is copying the M.O.s of previous serial killers.
* ''Series/TheSandman2022'', "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E07TheDollsHouse The Doll's House]]". Three serial killers are organising a 'convention' of their kind, and want to invite Corinthian (they don't know he's immortal, assuming he's copying the original Corinthian from a hundred years ago) but he refuses to make contact, so one suggests copying his kills in the hope of drawing him out. The others disapprove of this trope, but play along for lack of a better idea. It works, and fortunately Corinthian decides to forgo killing them as he likes the idea that he's inspiring others.

* ''Series/SleepyHollow'': In "Blood and Fear", Nelson becomes a Jack the Ripper like murderer after touching a Byzantine parang that has the power to turn people into serial killers.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': In "Prey", a serial killer is on the loose. A young man named Randy Klein who has LivingShadow powers and wants attention starts killing people in similar ways.

* An episode of ''Series/Tracker2001'' had an alien serial killer impersonating many of Earth's most famous serial killers. He impersonated John Wayne Gacy and a couple of others in the US and then traveled to London, where he began impersonating Jack The Ripper.
* The ITV series ''Series/WhitechapelTVSeries'' deals with copycat killers. The first series involved a copycat of UsefulNotes/{{Jack the Ripper}}, recreating the killings down to committing them as close to the original crime scenes as possible. The second series had someone recreating the murders committed by the infamous [[LondonGangster Kray Twins]], [[spoiler: as part of a bid by two criminals, who were brought up with the belief that they were Ronnie Kray's sons, to take over the London underworld]].

* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'' has the Cyclops SerialKiller, who previously targeted women and took their right eyes. When killings with a similar MO occur but with the left eye this time, the cast believe it to be the work of a copycat. [[spoiler: This ultimately ended up being subverted, as it was the same killer both times. He never cared about eyes, the first time around it was his accomplice who took them due to being a brain-damaged NightmareFetishist. The second time he needed to remove the left eyes for his GrandTheftMe plot, [[ImAHumanitarian and ate them to get rid of the evidence]].]]
* The PointAndClickGame for the Playstation, ''VideoGame/CatTheRipper'', have the player's AmnesiacHero trying to solve the titular murderer's clues and stop his killing spree.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', at the end of the game, The Mastermind; having been defeated and their [[spoiler: [[TrumanShowPlot Ultimate Real Fiction]] shut down for good]] is left to face the academy's destruction before mentioning to the others they'll hold their head up high as their copy criminal work is finished. Leaving the true nature of their actions ambiguous as Shuichi figures they might have been lying about TheReveal.

* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', [[spoiler: Gordi Kramer is responsible for the death of Joseph Brown and attempts to cover his own tracks by making it look like the work of the Origami Killer. This is the main reason that the real killer, Scott Shelby, is interested in investigating Kramer]].

* One of the theories surrounding the Bell Killer murders in ''VideoGame/MurderedSoulSuspect'' is that some of them are copyright crimes; the revelation that there have been murders following the same MO going back over a century suggesting that even the original killer might be a copycat. [[spoiler: Turns out that's half-true: Every murder was committed by a different person, but all of them were being possessed by Abigail at the time. Among them are Ronan's brother-in-law Rex, {{Jerkass}} fellow cop Baxter, and even Ronan himself, ''the main character''.]]

** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[spoiler:Mr. Morooka's]] murder superficially looks like the yet-unsolved earlier ones, but there are a number of details that don't fit the pattern. Turns out it's a copycat crime, of course. The interesting part is that once the cast figures out who did it, they all come up with reasons why he would have committed the other crimes as well - an illustration of how the human mind can fool itself. (They're all desperate to stop the murders, and it's more comfortable to think the same guy who did this one did the others.) It also helps that [[spoiler: Mitsuo]] is delusional enough that he's mostly convinced ''himself'' that he committed them, too.

* In ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors,'' a young woman is trapped in a cave by an evil magic user and forced to use some of her own magic to turn herself to stone. It's revealed that the guy who did so was copying something similar that was done to him earlier; trapping someone in stone and drawing power from their mental anguish. Not exactly a serial ''killer'' in the strictest sense, but definitely a serial criminal of some stripe, considering he did this to many people.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Played with in [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP]] [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-668 668,]] a chef's knife that makes its holder to go on a killing spree and inspires apathy in anyone observing to such a degree they are unable to do anything to help the victims. The incident that brought it to the foundation's attention references a real life murder that helped popularize the idea of the BystanderEffect.

* In the ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode "Echoes of the Dead", Barnaby recognizes the murders as recreations of famous murders of the early 20th century, except for the last one, which he's not able to place. When the murderer is caught, Barnaby asks about it, and the murderer shrugs and says, "I was in a hurry and I couldn't think of anything".

* ''Series/SleepyHollow'' In “Blood and Fear”, Nelson becomes a Jack the Ripper like murderer after touching a Byzantine parang that has the power to turn people into serial killers.

* The ITV series ''Series/{{Whitechapel}}'' deals with copycat killers. The first series involved a copycat of UsefulNotes/{{Jack the Ripper}}, recreating the killings down to committing them as close to the original crime scenes as possible. The second series had someone recreating the murders committed by the infamous [[LondonGangster Kray Twins]], [[spoiler: as part of a bid by two criminals, who were brought up with the belief that they were Ronnie Kray's sons, to take over the London underworld]].

* An episode of ''Series/{{Tracker}}'' had an alien serial killer impersonating many of Earth's most famous serial killers. He impersonated John Wayne Gacy and a couple of others in the US and then traveled to London, where he began impersonating Jack The Ripper.

* ''ComicBook/{{Oxymoron}}'': Oxymoron's crimes inspires a legion of copycat killers who proceed to plunge the city into chaos.

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', the killer makes it look like someone is copying the crimes from novelist Richard Castle's books. The bestselling author is brought on as a consultant, and the police are surprised to realize how useful a GenreSavvy mystery writer is in solving crimes.