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4[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b72b8ccf86940167ca9b4a00e39b8b80.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350: "Wait a minute, Patrick... ''I'm'' the maniac!" [[note]]'''''[[TheScream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]][[SkywardScream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!]]'''''[[/note]]]]
6
7->''"The guy's a ghost, but doesn't know it yet. That's the big twist."''
8-->-- '''Wyatt Williams''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'', "Major Unfaithfulness"
9
10Our protagonist is going through a perfectly normal day. Only... something's wrong. The people around him are acting just a bit ''off''. They keep mentioning a string of words, or are trying to herd him to a certain place.
11
12It looks like the town's been taken over by a PuppeteerParasite, and our hero's the only one left. He attempts to either escape and warn the outside world, or find where the invaders are coming from and shut it down.
13
14But once he gets there, he discovers the horrifying truth: '''HE'S''' the fake! Cue screams of ''"WhatHaveIBecome!"'' [[RoboticReveal A robot]], a [[CloneAngst clone]], a [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs robot]] [[Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy clone]], an [[HumanAlienDiscovery alien]], a [[DeadAllAlong ghost]] or [[NearDeathClairvoyance nearly one]] or some [[{{Doppelganger}} other duplicate]] that forgot he wasn't the real thing, or was programmed to believe that he was, complete with FakeMemories of a ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory. For extra oomph, expect the tomato to [[RageAgainstTheReflection break the mirror]] in frustration.
15
16A special case is where the character comes to [[MediumAwareness realize that they are in fact fictional]], either of the work itself or of a ShowWithinAShow. It often appears in a RealWorldEpisode. For those examples, see NoticingTheFourthWall.
17
18In an ongoing series, it'll be a duplicate of one of the main characters. In a self-contained work, it'll just be someone who thinks they're human. Either way, it's an effective inversion of PuppeteerParasite. Assuming the duplicate works through the immediate [[IdentityBreakdown identity issues]], [[DrivenToSuicide suicidal tendencies]], and/or desire to lash out with murderous intent, they may find themselves having to ask a TrialBalloonQuestion to see if "their" friends and family would still accept them.
19
20Variation of the TomatoSurprise, hence the name (note the key difference is that here, the character doesn't know they're a tomato until the InternalReveal). The opposite of this is AndThenJohnWasAZombie. Often includes a OnceMoreWithClarity moment, as the character runs through a series of previous events and realizes the things they (and the audience) missed that would have revealed their true identity. Compare IAmWho, which is (usually) a much more pleasant surprise, as well as FutureSelfReveal and YouAreWhatYouHate.
21
22See also ExpendableClone and DeadAllAlong, in which case the truth may come out when they find [[DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody "their" own body]]. If the surprise is the character discovering that they were the villain all along, that's TheKillerInMe. If a lot of people experience this trope at once, you may have EveryoneIsATomato.
23
24It may or may not involve a [[MirrorReveal real mirror]].
25
26The trope name comes from a set of writer's guidelines distributed circa 1980 by Asimov's Science Fiction magazine, written by its then-editor, George Scithers. The guidelines named the trope and gave as one of the examples hiding the fact that the hero is, in fact, a tomato.
27
28'''This is a TwistEnding trope. Expect your tomatoes to be [[SpoileredRotten spoi]][[{{Pun}} led]]!'''
29
30----
31
32!!Example subpages:
33[[index]]
34* TomatoInTheMirror/AnimeAndManga
35* [[TomatoInTheMirror/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
36* TomatoInTheMirror/{{Literature}}
37* TomatoInTheMirror/LiveActionTV
38* TomatoInTheMirror/VideoGames
39* TomatoInTheMirror/WesternAnimation
40[[/index]]
41
42!!Other examples:
43[[foldercontrol]]
44
45[[folder:Advertising]]
46* Parodied in an Creator/AdultSwim bump with a silent movie version of ''Anime/TheBigO''. Dorothy speaks for a while followed by the subtitle "You're a tomato." Cue Roger acting surprised. The whole thing can be [[http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/1856 found here.]]
47* In the Momondo advertisement ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls The DNA Journey,]]'' they ask a group of people about their heritage and then retrace it via a DNA test. Among others, a British man declares that he is better than others because of being from Britain and specifically expresses disdain for the Germans. He isn't too pleased to find out he is only 30% British and actually 5% German.
48* In Nike's commercial for [[UsefulNotes/EuropeanChampionship Euro 2016]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU4kvqMJhZY "The Switch,"]] [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Christiano Ronaldo]] and a British teenager learned that they have [[FreakyFridayFlip switched bodies]] after each of them look into the mirror.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Animation]]
52* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': In season 3, when multiple fires occur across Rintis Island, [=BoBoiBoy=] and his friends investigate once they suspect they were deliberate. Security camera footage finds the villains Adu Du and Probe at the scene of the next attack, but they were just following the real arsonist, who turns out to be [=BoBoiBoy=] himself, as his [[PlayingWithFire fire elemental]] who was only recently unlocked due to his accumulating stress, and he [[AlternateIdentityAmnesia couldn't recall his activities as BoBoiBoy Fire since he only emerged in his sleep]]. Upon this revelation, [=BoBoiBoy=] is distraught to recall the shadowy figure from his nightmares of the arsonist, but [[PastExperienceNightmare with him in place]].
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Audio Plays]]
56* Creator/TheFiresignTheatre, in their comedy album ''I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus'', uses this device ingeniously. One must listen carefully (or have seen a spoiler) to realize that the character "Clem" who finishes the story is not the one who started it, but rather a holographic clone created by the original Clem and then dispersed into cyberspace.
57* ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'':
58** In the audio drama "The Natural History of Fear", characters with the voices of the main cast live in a totalitarian city with its own version of ''Doctor Who''. The listener is led to believe throughout the audio that the Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz have had their memories wiped and are trapped by the city using the roles they are placed in, the Editor, the Nurse and Conscience #1, respectively. However, at the end of the audio, when the Editor sees the memory of the Doctor and companions visiting Light City and the Doctor having to give up the group's memories to the city, he finds out the memories were only copied. The group only was in Light City for a day and the characters seen were created using their memories, revealed to the listener when the Editor mentions he has eight legs.
59** In "Brave New Town", the inhabitants of the UncannyVillage all turn out to be plastic Autons with real emotions and a WeirdnessCensor. This was later also used in series 5 of the revived TV show proper.
60** In "The Holy Terror", the [[GooGooGodlike little boy]] has the same face as the scribe.
61* The narrator in the ''AudioPlay/BlakesSeven'' two-hander audio "Solitude", Vila, is actually a shapeshifting alien gestalt. It's handled rather cleverly, since the story is set to make the ''other'' character seem suspicious.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Comic Books]]
65* In ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023)'', Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} finds himself completely amnesiac in costume in a working-class neighborhood in Gotham. He slowly starts piecing together that he's a vigilante, gets flashes of a [[DeathByOriginStory boy that lost his parents to a gunman]], and regains his combat skills while helping the residents of the neighborhood and getting a surrogate family. He finally spots the Bat-signal and goes to it...where he is ambushed by the GCPD and the ''real'' Batman, who informs him that he's Frank Freeman, a martial arts expert and former Green Beret who stole a copy of Batman's gear to sell on the black market. The flashbacks he got were a murder ''he'' committed under the orders of the military, which made him quit the service. After saving Frank's new family from the Ventriloquist, Batman lets Frank go, confident he will go on the straight and narrow now he has someone to protect.
66* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The plot of ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' was going to originally resolve itself in this way, with the "clone" Ben Reilly finding out that he was the original and the "original" Peter Parker, whom comic book fans had been reading about since the original clone story in the '70s, would be revealed to actually have been the clone all along. [[AuthorsSavingThrow And then Marvel Comics chickened out...]] (After the infamously ''long'' Clone Saga went back and forth at least a half-dozen times about which Spidey was the clone.)
67* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'': This is the plot of the ''Machine qui rêve'' album.
68* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
69** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1982'' issue #19, there are two ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}s: One of them is a depowered Linda Danvers and the other is a Supergirl who doesn't even remember having an alter ego. Finally "Linda" is confronted by Supergirl, who explains she is a clone of hers whom she fought in an earlier adventure. "Linda" gets upset, but she at last remembers putting a block on Supergirl's memories and attempting to steal her civilian identity because she had no one, only for forgetting her origins, too. The fake Linda has a breakdown, but the real Supergirl promises to help her find her own identity.
70** ''ComicBook/ThePhantomZone'': As being forced to watch visions of Krypton, Charlie Kweskill notices Quex-Ul, one of the criminals sentenced to the Phantom Zone, looks right like him. Throughout his and Superman's extra-dimensional journey, he remembers he is a Kryptonian.
71** In an early ComicBook/PostCrisis story, Superman shows up badly damaged somehow having been turned into a robot Superman. It turns out, of course, that this really is just a robot Superman who was so well programmed that he genuinely thinks he is Superman.
72** In a ''World's Finest'' issue, Superman and Batman, after being put through a gauntlet of trials [[MindScrew especially designed to mess with their heads]], reveal their secret identities, and then ask to be destroyed. Turns out that these were actually robots meant to perfectly emulate the two heroes, and realize that they're just imperfect copies because they didn't have either hero's mental fortitude.
73** ''Dead Again!'' has people discovering a Superman body inside his tomb, making everyone think that the Superman flying around since his resurrection isn't the real deal. Superman is certain something screwy is going on and tries to figure out which of his enemies is doing this. It turns out it's Brainiac, who had recovered from his psychic lobotomy at the hands of Maxima and was playing possum while messing with Superman.
74* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': The JLA's initial way of dealing with the White Martian threat was to hypnotize them into thinking that they are mere humans. This leads to an issue where Batman declares that several members of the JLA need to track down a great threat to the world: Bruce Wayne. Turns out that one of the brainwashed Martians was working for Wayne as an assistant. After being involved in a plane wreck it loses its memories ''again'' and decides (from papers it had) that it ''is'' Wayne and takes his form (making it a double example of this trope: a Martian who is forced to think it is human who then winds up thinking it is a different human).
75* TheReveal of Elijah Snow as the mysterious Fourth Man in ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}''. An even tighter fit for this trope is the revelation that Elijah Snow and all other Century Babies aren't human, they're a kind of meta-world antibody created to help humanity and as a result, have no soul. Elijah takes it surprisingly well.
76* In ''ComicBook/RisingStars,'' Poet asks Clarence Mack what he knows about the murders of the other Specials. Clarence discusses his own theories and uses his ability to enter the minds of others to show Poet his findings, when he realizes that he saw exactly who the killer was, and was murdered only moments later for it. And that, while he was unaware of it until just now, he's only having this conversation because another Special who is a medium summoned his ghost.
77* The Creator/KevinSmith comic ''ComicBook/GreenArrow: Quiver'' features the titular hero, Oliver Queen, returned from the grave. This seems at first to be a typical comic book resurrection, but why does Oliver seem convinced that he never died at all, that ''everyone else'' is acting very odd, and that cellphones and modern computers are the sort of things only supervillains possess? Turns out that this is Ollie's body brought back to life, minus his soul. ComicBook/TheSpectre wanted to resurrect him, but his soul was happy in heaven. So they compromised; Oliver's body was given new life, but with ten years of his history removed to avoid all the {{Wangst}} he would have otherwise gone through (as his life was in shambles when he died). In the end his body and soul are reunited, returning Ollie back to life ''for real'' this time.
78* A number of Skrulls believing themselves to be Franchise/{{Marvel|Universe}} heroes have a bit of an identity crisis meeting their human counterparts during the ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008'' CrisisCrossover. Particularly Khn'nr, the Skrull impersonating ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}, who never actually recovered his proper memories. Upon finding out he was a Skrull, he instead fought against his own people.
79* In an early issue of ''ComicBook/TheSensationalSheHulk'', [[ComicBook/SheHulk our titular green goddess]] wakes up to see [[BodyHorror her headless body]] being used to provide a new mode of transportation for Chondu the Mystic's head. It turned out to be a cloned body, though. They couldn't find a saw that was able to cut She-Hulk's hair, let alone through her neck.
80* There's a short Marvel comic called "The Creature". A man finds an alien's diary and runs around trying to find someone who'll believe him. The random guys on the street don't believe him. The policeman doesn't believe him. The soldier guarding a military base tells him to take it to the observatory. The man rushes to a scientist there, hands him the journal. The journal is written in an "unearthly scrawl" which only the person who wrote it could read.
81* The [[ShowWithinAShow Comic Within A Comic]] ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
82* In the second issue of Creator/AlanMoore's run on ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', the titular character learns that he isn't Alec Holland. He's just a sentient plant that absorbed Alec Holland's memories, and his years of searching for a way to regain his humanity were pointless because he was never human in the first place. This sends him into a ''major'' HeroicBSOD [[VideoGame/{{Prototype}} Turns out Alec isn't Alec after all]]. It's not until Creator/ScottSnyder's ''Swamp Thing'' run that Alec Holland, resurrected from the dead during ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', actually ''does'' become Swamp Thing in truth.
83* The trope is played with throughout the first half of ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 Doom 2099]]''. Doom claims he jumped to the future due to a failed experiment, which also damaged some of his memory. People note strange discrepancies at first (he's too young, his face isn't scarred [at first], etc). Then Doom learns he was the son of a political enemy to Latveria, who was kidnapped by the REAL Doctor Doom and {{brainwashed}} into thinking he was the real Doom. Then it gets massively subverted. Doom really ''was'' the real deal; his youth and failed memories were because of a regeneration tank. There was no Gambit; it was just Doom's former lover getting bored and screwing with him.
84* ''ComicBook/MachineTeen'' is initially unaware that he's a robot. When he's injured at school he refuses to accept that he's not bleeding, and when he's forced to acknowledge it, he immediately shuts down while the knowledge is deleted.
85* In the Elseworlds Tale ''Batman/Demon: A Tragedy'', Bruce Wayne learns that he is actually the "host" for the demon Etrigan, summoned to Gotham centuries ago to punish the wicked but bonded to Bruce to keep him in check when he began to turn on innocents. Every few decades, the spells keeping Etrigan trapped inside Bruce begin to weaken and he attacks Gotham's criminals as a ruthless bat-demon, but eventually Merlin (currently acting as Bruce's butler Alfred) will explain the situation to Bruce and renew the spells once Etrigan starts to turn on innocents, essentially 'resetting' Bruce's memory and trapping Etrigan once again.
86* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic'', this happened in King Sombra's backstory. He grew up thinking he was an ordinary pony who didn't quite fit in, then it turns out he was really a being of living darkness that the Umbrum Forces created in the shape of a pony as their agent. Despite the efforts of his girlfriend Radiant Hope and of Princess Amore, he [[ThenLetMeBeEvil embraces his role]] as a tyrant.
87* In ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'', when Gwen explains that their world is really a comic book, Batroc the Leaper dismisses this as nonsense. To prove it, Gwen asks him to tell her something about his life from before he met Captain America for the first time. He cannot recall anything, and she explains that he literally didn't exist before he was introduced in the comics. He takes the revelation in stride. Actually she is right for the wrong reasons though. Batroc ''should'' remember his backstory no matter when it was established relative to his first appearance (that's how {{retcon}}s work), but unfortunately for Batroc no writer ever bothered to establish one for him. This probably just makes the revelation sadder.
88* In "The Computer Game," in issue #5 of DC's ''The Witching Hour'', a man running a computer dating service confronts his computer because, rather than matching people up, it sends out illusions of people that disappear when they get too far from the computer (which has resulted in a lot of unsatisfied customers whose dates simply vanished). The intelligent computer refuses to stop, because it is amassing data on human beings so it can take over the world. The man attacks the computer physically, and does some damage, but the computer tells him that all he did was damage the circuits that projected ''him''. The computer created the dating service and the man as a front while it grew in power, and the man fades from existence.
89* ''ComicBook/{{Raptors}}'': Vicky discovers that she is actually a vampire too, since her family is part of the conspiracy. With that said, she isn't "corrupted" like the rest of them and develops powers just like Drago and Camilla.
90* ''ComicBook/XMen:'' During Jonathan Hickman's run, Vulcan is supposedly revived after his apparent death in ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'' as his younger, non-crazy self. Then an issue focusing on him shows he really is the original Vulcan. After his supposed death he was found and recovered by a trio of mysterious aliens who thought the AxCrazy, nigh-unkillable energy manipulator would be a useful ManchurianAgent, so they put a shell personality in his head until their plans were ready.
91* Twenty years before ''ComicBook/TheDarkness Hope'', the stars suddenly shifted. Hope Estacado discovers that the night sky currently matches up with how the night sky ''should'' look 10,000 years from now, which suggests that they were transported to the future. Her father Jackie Estacado, aka The Darkness, tells her there was a terrible battle twenty years ago, and pointedly tells her to stop investigating. Hope keeps digging, and discovers the truth: she, like almost everyone else on the planet, is a Darkling, one of Jackie's demon spawn. 10,000 years ago, Jackie lost control of his powers and caused the extinction of the human race. It took him about that long to master his powers and repopulate the world with Darklings who thought that they were human; twenty years ago was when he could resume life as it was. To put the icing on the cake, this is not the first time Hope discovered the truth and it won't be the last; Jackie sadly destroys and recreates her, and she starts the day again.
92* John Arcudi's run on ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' has what appears to be Cliff Steele/Robotman disappear partway through after realizing he's actually an imaginary friend brought to life by a comatose Dorothy Spinner, resulting with the rest of the team's current roster having to find out what happened to the real Robotman.
93* The 16th issue of ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Adventures]]'' had what appeared to be J'onn J'onzz find out that he was really an Imperium spy conditioned to believe he was the real J'onn J'onzz in a scheme to take down the Justice League from within. Upon realizing the truth, he instead decides to turn against the rest of the Imperium due to growing attached to the rest of the League and appreciating the extent of their loyalty to one another.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Comic Strips]]
97* In an earlier ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strip, back when Calvin was in Cub Scouts, Calvin notes to Hobbes of all the wildlife you can see out in the woods. He then points and says, "Look! A tiger!" causing Hobbes to jump in fear, before realizing Calvin was referring to him. He then shouts to Calvin, "Don't do that!"
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Fan Works]]
101* ''Fanfic/FFSIBelieveInYou'': When Link and Sidon encounter Doomsnarl, the old lizalfos king, he turns out to still believe that that he's alive, and is extremely surprised when Gerald explains to him that he is, in fact, undead.
102* ''Fanfic/PokemonMysteryDungeonGuidingLight'' has Shane the human who in reality is Dark Matter from ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon''...or at least part of him. He's a product of him trying to separate itself from Nnecrozma to try to have a normal life using ley lines, Ultra Space and fragments of the spirit of the REAL Shane...who is dead.
103* ''Fanfic/RosesSense'': A ''Film/Titanic1997'' fanfic. In the [[http://www.angelfire.com/yt/anneblair/roses6.htm fifth chapter]], Rose finds herself isolated from the people around her. She doesn't understand why until she discovers that she died in the sinking.
104* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/CrisisEquestria'' features a set of antagonists that are evil clones of the mane six. They were unaware of this. When it gets revealed to them, it generates a mass VillainousBSOD on all fronts, the end result being that they decide to kill their originals to prove themselves the superior versions.
105* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has this Inverted with Maddie Pryor in the sequel; she was raised believing she was an ArtificialHuman created as a LivingWeapon by Sinister, and her calm acceptance of this sub-human status (though under Gambit's influence, she started questioning and exercising her free will) is played for tragedy. Then, after pulling a HeelFaceTurn, she finds out the truth: her real name is Rachel Grey, twin sister of Jean Grey, and she was stolen and replaced at birth by Sinister. She quite literally collapses.
106* In ''Fanfic/ClashOfTheElements'': Driad is not a Good Guardian, but actually the former Outer Guardian of the Nature Castle. This is subverted with Luigi and Dimentio in Part 2 though.
107* ''Fanfic/{{Anthropology}}'': After revealing the truth about humanity and all its flaws, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Celestia]] reveals one more thing to Lyra...[[InterspeciesAdoption She's adopted]].
108* The premise of ''Fanfic/{{Medicated}}'' is that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy were transported to WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}} as babies, given potions that turned them into amphibians, and accidentally discovered the truth when they were teenagers. Each reacts to it in a different way; Anne wants to learn more about her species (because no-one in Amphibia knows what a human is), Sasha feels betrayed by her adoptive parents, and Marcy is horrified by the transformation process.
109* ''Fanfic/MystarasLittlePoniesFriendshipIsAdventuring'': the Elements of Power are imperfect shadow clones of the Elements of Harmony (the characters, not the magical bling) who believe the Elements of Harmony are the imperfect clones. It takes a fair amount of both figurative and literal beating them over the head, including pointing out contradictions in their backstories and the forces of entropy trying to sever their mystical connection to their creator (which is providing the power that keeps them 'alive'), for them to accept their true status; once they do, they become more friendly rivals.
110* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'':
111** In a way, this happens to Fluttercruel. She believed she ''was'' Fluttershy during the events of "The Return of Harmony", only to discover she's a spiritual clone of Fluttershy created by Discord after Twilight used the Memory Spell on her.
112** In the [[BadFuture Dark World]], Twilight discovers the true identity of [[BigBad the Nameless Passenger]] is none other than her own [[FutureMeScaresMe potential future self]], [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare]] [[IHaveManyNames Eclipse/Paradox]], a KnightTemplar seeking to punish Discord for eternity by creating the Dark World as Discord's IronicHell via GroundhogDayLoop.
113** Pinkie Pie discovers she's the G2 Clover's ImaginaryFriend brought to life. She doesn't take it well until Twilight Sparkle, Zecora, and Princess Luna assure her it doesn't matter where she came from, she's real in every way that matters.
114** In the Shining Armor Arc, Shining Armor eventually discovers that he ''literally'' didn't exist before his story started, and his timeline's been filling itself in both ways ever since. This is why he's ImmuneToFate, why [[BigBad Makarov's]] CharmPerson abilities don't work on him, and why [[ClockRoaches the Blank Wolf]] is after him.
115** Minuette discovers that she's really a transformed, alternate personality of [[Series/DoctorWho The Master]]. Fortunately, when the original personality tries to take her over, she manages to destroy him, earning a life independent of him.
116** Queen Chrysalis started out life as Kifuko, a member of a small Zebra tribe. At an early age, she discovered that food did not feed her and she instead had to survive by absorbing love, but she assumed she was under some kind of curse. Eventually, she was captured by the Changelings, who assumed she was a deserter, and a PowerNullifier forced her to revert to her true Changeling form. She was horrified, but came to terms with her true nature and overthrew Queen Cocoon to become the new queen.
117** In the Finale Arc, Rainbow Dash notices there's something wrong with the world and tries to figure out what is going on and how to fix it. It turns out she is not the Rainbow Dash the main story has been following, but Nightmare Manacle, Rainbow's EvilCounterpart from the Dark World timeline who has been brainwashed into believing she actually is Rainbow. The events leading up to the reveal are a ShoutOut to ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. After she comes to terms with this, she helps Applejack and Pinkie Pie remember that they are really Nightmare Mirror and Nightmare Granfalloon. Most disturbing is Rarity: she turns out to really be Nightdrake Banneret, or ''Spike'', who had [[GenderBender been transformed into Rarity]] and given her memories.
118** This happens to Sunny Day (an alternate persona of Princess Celestia who gained a life of her own), when she realizes she doesn't remember important details like her parents, her house, etc.
119** Scootaloo eventually learns that one of her parents was a Changeling, and she inherited some of their traits. She is initially shocked and repulsed, before putting it aside and focusing on the battle at hand.
120* Navarone ponders the nature of his existence in ''FanFic/DiariesOfAMadman'', after going back in time and meeting his past self. While he comes to the conclusion that he's real, the uncertainty over whether he's a clone, or what exactly he is weighs heavily on his mind.
121* ''Fanfic/{{Pokeumans}}'': Any transformed Pokeuman is replaced by a clone who lives out their human life believing they are the real one. If any of the RecursiveFanfiction series have them discover their true nature, they're in for a hard time. Luckily, the community is pretty well recognising that ClonesArePeopleToo.
122* Though ''[[WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft My Little Pony: Friendship is Witchcraft]]'' itself never sees her realize it, many fanfics based on it deal with Sweetie Belle learning she is a robot, as well as learning to deal with the revelation.
123* In the ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' fanfiction ''[[http://shachaai.dreamwidth.org/62117.html Afterburn]]'' by [[http://shachaai.dreamwidth.org/ shachaai]] it all looks like Fai was first abducted and then tortured, which resulted in his memory loss. Turns our he is actually a copy of the real Fai of that world whose heart has been poisoned by [[BigBad Ashura]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext to kill the thunderbirds]]. To do that he planned to kill him and give them his heart to eat, which is a practice with strong magic users in that world. [[CloneAngst Cue a lot of tears]] and ItsAllMyFault and Kurogane having to pound some sense into his head.
124* For most of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', Alex Harris believes that she is actually [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander Harris]] who has been somehow trapped in ComicBook/PowerGirl's body. Turns out, she's actually a magically created copy of ComicBook/PowerGirl who just happens to have Xander's memories.
125* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic ''Fanfic/{{Solipsism}}'', Twilight discovers early on that she is a draconequus-like creature named Asteria. Not only that, but said being had a completely distinct personality from Twilight before she woke up and believed her life as Twilight was real.
126* Elise from ''Fanfic/ItsNotTheRaptorDNA'' is actually the twin sister to her long-dead sibling Small One, not her older sister as previously thought.
127* Parodied in ''Fanfic/DoomRepercussionsOfEvil'', where it turns out that John was the demons. And then a zombie.
128* In ''Fanfic/TheTwoSidesOfDaringDo'', it's known to the audience that the Daring Do clone is a [[ArtInitiatesLife clone created from the fictional Daring Do in AK Yearling's books]], but Daring Do herself does not, believing she's somehow ended up in an AlternateUniverse. When she ends up realizing the truth after a fight with the ''[[BewareTheSillyOnes real]]'' [[KnightOfCerebus Ahuizotl]] and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown losing badly]] due to the fictional one she's 'used to' being a HarmlessVillain, [[HeroicBSOD she doesn't take it well]]. Thankfully for her, she lives in a world where ClonesArePeopleToo, but it still leaves her so shaken that she loses her Cutie Mark in her existential crisis and will have to re-earn it, or a different one.
129* In ''Fanfic/{{Marionettes}}'', Trixie eventually discovers that [[RoboticReveal she's a robot]] after being wounded in a TrainTopBattle with Lightning Dust, who was likewise revealed to be a robot in the same fight. Her reaction makes it clear she was ''not'' aware of this. Lightning Dust is later revealed to be equally shocked that she is a robot. Cover Story, one of TheMenInBlack chasing Trixie, likewise learns he is a robot and doesn't take it well.
130* ''Fanfic/CyclesUponCycles'': In chapter 26, Shepard learns that he actually died on Aiur during Amon's defeat, at which point a fragment of Amon's essence merged with his psychic echo, creating a new being with Shepard's memories and Amon's power.
131* One of the [[WhamEpisode biggest]] [[TheReveal reveals]] of ''Blog/ThePredespairKids'' is that Ryouko Otonashi is a clone of [[BigBad Junko Enoshima]] created by Kyoji Nakamura, the former Ultimate Geneticist. The reason she has anterograde amnesia is because her physical development was accelerated, which resulted in some brain damage.
132* ''Fanfic/TheQueenOfHearts'': The plot concerns a rumor in Arendelle and its neighboring countries that Elsa is a ChocolateBaby. Everyone seems to know about this to point where it is treated as an OpenSecret, with the only ones unaware of it being Elsa herself and her sister Anna. It ultimately turns out to be true, the secret being accidentally spilt by her biological father's sister.
133* In ''WebVideo/TrulyOutrageousAJemFanFilm'', it turns out that Kimber is a robot. Aja and Jerrica were the only ones who knew.
134* The ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2405292/1/You-Kissed-a-Synthodrone You Kissed a Synthodrone]]" has Ron experience this by proxy when it turns out that everything he experienced with Kim after they were captured by Drakken in Bueno Nacho ("[[WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama So the Drama]]") was actually with a synthodrone copy of Kim Drakken created. While the Kim copy is aware of her true nature, her programming glitches to the extent that she helps to stop Drakken's plan and then free him later on. Kim is thus left in the awkward situation of telling Ron that he was kissing a synthodrone while also dealing with the revelation of his feelings for her.
135* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/39517242/ Waiting for the Light]]" features Obi-Wan Kenobi- while trying to save Leia ("[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/ObiWanKenobiPartIV Obi-Wan Kenobi- Part IV]]")- discover that Anakin Skywalker was captured and tortured by Palpatine since a few months before Order 66; the Anakin who became Vader is actually a clone Palpatine created to act as his apprentice.
136* From a certain perspective, Bo experiences this in ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot''; she spends her first few days after arriving in Camelot thinking of it as a pleasant holiday from her heartbreak over Dyson and Lauren until she found a way home, only to learn that this ''is'' her home time and she can’t be sent back to the present without risking serious damage to Time itself.
137* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13891584/1/Seven Seven]]", Daniel Jackson (''Series/StargateSG1'') is shocked when his 'interrogation' by Nem unlocks the block on his original memories; he is actually Humanoid Cylon Model Seven (''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''), Cavil having left one last Seven alive as an immature infant with blocked memories and shot it into space after hunting and sadistically murdering the last dozen or so Sevens in the original batch.
138* In ''Fanfic/WolverinesWendigosAndWinchesters'', Dean becomes a teacher at Xavier's Institute, ostensibly because he impressed Professor Xavier with his knowledge about supernatural and [[TheSocialExpert his ability to blend into society]]. He later learns Xavier also wanted him for being a mutant.
139* The plot of the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2111848/1/Terra-Incognita Terra Incognita]]'' revolves around Terrence learning that his life is a lie and he is actually an imaginary friend. His mother created him as a child because she wanted an older brother. Years ago Terrence was in an accident that caused him to lose his memory. Since then, his mother had been telling him that he was her human son, rather than her childhood imaginary friend.
140* It isn't until three chapters into ''Fanfic/NotCompletelyAltogetherHere'' that Galinda realizes she's a ghost.
141* ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'': 15-year-old Ruby didn't know that she is Yang's half-sister until Yang accidentally lets her biological mother Raven's name slip out. Ruby had always thought she and Yang were full sisters. It then turns out that they aren't half-sisters either; they're really [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo cousins]], as Raven's twin brother Qrow is actually Ruby's biological father, not her honorary uncle. Raven reveals this to Yang later on, but Qrow denies it and tells her not to believe his liar of a sister.
142* ''Fanfic/GlitchedMikoAU'': Miko, a Glitch tech who as her job hunts down and captures Glitches is ''herself'' a glitch.
143* A {{Downplayed|Trope}} and PlayedForLaughs version happens in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13750803/1/no-thoughts-gender-empty no thoughts gender empty]]'', when Edgeworth ask Ema (who is non-binary in the story) advice about accepting other LGBT members in the prosecutor office. Ema deadpans that Edgeworth, who is not only gay but is married to Phoenix, is also a member of the LGBT community. Edgeworth loses his composure for a moment before continuing.
144* In ''Fanfic/IAgainstIMeAgainstYou'', not only does the same revelation as in canon that Church is an AI occur, but Twilight is revealed to be Ancora, an MI created by Project Freelancer as part of the Director's efforts to revive Allison.
145* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series ''Fanfic/TheFurminator'' revolves around Tails discovering that he's an infiltration unit created by Dr. Robotnik.
146* In ''Fanfic/TheGrandUnifiedTheoryOfShenQingqiu'', the story opens with Shen Yuan attempting to bargain with the System for his 'New Game Plus' second chance to be in the role of a character other than Shen Qingqiu, only for the System to reveal to him that he ''isn't'' a transmigrator - he was reincarnated, and thus has always been Shen Qingqiu.
147* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13989647/1/A-Snap-in-Time A Snap in Time]]'', while exploring an alternate world where he and his father died when he was a baby, [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Adrien]] finds out that he was a Sentimonster.
148** In chapter 31, in the real world, Kagami recalls how during the final fight against Hawkmoth, they found out that not only was Adrien a Sentimonster, but so were Felix, Chloé, and Kagami.
149* The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4332642/1/Smokescreen Smokescreen]]'' begins with Danny waking up after a fight. He's pretty disoriented afterwards, and as time passes, he has more and more trouble with memory gaps and his powers going berserk. Eventually, he and his friends find out that he isn't Danny at all; he's D-17-- one of Vlad's many experimental Danny-clones! ParanoiaFuel indeed; as the fanfic recommendation page says, "Who's to say that you aren't you, but somebody else?"
150* In ''[[FanFic/RaptureFalls The Prodigal Son]]'', Atlas wakes up in the time period of ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' missing a chunk of memories about how the original game played out, scars from splicing he doesn't remember getting, and a few suspicious threads in what he does remember. It takes until chapter 29 for him to recall that ''VideoGame/BioShock'' ended with the twist that "Atlas" was really Frank Fontaine in disguise. Notably, this ''isn't'' a twist for the audience, as the previous story ''Getting Lost in the Con'' shows how Atlas performed a SplitPersonalityTakeover on Fontaine, and Brigid Tenenbaum's [=POV=] makes it quite clear that she knows Atlas's secret, but refuses to tell in order to give him a second chance.
151* ''Fanfic/FledglingsOrEverythingsBetterWithPenguins'': [[invoked]] The replacement of Tadkeeta is completely unaware she's a RelationshipSue until she gets stabbed in the neck and bleeds glittery blood.
152* Gray Ghost in ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'' is an odd pony, acting enough like a cat to the point that some have joked that she ''is'' part-cat. After going with the flow like this for over thirty years, she eventually discovers that they weren't too far off the mark, as she was abducted and experimented on prior to starting school. The realization drives her to tears when she finds out.
153* ''Webcomic/CoolAndNewWebcomic'' seems to be set in the world of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', but almost everything in the universe has inexplicably degraded to the point of StylisticSuck. But it isn't until Kanaya contacts Rose with some distressing information does Rose learn the truth: The world was always corrupted from the start, and Rose, Kanaya and the rest of the uncorrupted characters have just become "enhanced". Rose [[HeroicBSOD does not take this information well.]]
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
157* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Abuela Alma was so traumatized by the loss of her husband Pedro, home, and town, that she unknowingly passed that emotional burden onto the rest of the Madrigals with believing their gifts were the miracle and not the family itself, and Mirabel not getting a gift only further drove Alma into putting more baggage on the rest of the family. Only when Mirabel [[RageBreakingPoint finally snaps]] and [[CallingTheOldManOut tells Alma straight to her face that the miracle dying is all ''her'' fault]] does Alma [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize she's right]] as all evidence points back to her, only for the Casita to collapse seconds later and Mirabel to vanish for hours until Alma finds her back at the river where Pedro died, where Alma apologizes and admits ItsAllMyFault to her alienated granddaughter.
158* ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'': A young boy named Cornelius "Lewis" Robinson befriends a boy named Wilbur, who apparently came from the future. It is later revealed that Lewis is actually Wilbur's father.
159* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfTheTigerProwess'': Lord Japper and Leopold believe themselves to be a tiger and a leopard respectively, but are actually a house cat and a hyena. After Counselor Gecko reveals he was the leader of the carnival operation, he tells Lord Japper and Leopold that he was lying to them [[ForTheEvulz just to be cruel]].
160* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sintel}}'', the title character sees her reflection in the blood of the dragon she just slew and realizes how long she's spent on her quest for revenge. She's no longer a teenager, but an older woman with graying hair. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone And her pet baby dragon has also grown up]]...
161* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': The prologue even states Gothel kidnapped Princess Rapunzel as a baby to have her hair all to herself to stay young, and lied to her about the outside world so she doesn't leave and can live forever. It takes Rapunzel all the way until the climax of the film to realize her true identity, something the audience already knew about her since the prologue. Especially helped by the "Kingdom Dance" sequence when Rapunzel is shocked to see the mosaic of the Royal Family -- particularly the baby who strongly resembles her -- unaware she was looking at herself.
162* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'': Buzz Lightyear spends half the movie convinced that he really is a space ranger, and that all his nifty features are actual working gadgets. Then he encounters a TV set playing a RidiculouslyLoudCommercial for his toy line, confirming that he is, in fact, a toy. Randy Newman narrates Buzz's thought processes in the subsequent BSODSong as he tries to deny the revelation and use his space wings--the one feature he'd "proven" to work in a previous scene--to fly out a window, only to fall like a rock and break himself on the stairs below.
163--> "All the things I thought I'd be, all the brave things I'd done\
164Vanished like a snowflake with the rising of the sun\
165Never more to sail my ship, where no man has gone before\
166And I will go sailing no more."\
167[[/folder]]
168
169[[folder:Manhwa]]
170* ''Manhwa/TheBrideOfTheWaterGod'': Yeomha doesn't realize she is a doll with Nakbin's memories.
171* ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi'':
172** The third chapter of the manhwa and the last one-third part anime movie of invokes this. A young fisherman finds Munsu and tells him that a miracle-working physician in his island village is experimenting with the dead. Munsu and Sando investigate the matter, and find out that this is true. The twist comes when Munsu tells the young fisherman to kill his beloved sister, which he tearfully does...the illusion comes crashing down, and it turns out that the physician zombified the population of the whole village, who died when a plague swept over the area, and covered it with mandrake-induced illusion. Said young fisherman finally realizes that he is not the sole survivor, but [[DeadAllAlong a zombie like everyone else]] and promptly kills himself.
173** It is speculated that this trope applies to Munsu's Sando (Chun Hyang) as well. Many stronger Sando are animals/magical beasts that can take human form, as is most clearly demonstrated by Hwang's Sando, who first can be seen as a giant wolf/bird hybrid beast but later presents herself as a little girl. The cute [[LightningBruiser Chun]] [[ActionGirl Hyang]] was known as Mong Ryong's constant companion, and Mong Ryong himself is known as a veterinarian. It is not a far stretch to speculate that Chun Hyang is the same.
174[[/folder]]
175
176[[folder:Music]]
177* Music/DanielJohnston's "Devil Town" from his album "1990" seems to be about this trope--''[='I didn't know they were vampires/It turns out I was a vampire myself...'=]'' That is, unless it's actually [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory about something else entirely over some people's heads]].
178* At the very end of the Music/{{Genesis|Band}} ConceptAlbum[=/=]RockOpera ''Music/TheLambLiesDownOnBroadway'', the protagonist Rael discovers that he and his brother John whom he's spent the entire album chasing are actually the same person.
179-->Hang on, John! We're out of this at last\
180Something's changed, it's not your face\
181It's ''mine''!
182* ''Who Will Love Me Now?'' by Music/PJHarvey is a narrative song where the character sings of monster in the forest who has done terrible things, the monster lamenting 'who will love me now?' At the end of the song the character reveals ''they'' are the monster.
183* This is played with in The Emptiness, by Alesana. Specifically, the artist and thespian are one and the same.
184* Music/{{David Bowie}}'s "The Width of a Circle":
185--> ''Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping by a tree''\
186''And I looked and frowned and the monster was me''
187* The video for Music/{{Garbage}}'s "Bleed Like Me". Shirley Manson plays a nurse in a mental hospital; she eventually realizes that she's actually one of the patients.
188* Sally Fingerett's song "She Won't Be Walking" is a song about domestic abuse. The chorus is positive and hopeful:
189-->She won't be walking, when she goes\
190Won't be talking; they'll be nothing they don't already know\
191Are no magic words left to say\
192She'll be leaving him, flying away
193** Then you find out that the reason she'll be flying instead of walking is because she's a ghost. Her husband shoots her in the last verse.
194* Music/BlackSabbath's "Iron Man" from ''Music/ParanoidAlbum'' combines this with StableTimeLoop as the title character becomes the OmnicidalManiac he went back in time to prevent.
195* Music/{{Metallica}} has "Sad But True".
196--> ''I’m your truth, telling lies''\
197''I’m your reasoned alibis''\
198''I’m inside, open your eyes''\
199''[[YouBastard I’M]]'' '''[[YouBastard YOU!]]'''
200* The song "Haunted Town" by Music/{{Lordi}} starts when the singer finds himself in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse. In the end he realizes that [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie he's actually dead himself]]:
201--> ''I searched the old graveyard for an answer''\
202''In the mossy headstones''\
203''I found my name''\
204''Ooh, I walk among the dead''
205* Music/LedZeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" is about a guy being stood up by a girl. For a while, he tries to convince himself that she's just late, even waiting out in the rain for her, until he finally gives up hope. He immediately realizes that he has been waiting on the wrong block this whole time.
206* Creator/HPLovecraftHistoricalSociety's Solstice Carol album ''A Very Scary Solstice'' features the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fishmen" which ends this way, quite literally.
207--> ''I'll continue to see a lot of fishmen''\
208''That I guarantee.''\
209''For the fishman I truly fear is the one that's in the mirror''\
210''And he looks like me.''
211* "Silhouettes" by the Rays has the singer sad because he passes by what he thinks is his girl's house and sees a silhouette of her in the window shade kissing another guy. Verse three:
212-->''Lost control and rang your bell,''\
213''I was sore''\
214''"Let me in or else I'll beat''\
215''Down your door"''\
216''When two strangers who had been''\
217''Two silhouettes on the shade said to my shock''\
218''"You're on the wrong block"''
219[[/folder]]
220
221[[folder:Podcasts]]
222* The Tres Horny Boys of ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' were told that the group called the Red Robes were the bad guys. It turns out, ''they'' were the Red Robes, and they were never villains in the first place.
223* When they land in a Gothic horror world during the Gemini arc, the ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'' team hear a mob talking about a girl being kidnapped by monsters and decide to transform and help her. Then they transform ''into'' monsters--though they're not responsible for the kidnapping.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Radio]]
227* The ''Radio/TorchwoodTheLostFiles'' story "The House of the Dead" does this on a massive scale. The story is set after ''Children of Earth'', not before it as it first appeared, Ianto, the point-of-view character is a ghost, and the version of Gwen talking to him by radio is [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds actually]] an EldritchAbomination impersonating her. Only Jack is the "real" version.
228* Subverted in the ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' episode "Last in a Long Line": while Eugene and Bernard are walking through a cemetery, they see a tombstone with the name “Meltsner” on it (Eugene’s last name). Upon closer inspection, the first name is Leonard, not Eugene. However, this leads to a TellMeAboutMyFather quest for Eugene, since Leonard Meltsner was his father’s name.
229[[/folder]]
230
231[[folder:Roleplay]]
232* The Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers story ''Card of Ten'' follows the tale of Dr. James Zanasiu and his team through the antimatter world of Gaman. At the end, it's revealed that this Dr. Zanasiu is actually an antimatter copy of the real one, who's still back on Earth.
233* There are several reveals of this type in ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''. In chronological order:
234** Ruby was once very violent, and killed Stitches and Tom ([[CameBackWrong they got better, sort of]].)
235** Both Ruby and Tom are infected by the substance that created the 'zombies' fought earlier. The zombies themselves were normal people who the substance mutated until they became near-mindless monsters. Their names were later discovered to be Stitches and Daisy.
236** Finally, Tom Nook, who the players thought was the 'extremely dangerous' Subject #6, was actually Subject #5. Ruby's companion Tom was the real Subject #6 (although, in a variation, this reveal was only shown to the players themselves, not the characters).
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
240* ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror'' has an expansion that adds Tomato in the Mirror as a mechanic. Roaming Innsmouth runs the risk of drawing Innsmouth Look cards and learning your investigator is a HalfHumanHybrid, mimicking the Lovecraft examples under Literature.
241* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':
242** This is a huge element of the [[ArtificialHuman fetches]] in ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost''. They believe themselves to be ordinary humans, but they have the ability to see things others can't -- that is, the people on the street who look like monsters. At some point, the fetch usually finds out that it's not a real person; it's a copy made by one of TheFairFolk to serve as a replacement for the human they took to Faerie to serve as their plaything. Those "monsters" they're seeing? They're the people who managed to escape from Faerie in the first place. And a lot of them aren't big fans of something fake living their life...\
243\
244The Changeling book also suggests this motif as a brilliant TwistEnding Prelude: the players start going through life, noticing really weird things, scary critters just outside of the reach of their perception. Surprise! All the players are fetches, and the "evil creatures" are their real, changeling selves, come to finish them off.\
245\
246And for the RuleOfThree (appropriately), the final splatbook has a brilliant double-layered example. Changelings who manage to live long enough are frequently drawn back into Arcadia and realize they've become True Fae themselves. At the same time it's revealed that the Fae view everything as a collaborative/competitive role-playing game and interact with the world by making up characters, settings, and props to act out stories...like the players see the game world.
247** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' also has an element of this. What's that? You're just an ordinary person being stalked by werewolves, spirits and ghosts? No, you are a werewolf, and you always were one since birth - it's just been dormant. (The bite is so that they can track you down after you go through your violent First Change - it's not infectious, and the Change proceeds with or without the bite. A panic-stricken person post-Change might not realize this or be in the mood to listen to the explanation, so consumed with fear over being a monster.)
248* In ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}},'' the winning player may discover that ''they'' are the one who killed Mr. Boddy, forcing them to declare that they killed Mr. Boddy - and can still lose if they get how and where wrong.
249* Mimicking Creator/HPLovecraft's own writing, this sort of reveal may on occasion be sprung on player characters in ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' scenarios, including several published ones -- at least one of which gives the GM staging tips on when and how to replace the original human characters with initially unaware dopplegangers in such a way that the ''players'' running them don't notice the switch.
250** In ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen Impossible Landscapes'', when the players are investigating [[BedlamHouse Dorchester House]], they meet a mental patient named "Sunshine" aged around 80 with androgenous characteristics and strange similarity to the agents, they are completely mute but becomes excited and desperately attempts to communicate when they see the agents. But all Sunshine says and writes is gibberish. At the end of campaign in the Masquerade, the King in Yellow can envelop a Player in its cape and they will find themselves in front of an audience in 1930's New York. The Agent will soon discover anything they say or write is gibberish, soon they are taken to a mental asylum where the nurses nickname them "Sunshine".
251** In the appropriately-named ''Trial of Cthulhu'' scenario "The Final Revelation", the player characters must piece together a series of clues that suggest a vague threat to all mankind. In the very end, the characters return to the bookshop they've been using as a base of operations and [[spoiler:find out to their abject horror that the horrible and monstrous alien gods they were trying to stop ''had actually devoured the world long before they even started their investigation''. The few surviving humans, including themselves, are twisted mutants and the world as they perceive it is an illusion. Their minds are totally shattered as London around them dissolves into a surreal nightmare from which there is no escape. Talk about a DownerEnding.]]
252* Meta example: One of several ways for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' [=DMs=] to handle doppelganger infiltration into a party of [=PCs=] is to not inform the player they've been replaced until it's time for TheReveal. Needless to say, this isn't a popular option with players, although they're a lot less miffed if their character is only knocked out and tied up by the shapeshifting monster off-camera, ''not'' actually killed.
253* [[TheAntiChrist Archaeon the Everchosen]] from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''; the bastard son of a Norscan Raider, Diedrick Kastner grew up to be a Witch Hunter and a devout servant of Sigmar. One day he read about a prophesied Chaos Lord who would destroy the world, and his search to find out who this mysterious "Archaeon" was drove him further and further to the brink. Finally, he confronted an Arch Lector who stated that Diedrick himself would become Archaeon. Diedrick snapped, killed the Lector, and fled to the north, where he embraced his destiny and became one of the most feared Warriors of Chaos.
254* ''TabletopGame/OneNightUltimateWerewolf'' can pull this on the player due to the number of roles that can switch cards between players. It's quite likely that a player can be playing as a werewolf, vampire, tanner, or whatever without knowing it after a switch occurs. However, this can be {{defied|Trope}} by the Insomniac whose action is to look at her card at the end of the night to see if she's been switched.
255* ''TabletopGame/Werewolf1997'': Trollish mods can [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this with False and Hidden roles, respectively roles that don't actually function despite being assigned and roles that ''do'' function despite the player not knowing about them at first. A similar idea are Cops whose investigations aren't reliable.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Toys]]
259* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' the Jailer of the Pit Hydraxon continues his duties in the present... but he is actually a matoran known as Dekar that the MaskOfPower Ignika [[CloneByConversion transformed into an exact replica]], complete with memories. The real Hydraxon was killed a thousand years ago by the Barraki when they escaped. Their leader Pridak eventually reveals the truth about the original's death (even bringing the wrecked helmet of the original as proof). Hydraxon is severely shocked by this... for a few seconds [[ShutUpHannibal before he tells Pridak who he was doesn't matter and doesn't change the fact he is Hydraxon now]].
260[[/folder]]
261
262[[folder:Visual Novels]]
263* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
264** In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', no one could have predicted that the cast was really former members of the ApocalypseCult Ultimate Despair, least of all Hajime Hinata, the protagonist who is merely a reconstruction of pre-surgery Izuru Kamukura, the former Ultimate Hope. Talentless? [[UltimateLifeForm Not even close]]. Not only that, but Hajime/Izuru was the one who subverted the Neo World Program by installing the AI version of Junko.
265** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': According to the mastermind (who may or may not be an UnreliableNarrator), the entire cast was actually participating in a [[TrumanShowPlot reality show]] the whole time, with their talents and memories implanted into them.
266** In the FanGame ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaAnother'', like Izuru above, protagonist Yuki Maeda is revealed to be the mastermind with his NinjaMaid {{Love Interest|s}} Akane being TheDragon.
267** In ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2'', the protagonist Sora is revealed to be the VirtualGhost of Akane programmed by the BigBad to ensure the DeadlyGame went smoothly.
268* Two routes from ''VisualNovel/{{Echo}}'' reveal that Chase actually [[DeathOFAChild killed Sidney]]. In TJ's ending, Chase [[HeKnowsTooMuch kills Flynn]] after accidentally revealing the truth and in Flynn's route he figured out.
269* In the true route in ''VisualNovel/Ever17'', the amnesiac Kid looks into a mirror and realizes that he is not the same Kid seen in Takeshi's perspective. In fact, he isn't even the Kid he sees in the mirror. He is the reader.
270* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' has a borderline example: It turns out that Keiichi's foray ThroughTheEyesOfMadness in the first arc was ''him'' being crazy and not a case of TownWithADarkSecret -- but Keiichi only learns this in an alternate timeline when he gets a glimpse of his own actions from outside of his own mind at the time.
271* ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' pulls this off rather beautifully. So, Gillian Seed is a [[Film/BladeRunner Deckard]] {{Expy}} working for an organization hunting down Snatchers, robots that look like humans. Also, you and your wife have amnesia and can't remember anything about your past. Well, it's quite obvious that You and your wife are amnesiac Snatchers. Except... Actually, neither of you are. You invented the Snatchers 50 years ago and were cryogenically stored. Creator/HideoKojima is so good a writer even the GenreSavvy are left in surprise. There are about five other {{Tomato Surprise}}s that are subverted in the very same game too.
272* Itsuki in ''VisualNovel/{{Suika}}'' realizes that she is actually dead instead of her sister at the end of the first chapter.
273* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Liberation Day''. Ava Crescentia and Asaga di Ryuvia begin to suspect that their friend and chief engineer Chigara Ashada is one of the Prototypes (a cabal of transhuman clones that share a HiveMind, are trying to take over the galaxy, and happen to look just like her), and that she is unwittingly feeding them information on the ''Sunrider'''s movements. A comprehensive scan by the ship's doctor Claude Trilleo confirms that she is an ordinary human, and the crew speculates that the resemblance is either just a coincidence or a form of psychological warfare. Ultimately {{double subver|sion}}ted: Chigara really is a Prototype, and Claude -- who has not only been working with them from the beginning but is also the real source of the leak -- falsified the results of the scan.
274* In ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', the protagonist Sigma and 8 other strangers are abducted by someone named Zero and are forced to play the Nonary Game. Sigma, a 22-year-old college student, later finds out that he's actually 67 years old, an esper, has lost his eye, had his arms replaced by cybernetic ones, and is Zero. Needless to say, this is quite the shock to him.
275[[/folder]]
276
277[[folder:Web Animation]]
278* In the ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' episode "Double Whammy", [[ShellShockedVeteran Flippy]] discovers that he has been killing all of his friends due to a SplitPersonality a la JekyllAndHyde. He eventually confronts his demons in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind taking place outside the real world, [[YankTheDogsChain but by the time he was cured he was killed]].
279* Up until the WhamEpisode in ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue: [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheRecollection Reconstruction]]'', every problem that befell upon either the Red or Blue teams was caused by the Freelancers and their many AI. So naturally, it was a very shocking twist to find out that Private Leonard Church was actually the original Alpha AI that had been split into all the other AI that the cast had been fighting throughout the entire series. (Church preferred to believe that he was a ghost.) On top of that, the director of Project Freelancer is the ''real'' Leonard Church. Furthermore, as ''Revelation'' has since revealed, Tex is ''also'' an AI, based off someone the Director lost, but loved so much his memories of her ''spontaneously created a separate AI''.
280[[/folder]]
281
282[[folder:Webcomics]]
283* Changelings in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'', if they realize that they are not the people they have [[KillAndReplace replaced]]:
284-->'''Kavonn:''' Those such as her are a pitiable sort, when they take in the mind of a creature capable of self-examination and realize what they really are.
285* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', Nin Wah's android double [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/04/07/all-in-her-head/ wakes up to find that 1. she's been reduced to a disembodied head, 2. she's not the original, and 3. her memories are faulty.]] All things considered, she doesn't seem to take the news ''that'' badly.
286* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'':
287** A mundane version of this occurs when [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_651.php Dan realizes why he doesn't trust Abel]].
288** Which only follows [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_303.php more normal case of the same trope happening to same character]]...
289* ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'': Taebin has been hosting Mooyoung inside of him the entire time as part of a long-term plan he forgot.
290* In a ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' short comic, Tim wakes up to find that he's the only person left on Earth. Two aliens offer him a series of female human clones modeled after people from his memories, so he can repopulate the world. The story ends with Tim finding out that 1) this is not earth 2) he's a clone too and 3) this was all the aliens' experiment to breed humans.
291* The big twist of ''ComicStrip/{{Fleep}}'' is that the building collapse which trapped Jimmy in the phone booth was caused by a terrorist bombing... and Jimmy was the terrorist leader.
292* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Anevka knows she was nearly killed in one of her father's {{Mad Scien|tist}}ce experiments a while ago and now interacts with the world through a robot body her brother made, but doesn't realize her human body died years ago. "Anevka" is the robot, which imprinted with her personality and memories back when she was actually controlling it. She's pretty horrified when her brother tells her.
293* ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': "The Five," Byron, Syr'Nj, Gravedust, Frigg, and Payet, may be heading for this as they are the only players of Kingdoms of Arkerra who [[DeepImmersionGaming are so immersed in the game that they believe it's their reality.]] The other player characters are a bit weirded out that "The Big Four" never break character or seem to understand that there is life outside of Arkerra.
294* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Annie isn't quite human, and this was [[ParanoiaFuel hidden from her]] by ''[[PowersThatBe every single authority figure she has ever known]]''... except for [[TricksterMentor Coyote]].
295* ''Webcomic/ItWasAllYou'': Yuri Lee is a researcher at XYZ Corporation tasked with testing the prototype love clone, Victor. Yuri later finds out that her husband killed her son and plots to kill him, but Victor kills him instead. They run away together but are caught by CEO Yujin Heo. Yuri is killed, but she can still think. It's revealed that Yuri is the clone, her memories were fabricated to give her the desire to kill, and all the adults are playing their parts. Her son doesn't exist, and Victor didn't actually kill her "husband".
296* In ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'', when Rose is introduced, she and those around her believes that she's Willa, and has just been trapped in a suit made of Shade. When she [[NoFaceUnderTheMask finds out]] that she ''is'' the Shade, after the initial shock, she wants to find her original body to somehow return to it. Then her original body walks up to her and say "Hi", leading to her HeroicBSOD.
297* [[http://nedroid.com/2006/07/beartato-99/ This trope in a nutshell]], courtesy of ''Webcomic/{{Nedroid}}'''s Reginald and Beartato.
298* In the ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip [[https://www.oglaf.com/illusionist/ "The Illusionist"]], the illusionist invokes this as the climax of his show: the audience, who thinks they're a human audience, are actually woodland animals under an illusion. While it's certainly a big twist, he notices that he's not making any money this way.
299* ''Webcomic/ParadigmShift'' hits female lead Detective Kate [=MacAllister=] with two in a row after the big reveal. First, she finds out that she's become a werewolf; then, sometime later, she figures out that she mauled someone to death while transformed.
300* ''Webcomic/RomanticallyApocalyptic'' eventually reveals that Pilot is actually an amnesiac DEX, assigned to assassinate Snippy.
301* In ''Webcomic/TheSanityCircus'', not even Attley knows that she's one of the same Scarecrows that they have been trying to escape for the entire story. Posey, [[TheChessmaster of course]], knew it all along - but then she's a Scarecrow too.
302* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
303** [[ShowWithinAShow Torg's comic book]] "Gunman Stan [=McKurt=] Vs. the Gates of the City of the Damned" has a variation applying to a whole place. It starts with some archaeologists having DugTooDeep near a town and revealed "the gates of Hell itself". The protagonist is supposed to stop another character from opening them; in the end, she dies before being able to explain why opening these gates of the City of the Damned would actually help the people in the town. The reason is then revealed by a sign held by a demonic humanoid: "You are in the City of the Damned". Mind you, Stan [=McKurt=] never figures it out because he's illiterate.
304** Many people have speculated that Oasis is actually a robot, but Oasis has strenuously denied it. Oasis is, in fact, an artificially intelligent KillSat. Her human body is a replaceable RemoteBody created by cloning. Learning this leaves her distraught, but it ultimately helps her, breaking her free of all mental control.
305* ''[[http://tainted.comicgenesis.com/ Tainted]]'' has Geneveive, a paladin find themselves in this situation.
306* Parodied in ''Webcomic/TheWayOfTheMetagamer 2: InNameOnly''.
307-->'''The Wise Wizard Guy:''' You, Detective... you are a tomato.\
308'''The Detective:''' Yeah, I know.\
309'''The Wise Wizard Guy:''' ...no [[WhatHaveIBecome "oh God, what have I become"]]?\
310'''The Detective:''' Nope.
311[[/folder]]
312
313[[folder:Web Original]]
314* ''WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix'' ends its first chapter with main character Nine's first use of their camera, directed at themself, revealing Pioneer 9. They briefly freak out about being "on a space probe", before Ten explains the truth -- they're not on Pioneer 9, they ''are'' Pioneer 9. Ten herself is, of course, Pioneer 10, and JUICE who had first shown up a few moments ago is the '''Ju'''piter '''Ic'''y Moons '''E'''xplorer. The main characters are all space probes [[InstantAIJustAddWater somehow awakened to sapience]].
315* Parodied in the ''Website/{{Bogleech}}'' {{Creepypasta}} {{parody}} ''Literature/GhastlyMacaroni'', in the story called "YOU WERE THE FROGS". You keep finding frogs in your house and you keep putting them outside, but when you look in the mirror, you realize that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin you were the frogs]] and have therefore locked yourself outside.
316* {{Creepypasta}}:
317** The story titled "Mice" featured a narrator who had trained "mice" into becoming intelligent and making their own communities. He regularly kills some of the weaker ones to discourage any rebellion against him. In the end, it's revealed that the narrator is actually a robot and the mice are really people.
318** Another relates the story of a kid being adopted into a family and the subsequent murder of his family members by an unknown man, except for himself, who turns out to be a dog.
319** Another describes how victims of rape and torture will retreat into a catatonic state from which they cannot WAKE UP. In their minds, they live in [[HappyPlace a fantasy world just like the real one, except they're safe]], until they find notes in the imaginary world, telling them to PleaseWakeUp.
320* In ''Literature/SuperStories'', the genius roboticist Veldron eventually learns that he's a robot duplicate of the real Veldron, designed to be an ExpendableClone.
321[[/folder]]
322
323[[folder:Web Videos]]
324%%* Defied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pyuFfKPCvY this]] Britanick sketch guest starring Creator/JossWhedon.
325* ''Website/CollegeHumor'':
326** In the video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ZMyK9Ko74 Pot Cookie Monster]]" (yes, it's a parody of ''Series/SesameStreet''), the eponymous monster comes to realize that he is just a puppet under the drug's effects.
327** In the ''WebVideo/HardlyWorking'' sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyaFtO-JJz8 All-Nighter Hardly Working: He's Right Behind Me]]", Jeff gripes about Dan's disgusting behavior in the office, only to eventually realize that ''he's'' actually Dan.
328* In the sixth episode of ''WebVideo/CrittersANewBinge'', Christopher is shocked to learn from his human mother and the Crite President that he is actually [[HalfHumanHybrid their hybrid son]].
329* Luke's ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'' choose-your-own-adventure quiz in ''[[WebVideo/OutsideXbox Outside Xtra]]'' culminated in TheReveal that Ellen's character was a penguin all along, complete with {{Foreshadowing}}. Ellen is initially disgruntled, only to find the mental image of her penguin character flailing at a researcher hilarious, and accepted it.
330* ''WebVideo/SandersSides'': In "[[Recap/SandersSidesS1E9LosingMyMotivation Losing My Motivation]]", Logan learns Thomas has a lack of motivation and directly suspects Virgil (who personifies Anxiety) is the one responsible for it. But Virgil is not the one who caused it. It's Logan ''himself''.
331* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': In a NightmareSequence in Episode 351, "Nightmares", Stampy dreams that he is [[BigBad Hit The Target]], which he notices after switching into third-person view.
332[[/folder]]
333
334[[folder:Real Life]]
335* [[http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/23/poland.jewish/index.html?hpt=C1 Secret Jewish heritage converts neo-Nazi.]] It gets better: [[http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/04/hungarian-neo-nazi-politician-discovers-he-is-actually-jewish-5180536/ one of the leaders of an antisemitic Hungarian political party]] found out he is a Jew.
336* One incredibly sad example is that of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer David Reimer]]. He was circumcised at seven months old for phimosis, but his penis was burned beyond repair by failed electrocauterization. Therefore, he was sexually reassigned as a girl. He appeared to be feminine in the first few years of life, but then exhibited wholly masculine traits, leading to a mental breakdown in adolescence when as a social female he underwent aspects of male puberty despite having had estrogen treatment. At this point he finally learned the truth from his parents. He transitioned to male much as a FTM transgender person does, but felt haunted the rest of his life by the lies of his childhood, eventually culminating in his suicide at age 38. It didn't help that at this point he was already a textbook example in university sociology classes about the limits of social conditioning.
337* There's a museum in Galveston, Texas that had an exhibit on the world's most dangerous creatures, with pictures and a few of the smaller ones. At the end of the exhibit, there's a picture of "The deadliest creature in the world". [[HumansAreBastards There's only a mirror]].
338* According to a "Franchise/RipleysBelieveItOrNot" cartoon, a man was put in prison for attempted murder. It took years to find out who the man's would-be victim was, and it was eventually discovered it was himself!
339* Craig Cobb, a white supremacist who wanted to create a town just for white supremacists and Neo-Nazis, was shocked late in 2013 when a DNA test revealed he was 14% Sub-Saharan African. To be expected if you know about genetics and biology, but it was contrary to the ardent white supremacist's expectations. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard He was then run out of town by the white supremacists that he had brought there.]]
340* While studying brain scans to search for patterns that correlated with psychopathic behavior, a neuroscientist named James Fallon found that [[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/ his own brain fit the profile.]] This was last replicated by Creator/EliRoth in a documentary that the director filmed and hosted for the Science Channel about sociopaths and psychopaths. In addition to detailing many other tests that determine sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies, the director underwent a complete psychological profile, and thus found out that he possessed many of the traits that are commonly thought of as "sociopathic".
341* Inverted example, where the revelation in question was a surprise to everyone ''except'' the person it was about: the MistakenIdentity case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistaken_Identity:_Two_Families,_One_Survivor,_Unwavering_Hope Laura van Ryn,]] a college student who was in a major accident with several other classmates, including another blonde student who closely resembled her, Whitney Cerak--thanks to the injuries sustained, her being unable to speak for a number of months after the accident, and the placement of a purse at the crash site, Laura's family sat by her bedside and did all they could to take care of her while Whitney's buried and grieved for the daughter they'd lost...only for everyone to discover the girl in the hospital was actually Whitney. It was made worse by the fact that the hospital staff was so convinced of their identification that they in turn dismissed Laura's family's suspicions and encouraged them to believe their daughter's written notes about her parents' names and calling them "false parents" was a case of amnesia or brain damage...so that until the truth came out, Whitney was in the position of actually knowing the truth, but unable to convince anyone of it. It would be easy to imagine her eventually losing her mind, unable to determine what was real or coming to believe she actually was Laura, if the mix-up had been sustained any longer.
342* This is how a lot of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primarily_obsessional_obsessive_compulsive_disorder primarily obsessional OCD]] ("Pure-O") works: the sufferer constantly worries that they are ''something'' ([[WouldHurtAChild a pedophile]], [[AxCrazy psychopath]], [[WasItAllALie not truly in love with their significant other]], gay or transgender[[note]]This is not to be confused with [[InternalizedCategorism internalized homo/transphobia]], where the person ''knows'' they are gay/trans and hates themselves for it[[/note]], and more) they desperately do not want to be, and have gone their whole lives without realizing it. It's been said that Pure-O OCD is one of the worst psychological disorders to deal with, because it means you can't trust even yourself.
343* Finding out one is adopted after not being told until they are a certain age (say, a teenager), and having thought your parents were your biological parents for so long can cause this feeling.
344[[/folder]]

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