History Main / SplitAtBirth

* Mildly subverted in ''Franchise/SilentHill''. Two major characters in the 1st and 3rd games were actually split after birth, but one of them didn't know about the existence of the other.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/{{Gokudo}}-kun Mannyuki'' finds out that an evil sorcerer king killed his infant son, who was then resurrected as the mostly good half with the power of light (The Prince) and a mostly bad half that eventually got the power of fire ([[VillainProtagonist him]]).

* PlayedForLaughs in a ShowWithinAShow for ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', where the local Superman and Batman expies Bionic Bunny and Dark Bunny are revealed to be brothers. One was abducted by a witch and the other by a robot.

** In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', it turns out that [[spoiler: Lobsang Ludd and Jeremy Clockson]] are the son (singular) of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time and Wen the Eternally Surprised, founder of the History Monks. He/they was born as a pair of twins due to the oddities of Time going through labor. [[spoiler: They are rejoined in the end, and although the combined form has both sets of memories he identifies as Lobsang due to that being the life he actually enjoyed.]]

See also: ShadowArchetype and StarfishCharacter.

* Neil Gaiman's ''Literature/AnansiBoys'' did this, though the given characters weren't split at birth, but more somewhere around age 7-8. Nevertheless, the story's adult protagonist couldn't remember the occurrence and had a difficult time believing that his father was a god until his magical twin showed up. [[spoiler: Of course, it is later revealed that Spider ''isn't'' the magical twin -- Charlie just ForgotAboutHisPowers.]] The procedure is compared to cutting a starfish in half--because each twin has grown into a complete person, they can't be fused again.

* Neil Gaiman's ''Literature/AnansiBoys'' did this, though the given characters weren't split at birth, but more somewhere around age 7-8. Nevertheless, the story's adult protagonist couldn't remember the occurrence and had a difficult time believing that his father was a god until his magical twin showed up. The procedure is compared to cutting a starfish in half--because each twin has grown into a complete person, they can't be fused again.

* At the end of ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', it is revealed in the end that the sage-like urRu's and the villainous Skeksis were in-fact one in the same, beings that separated from a group of celestial aliens named the urSkeks.

* ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' has the Zero class, who plays as a TagTeam warrior duo. They were originally one child born from the tears of a goddess, but knowing this child would inherit her powers, the villains split the them into two people to make it easier to limit them: The girl was sealed away indefinitely in a temple, while the boy was raised as a soldier and had his memories erased any time he got too close to the truth. The two of them meet and escape together, naming themselves Beta and Alpha respectively and beginning an adventure to unlock their full power and free themselves from the pocket dimension they're trapped in.

* In the reboot (but not third boot) Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} comics, Phantom Girl's father was from a planet where the people have the ability to split into three and rejoin. Phantom Girl split once and her other two selves were taken away, one to become the 20th Century hero Phase. Before the reboot, this character ''was'' Phantom Girl sent through time (and briefly was her previously unknown cousin instead); LSH at this point was a classic example of ContinuitySnarl, thanks to the decision to excise Superboy from history but only HandWave the Legion's resulting history after ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', followed by the decision to reboot the Legion and basically nothing else after ''Zero Hour''.

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* In the YA book ''AngelaAndDiabola'', a couple who were supposed to have one baby end up with twins: one daughter who contains all the [[HumansAreGood good of a human being]], and one who contains all the [[HumansAreBastards evil of a human being]]. As children, among other things, they eventually develop superpowers; part of it seems to come from being two halves of the same person, like the TwinTelepathy, and another part of it seems to come from the sheer [[PureIsNotGood purity]] of their good and evil natures, like the ability to heal people or make them drop dead respectively. They're also respectively so charming and so intimidating that they have incredible powers of persuasion. [[spoiler:At the end of the book, Angela kills Diabola, ''mostly'' by accident, and in doing so reunites the two halves. She's usually good but sometimes does bad things, [[HumansAreFlawed like most people]]; she develops a mismatched eye that matches Diabola's; and she doesn't have either half-person's powers.]]

* [[AllThereInTheManual According to the backstory]], Colonel & Iris from ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' series were originally a prototype of an ultimate AI, but its logical side & emotional side couldn't function properly together, so it was split up & placed in separate bodies.

** In ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', it turns out that [[spoiler: Lobsang Ludd and Jeremy Clockson]] are the son (singular) of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time and Wen the Eternally Surprised, founder of the History Monks. He/they was born as a pair of twins due to the oddities of Time going through labor. [[spoiler: They are rejoined in the end, and although the combined form has both sets of memories he identifies as Lobsang due to that being the life he actually enjoyed.]]
** Miss Level in ''Discworld/AHatFullOfSky'' has two bodies and one mind that goes with them. Neither half was separated from the other, and traits are most shared between the two bodies. It is considered to be a mark of her magical power, especially [[spoiler: since she continues to use her other body after it gets blown up, basically gaining telekinesis.]]

* Also Capt. Kirk in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Wolf in the Fold"--again, via a transporter accident. One got his intellect, his compassion, and most of his 'good' qualities, the other got his anger, lust, greed, and cruelty. However, the 'nice' Kirk was also a total wimp.

* Morrigan and Lilith of ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' fame are a similar case, and for a similar reason.

** In ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', it turns out that [[spoiler: Lobsang Ludd and Jeremy Clockson]] are the son (singular) of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time and Wen the Eternally Surprised, founder of the History Monks. He/they was born as a pair of twins due to the oddities of Time going through labor.

** Miss Level in ''Discworld/AHatFullOfSky'' has two bodies and one mind that goes with them. Neither half was separated from the other, and traits are most shared between the two bodies. It is considered to be a mark of her magical power, especially [[spoiler: since she continues to use her other body after it dies]].

* The third video game based on the anime/manga ''GetBackers'' has the Mikado Twins, Daisuke and Kyousuke, who are revealed to be the same person: one is the physical body who is mostly mindless and only does what he is ordered to do, and the other is the soul. This was done to keep the original from becoming too powerful and dangerous.

* The MarvelComics supervillain Stryfe was a clone of the infant ComicBook/{{Cable}}, kidnapped and raised by the evil Apocalypse.

* In the ''Literature/{{Doppelganger}}'' series by Marie Brennan, a witch child is split in two when the channel for magical power is created in her as an infant. One half gets the channel for power, while the other gets lightning-fast reflexes and large doses of {{badass}}. This practice is the source of much personal and political strife throughout the story.

* In ''Film/SouthlandTales'', Roland and Ronald, both played by Sean William Scott, are told they are brothers, but are in fact [[spoiler:different instances of each other existing concurrently because of a time travel accident]].

* [[spoiler:Gemini and Geminine]] in ''SakuraWars''.

* Also Capt. Kirk in TOS episode ''Wolf in the Fold''--again, via a transporter accident. One got his intellect, his compassion, and most of his 'good' qualities, the other got his anger, lust, greed, and cruelty. However, the 'nice' Kirk was also a total wimp.

* In ''ShamanKing'', [[spoiler:the MessianicArchetype Yoh Asakura and BigBad Hao (Zeke in the dub) are both reincarnations of the original Hao Asakura.]]

* ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' / ''{{xxxHoLic}}''. The character of [[spoiler: "Watanuki", presumed real name Tsubasa]] is an, er, time travel duplicate/clone/alternate universe version/RetGone replacement for [[spoiler: "Syaoran", confirmed real name Tsubasa]]. They split at about age ten, possibly, when the original made a wish to turn back time a few years. This fucked the time-space continuum up so much that another him, who looked completely different, appeared in his place back home, and nobody there remembered that he had existed. The terminology involved is somewhat difficult to discern.

** Given that the ba was more closely associated with the body, seems more likely the sealed Atem was ka, all ideas and vicious...winning stuff...ability. Thing. Meanwhile instead of recharging nightly from his mummy as certain Egyptian strains of thought expected the ba to do, it was off getting a new body. Whether it did this repeatedly and there's been a long string of guys with that crazy hair who never got their hands on the Puzzle or if this was the only shot destiny felt the need to give them is another question again.

* In the reboot (but not third boot) Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} comics, Phantom Girl's father was from a planet where the people have the ability to split into three and rejoin. Phantom Girl split once and her other two selves were taken away, one to become the 20th Century hero Phase. Before the reboot, this character ''was'' Phantom Girl sent through time (and briefly was her previously unknown cousin instead); LSH at this point was a classic example of ContinuitySnarl, thanks to the decision to excise Superboy from history but only apply ScotchTape to the Legion's resulting history after ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', followed by the decision to reboot the Legion and basically nothing else after ''Zero Hour''.

* In ''Film/SouthlandTales'', Roland and Ronald, both played by Creator/SeanWilliamScott, are told they are brothers, but are in fact [[spoiler:different instances of each other existing concurrently because of a time travel accident]].