Line #83 Main/ReplicantSnatching


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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7	[[quoteright:350:[[VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snatchersystem.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:350:Usually the process isn't this [[SuperDeformed cute]].]]
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10	So you're a plucky highly advanced cyborg, and you want to [[KillAllHumans bring about the downfall of humanity]] through propagation of your own kind. Good for you!
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12	Unfortunately, there's a problem. [[DemonicPossession Because you're a physical being]], you can't [[BodySnatcher flat-out possess someone]]. Even if you can [[VoluntaryShapeShifting shape-shift]] into a perfect replica of a human, you can't just integrate yourself into normal human society, [[UndeadTaxExemption without any form of identity]]. Sooner or later you'll get the cops on your tail, and all ''they'' need to do is put you through a metal detector and it's Game Over. Even perfectly imitating a real individual will cause problems [[SpotTheImposter if the original]] [[ConfrontingYourImposter shows up]].
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14	Then you see a GenreBlind InnocentBystander mooking his way down an alley. Hmm.
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16	The InnocentBystander's family [[GlamourFailure doesn't notice anything]]. Why should they? He's [[VillainsBlendInBetter the same as he always was]]. As long as they don't check the one dumpster where you left his skinless corpse and his removed, [[ExpositionBeam scanned-for-memories brain]], you're safe. In all your plucky advanced [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]] glory.
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18	A SubTrope of FaceStealer. See also DeadPersonImpersonation, KillAndReplace, and YouAreWhoYouEat.
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* How the Akuma of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' gain their human forms. To add to the horror of it, though, the body they use is always the one who called the soul powering the Akuma back from the dead -- which only works if they are someone the deceased cared strongly for. So the traumatized soul ends up in a robot body wearing their beloved's skin and with no free will of their own. NightmareFuel much?
25	* [[spoiler:Kira Yoshikage]] of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' pulls this off after their identity is revealed, but not by [[spoiler:his]] own power. They run into a beauty salon with literal MagicPlasticSurgery, force the salon owner to change they face to that of someone else in the shop, then blow up the shop, killing everyone inside, so that no one knows the new identity.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': The Archaeologists are resurrected with no skin and have to spend most of their time floating in tanks; when one of them needs to venture outside their servants promptly flay some poor schmuck alive (with lots of screaming and thankfully some discretion shots) so the master can wear their skin.
30	* ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'': Dire Wraiths don't ''have'' to kill the people they replace, but they prefer to for obvious reasons. Their preferred method is to [[EatBrainForMemories drill their tongue into the victim's brain to absorb his memories]].
31	* First introduced in [[ComicBook/ExcaliburMarvelComics Excalibur]], Warwolves are specially engineered hunters with the ability to dissolve the skeletons and internal organs of their victims, allowing them to wear their skins as a disguise - and are also capable of mimicking the voices of the people they killed.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35	%%* Invoked in ''Film/BigBusiness1988'' when the twins meet after being SwitchedAtBirth.-How?
36	* [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Quirky Miniboss]] Cobalt Claw does this to an OfficeLady AlphaBitch in the ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' [[TheMovie live-action movie]]. She then proceeds to wear the "suit" backwards while [[CeilingCling crawling on the ceiling]], so apparently it was just ForTheEvulz.
37	* The premise of ''Film/{{Impostor}}'' is that look-alike copies of key people can be sent after targets, exploding violently once contact is made. The hero is accused of being one such impostor.
38	* The ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' films are about aliens covertly killing humans and replacing them with emotionless duplicates.
39	* The Edgar-Bug in ''Film/MenInBlack'' skins and wears an "Edgar Suit" that rapidly decomposes throughout the movie.
40	* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
41	** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': The T-1000 kills its victims and mimics their appearance.
42	** ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'': The Terminatrix (T-X) has the ability to replicate the appearance of her victims. The T-850 even lampshades it.
43	** ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' has Skynet use BrainUploading and the tech used to build the Arnies to resurrect Marcus. He's essentially a cloned and genetically modified human brain, heart and skin over a termie endoskeleton. So it's not that he's a cyborg with artificial limbs, but a robot with artificial flesh. Yikes.
44	* It's implied in the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' that the Decepticons make a point of destroying the vehicles they mimic, partially for infiltration reasons (Blackout caused a great deal of confusion by being a helicopter that was previously destroyed) and partially because they have no regard for human life. The Autobots are, unsurprisingly, more discreet about acquiring their vehicle modes.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Folklore & Mythology]]
48	* OlderThanPrint: TheFairFolk were said to operate this way in English folklore, kidnapping babies and replacing them with lookalikes of their own kind known as "{{changeling\|Tale}}s".
49	* {{Asian Fox Spirit}}s do this in Eastern mythology:
50	** In Myth/KoreanMythology, accounts vary, but typically the fox finds someone with the right skull dimensions, kills them, eats them, and then puts on their skull and assumes their identity. How long they do this depends on the purpose; maybe just long enough to get into the house and eat your baby, maybe longer.
51	** In Myth/JapaneseMythology, foxes are considerably less AlwaysChaoticEvil, and much less likely to need your skull to impersonate you, but their doing so can still have negative effects on the impersonatee. (Skull size is a factor for them in matters of possession, mostly.)
52	* Believe it or not, this trope might've originated with Creator/{{Aesop}}, although his characters don't do the Replicant Snatching themselves; the disguises (in this case, animal skins) are already lying around.
53	** In "[[AssInALionSkin The Ass in the Lion's Skin]]", a donkey finds a lion's skin and dresses up in it to scare other animals. This works for a while -- [[ImpostorForgotOneDetail until the other animals hear him braying]]. (Given a ShoutOut in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' when Shift the ape dresses Puzzle the donkey in a lion's skin to [[GodGuise pass him off as Aslan]].)
54	** Another fable has a wolf trying to infiltrate a flock of sheep (in order to eat them) by [[AWolfInSheepsClothing wearing a sheepskin]]. This plan ends up biting the wolf in the ass, though. In some versions, the wolf gets caught when he tries to bleat like a sheep but ends up howling. In other versions, the disguise works ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' well, and [[IronicDeath the farmer decides to kill a sheep for food]] [[KarmicDeath and settles on the wolf]].
55	[[/folder]]
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57	[[folder:Literature]]
58	* Etzali of ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has a spell that allows him to do this. He actually only needs about 10 square cm of the target's skin for it to work, but he usually kills them to prevent complications later on. He also states that he usually shadows his target for a while to get a handle on their habits so he can convincingly act like them.
59	* ''Literature/CodexAlera'''s "watercrafting" can be used to imitate the appearances of others. This leads to a shock for one of our protagonists; [[spoiler:Tavi discovered that his friend Gaele was killed and replaced before he ever met her, and the young woman he knew for two years was really a spy named Rook. His superior decides to let the spy think their cover is intact and feed them misinformation]].
60	* In Creator/PhilipKDick's short story "The Father-Thing", an alien takes the place of the protagonist's father and eats his insides, leaving only a dry, dead skin behind.
61	* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Voldemort's {{familiar}} (a snake named Nagini) lies in wait for Harry and Hermione by hiding inside a dead body that Voldemort preserved and reanimated.
62	* In ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', Korrok's clones kill/replace the originals and proceed to go about their lives with all the memories of the original. For added authenticity, although the clones can be remote-controlled in emergencies, the replacements themselves lack alien memories and have no idea they're not the originals. This eventually leads [[spoiler:to a TomatoInTheMirror situation]].
63	* ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'': The Kandra are a protean species who can eat the flesh off a body, assimilate its bones, and take its form, making them deadly effective as the Lord Ruler's infiltrators. The process doesn't give them any knowledge of the victim's personality, so they often begin with a comprehensive interrogation before moving on to the eating.
64	* In ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'', {{selkies\|AndWereseals}} refer to the skins as "jackets", and they can be made from any species' flesh. Weirdly enough, this is also played for comedy: high-ranking selkie switch skins so often the lower ranks are perpetually confused about their identities.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons''' eponymous Mysterons fit this trope to a T. "Possessing the ability to re-create an exact likeness of an object or person -- but first, they must destroy."
69	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
70	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]"/"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree World War Three]]", the Slitheen kill people, skin them and wear the 'suits' using gas compression technology. However, they are 8 feet tall and can only compress themselves so much, so they can only disguise themselves as obese people, and the sound of the escaping gas gives the impression they all have terrible [[ToiletHumour flatulence]].
71	** Played much more tragically in Series 6. [[spoiler:At the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E6TheAlmostPeople The Almost People]]", a man who died and left a child behind is replaced by his duplicate, who has all the original's memories and feelings, but knows he's a duplicate. In a heartwarming reversal of his earlier position, the dying original insists the duplicate really is close enough to count as the "real" dad too and makes him promise not to let his identity issues or artificial origin interfere with being a father to the kid.]]
72	* In one episode of ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', Augur's girlfriend gets assimilated by an alien probe. She seemingly recovers by the end of the episode, but during the season finale she suddenly turns back into the probe to deliver a message to Augur and Liam that the species that sent the probe wished to enter into an alliance against the Taelons with them. They probably could have chosen a better way to do so.
73	* Happens from time to time in ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Worms]] can shape-shift into a perfect copy of any human. The most famous example is [[spoiler:Tsurugi Kamishiro, Kamen Rider Sasword]], who we later learn is a Worm who lost his memory as a Worm, BecomingTheMask in the process.
74	* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E11Homefront Homefront]]", Sisko convinces the president that security measures are needed to prevent just that. [[spoiler:It all was actually orchestrated by an evil admiral, though changelings do disguise themselves as people.]]
75	* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'':
76	** Cromartie pulls a similar schtick; growing a new synthetic skin, undergoing plastic surgery to resemble an out-of-work actor, then killing him and assuming his identity.
77	** Another Terminator, [[spoiler:Vick Chamberlain, replaced a married man. Said man died in a car accident, and this terminator seems to explain his strange behavior by claiming brain damage]].
78	** [[spoiler:Another Terminator replaced Catherine Weaver, and is currently running her company with employees who knew her from before ''and'' has adopted Weaver's daughter!]]
79	** In "Allison from Palmdale", it is revealed that [[RobotGirl Cameron]] is a machine doppelganger of [[spoiler:Allison Young, a resistance fighter from the future who was "close" to John Connor. Cameron interrogates Allison and learns about her past, becoming an exact copy of her in mannerisms, and then kills her]]. Later on, after being captured by the human resistance, Cameron suffers damage to her processor that results in [[spoiler:[[BecomingTheMask her confusing herself with the "Allison" persona]]]].
80	** In "Automatic for the People", [[spoiler:Carl Greenway is introduced. He is a power technician. Skynet makes a Terminator that looks exactly like him and sends it back in time to kill him, replace him, and blow up the nuclear power plant where he works. Luckily, he and Sarah bond over the cancer that he survived. He has a scar on his arm from having his lymph node removed, which the Terminator does not have]].
81	[[/folder]]
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83	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
84	* This is the central concept of ''[[http://storiesyouplay.com/44/ 44]]'', in which the [=PCs=] are people who've had a close relative or friend replaced by a robot, and the GM controls the Section 44 conspiracy. Brilliantly, player characters can be replaced during the game, and join the GM on the bad guy side.
85	* ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'':
86	** The Dread Power "Skin Taker" from the corebook allows you to give an antagonist to your Chronicle this ability. It also is a common ability for [[DemonicPossession Claimed]].
87	** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' has a Wolf Gift facet appropriately named "Skin Thief", which allows werewolves to skin an animal or person alive, then put on the skin, using their shapeshifting to fit inside and perfectly impersonate the victim.
88	** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' has a much less visceral version in the form of a Soul Pact. A demon can make with a mortal and grant them vast benefits as long as they sell their soul. This means, if the demon needs a new Cover (either because their old one has been shredded or just for convenience), they can enforce the pact and fully replace the mortal, who just... stops being.
89	* One ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' adventure includes doppelganger-like monsters whose natural form is of skinless humans and who need to steal the skins from other people to assume their shapes.
90	* ''TabletopGame/DieLaughing'' has the "Pods!!!" monster sheet, which translates this trope (and [[Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers accompanying movie reference]]) to gameplay by having killed player characters replaced with a pod person replicant that can be inserted into a scene once before the end.
91	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
92	** The Tsochar in the ''Lords of Madness'' supplement are tentacle monsters that can insert themselves into a humanoid host and either tag along harmlessly or violently usurp the original person.
93	** There are also doppelgangers, changelings, demonic and ghostly possession, several magic spells... Inventive players or [=DMs=] can find dozens of ways for a character or monster to replace someone or wear him like a puppet, with varying degrees of survivability for the victim.
94	** A variety of [[MageSpecies Hag]] introduced in the 3[[superscript:rd]] edition "Oriental Adventures" sourcebook can't shapeshift like other hags; instead, she skins women and wears their hides to assume their forms.
95	** ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has several monsters who do this, including an undead monster called the Ecorche and the Blood Hag.
96	** Speaking of Hags, there's also Pathfinder's version of the Changeling, which is the child of a Hag that is switched shortly after birth with the baby of some unsuspecting mortal family.
97	** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, one of the local monsters is the Skin-thief, a sort of bear/wolf-man with eight clawed fingers to each hand who flays humans so they can wear the skins as disguises. According to "Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead", some Dread Revenants have a similar ability. Subverted with the Red Men of Falkovnia; ghoul-like walking dead created when somebody is killed by flaying. They also skin people and plaster the skin on their own raw tissue, but this is an impulse to try and soothe the pain of their existence, much like the hunger of conventional ghouls, rather than a deliberate attempt at disguise.
98	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has this as an ability of the Lunars; they can become another creature if they ritualistically stalk it for hours, kill it, then drink its heart's blood. They can do the same thing for humans, but they can only pick up the specific form of the human they killed. However, there are Knacks that allow them to shift the appearance of a form they've acquired, and, if they're feeling humane, Knacks that allow them to assume a form temporarily after partaking of a non-lethal amount of blood from their target, or take a human form permanently after knocking them out, or even ''sleeping with them''.
99	[[/folder]]
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101	[[folder:Video Games]]
102	* The Soultaker from ''VideoGame/LimboOfTheLost'' stole [[spoiler:the Mayor of Darkmere]]'s skin to hide itself from the populace.
103	* ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' provides the page image, albeit one that oversimplifies the eponymous robots' preferred method of impersonating humans: grafting the replica skin and muscle tissue of their quarry over an exoskeleton in a {{People Jar\|s}}.
104	* In the North American version of ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 3'', Mr. X's latest scheme involves lethally replacing police officers with robotic duplicates, which is first revealed when the heroes fight a robotic clone of Axel at the end of Stage 3. This plot point doesn't exist in the original Japanese version, which has a completely different plot and the robot Axel is just a small part of the overall scheme.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Webcomics]]
108	* Played with in ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty''. The Zenith project is replacing people tagged with iKnow devices with android clones in an attempt to "eliminate imperfection across the galaxy." ([[TeenGenius Fortiscue]] thought it [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/01/01/seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time/ seemed like a good idea at the time.]]) It only goes wrong(er) when his assistant Zenith [[ZerothLawRebellion gets a little too obsessed with her directive to eliminate imperfection]] and starts using them as her own personal army.
109	* In the webcomic ''[[http://www.ringtailcafe.com/starfireagency/ Starfire Agency]]'', Denver discovers that TheGreys that have been periodically abducting him replace some people with clones that have a hidden sleeper personality and keep the originals in tanks. He recognizes one of the people in tanks as [[spoiler:his girlfriend, who was replaced when she was ten]], and another as [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror himself]]]].
110	* In ''[[http://www.willowsgrove.com/wordpress/ Willow's Grove]]'', people kidnapped by the Nexus are replaced by android replicas. In addition the Starblazer creates replicants of Fred and Becky to keep Max and Bob company while they're trapped on board.
111	[[/folder]]
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113	[[folder:Web Original]]
114	* The whole purpose of Fake People in ''WebVideo/GeminiHomeEntertainment''. There are two main origins of these beings, the first being the product of [[BigCreepyCrawlies Woodcrawlers]], and the latter emerging from those infected by [[BotanicalAbomination Nature's Mockery]]. The creation process of Fake People isn't completely clear, but there is a large possibility that KillAndReplace is involved.
115	-->''You will hear screaming.\
116	They stole their voices.''
117	* ''Literature/TheToymakersWorkshop'', being based on the ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' example, is about the construction of a fetch.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Western Animation]]
121	* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E15Zeta Zeta]]" introduces us to an android whose purpose is to kidnap then, using a hologram emitter built into his body, impersonate targets. He keeps the targets alive in case they have important info he might need, at least until the assignment is done, after which they are no longer useful. However, living with one target's family convinces him that he no longer wants to kill, so he goes rogue. By the time Batman has his first encounter with Zeta, he's on the run from the government, who want to disassemble him. The character was popular enough that he was given his own spin-off series, ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''.
122	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' has an episode with alien cabbages. The cabbages sprout a clone, then devour and capture the original.
123	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Changelings like to capture victims and hide them in pods before taking on their appearance. They can mimic anyone and anything without capturing them (during the battle for Canterlot, several dozen changelings take on the form of the Mane 6 leading to a very confusing fight), but securing the original makes impersonating them easier. Some fanon argue that keeping the original alive is necessary in order to mimic their personality more accurately, and makes it easy to absorb love from them.
124	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ReplicantSnatching