History Main / ParentsKnowTheirChildren

** Some animal species accomplish this via sound.

* In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower:'', it's established that Princess Adora was kidnapped as an infant. When Prince Adam brings the now-adult Adora into the throne room, King Randor and Queen Marlena immediately recognize her. Man-At-Arms also recognized her.

* ''Fanfic/ShesMineThen'': After [[ForWantOfANail adopting their niece Mirabel]] when she was five, Pepa and Félix are able to tell her and Camilo apart even when Camilo shapeshifts into a perfect copy of her.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': The reveal in one episode is that a victim was killed because she had just sent away a DNA test to prove that her son had been switched at birth with another boy. Since she's dead, she doesn't get to explain why she suspected the switch or how she identified the correct child, leaving this trope as the only explanation. That said, her husband and the other boy's mother had no idea anything was wrong (and the other boy's father was the one who switched them, so he doesn't count).

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34188727/chapters/86129611 Tales of the Kitty-Whiskers and Ladybug]]'', it's implied, at least from Plagg's POV, that even while under amnesia, Lamiroir is able to faintly recognize that [[spoiler:Apollo and Trucy are her children]], while her ability to ID voices [[spoiler:lets her know that they are the superheroes Ladybug and Kitty-Whiskers]].

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': In "The Wake", [[spoiler:Lyta realizes that what is left of her son Daniel is part of the current aspect of Dream during their conversation]].

* ''Literature/TheMoomins'': Finn Family Moomintroll has a case of this, where everyone is playing hide and seek, and Moomin decides to hide under a hat which nobody knows to be an artifact that randomly shapeshifts whatever is inside. Naturally, nobody recognizes him afterward. In the end, he turns to his mother for help, she takes a look and says "Yes, that's Moomin". This also reverses the magic.

* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo:''
** In the OVA, while Yosho's false persona of Katsuhito Masaki had been known fact for a while, his mother sees right through his disguise of being ''old'', which was part of that persona, and asks him to take it off. No one else knew about that.
** In the movie ''Tenchi Muyo in Love'', Achika recognizes Tenchi as her son, despite the fact that she is in high school, unmarried, not even dating, and Tenchi won't be born ''for another nine years''.

* In ''Manga/{{Parasyte}},'' [[MotherhoodIsSuperior mothers]] seem to have this. The [[HumanityIsInfectious parasite who took over Ryoko Tamiya]] had to kill her host's mother, who could somehow tell that she was an "imposter" and tried to call the police; the parasite is initially confused about how she managed to figure this out. Likewise, Shinichi's own mother realizes that ''something'' is wrong with him, despite the fact that he's (at least mostly) retained his normal personality.

* Averted in ''Manga/ZekkyouGakkyuu''. Rika's mother fully believes that the transformed Mary is her own daughter, and pays no mind to her real daughter trapped in a doll's body on the shelf.

* Downplayed in ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' during the time travel arc. Hinata specifically notes that Boruto resembles her crush Naruto and even comments to the other girls that she feels far more at ease around him compared to her usual ShrinkingViolet self, but she gives no indication of being aware that he's her KidFromTheFuture.
* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': The villain Rizevim forces Issei to turn into a dragon before showing him to his parents, planning to drive him to despair by having his parents reject him as a monster. Fortunately, since the transformation did not affect his voice or personality at all, his parents recognize him and assure that they still love him.

* In one ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' story, [[MasterOfDisguise the Chameleon]] has seemingly tricked Aunt May into thinking that he's Peter, only for her to correct him of that notion--she is, after all, Peter's mother in all but name, and he could never fool her. Oh, and by the way, [[NeverMessWithGranny those cookies that she offered him were poisoned]].
* ''ComicBook/MsMarvel1977:'' While Joe Danvers is unable to recognize that the blonde-haired superwoman who saved his life is his only daughter, his wife is able to instantly notice despite not having known Ms. Marvel even existed until the day before. However, this also has to do with the fact Joe is a colossal sexist ass with a very fixed image of what Carol is "supposed" to be, and no amount of effort on Carol's part has ever changed that.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Birthright}}'', Aaron ''immediately'' recognizes his son Mikey even though Mikey has aged to adulthood during his time in Terrenos.

* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5558808/5/Time-and-Time-Again Time and Time Again]]'' features Katie Summers, the {{Dhampyr}} daughter of Buffy and Angel who travels back in time to prevent Buffy's death at Glory's hands. While Angel has to be told as such, Buffy, despite still being in a relationship with Riley at the time and having been told by Angel that [[ImmortalProcreationClause vampires can't have children]], is able to deduce on her own that Katie is her daughter.
* ''Fanfic/TheUltimateEvil'': This trope is played with when the LivingStatue of [[PrecursorHeroes Lo Pei]] meets Valerie Payne. He believes her to be his daughter Lo Mei because she has the same [[InnocentBlueEyes crystal blue eyes]], handwaves the physical differences as the result of magical concealment, and lampshades this trope by saying that any father can know his beloved child anywhere. While the living terracotta is mistaken, Valerie is [[HeroicLineage Lo Pei's descendant]] by thirty-six generations.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12049888/1/The-True-Villain The True Villain]]'', Marinette (the titular superhero) is shocked to discover her parents know about her heroics. Her mother admonishes her for this, saying "You insult me, Child. I can pinpoint your voice in a crowd of almost a hundred people. I'm pretty sure [[ClarkKenting a little red mask]] is not enough to hide you from the gaze of your mother."
* In ''Fanfic/TimeFixersNicktoonsOfTheFuture'', Cindy reveals that she was able to recognize Maxwell as the future version of her infant son when her husband isn't.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/BoysDoTankary''. Nyra's mother gave her youngest child, Vincent, up for adoption, not even bothering to give him a name. Years later, when Nyra contacts Vincent, Nyra's mother assumes Vincent seduced Nyra when Nyra's actual reason for calling Vincent was to reach out to him as his sister.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'': In ''Gamma Relations'', Magneto feels there's something about the Maximoff twins but is unable to define what.

* Inverted in the final chapter of ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'' where [[spoiler:a four-year-old [[KidFromTheFuture Aki]]]] is able to recognize her parents despite [[spoiler:both of them being significantly younger than when she last saw them a day prior (from her perspective) and her not even knowing that she time traveled.]]

* ''Fanfic/SecondChanceKingdomHearts'': After Kalana and Aiko find out [[NotSoImaginaryFriend the truth about Ventus]] and his ability to take control of Sora's body, it's stated that they can instinctively tell when he's in control with no explanation beyond "mothers intuition".

* In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', Elfangor instantly ''knows'' that Tobias is his son when he sees him for the first time.
* In chapter 89 of ''Fanfic/DragonBallZDynasty'', it's revealed that Goku and Chi-Chi [[spoiler:recognized from the beginning that Future Daikon wasn't their nephew from Raditz and Launch (akin to Future Ranch being the latter couple's daughter) but rather their own KidFromTheFuture. Specifically, [[CanonCharacterAllAlong he's the future version of their younger son Goten]]]].
* Downplayed sibling variant in the ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/32553520/chapters/80746267 Fate Converge]]'', where Sakura Matou notices that her senior Rin Emiya looks like an older version of her supposedly-deceased big sister but can't confirm it. It's not until learning that Rin lost her old family and memories in the Fuyuki Fire, the same event that Sakura's sister and mother were reported to die in, and only has a Tohsaka pendant with no idea what it is that Sakura can confirm her suspicions.

** Inverted when the protagonist's parents have been transformed into pigs; to rescue them, she must pick them out of a line-up of several dozen other pigs. [[spoiler: She correctly determines that ''none'' of the pigs are her parents]].
** Subverted at another point in that Yubaba [[spoiler: cannot recognize Boh transformed into a mouse]]. Of course, the fact that [[spoiler: he was turned into a mouse]] is a more substantial handicap than normal.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'', Hiccup's long-lost mother, Valka, is ultimately able to recognize him despite the fact that she hadn't seen him since he was just a baby (and Hiccup is 20 years old when they finally reunited).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': Implied to be the reason Rapunzel's mother recognizes her in the end [[spoiler: despite her trademark long blonde hair chopped and brown by the end of the film]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'': Arnold finally reunites [[spoiler:with his parents Miles and Stella]], and they're instantly able to recognize him even though they hadn't seen Arnold since he was just a baby. Though, [[JustifiedTrope to be fair]], the unmistakable Arnold still had [[HairstyleInertia the same hairstyle since birth]] and was wearing the hat they gave him. And not many kids have football-shaped heads.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}'', Daniela and Lorenzo spend roughly half the movie all but harassing the children of the town trying to find their son among them. But in the end, all it takes is for Luca to ride past for Daniela to ''instantly'' recognize him.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': Inverted. The triplets recognize Elinor in bear form despite BOTH parties remaining silent.

* ''Film/{{Changeling}}'', a 2008 movie based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wineville_Chicken_Coop_Murders true events]], is kick-started when a missing boy is returned to his mother -- but she immediately realizes it's an imposter. She is committed to a mental institution when she refuses to acknowledge the boy as hers. [[spoiler:It's a ploy by [[CorruptCop the kidnapping case's lead investigator]] to cover up the police department's incompetence and corruption]].
* Horribly subverted in the Korean film ''Film/HorrorStories'', where a WickedStepmother fails to recognize her daughter [[spoiler:was killed and turned into pickled meat that she was eating.]] The heroine, who knew the truth, is appalled.
-->"And you call yourself a mom?"
* In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Anakin finds his captive mother Shmi at a Tusken Raider camp, and Shmi recognizes Anakin instantly despite having not seen him since he was nine, which was ten years ago. That Anakin calls her "mom" probably helps.
* ''Film/RelativeFear'': This is discussed when Linda gets Adam's DNA tested due to her correct suspicions he was SwitchedAtBirth.
-->'''Linda:''' I love Adam, but Dr. Hoyer, virtually from the day I gave birth I had this feeling that he wasn't mine. That he didn't belong to me, that he didn't come out of me.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TreeCastleIsland'' by Creator/JeanCraigheadGeorge: after Jack discovers on a camping trip that he has a long-lost twin named Jake, and the two return to civilization, Jack's mother (adoptive mother, never knew he had a twin until now) insists that she recognizes the boy she's raised. She goes and stands in front of ''Jake'', not realizing that the two had switched where they were standing when she wasn't watching.
* ''Heckedy Peg'', a children's picture-story book, provides a variation: an evil witch turns seven children into seven different types of food. Their mother tries to rescue them, but the witch says she will only change them back if she can guess which child is which food item. [[spoiler: She guesses right]].

** Played with, as the grandmother just smiles at Lili and flat-out says that Lili ''is'' the missing Samantha, claiming that she can see a young Caroline in her face. The rest of the family is unsure if they should believe her.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** DoubleSubverted by the twins Fred and George, who indignantly claim that their own mother can't tell them apart when she gets their names wrong... only to reveal that she got it right in the first place. And then there are their monogrammed Christmas sweaters, where they claim to be Gred and Forge.
** This trope is brought up in Harry's internal narration in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', where he notes that Ron is avoiding looking into his father's eyes while under the Polyjuice Potion for fear of being recognized. However, considering Harry's earlier use of the potion had [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna Lovegood]] see straight through it because of his expression, it seems it's not just limited to parents.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Averted for Moist von Lipwig, who is so nondescript (an invaluable skill for a conman) that his mother often ended up picking up the wrong kid from school.
* ''Literature/TheBraidedPath'': Mishani cuts off her hair so she can disguise herself as a doctor's assistant to visit her mother, who has been sending her secret messages in her novels. Her mother instantly recognises her and even praises her new look. Subverted with her father, who notes the doctor's assistant seems strangely familiar but cannot quite place her.
* In the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' prequel novel ''The Andalite Chronicles'', Elfangor immediately recognizes that [[spoiler:Tobias]] is his son due to seeing his mother's features.

* Subverted and PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/FullHouse,'' in which Joey dresses Michelle and her identical-looking Greek cousin in matching outfits and challenges Danny to figure out who is who. Michelle accidentally gives it away.
-->'''Michelle:''' You'll never guess, Daddy.
-->'''Danny:''' Oh, this is a tough one, but I'm going to guess the real Michelle is the one who just called me Daddy.
-->'''Michelle:''' Aw, nuts.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''

* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman'': Upon being rescued, Rosella has very little skepticism that her rescuer is her long-lost twin brother, though she can still ask for verification by having Alexander-Gwydion reveal his embarrassing birthmark.
* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', if Cassima's parents are brought BackFromTheDead, they can identify that the Cassima who is so eager to marry the Vizier is definitely not their daughter. It helps that she also indulges in a bit of [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay Something They Would Never Say]].

* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', King David immediately realizes [[spoiler:Dr. Roman is really his son Solomon, but agrees to keep the secret.]]
* {{Implied}} in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. There are a few points where BenevolentAI [=Ma3a=] refers to the protagonist as "Jet" and not "Alan-2" (his login), and [[spoiler: when corrupted by bugged code, [[FightingFromTheInside fights it off long enough for Jet to run]] ]]. As we find out through the StoryBreadcrumbs, [=Ma3a=] is the VirtualGhost of Jet's mother (who was killed in a FreakLabAccident in this timeline) with her [[BrainUploading consciousness compiled into the AI]].

* ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'': {{Inverted}} when Jolyne manages to recognize a time-traveling teenage Jotaro as her father. It probably helps that Teen!Jotaro and Adult!Jotaro [[YoungerThanTheyLook LOOKS EXACTLY]] [[OlderThanTheyLook THE FUCKING SAME!!]]
* ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'' has a PromotedToParent example (given both characters have a MissingMom). [[spoiler:When the adult Sidon is brought from the future to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong save his older sister Mipha from Waterblight Ganon]], Mipha immediately recognizes her brother despite the latter being [[HeIsAllGrownUp much bigger]].]]

* In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower:'', it's established that Princess Adora was kidnapped as an infant. When Prince Adam brings the now-adult Adora into the throne room, King Randor and Queen Marlena immediately recognize her. Man-At-Arms also recognized her.
* There are also several hints dropped in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', most notably in "The Rainbow Warrior", that Queen Marlena knows Prince Adam's secret identity, but [[SecretSecretKeeper doesn't say anything]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', when Roberta is made to disguise herself as a fat girl as part of a school project, no one at school recognizes her and Junior ends up falling in love with her. When she agrees to go on a pity date with him and he introduces her to the rest of the family, they all somehow recognize her instantly.
* A played-with version occurs in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', where M'gann brings Sportsmaster and Cheshire into Artemis' mind to prove to them that Tigress is an enchanted disguise from a glamour charm and she isn't really dead. Cheshire, Artemis' sister, believes, but their emotionally abusive father doesn't. Instead, Artemis convinces him by using a fighting technique he taught her.
-->'''Cheshire:''' Come on, Crusher! Artemis is your daughter. Can't you feel her presence here?\\
'''Sportsmaster:''' This is just some Martian mind game. Right now, I don't even feel ''your'' presence.

* ''WesternAnimation/IvorTheEngine'': Jones the Steam and Ivor have a very close bond after so many years working together, but Jones usually acts as a sort of parental figure for Ivor, who is good-hearted if sometimes a little disobedient, like a child. Jones can usually guess Ivor’s moods quite easily.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', where Dante could recognize Trish (who has his mother's face) even when she was disguised as [[spoiler:Gloria]]. [[spoiler:In ''Videogame/DevilMayCry5'' Dante also reveals that he suspected Nero was Vergil's son and thus Dante's nephew the moment he saw him, though he wasn't certain until he saw how the Yamato reacted to Nero. Vergil otoh had no idea Nero was his son until Dante outright told him during their final battle.]]

* Subverted in ''Tree Castle Island'' by Creator/JeanCraigheadGeorge: after Jack discovers on a camping trip that he has a long-lost twin named Jake, and the two return to civilization, Jack's mother (adoptive mother, never knew he had a twin until now) insists that she recognizes the boy she's raised. She goes and stands in front of ''Jake'', not realizing that the two had switched where they were standing when she wasn't watching.

* ''Anime/StarWarsVisions'': In the season 2 episode "The Spy Dancer", Loi's son was taken from her as an infant by the Empire. Decades later, she recognizes him (now an adult, in Imperial uniform, with his [[RubberForeheadAlien alien features]] concealed so he can pass for human) the moment she gets a good look at his face.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Ephraim and Mira Bridger hear their son's voice in a rebel transmission. Ezra has been separated from his parents for nearly nine years, during which time he's grown from a kid to a teenager and his voice has broken, but they recognize him anyway. What also sold it was that specific words in the speech were exactly what Ezra's parents taught him.