History Main / UncannyFamilyResemblance

* In the ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' story [[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/9503862/1/Dreadlock-Holiday Dreadlock Holiday]], Alesha meets Matt's sister and describes her as a female version of him, outright calling the resemblance "scary".

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': At the end of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', we see descendants of Bulma, Goku and Vegeta, all of whom look exactly like them.

* WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} has a huge extended family. Just about every single family member, male ''and'' female, looks almost exactly like him, only with one or two minor visual details to set them apart.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': {{Inverted|Trope}}: Peter Parker and his clone Ben Reilly pretended to be cousins with an uncanny resemblance; Ben also dyed his hair blond. Peter's wife Mary Jane came up with the explanation for their resemblance, specifically referring to ''The Patty Duke Show''.

* An Uncanny Semi-Family Resemblance: The ancient Greek story ''Aethiopica'', King Hydaspes and Queen Persinna of Ethiopia cast out their infant daughter Chariclea because she is [[ChocolateBaby white]]. After many adventures, it is revealed that she is, in fact, the perfect image of a picture of Andromeda that her mother had looked at while she conceived, and so Chariclea really is their daughter with "maternal impression" explaining her looks.

While the IdenticalGrandson can marginally argue that it is not unknown for direct descendants to bear uncanny resemblance to a forebear, the idea gets ''very'' shaky for other relations. When a show tries to pass off a male actor in drag as their visiting aunt, or when somehow a character resembles the man who ''adopted'' their great-great-grandfather, it gets flat out weird and hence is usually played up for comedic value. There is a bit of a sub-genre of films that rely on this gag. Eddie Murphy has done a number of them.

A SubTrope of StrongFamilyResemblance, which concerns the immediate family (usually parent and child). See also ActingForTwo and YouALLLookFamiliar, which is more of an EnforcedTrope.

* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': There's an example that gets into the flat out weird category (and isn't played for laughs). Xanxus, who [[spoiler:isn't actually supposed to be blood related to the Ninth]] is almost a clone of the Second Vongola Boss. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by other characters [[http://www.onemanga.com/Katekyo_Hitman_Reborn/226/08/ here]]. As they say, his temperament, abilities, and even ''looks'' are the same. Makes you wonder [[spoiler:if he really isn't the Ninth's love child]]...

* In Diana Gabaldon's ''Outlander'' series, gentle, mild-mannered Frank Randall and his vicious, sadistic 6-times great-grandfather Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall look so much alike that Frank's wife Claire initially mistakes Black Jack for her husband. [[spoiler:This is even more uncanny when later it is revealed Black Jack is not actually Frank's direct ancestor, but his 6-times great-uncle, since he had married his deceased brother's pregnant sweetheart in order to prevent the baby from growing up as an illegitimate child]].
** Black Jack and his brother, Alex Randall, also look very much alike, so much so that Claire mistakes Alex for Black Jack when she first meets him.
* In ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', one of the kings of {{Ruritania}} has an affair with an English noblewoman, who bears his child. Several generations later, one of that child's descendants bears an uncanny resemblance to the current King of Ruritania, leading to an EmergencyImpersonation. In the 1979 comic film version with Creator/PeterSellers, he plays King Rudolf IV in the opening sequence; once that character dies, he plays both Rudolf V and Syd, the working-class chap who bears the uncanny resemblance. It is implied that Syd was the result of an affair Rudolf IV had.
* In ''The Secret History'', narrator Richard Papen is in love with Camilla, one half of a fraternal pair of twins. She and her twin, Charles, look virtually identical... and when Richard finds out they're [[BrotherSisterIncest a little]] [[{{Twincest}} too close]], he's titillated by the thought. Eww.
* The post-finale ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'' novels reveal that Gul Macet, played by Marc Alaimo in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', is a cousin of Alaimo's ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' character Gul Dukat. Apparently, the two did ''not'' get along, and another character even speculates that the reason Macet has a beard (something otherwise practically unheard of amongst Cardassians) is that he was trying to lessen the resemblance.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Nightside}} Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth]]'', John Taylor resembles his older male relatives, so much so that [[spoiler:John's late father, resurrected to meet his grown son for the first time, points out John's resemblance to ''his'' father]].

* In the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' books, Michael Oversteegen greatly resembles his relative, the infamous Baron High Ridge. Oversteegen is, however, otherwise the complete opposite of his relative, being a man of integrity, honor, bravery, and general all-around badassitude who has zero patience for either High Ridge or his various other idiotic relatives who [[{{Nepotism}} somehow wound up in positions of power]] in the High Ridge government.
** Meanwhile, Albrecht Detweiler is stated to bear an uncanny resemblance to all of his sons. Of course, in ''this'' case, the reason is because [[spoiler:they are all his clones. Just as he was a clone of his father.]]
* Emmanuel from ''Literature/{{Malevil}}'' describes his Uncle Samuel, noting that in doing so he also describes himself.
* In the ''Literature/GhostsOfFearStreet'' book ''Horror Hotel Part 1,'' the protagonist discovers that he looks almost identical to a distant relative who's been dead for years. This is bad news, because it turns out that relative was a murderer and his victim's ghost [[PsychicAssistedSuicide is out for revenge]].
* An Uncanny Semi-Family Resemblence: The ancient Greek story ''Aethiopica'', King Hydaspes and Queen Persinna of Ethiopia cast out their infant daughter Chariclea because she is [[ChocolateBaby white]]. After many adventures, it is revealed that she is, in fact, the perfect image of a picture of Andromeda that her mother had looked at while she conceived, and so Chariclea really is their daughter with "maternal impression" explaining her looks.

* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', he and his uncle resemble each other strongly.
-->''The likeness settled any doubt. It was Freckles over again, only older and well dressed.''
* In ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'', Laura and Anne, who resemble each other strongly, [[spoiler:turn out to be half-sisters]].
* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''Literature/{{Tinker}}'', Tinker and Oilcan look more like siblings than cousins.
* In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', Jenny was always described as Tom's miniature, though their jokes about changing places were only jokes. Even after seven years in the LandOfFaerie, Jack can see Tom's resemblance.
* In Creator/ErinMorgenstern's ''Literature/TheNightCircus'', a five-year-old Celia is clearly Hector Bowen's child.
* In ''Literature/HerculePoirot's Christmas'', Simeon Lee's son Harry resembles him to a degree that confuses the family butler when he returns, although his other sons take after their mother (a PosthumousCharacter). [[spoiler:Both of Lee's illegitimate sons also resemble him, throwing the butler into even further confusion and providing Poirot with the vital clue]].
* ''Literature/ASwiftlyTiltingPlanet'' deals with a family lineage through something like 800 years, and at times characters are said to resemble their ancestors from centuries past. Most notably, Madoc is a positive bearer of OccultBlueEyes and somehow passes them on to his psychic descendants even if they're 99% Native American.

* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014'' and ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsTrioOfTowns'' make your child(ren) have your spouse's looks in skin, hair, and eye color completely--since [[CharacterCustomization you can change how you look at any time]]. This is an update from older games in the series where the child just had a generic "kid" look that resembled neither.
* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsAWonderfulLife'' is the first game in the series to have a child look like ''both'' parents, instead of just one or neither. There's CharacterCustomization at the start, but your skin tone, face shape, and eye color can't be changed. So while your child will always have your spouse's hair and eye color[[note]]This subtly reveals Rock dyes his hair, since the child will have brown hair while he has blond.[[/note]] and a face shape according to the parent, they will also have a skin tone blended between you and your spouse. Rock and Gordy's children will have darker tan and brown skin tones, respectively. If the player has the darkest skin tone, the child will always have a tan skin tone—and with Gordy, very dark brown skin like his.

* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsAWondefulLife'' is the first game in the series to have a child look like ''both'' parents, instead of just one or neither. There's CharacterCustomization at the start, but your skin tone, face shape, and eye color can't be changed. So while your child will always have your spouse's hair and eye color,[[note]]This subtly reveals Rock dyes his hair, since the child will have brown hair while he has blond.[[/note]] they will also have a skin tone blended between you and your spouse. Rock and Gordy's children will have darker tan and brown skin tones, respectively. If the player has the darkest skin tone, the child will always have a tan skin tone—and with Gordy, very dark brown skin like his.

** For that matter, George's ''other'' cousin [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II]] could probably pass as either of them after a shaving accident. However, Wilhelm wasn't related to Czar Nicholas at all, being the son of George's ''father's'' sister.