History Main / NotSoSimilar

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': Elan is initially drawn to Suletta believing she is, like him, [[spoiler:a DisposableVagrant surgically rebuilt into a cybernetic doppelgänger of another person for the sole purpose of piloting Gundams in their name, a forbidden technology which harms their pilots through the neural feedback of linking their minds to such huge machines. When he discovers that Suletta is her own person, and that her Gundam is a perfected form of such technology that doesn't hurt her to pilot, the knowledge fills Elan with bitterness and envy. Suletta has everything he doesn't, and has never known suffering like his -- in fact, his suffering has been completely unnecessary this whole time. Knowing this, he summarily challenges Suletta to a duel so he can take her Gundam for himself.]]

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': Elan is initially drawn to Suletta believing she is, like him, [[spoiler:a disposable cyborg who's had their original identity stripped from them and surgically rebuilt for the sole purpose of piloting Gundams, a forbidden technology which harms their pilots through the neural feedback of linking their minds to such huge machines. When he discovers that Suletta is her own person, and that her Gundam is a perfected form of such technology that doesn't hurt her to pilot, the knowledge fills Elan with bitterness and envy. Suletta has everything he doesn't, and has never known suffering like his -- in fact, his suffering has been completely unnecessary this whole time. Knowing this, he summarily challenges Suletta to a duel so he can take her Gundam for himself.]]
** Ironically, later revelations make clear that Suletta does actually share a lot with him: [[spoiler:she's the latest and most advanced in a line of ''clones'', created for the sole purpose of piloting her Gundam (an EvolvingWeapon that needs her to guide its development), and when her purpose comes to an end, she is [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim coldly discarded]]. Sadly, Elan is long dead by the time this fact comes to light.]]

** Yang and Adam. They have both been Blake's mission partners, been permanently scarred by others, and share a Semblance that allows them to power up by converting attack energy. However, Yang is a thrill-seeker who learned to become a Huntress who protects the people, who has to tank physical damage to convert energy into strength, and who learned to rise above her scars. Adam absorbs energy through his sword and is a manipulative abuser who descended from being a Faunus rights activist into a monster obsessed with punishing humanity as a whole because some humans hurt him. When Blake compares the two after Team RWBY is disqualified from the Vytal tournament, she concludes Adam's "accidental" harming of others was a pattern while Yang's was a genuine, one-off accident. [[spoiler:When the trio fight in Volume 6, Adam seeks to blame Blake for everything bad that's ever happened to him, while Yang refuses to let her take the blame for any of it and accuses Adam of lying to Blake about the kind of person he truly was, something Yang has never done.]] And all of this is the reason why in Volume 9 [[spoiler : Blake and Yang enter a relationship]]

* From the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, [[TheBigGuy Knuckles]] and [[AntiHero Shadow]] are often compared to each other due to their supposed similarities. Both are major foils to Sonic who started off as his enemy before [[DefeatMeansFriendship eventually becoming his ally]]. However, Knuckles maintains a rather {{Friendly Rival|ry}} relationship with Sonic while Shadow plays the distant, dissenting rival. Their temperaments are pretty at odds too despite both being serious-minded individuals, Knuckles is rather HotBlooded and easily angered while Shadow is far more composed. Also, both are loners, but different types - Knuckles is more of a straight-up loner who has gotten used to being alone due to being isolated but makes friends easily while Shadow prefers to be alone because of his DarkAndTroubledPast and has made very few friends.

* In ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'', the titular character has acknowledged that, due to his willingness to [[CombatPragmatist fight dirty]] and [[WouldHurtAChild kill goblin children]], he's not really that different from a goblin... except while the goblins are ultimately shown to be a thoroughly unrepentant race of AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters who commit RapePillageAndBurn ForTheEvulz, Goblin Slayer is undeniably heroic and compassionate.

* In the ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'' spin-off ''Slime Diaries'', Rimuru tells the orc Geld in the first episode that he shouldn't overwork himself. In the second episode, Rimuru manages to get a day off from his duties as leader of Tempest, though finds himself restless without any works, which leads him to admitting to Geld that they are both [[{{Workaholic}} workaholics]] and that he shouldn't have lectured Geld about overworking. Geld responds that while Rimuru takes joy in the work he does, he himself lets himself gets lost in work and feels like an outsider to the other monsters if he doesn't have any work. Though later in the series, Geld finds ways of connecting to his fellow citizens in ways outside of labor, just like Rimuru does.

* ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'';

* ''Fanfic/AvengingTheUltimate'';

* ''Fanfic/FrozenTurtles'';

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'': Both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik grew up orphans, with no friends, and a burdensome power (Sonic his SuperSpeed, Robotnik his SuperIntelligence). That's where the similarities end; whereas Sonic is a NiceGuy who HatesBeingAlone and just [[IJustWantToHaveFriends wants to have friends]], Robotnik is a {{Jerkass}} and MisanthropeSupreme who embraces his loneliness and [[LoveIsAWeakness makes a point of having no friends at all]].

->''"Maybe you ain't so bad after all, [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Blake]]. In fact, you kinda remind me of myself at your age. Except, y'know, I'm a mutant. And I've got ethics. And I'm not a psychopath... (or a rapist...) You know what, maybe you remind me of someone else..."''

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX Vivienne Graham]] thinks this about herself and [[spoiler:Ghidorah (specifically Ichi/Eldest Brother)]] during an exchange in Chapter 14:

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': In the {{novelization}}, Madison thinks this about [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Alan Jonah]] when contemplating his parallels with both her parents, noting that while her parents also reacted badly to losing a child and have done terrible things ([[spoiler:her mother]] in particular), [[spoiler:Emma]] is at least willing to try and [[TheAtoner fix what they've done]], whereas Jonah is too far gone.

** Yang and Adam. They have both been Blake's mission partners, been permanently scarred by others, and share a Semblance that allows them to power up by converting attack energy. However, Yang is a thrill-seeker who learned to become a Huntress who protects the people, who has to tank physical damage to convert energy into strength, and who learned to rise above her scars. Adam absorbs energy through his sword and is a manipulative abuser who descended from being a Faunus rights activist into a monster obsessed with punishing humanity as a whole because some humans hurt him. When Blake compares the two after Team RWBY is disqualified from the Vytal tournament, she concludes Adam's "accidental" harming of others was a pattern while Yang's was a genuine, one-off accident. [[spoiler:When the trio fight in Volume 6, Adam seeks to blame Blake for everything bad that's ever happened to him, while Yang refuses to let her take the blame for any of it and accuses Adam of lying to Blake about the kind of person he truly was, something Yang has never done.]]

Two characters or groups initially appear to be quite similar, possibly so similar as to be practically interchangeable. But as the work develops, it becomes clear that the similarity is only superficial. Their deeper characteristics, such as motives, morals, or methods, are quite ''dis''similar. They may fill roughly the same role in the story, but they are far from interchangeable. If another character [[NotSoDifferentRemark comments on the similarities]], one or both of those being compared may respond along the lines of "What? I'm nothing like ''him''!" before listing the differences.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** Piccolo and Vegeta, two evil aliens who first opposed and then became friends with Goku. Piccolo initially saw Goku as an obstacle to TakeOverTheWorld, Vegeta just had an obsession with becoming the strongest and Goku's existence just got in the way. Also, Piccolo's friendship was genuine, [[NobleDemon even if he hated to admit it]]. [[TokenEvilTeammate Vegeta]] didn't bury the hatchet until the entire universe was at great stake. Piccolo at one point has to explain Vegeta's own problems to him. ZigZagged: by ''Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' he appears to actually enjoy Goku's company and they're able to hang out in social settings with little conflict.
** Surprisingly, [[Anime/DragonBallSuper Goku Black]] is one to [[Anime/TheTreeOfMight Turles]], despite both being [[EvilKnockoff Evil Knockoffs]] to Son Goku, as well as the former being an {{expy}} to the latter. Both have a [[DarkIsEvil dark]] motif, but [[KnightTemplar Black thinks he's doing the right thing]], while [[CardCarryingVillain Turles relishes in his villainy]]. Also, Black has absolute disdain for Saiyans while Turles takes pride in being one. Their body structure is quite different too, as the former is [[LeanAndMean thinner]], while the latter is much bulkier.

* The [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-are-not-the-same "we are not the same"]] meme, in which somebody compares themself to somebody else doing the same thing and asserts that they are superior because they have better reasons for doing it. The original version, which compared [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]] to pornography to masturbating to "abstract ideas like success and money and power", was [[TestosteronePoisoning a parody of "sigma male" culture]], and it took off from there, often paired with pictures of Creator/GiancarloEsposito or Creator/MadsMikkelsen as a SharpDressedMan to better illustrate the point and superiority of the person making the meme.

** Also, when [[BadBoss Petrine]] suggests she and [[{{Jerkass}} Soren]] are the same due to [[spoiler:both being
Branded]] he's quick to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech correct her.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', the two [[FantasticRacism hateful]] jerks you employ sort of stick out for bringing down their more optimistic teammates, but at least when they're on a mission together, they'll finally have someone agreeable to talk to right? Nope, one of them likes the company but not the job, the other loves the job but barely tolerates who he works with.
** Also, when [[BadBoss Petrine]] suggests she and [[{{Jerkass}} Soren]] are the same he's quick to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech correct her.]]
** In the sequel ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', if Soren attacks Micaiah in Part 3 Chapter 7, she begins trying to compare the two of them. Quoth Soren:

* This is a key part of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn''. Full Frontal looks like Char, talks like Char, sounds like Char, replaced Char's role as leader of Zeon, espouses the same ideas as Char, and some (maybe even Full Frontal himself) believe him to BE Char. However, as Mineva points out, [[spoiler: Char's dead. Char was a semi-insane idealist who hated being a political figure, who'd rather [[Anime/CharsCounterattack drop an entire friggin' asteroid onto earth than deal with petty poilitics]]. Contrast with Full Frontal, a cold, passionless clone who barely sees himself as a person instead rather a gestalt of the will of spacenoids, whose grand plan is cold reactionary realpolitik.]]

* In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'', Monaca thought she could replace [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima, the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''.]] However the anime gradually reveals actually doesn't have much in common with her. While [[spoiler:Junko]] loves causing suffering, there tends to be an element of fairness to her challenges (arming high school kids with the chance to attack Mukuro and her instead of themselves, blackmailing Sakukura instead of brainwashing him, letting Makoto live in spite of being a threat) mostly because the war is more exciting if she can lose. [[spoiler:She actually presses the button to her own execution in the [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc original game]].]] In contrast, Monaca hates losing. Once her plans fall apart, instead of feeling elation she feels despair the way a normal person does, becoming apathetic to her current actions. Whereas [[spoiler:Junko]] was a Killer Game Master, Monaca is little more than a sadistic thug that just likes copying the methods of her idol.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Sandor Clegane presses the [[JustLikeRobinHood Brotherhood Without Banners']] BerserkButton when he compares them to the [[CarnivalOfKillers Brave Companions]] because they put him through [[KangarooCourt "trial" and nearly executed him without allowing him proper defense]]. Given that the Companions are a psychotic band of rapists, killers and monsters that can't even be counted to stay loyal to one side, while the Brotherhood (for all their flaws) try to dispense justice in the war-torn region and they actually let Sandor go despite the unfair trial, this is an extremely unfair comparison. Even at [[KnightTemplar their very worst]] the Brotherhood is nowhere near as depraved as their {{Evil Counterpart}}s.

-->"''She didn't know what had possessed her to say those words in her current company [...] but she couldn't stand the thought of Valmont comparing himself to Shendu. In her eyes — she didn't know whether it had always been so, or if this was something new — Valmont was a scumbag criminal who would stoop to any means and do anything and everything just for a little money. But Shendu, despite being a lying, murderous and evil demon, had at times shown some form of honour, and he was more sophisticated and regal than Valmont. Valmont hid what he was behind an air of aristocracy and superiority that made her blood boil, but Shendu let you know up-front what you were dealing with. That little shred of honesty, no matter how vile in its using, still made Shendu more worthy to Valerie than Valmont could ever hope to be.''"

* The Suspicious Beggar in ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' tries to pull a NotSoDifferentRemark on the player character should the latter attack him. Thing is, [[spoiler: He's a Darkbeast that kills to feed himself while the player, along with various other hunters, are trying to bring an end to the Nightmare.]]

-->'''Thought Slime:''' [[SarcasmMode Indeed, good observation, Ryan]]. People who are racist and people who dislike racism both view things through the lens of race, and when you [[ExactWords phrase it like that,]] it sure sounds like they're the same thing! [[FridgeLogic Until you think about it even just the slightest bit]] and realize "Hey wait a minute, racists view things through the lens of race to oppress and subjugate minorities, while antiracists look at things through the lens of race to understand oppression and subjugation so they can fight it better." That's not the same thing Ryan, that's the opposite...[[BuffySpeak thing]]. (...) People who like Star Wars and people who hate Star Wars have strong feelings about Star Wars! ''[[SarcasmMode They're the same!]]''

** Piccolo and Vegeta, two evil aliens who became friends with Goku. Piccolo initially saw Goku as an obstacle to TakeOverTheWorld, Vegeta just had an obsession with becoming the strongest and Goku's existence just got in the way. Also, Piccolo's friendship was genuine, [[NobleDemon even if he hated to admit it.]] [[TokenEvilTeammate Vegeta]] didn't bury the hatchet until the entire universe was at great stake. Piccolo at one point has to explain Vegeta's own problems to him. ZigZagged: by ''Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'' he appears to actually enjoy Goku's company and they're able to hang out in social settings with little conflict.
** Surprisingly, [[Anime/DragonBallSuper Goku Black]] is one to [[Anime/TheTreeOfMight Turles]], despite both being [[EvilKnockoff Evil Knockoffs]] to Son Goku, as well as the former being an {{expy}} to the latter. Both have a [[DarkIsEvil dark]] motif, but [[KnightTemplar Black thinks he's doing the right thing,]] while [[CardCarryingVillain Turles relishes in his villainy.]] Also, Black has absolute disdain for Saiyans while Turles takes pride in being one. Their body structure is quite different too, as the former is thinner, while the latter is much bulkier.

** Harry starts to find the similarities between him and [[BigBad Voldemort]] fairly early on; both are dark-haired, relatively popular guys who started out their years without parents and found Hogwarts to be their home. However, each circumstance is marred with differences; Voldemort was conceived through a loveless union. His mother, while sympathetic, still gave her son to an orphanage. Voldemort instigates much of the antagonism against people in his youth. Harry, on the other hand, had parents who loved each other, and his mother was brave enough to sacrifice herself against Voldemort. [[EccentricMentor Dumbledore]] explains to him at the end of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' how even though they have similar abilities, they've made very different choices that have shown them to be very different people. ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' establishes that the biggest difference of all is the fact that Voldemort fears death and Harry does not. Hence, while Voldemort fruitlessly searches for a way to escape the inevitable, Harry is not afraid to die [[spoiler:and willingly goes to his death to ensure that Voldemort can die as well]].

* ''Literature/TheJungle'' has a passage dedicated to how some view political parties as autonomous machines full of same thinking people and how naive this belief is. It is demonstrated in a heated debate between a mildly anarchist man who views all establishments as oppressive and wasteful, saying organized religion is the worst offender, and a fiercely religious man who believes socialism owes its very existence to the teachings of Jesus Christ, who aimed to disrupt the wealthy and raise up the oppressed, so therefore Socialists should be using The Bible to promote themselves.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Sandor Clegane presses the [[JustLikeRobinHood Brotherhood Without Banners']] BerserkButton when he compares them to the [[CarnivalOfKillers Brave Companions]] because they put him through [[KangarooCourt "trial" and nearly executed him without allowing him proper defense]]. Given that the Companions are a psychotic band of rapists, killers and monsters that can't even be counted to stay loyal to one side, while the Brotherhood for all their flaws, try to dispense justice in the war-torn region and they actually let Sandor go despite the unfair trial, this is an extremely unfair comparison. Even at [[KnightTemplar their very worst]] the Brotherhood is nowhere near as depraved as their {{Evil Counterpart}}s.

* The kings of Assyria told the people of Judah not to be fooled when Hezekiah said God could save them because they had destroyed the gods of everyone else they conquered. Hezekiah told them that they only did that because those gods were only idols made by human hands

** Yang and Adam. They have both been Blake's mission partners, been permanently scarred by others, and share a Semblance that allows them to power up by converting attack energy. However, Yang is a thrill-seeker who learned to become a Huntress who protects the people, who has to tank physical damage to convert energy into strength, and who learned to rise above her scars. Adam absorbs energy through his sword and is a manipulative abuser who descended from being a Faunus rights activist into a monster obsessed with punishing humanity for hurting him. When Blake compares the two after Team RWBY is disqualified from the Vytal tournament, she concludes Adam's "accidental" harming of others was a pattern while Yang's was a genuine, one-off accident. [[spoiler:When the trio fight in Volume 6, Adam seeks to blame Blake for everything bad that's ever happened to him, while Yang refuses to let her take the blame for any of it and accuses Adam of lying to Blake about the kind of person he truly was, something Yang has never done.]]

** Gods of Light and Darkness. In the Remnant fairy tale, the Gods of Light and Darkness have a fundamental disagreement about how similar or different they truly are. Dark believes that he and Light are essentially the same because they both have creations and have challenged each other at different times to destroy each other's creations. Light disagrees, believing they only share similar powers and forms. Beyond that, they have nothing in common.

* Creator/ThoughtSlime takes this piss out of TheHorseshoeEffect in his [[https://youtu.be/m0ZDHgD9084?t=949 Conservative Comedy Sucks Too]] video, where he deconstructs Ryan Long's ''When Wokes and Racists Agree on Everything'' video. In the latter video, Long's "Woke" and "Racist" character "agree" on things like "I believe everything should be examined through the lens of race," while Thought Slime counters that this is dishonest as it ignores ''why'' a real racist and antiracist would think those are important.

* A few {{Franchise/Transformers}} knew that [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 the original Megatron]] isn't afraid to tell his ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' counterpart that he isn't worthy of the same respect, regardless of sharing the name.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "Trump Guy'", after catching Donald Trump attempting to molest Meg, Peter tries to call him out but Trump reminds Peter that he's no saint either due to how he treats his own family and the amount of trouble he got himself into in the past. After trying and failing to be a better person, Peter berates Trump by saying that, as president, he should set the example of being responsible and sensible. While Peter and his family are horrible people, Peter admits they are just a cartoon at the end of the day and shouldn't be relied on for moral guidance, they can be ignored.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': In issue 5, when they come across an amnesiac Dr. Eggman, now a NiceGuy who calls himself Mr. Tinker, Shadow is fully prepared to kill him so he doesn't menace the world again, but Sonic refuses to let him, insisting that Eggman should be forgiven for his past crimes and should have a second chance just as Shadow was. However, Sonic's argument holds little water due to several details he doesn't take into account. For starters, Eggman has [[RedemptionRejection thrown away]] every chance at redemption he's ever gotten, while Shadow only needed one. Furthermore, Shadow's evil actions were due to being BrainwashedAndCrazy by Professor Gerald, whereas all of the atrocities Eggman has committed were done of his own free will. Finally, Shadow saw the light of his own volition and chose to change for the better ''before'' he had amnesia, whereas Eggman continued to do evil, with his kindness as Mr. Tinker being ''because'' of his [[AmnesiacsAreInnocent amnesia]], and he [[ChronicVillainy returns to his evil ways]] without hesitation the ''instant'' he gets his memory back. Finally, Shadow helped Sonic save the world because of a promise he made to his late best friend, whereas Eggman only ever helps Sonic save the world [[EvilVersusOblivion so he can take it over himself]].

* ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'': After Anya leaves the party upon learning [[spoiler: Sean is a creep, Emily tries to convince her to stay. At one point during the heated discussion, Emily tries to argue that she's just trying to keep Anya from ever being alone, as it was previously mentioned she lost her fiancé decades ago (even though this turns out to be false). To this, Anya has to spell it out to Emily that Sean is ''hardly'' comparable to her war-hero fiancé. One is only unreachable by sleeping six feet under, and the other is [[ExactWords unattainable]] by [[BrokenPedestal sleeping with his best friend's girlfriend]].]

* In ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'', Komaru is this to her older brother, Makoto. Both of them are relatively ordinary people forced into desperate situations, but while Makoto manages to lift his classmates' spirits and become a symbol of hope, Komaru nearly crosses the DespairEventHorizon in the climax and is only saved by Toko's intervention. As much as Komaru loves her brother, she also knows that she can't be like him, and doesn't want to.