History Main / TextualCelebrityResemblance

* Done in an unusual way in ''Mike Nelson's Death Rat!'', where antagonist Gus Bromstad is described as having "trim, Roger Whittaker–like good looks," but those familiar with Roger Whittaker know that's not really the most glamorous of descriptions. The protagonist also considers himself to look like "a sloppy caricature of [[UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev Gorbachev]] without the wine stain," which is far less flattering (and done as a humorous comment, since there's a good chance the reader was already picturing him as looking like that, based on the descriptions of him to that point).

Common in {{fanfiction}} by less ambitious authors. Why bother wasting words on descriptions when you can just say your heroine looks just like Creator/CameronDiaz or Creator/AudreyHepburn? Bonus points for combining this with DescriptionInTheMirror: "MarySue glanced up from brushing her teeth and was struck, not for the first time, by how much she looked like a young Creator/SteveBuscemi..."

-->If you took a couple of [[Music/DavidBowie David Bowies]] and stuck one of the David Bowies on the top of the other David Bowie, then attached another David Bowie to the end of each of the arms of the upper of the first two David Bowies and wrapped the whole business up in a dirty beach robe you would then have something which [[{{Dissimile}} didn't exactly look like]] John Watson, but which those who knew him would find hauntingly familiar.

* ''Literature/HowNotToWriteANovel'' marks this as a lazy and ineffective storytelling device, giving two reasons why it doesn't work: First, if you just say your character looks like someone and drop the mic, then pre-existing impressions of that someone on the audience will, subconsciously or consciously, affect their perception of your character. Second, if you describe them relative to a celebrity (a younger George Clooney, a white Jet Li, a male Scarlett Johansson, etc.), then the reader will be doing the math when they should just be thinking of your character.
* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'' has a lot of fun with this. For example, there's a cop the narrator says reminds him of Morgan Freeman, despite looking nothing like him. He then refers to him as Morgan Freeman for the rest of the novel. It then subverts this by having a character named Jennifer Lopez who looks nothing like the singer. The narrator has to actually make the distinction for the reader, saying it's not ''the'' Jennifer Lopez, just a girl with the same name.

** Lavender Peacock, the GirlOfTheWeek in ''Literature/LicenceRenewed'', is described to be reminiscent of actress Creator/LaurenBacall as a young woman.
** "Sinful" Cindy Chalmer in ''Literature/RoleOfHonour'' reminds Bond of a much younger Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz singer.

** Mary Goodnight in ''Carte Blanche'' has a strong resemblance to the actress Kate Winslet, which has inspired several of her admirers to send her gifts inspired by the 1997 film ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', in which Winslet had a starring role.

* In ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'', Jonathan Brewster's uncanny resemblance to Creator/BorisKarloff is frequently commented on by the other characters, as well as being mentioned in the script when he first enters. It's Jonathan's BerserkButton, and in the original production was also an ActorAllusion.

* Done in an unusual way in ''Mike Nelson's Death Rat!'', where antagonist Gus Bromstad is described as having "trim, Roger Whittaker–like good looks," but those familiar with Roger Whittaker know that's not really the most glamorous of descriptions. The protagonist also considers himself to look like "a sloppy caricature of Gorbachev without the wine stain," which is far less flattering (and done as a humorous comment, since there's a good chance the reader was already picturing him as looking like that, based on the descriptions of him to that point).

* Used in-universe in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'', where Wilbur tells Lewis that his father - away on a trip at the time - looks like Creator/TomSelleck (a picture of Selleck is even used when Lewis tries to figure out the Robinsons' family tree). Actually, Wilbur does this to throw Lewis off, as [[spoiler:his father, who's an ''older Lewis'', is voiced by Selleck in a CastingGag but looks nothing like Selleck]].

* Ebony opens the notoriously bad Harry Potter fanfiction ''FanFic/MyImmortal'' by describing herself as looking like Amy Lee from Music/{{Evanescence}} (the fanfic is {{Titled After| TheSong}} one of the band's songs), and states that anyone who doesn't know who she is should GTFO. Other characters (despite them being featured in a hit movie and having their actors be celebrities) also are described as resembling celebrities, such as [[Creator/DanielRadcliffe Vampire Potter]] and [[Music/GoodCharlotte Joel Madden]], or [[Creator/TomFelton Draco Malfoy]] and [[Music/MyChemicalRomance Gerard Way]].
* In Fanfic/MoonDaughter, the narrator describes [[Creator/PercyJackson Hades]] as looking "kind of like Creator/JohnnyDepp super pale, but he had black hair in a ponytail and a little eyeliner but not too much cause he isn't gay."

* Used in-universe in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'', where Wilbur tells Lewis that his father - away on a trip at the time - looks like Creator/TomSelleck (a picture of Selleck is even used when Lewis tries to figure out the Robinsons' family tree). Actually, Wilbur does this to throw Lewis off, as [[spoiler: his father, who's an ''older Lewis'', is voiced by Selleck in a CastingGag but looks nothing like Selleck]].

* Done in an unusual way in ''Mike Nelson's Death Rat!'', where antagonist Gus Bromstad is described as having "trim, Roger Whittaker-like good looks," but those familiar with Roger Whittaker know that's not really the most glamorous of descriptions. The protagonist also considers himself to look like "a sloppy caricature of Gorbachev without the wine stain," which is far less flattering (and done as a humorous comment, since there's a good chance the reader was already picturing him as looking like that, based on the descriptions of him to that point).

** Hugo Drax's [[TheDragon right-hand man]] Willy "The Persuader" Krebbs in ''Literature/{{Moonraker}}'' is described as looking like young Creator/PeterLorre. Since the actor himself had been typecast as slimy villains, this helps to describe the character's role in the story.

* Even Terry Pratchett got in on this once, in the short story "Turntables Of The Night". The narrator describes someone they met in a disco as looking a bit like Creator/JohnTravolta in the Seventies... if you'd buried him for about three months. [[spoiler: Not coincidentally, the individual in question also TALKS IN CAPITALS.]]

* [[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/scarlett-johansson-sues-bestselling-author-for-using-name-in-novel-tribute-8650285.html Scarlett Johansson actually sued a French author for doing this with her in one of his books.]] And she managed to win, too. Apparently, just baldly stating that "character X looks like real-life person Y" is okay, but having "having character X be confused with real-life person Y and be treated as if he or she is Y" is considered over the line. However, many of her claims were rejected and she was awarded 2500 euros, not the 50000 euros she wanted. As a result of the case, the book continues to be published with only minor alterations.

* An InUniverse example in ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing: Rogue Squadron]]'' where Imperial Intelligence operative Kirtan Loor is said to look like a young Grand Moff Tarkin, a resemblance which he deliberately tries to emphasize. Sir Creator/PeterCushing presumably doesn't exist in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

* The ''Literature/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' novelisation describes Raiden as looking 'like a young Music/DavidBowie'.

* ''Literature/TruemanBradley'': Trueman notes that Detective Sam Buckley looks like both Franchise/{{Superman}} and the [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe comic book hero]] Slam-Bradley.

Creating new characters and describing them in detail so the reader has a quick and easy understanding of what they look and sound like is tough. Much easier? Describing them as looking or sounding like a famous celebrity! If the reader knows the celebrity (and that might be a big ''if'', depending on target audience and the amount of time that passed since the work was published), it allows for a quick reference and something the reader can picture quickly. If not, then the reader is cheated out of a description in what might seem like lazy shorthand.

Note: This is a narration in literature trope. '''Please don't add any examples that exclusively involve dialogue or internal monologue.''' This refers only to when the narration of the story itself describes characters' appearance by making a celebrity comparison, not when characters do.

** It's even clarified that the Narrator doesn't recall the name of the black actor that the cop actually looks like, he just uses Morgan Freeman as a stand-in for that actors name.

* The novelization of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has Claire Redfield note that Steve Burnside greatly resembles Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. This was meant as an affectionate StealthInsult to the franchise, as this was such a common complaint about the game that the developers actually ''changed Steve's appearance'' before re-releasing it on [=PS2=]. Of course, this was back in Leo's cutsey-boy early years, but... ouch.

* Overlaps with CelebrityParadox in the HarryPotter fanfiction ''Fanfic/{{Happy Endings|HarryPotter}}'', where Severus Snape has been given a makeover by a ParodySue and thinks he now looks like a young Creator/AlanRickman.

* Used in-universe in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'', where Wilbur tells Lewis that his father - away on a trip at the time - looks like Creator/TomSelleck (a picture of Selleck is even used when Lewis tries to figure out the Robinsons' family tree). Actually, Wilbur does this to throw Lewis off, as [[spoiler: his father, who's an ''older Lewis'', looks nothing like Selleck]].

* In ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'' (the book, not the film), Mark Renton is said to resemble Alex [=McLeish=], while Sick Boy and Tommy are said to look like Creator/StevenSeagal and Creator/HarrisonFord respectively.

-->If you took a couple of [[Music/DavidBowie David Bowies]] and stuck one of the David Bowies on the top of the other David Bowie, then attached another David Bowie to the end of each of the arms of the upper of the first two David Bowies and wrapped the whole business up in a dirty beach robe you would then have something which didn't exactly look like John Watson, but which those who knew him would find hauntingly familiar.

* An InUniverse example in ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing: Rogue Squadron]]'' where Imperial Intelligence operative Kirtan Loor is said to look like a young Grand Moff Tarkin. Sir Creator/PeterCushing presumably doesn't exist in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.

* The series Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard by Rick Riordan repeatedly compares the title character to Music/KurtCobain.

[[folder:Other]]
* Parodied by a Creator/DaveBarry column in which he writes a fake suspense novel, clearly hoping for a film adaptation. "Carter Crater strode into the office. He looked like Creator/TomCruise, or, if he's available, Creator/AlPacino."
* Many {{MUSH}}es will allow players to set actors for their characters (often referred to as [=PBs=], for "played by").

* The series Literature/MagnusChaseAndtheGodsofAsgard by Rick Riordan repeatedly compares the title character to Music/KurtCobain.

* The series Literature/MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard by Rick Riordan repeatedly compares the title character to Music/KurtCobain.

* In ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' novels, ComicBook/{{Storm}} is now [[CelebrityParadox described as resembling]] Creator/HalleBerry.

* The series "Literature/MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard" by Rick Riordan repeatedly compares the title character to Music/KurtCobain.

* The series "Literature/MagnusChaseandtheGodsofAsgard" by Rick Riordan repeatedly compares the title character to [[Music/Kurt Cobain]].

* In ''Literature/TheCuckoosCalling'', protagonist Cormoran Strike is described as looking like "a young [[Creator/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]] who had taken to boxing." In [[Literature/TheSilkworm the second book]] his client Leonora Quine is compared to a long-haired Rose West by the UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers.