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4[[quoteright:280:[[WesternAnimation/ThePrinceAndThePauper https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mickey_princepauper.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:280:How fortunate that there happened to be another boy mouse with the same features in the roles they've always wanted.]]
6
7->''"God bless the King--I mean the faith's defender;\
8God bless (no harm in blessing) the pretender;\
9But who pretender is, or who is King--\
10God bless us all--that's quite another thing."''
11-->-- '''John Byrom'''
12
13Combination of SwappedRoles, IdenticalStranger, PrincessForADay and FishOutOfWater. Two [[{{Doppelganger}} physically identical people]] from different backgrounds swap roles (either by fate or by arrangement) and have to learn how to [[MockMillionaire fake being]] [[KingIncognito each other]]. Usually, both are portrayed as being unhappy with their current lives and think the [[GrassIsGreener grass being greener on the other side]]. The Prince or wealthier character is often a LonelyRichKid who finds their lifestyle a GildedCage full of never ending lessons, people telling them where to go, how to dress, and to always be "proper", completely unbearable. They yearn for [[IJustWantToHaveFriends friends and playtime]] and to have the freedom to make their own schedule. The Pauper or less wealthy character is often a person who [[PerpetualPoverty barely gets enough food and money to survive]], struggles in poverty, can't afford to go to school, and yearns for a life with more wealth, luxury, and food. And the [[AnAesop lesson]] they often learn is that the other person's life has its fair share of hardships too and that we often don't appreciate what we have until it's gone.
14
15Comes from the story ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' by Creator/MarkTwain, and is regularly used in Disney TV movies, but not commonly in TV episodes, unless twins are involved.
16
17If one is literally a prince (or other royalty), there will usually be a plot by the EvilChancellor to depose him underway when the switch happens.
18
19Compare with EmergencyImpersonation and FreakyFridayFlip. Also see TwinSwitch and MockMillionaire.
20----
21!!Examples
22
23[[foldercontrol]]
24
25[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
26* This happens in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' when the queen of the Moonrace decides to switch places with a local landowner's daughter on a whim. Then the plot kicks in and the two get separated before they can change back. This has severe repercussions on both characters and on the war between the Moonrace and Earthrace, ultimately culminating in [[spoiler:the lookalike going to be Queen of the Moonrace in the actual queen's place]]
27* This trope {{deconstructed|Trope}} is the premise of ''Manga/{{Barrage}}'': Prince Barrage finds Astro, a boy from the slums who looks and sounds exactly like him, and forces Astro to take his place as prince while Barrage runs off intending to lead a life of hedonism--but Barrage gets assassinated by a sniper as he's leaving and disappears off the rooftops they're on. This effectively forces Astro to [[EmergencyImpersonation impersonate Barrage to keep the kingdom's political enemies at bay]]. [[spoiler:Those closest to Prince Barrage knew immediately that Astro was an impostor but have agreed to keep the façade as well for the same reasons.]] Then it's subverted: [[spoiler:Astro is the true Prince. His ParentalSubstitute and mentor kidnapped him from the palace and replaced him with a doppelganger made of dark power and raised Astro in the slums to spare him the court's manipulations.]]
28* Occurs in episode 15 of ''Anime/BraveBeats'', between Prince Ramin of Estella and Hibiki. Unlike most examples of this trope, Hibiki's parents and friends immediately realize that Ramin isn't Hibiki.
29* ''Anime/LupinIIIVsDetectiveConan'', the MadeForTVMovie {{crossover}}, incorporates EmergencyImpersonation into this trope by having one of the parties (a bratty RebelliousPrincess) trick the other (Ran Mouri from ''Conan'') into swapping clothing, then runs off. Comes complete with EvilChancellor attempting to murder the princess.
30* In Chapter 136 of ''Manga/{{Nisekoi}}'', Raku and Chitoge meet foreign princess Maruusha Lu Vieh Nonbeeri, who looks just like Chitoge. The princess ran away from her bodyguards because she wanted to see Japan with her own eyes, so Chitoge decides they should switch places so that the princess can freely go look around town with Raku while Chitoge distracts her bodyguards.
31* In the second episode of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', Doremi uses magic to [[FreakyFridayFlip swap bodies]] with her wealthy friend Hazuki.
32* The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'' episode "[[Recap/PokemonS13E14DawnOfARoyalDay Dawn of a Royal Day!]]" has Dawn trade places with Princess Salvia, who wants to participate in a Pokémon contest and then gives her Togekiss to Dawn to gain experience as she traveles.
33* ''Anime/PrincessPrincipal'':
34** Deconstructed. At the end of episode 2, it's revealed that several years ago, Ange and Princess Charlotte switched places in their childhood, each imitating the other, but were unable to switch back. Ange, pretending to be the princess, was nearly traumatized by the way she had to push herself extremely hard to fit the PrincessClassic mode, as she would be executed if found out. This may be part of Princess's motivation to be a spy for the Commonwealth.
35** The Commonwealth is also [[spoiler:planning "Operation Changeling", in which "Ange" is to replace "Charlotte", making this a ''recursive'' Prince And Pauper situation]].
36* In the ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' episode "The Royal Racer," Spritle switches places with IdenticalStranger Jam, Prince of Saccharin.
37* In ''Anime/TanteiOperaMilkyHolmes'', Sherlock switches places with her body double Queen Claris so Claris can get out of an ArrangedMarriage.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Comic Books]]
41* In one ComicBook/{{Archie comic|s}}, Lil Archie agrees to take the place of a weary prince who is identical to him. Lil Archie then successfully puts down an uprising, while the Prince is off enjoying his freedom.
42* An early ''Creator/BenitoJacovitti'' comic features an evil duke who plots to dethrone and replace the king, only for the king to trade places with a poor farmer. Only a few pages of the story have been preserved.
43* ''ComicBook/{{Bunty}}'', a British comic for girls, used this plot a few times. One recurring strip, "The Imposter!", involved wealthy Victorian heiress Lady Harriet switching places with her maid Hetty for a day, but then Hetty steals a valuable heirloom belonging to Lady Harriet and claims to be her. Lady Harriet is forced to remain as a servant until she can find a way to prove her identity.
44* In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' story "Which Is Which?", homeless boy Garvey Gull temporarily switches places with a rich boy that looks just like him except for his glasses.
45* ''ComicBook/{{Jinty}}'' had "Daisy Drudge and Milady Maud". The former is a lady mistaken for a servant, and the latter is a servant mistaken for a lady. Unlike most examples of this trope, they weren't identical.
46* In the ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' comic, Mafia Jinx and Queen Ashe swap identities for a night during a Freljord museum exhibition, allowing Ashe to take some time off.
47* The old UK AnthologyComic ''Nipper'' (1987) had a strip called "Will & Bill", in which a working class kid who looked identical to the then-five-year-old Prince William would exchange places with him.
48* In ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic issue "The Artist Formerly Known as Bart", Bart switches places with a look-a-like rock star named Biff Westwood.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
52* Occurs in at least two of Creator/TheBrothersGrimm's fairy tales:
53** "Literature/TheGooseGirl" - where a princess, traveling to another kingdom for an ArrangedMarriage, is forced by her maid to trade places with her, also forcing her to [[IGaveMyWord swear an oath]] not to reveal the truth. The prince suspects she's not just a simple maid and asks her to tell the truth. She says she can't tell him because of her oath. He suggests that there's [[LoopholeAbuse nothing stopping her]] from telling her story to an iron stove and that she couldn't help if if he happened to overhear.
54** "Literature/MaidMaleen" - where a FallenPrincess is asked by a prince's bride-to-be to take her place for the wedding night. The prince just happens to be the former princess' lover (lost when the princess's father locks her away when she refused to marry someone else).
55[[/folder]]
56
57[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
58* The Franchise/{{Barbie}} [[WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}} film series]] is rather fond of this. Their first use of it was ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsThePrincessAndThePauper'', which had a near identical double pretend to be the princess with the help of a wig. The plot was later reused in ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsThePrincessAndThePopstar'', ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInRocknRoyals'' (although for the latter, the two protagonists don't exactly look alike and the swap came about because of an administrative mistake), and ''Barbie Princess Adventure''.
59* In the ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' movie ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasTheLegendOfTheSunKing'', Nobita swaps roles with a Mayan prince who looks just like him.
60* ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason3'', where Boog the bear is accidentally mistaken for a Russian circus bear named Doug who looked exactly like him (only difference is Doug's fur is rather spiky), while Doug simultaneously traded places with him so that he can live in the wild.
61* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' was a Disney adaption starring WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse and a look-alike as the prince and the pauper.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
65* The premise of the fourth ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'' movie revolves around Beethoven being mistaken for the dog of a wealthy family, and vice versa (neither family learns about the switch, however).
66* ''Film/{{Clambake}}'', in which Music/{{Elvis|Presley}}, heir to an oil fortune, switches places with Will Hutchins, water ski instructor, in order to prove he can win the girl and win the race without Daddy's money.
67* ''Film/ClassAct'' has a juvenile delinquent and a genius high school student end up swapping roles when their pictures are swapped on their school records.
68* ''Film/{{Dave}}'' is a 1993 film about Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline), who is hired for a night to replace President Bill Mitchell (also Kline) to cover up an affair. After the president unexpectedly suffers a stroke during sex with his mistress, Kovic becomes the "real" president and gets to work.
69* Couples with EmergencyImpersonation in ''Film/DoubleTake'', where a big-shot New York investment banker named Daryl Chase (Creator/OrlandoJones) has been framed for murder and money laundering and needs to [[RunForTheBorder flee to Mexico]] to figure out who's doing it. Throughout his ordeal, he's hounded by a street-wise hustler named Freddy Tiffany (Eddie Griffin). While on a train, Freddy suggests they switch roles in order to help Daryl escape. Daryl puts on Freddy's cheap street clothes and a fake mustache and tries to act like a working-class guy (mostly using stereotypes), while Freddy puts on Daryl's expensive suit and glasses and is surprisingly good at fitting in with the high-class crowd. In fact, [[spoiler:Freddy is an undercover FBI agent working on exposing corruption within the CIA, so there is little strange in him knowing how to fit in]].
70* The plot of ''Film/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' (not to be confused with the fairy tale) revolves around UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte escaping from St. Helena, but is forced to become a common beggar, while the Private chosen to serve as his body double takes a liking to the life of an emperor, even an exiled one.
71* This is Plot C of ''Film/{{Frenemies}}''. Savannah, the skater girl who had a crush on Jake in Plot A, meets a British princess named Emma who looks just like her and they switch places. However, they both find it very hard to live with each other's families and things get even more complicated when they have to date each other's boyfriends making each of them jealous. In the end, they forgive each other and switch back.
72* ''[[Film/{{Garfield}} Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties]]'' has this as its main plot, with Garfield being mistaken for an identical cat (named Prince, amusingly enough) who has just inherited his eccentric owner's estate. Played with on Garfield's end: he doesn't have to ''act'' like Prince, he just has to ''look'' like him, and stick around long enough for the paperwork to be signed so that the estate doesn't fall into the hands of [[EvilChancellor Lord Dargis]].
73* ''Film/TheGreatDictator'', where Charlie Chaplin plays both a Hitler-esque dictator and a Jewish barber, naturally ends up like this.
74* ''Film/TheHotChick'' has a bit of BackStory at the beginning explaining the amulet which causes the FreakyFridayFlip of the main story. In it, a princess is using the amulet to trade places with her slave. The princess's motive is to escape her ArrangedMarriage, so we can assume that the plan was for the switch to be permanent.
75* In ''Film/{{It Takes Two|1995}}'', a rich girl and an orphan take advantage of being identical strangers to live each other's lives.
76* ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' short "Alfalfa's Double" has a rich kid named Cornelius from another neighborhood who looks just like Alfalfa. When he bumps into Alfalfa they decide to swap roles. HilarityEnsues.
77* ''The Series/LizzieMcGuire Movie'' has Lizzie impersonate an Italian pop singer, because another idol wants to ruin the career of the real one.
78* In ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', Georgy briefly trades places with Freder by switching clothes with him.
79* The premise of ''Film/ThePrincessSwitch'', where Creator/VanessaHudgens plays both Stacy, a middleclass American baker, and Margaret, a European duchess about to enter into an ArrangedMarriage. Margaret asks Stacy to swap places with her so she can experience normal life before that happens.
80* ''Film/SummertimeSwitch'' is another non-identical version of the plot: an orphaned delinquent and a spoiled rich kid are being sent to a juvenile detention center and a luxury summer camp respectively for the summer. However, since they both have the same name (Fred Egan), there is a mix up at the bus terminal and they end up switching places.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Jokes]]
84* One old joke has a duke's son see a stablehand with a striking similarity to himself, which he uses as a stand-in to foil assassinations. Then he wonders how it came about, and asks the man if his mother worked in the castle, the aristocrat's father being a well-known philanderer. The stablehand replies:
85-->Oh no, your lordship, my mother's a washerwoman in town. But my father was a stablehand at the castle, and the duchess would often stay up with him for hours talking about her horses, or so he told me.
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Literature]]
89* A similar plot is used by Creator/RobertAHeinlein in ''Literature/DoubleStar'' (although, to be fair, in this novel the duplicate is an actor, who uses his own skill at acting rather than merely accidentally being a body double)
90* Done in the ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' side story, "Stunt Double Showbiz", wherein an overworked TeenIdol who's regretting his decision to drop out of school for his art stumbles across an inexplicably identical OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent and begs to switch places for a day so he can have something resembling a break. The problem is said "ordinary" high school boy is Sousuke, so instead of getting to experience the challenges of a regular teenager's life, he gets shredded by all of the traps Sousuke sets around school, disturbs everyone with his completely normal behavior, gets the shit kicked out of him by a revenge-hungry Tsubaki, and finds himself on the receiving end of a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique by a thoroughly unconvinced Kaname. Sousuke himself, meanwhile, has a perfectly grand time unwittingly driving the TeenIdol's manager nuts with his usual military craziness.
91* Happens in the ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]]'' book ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'', with Shasta and Corin. It turns out, though, that [[spoiler:the "pauper" is actually the rightful prince, and the "prince" is just his few-minutes-younger identical twin. Said twin is ''happy'' to find this out because it means he doesn't have to bother with the responsibility of being king.]]
92* Happens in the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' novel ''Hit or Myth'', where King Roderick convinces protagonist Skeeve, the court magician, to temporarily take his place using illusion magic. Of course, Skeeve finds out a little too late that the King did it because he was due to be married to the queen of a neighboring kingdom who's rumored to be [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen insanely greedy and bloodthirsty]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:the Queen IS ambitious and clever, but not evil, and catches on to the switch instantly...but when she shows more interest in marrying Skeeve than the King, the conflict becomes finding the King and getting him back to the wedding without the Queen finding out and killing him.]]
93* The trope is named for Creator/MarkTwain's novel ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'', in which StreetUrchin Tom Canty gets mixed up with Prince Edward VI of England. An element that [[UnbuiltTrope rarely get used in other works]] is that both try to come clean and get it reversed. Of course, even at the crowning ceremony, no one takes the pretender seriously that he isn't really the prince until the real one shows up.
94* Serge Dalens not only uses this trope in ''Le Prince Éric'', but has one of the characters read the final scene of the novel to the scouts who're going to save the titular prince.
95* In the Kate Brian book ''The Princess and the Pauper'', Princess Carina of Vineland switches places with her poor lookalike Julia Johnson so that she can go to a "Toadmuffin" concert, but things get out of hand and they are forced to keep up the charade for longer than they planned.
96* This is the main plot element of Anthony Hope's 1894 novel ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' (and the subsequent film)
97* ''Literature/SplitHeirs'': A large part of the plot is a {{parody}}. Three triplets (all identical, except for the fact one is [[HalfIdenticalTwins born female, and two male]]) get inadvertently switched. First when the boys are being sent into hiding, as their sister was supposed to be sent out with them. Their mother is forced to raise her [[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender as a son]]. Once they finally reunite, with none knowing they're siblings, it happens again when Wulfright (one of the sons) becomes foodtaster at the palace for his sister Prince Arbol, with their mother planning to swap them when the succession has taken place because Arbol's secret (along with hers) might come out otherwise. Then they get switched again... and it gets crazier from there.
98* In ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'', Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton's lives are braided together throughout their adult lives by their physical resemblance, on which many plot points turn. Darnay is a natural hero type (and he gets the girl they both love). Carton is an eternal failure and a perpetual also-ran, eventually redeeming himself in his own eyes by choosing [[spoiler: to be guillotined in Darnay's place]].
99* In ''Literature/TheWhippingBoy'', while Prince Horace and Jemmy don't exactly look alike, they do manage to be mistaken for each other (mainly because Jemmy is better behaved than the prince).
100[[/folder]]
101
102[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
103* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': As part of a plan to masquerade as her twin, Vampire Willow, Willow is obliged to swap her fuzzy sweater for leather bondage attire.
104--> '''Willow:''' I guess vampires really ''don't'' have to breathe." [glances down] "Gosh, look at those."
105* In the ''Series/{{Fame}}'' episode "His Majesty Donlon", Chris trades places with Prince Frederic of Vatonia to allow the prince to experience normal life for a while before giving a speech at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations.
106* In the third season ''Series/TheManFromUncle'' episode "The Galatea Affair", U.N.C.L.E. agent Mark Slate is tasked with teaching working-class Bronx bar performer Rosie Shlagenheimer to act like THRUSH minion Baroness Bibi De Chasseur (both roles played by Joan Collins).
107%%* The premise of the Australian TV show ''Series/{{Minty}}''.
108* ''Series/TheMonkees'' episode "The Prince and the Paupers", where Davy impersonates a prince to help him get married.
109* In the ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' direct-to-DVD feature "Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Baron", Prince Shapur, the heir to a foreign organization, attempts to imitate Kaito after seeing that they are identical, but fails to pull off the imitation due to his different personality and inability to use Kaito's Sengoku Driver.
110** Funnily enough, Shapur's personality is more similar to Yutaka Kobayashi's personality than the personality of his main role, Kaito. When watching, it's easy to see how much he's enjoying fooling around for once.
111* ''Series/RookieHistorianGooHaeRyung'': They look nothing alike, but upon finding out that Goo Hae-ryung is working as a historian, Prince Dowon switches clothes with his servant Sam-bo and has the eunuch hide behind a screen to pretend to be the prince. Dowon claims to be relaying the "prince"'s words "in his heart" by ordering her to clean up the house and yard to atone for impersonating Maehwa.
112* PlayedWith in ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger''. The heroes run into an alien princess identical to Umeko who is running away from a bunch of annoying ceremonies she has to go through before she can claim the throne of her planet. When they assume she might be the target of an assasination attempt, she doesn't bother to correct them just for the chance of switching roles with Umeko for her "protection". [[spoiler:Turns out there ''is'' an assasination attempt underway, and Umeko gets shot by a sniper, but she was [[CrazyPrepared wearing a bulletproof vest just in case]], and they manage to foil it.]] At the end of the episode, Umeko calls the princess out for not speaking her mind against things she doesn't want to do.
113* This was the premise of a reality show called ''Series/AWalkInYourShoes''. Two kids from different backgrounds got to take someone else's role for a day. For example, one episode had a girl who lived by the ocean switch with a boy from the Arizona desert. It even went into very serious topics like Muslims, AIDS, and teen parenting.
114%%* This concept is used in a ''Series/{{Wishbone}}'' episode where he is telling the story.
115* Happens in the ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode "Warrior... Princess", where Xena (a commoner, despite her nickname) temporarily switches places with an [[IdenticalStranger identical-looking princess]] at the local king's request.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Music]]
119* in the 1896 John Philip Sousa opera "El Capitain," Don Enrico Medgua, the Viceroy of Peru, doubles for "El Capitain," the leader of the rebellion against the Spanish rule in Peru.
120* The Moxy Früvous song "King of Spain" is all about this:
121-->''"Prince and pauper\
122Junior and Whopper\
123World made up of\
124Silver and copper\
125Under my own volition\
126I took a change of position!"''
127* Used in [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} The Story of Evil]] when[[spoiler: [[MeaningfulName Rillianne]], who was a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen terrible ruler]] switches places with her servant and [[TwinSwitch twin brother]], Allen. A bit unusual in that this is not the beginning of the plot, but rather the dramatic climax of it and that Allen himself organizes the whole thing to save her from an uprizing. Under the Princess' guise he gets captured and promptly [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] while the Princess successfully escapes. In a later song Rillianne is shown being burdened with regrets over his death, though, and in the finale she becomes a lowly nun in a monastery.]]
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
131* In ''ComicStrip/AngusOg'', Tonald was once replaced by a Russian spy, who had a very hard time adjusting to Drambeg.
132* ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' had Opus temporarily switch places with Music/MichaelJackson at his request during MJ's heyday. Surprisingly, none noticed.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Theater]]
136* The ZanyScheme subplot of ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'', wherein Lucentio (son of a wealthy merchant from Pisa) and Tranio (his servant) switch clothes upon arriving in Padua. Tranio takes on Lucentio's identity while Lucentio pretends to be a tutor. (Whether the two actually resemble each other depends on your interpretation of the line "We have not yet been seen in any house/Nor can we be distinguished by our faces/For man or master". Regardless, it's clear that they get away with the switch because no one in Padua knows them, and in performance they generally look nothing alike.)
137[[/folder]]
138
139[[folder:Video Games]]
140* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoIIMelodyOfMetafalica''. [[spoiler: Luca starts as the maiden and Cloche as the common girl when they're born, then they're switched, then they both become commoners after Alfman's coup, then end up swapping roles in the opening flashback, then both end up as the maiden and... It keeps going from there.]]
141* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', this is what lead to the creation of Little Ladies' Day - Princess Edvya Thorne disguised herself as a miller's daughter to see the world outside the palace, with the miller's daughter taking her place. They got found out, however, and Edvya's father, Sultan Bardic Thorne, was stricken with panic and had the entire city torn apart searching for her. Once she was safely returned to him, he had a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment and offered to make recompense by personally serving as seneschal to the miller girl for a day. The smallfolk were so moved by the act that he declared that each year he would serve as seneschal to a common girl who was to be chosen by the townsfolk by lot.
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Visual Novels]]
145* ''VisualNovel/TheConfinesOfTheCrown'':
146** Played with - from the beginning, there are rumors that Princess Cassidy is an impostor, and there just happens to be a similarly-pink-haired commoner girl in the cast being treated unusually well by the King and Queen. The whole story is... complicated.
147** Played straight in Gaston's bad ending, where Madeleine [[WigDressAccent turns out to be near-identical to Cassidy once she has the right clothes and wig]] and has to learn to pass herself off as the princess. [[spoiler: This ends badly.]]
148* {{Gender Flip}}ped in ''VisualNovel/ThePrincessSwap'' which tells the story of an exchange student who exchanged places with a princess.
149[[/folder]]
150
151[[folder:Web Comics]]
152* [[spoiler:Justin Bieber]] of all people and Joel in ''WebComic/{{Forever 16}}'' [[http://jbwarner86.deviantart.com/art/F16-Unheard-Voices-197648813 as explained here]].
153* ''Webcomic/ViralByCommittee'': a mysterious contact high-ranked among the alien invaders offers dream-Alex the means to impersonate them, allowing both Alex to get insight on the invaders' upper echelons and the contact to go snoop without their absence being noticed.
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Web Original]]
157* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''[[http://sapphixd.tumblr.com/post/47925499191/rosesakurax-elanorpam-amischiefofmice The Prince and the Princess]]'', where a prince who wants to be a princess meets a TomboyPrincess, and they attempt to switch lives. Their parents see through the ruse almost immediately.
158[[/folder]]
159
160[[folder:Western Animation]]
161* In ''WesternAnimation/The7D'' episode "Sir Yipsalot and the Mutt", Yipsalot gets mixed up with a look-alike.
162* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' does this in "[[Recap/BigCityGreensS2E6 Impopstar]]" with Cricket and his celebrity lookalike, Zillon Brax. The former pretends to be the latter when he disappears from the public, while the latter hangs out with the Greens to get a taste of regular run-of-the-mill life. The two don't see each other until near the end, when the family arrives to save the former from the latter's LoonyFan.
163* In the ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' episode "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS2E07HankAfterDark Hank After Dark]]", Todd switches places with Prince Gustav, the despotic ruler of [[{{Ruritania}} Cordovia]]. None of Todd's friends and acquaintances notice that Gustav is clean-shaven and has a heavy Eastern European accent, but he otherwise looks like Todd. Meanwhile Todd, being the naive dope that he is, is forced to try and manage the politics of a foreign country torn by civil war.
164* In the ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' episode, "The Count and the Pauper – I Ain't Gonna Work on Maggot's Farm No More!", Duckula swaps roles with his lookalike Sid Quack and becomes a hard working, underprivileged farm-boy, while Sid becomes a spoilt, rich Aristocrat.
165* In the ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'' episode, "Double Dennis", Dennis meets his cousin Prentis, who [[UncannyFamilyResemblance looks exactly like him]], save for the fancy clothes he wears. When Dennis shows Prentis the fun things he can do, he decides to swap clothes with Prentis so they can live each other's lives. Unlike [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Dennis]], Prentis returns Margaret's affections, while Dennis treats the house that Aunt Judy and Uncle Bob consider buying like an amusement park.
166* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'', Oscar gets mistaken for the Queen of Fish England when he impersonates her [[ItMakesSenseInContext and almost ends up getting married to Mr. Muscles]]. At the end the real Queen of Fish England shows up and we find out that she was at Freshwater High impersonating Oscar... [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext for some reason]].
167* ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfterFairyTalesForEveryChild'' retells the original story, but gives the main characters a GenderFlip.
168* A ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode featured a Princess who looked like Kimber. Kimber nearly was kidnapped and nearly killed by relatives of the princess who wanted to dispose of her. Luckily, [[BigBad Eric Raymond]] was so [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrifed]] when he found out that he warned the other Holograms what was going to happen.
169* Used/spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode "The Prince and the Pinhead", where Johnny switches places with a prince identical to him named Prince Hondo and a cartoon version of Mark Twain show up near the end to complain about the overuse of this plot (resulting in all three of them being locked in a dungeon).
170--> '''Johnny:''' [[GenreSavvy Hey, you ain't one of them rich princes who wants to switch places with his exact double, are you?]]
171--> '''Hondo:''' Um, why, yes I am. You see, I -
172--> '''Johnny:''' Wanna experience life as a commoner, I know.
173--> '''Hondo:''' Am I really that transparent?
174--> '''Johnny:''' Naw, I just seen a lot of TV.
175* In ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' episode "Princess Johnny", Johnny is asked by [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black and White]] to impersonate a missing princess to avert a war. The princess (who looks like Johnny with lipstick) is found in an arcade; She ran off to 'be a normal kid'.
176* ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats'':
177** In one episode, Valerie turned out to be a dead ringer for a princess from India, which lead to her acting as a decoy to catch the VillainOfTheWeek.
178** Melody was more than once mistaken for somebody of elevated status, including one Outer Space episode where the residents of a planet mistook her for their goddess.
179* In the ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' episode "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E13LightsCameraMongoose Lights, Camera, Mongoose!]]" Sunil feels underappreciated, while another Mongoose who is a famous movie star wants to get away from stardom, so they switch places for the day. Though half-subverted as all of Sunil's friends knew about the switch to begin with, while the movie crew on the other hand plays this straight.
180* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewArchies'': Archie switches place with a prince for a day and has a terrible time.
181* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbMakePlay Make Play]]", Candace meets -- and trades places with -- Princess Baldegunde of Drusselstein.
182* WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther and Sons episode "Millionaire Murfel" had Murfel trading places with a millionaire.
183%%* Done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/PopeyeAndSon'' with Junior and a prince.
184* In the {{Toys/Playmobil}} short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2G2rQqquN8 Princess for a day]], Princess Betty, who always wanted to do horseback riding (but was forbid to), switches places with Pina, a horse riding instructor. As a variant, Betty and Pina are not lookalike. The latter went unnoticed by wearing a mask all day long, pretending she wants to get used to it until the masked ball that occurs at night.
185* In an episode of Creator/TheHub's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pound Puppies|2010}}'', team member Squirt and high society pooch Mr. Cuddlesworth switch places after meeting at the shelter when the latter chihuahua runs away from his home.
186* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': [[AsHimself Mariah Carey]]'s pet monkey and Oscar's Mr. Chips had this forced onto each other when Oscar, while distracted by Carey's presence at the vet's office, threw an injured Mr. Chips into a sick room that was already occupied by Carey's monkey (who was sick due to eating Proud Snacks). Things go uphill for Mr. Chips (who is mistaken by Carey for her pet), and downhill for her pet, with the latter experiencing something close to slave labor regarding meals, and later having its piano playing skills exploited for cash. Things end up back to normal after the pet finds Mr. Chips and takes back his identity forcefully and returns to his rightful owner, and Chips to his.
187* Done in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E3DoubleDoubleBoyInTrouble Double, Double, Boy in Trouble]]", with Bart swapping places with a rich kid... whose siblings are trying to kill him.
188* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': Clover is Princess Sofia's bunny and Barley is a stray. They accidentally switch places in "Bunny Swap".
189* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'', Piper meets Princess Perry who likes exactly like her. Since being a princess consists of boring and useless "duties" meant to keep her out of affairs of state (ie, any actual ruling), Perry ''knocks out Piper with a book'' and switches places with her just for a chance to get away from it all.
190* In the 1987 ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' episode "[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987S03E11AprilsFoolAKAAprilFoolish April's Fool]]", Shredder kidnaps April confusing her for a princess, in order to [[HostageForMcGuffin get a jewel as ransom]]. It's played with in this case; April shows up for a party in a pretty dress not realizing it's a costume party, and because it's a fancy dress, she's the only person there dressed like royalty. Meanwhile, the princess gets pissed off with all the parties since she's forced to dress like a princess as usual, and sneaks out dressed as an ordinary person. The two don't actually see each other until near the end when the princess learned of her "kidnapping" on TV, and April never expresses a desire to be a princess.
191%%* Used/spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' episode "Nature vs. Nurture".
192* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' video "Princess and the Popstar - A Story of Trading Places."
193* ''WesternAnimation/WatsPig'' is a justified example. Wat (the pauper) and the king actually are identical twins, but were separated as babies due to a botched kidnapping attempt. Wat fights in his brother's place during the second battle against the invaders, after an ImportantHaircut.
194* In ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' episode "Gobi Yourself", Eliza secretly switches places with a Mongolian girl who bears a striking resemblance to her.
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