Not So Different Remark / Webcomics

---

• Parodied in Adventurers!, when the Big Bad gives the second type of "Not So Different" Remark to the hero in this strip, and has it fall flat almost immediately since the only examples he could come up with were their similar heights and shared penchant for pointy hair. He admitted that he probably shouldn't have made it up on the fly.
• In one Arthur, King of Time and Space strip, Arthur pre-empts a kidnapper who was about to say it, saying it's what villains always say to him.
• Beeserker: The Sciencemen and Queenie share a talent for tech and the ideology of "where's the fun in mundane solutions?"
  Yellow: The three of us aren't so different after all!
  Queenie: Ew! The three of us are so different... er... before nothing!
• In Bloody Sweet, protagonist Naerim realizes that she and antagonist Roxanna have both suffered through similarly painful pasts, treated like witches and scorned by their peers. She tries to connect with her on this level in the climax, pointing out that while she doesn't know Roxanna's exact pain, she can understand what she went through and she can help her move past it. Unfortunately, Roxanna is beyond help at that point.
• Kirby and King Dedede in Brawl in the Family. It's King Dedede who's called out on it, stating that for all his faults Kirby still has the differences that make him good.
• The Renavanna and Eytherlia elves of Ears for Elves, according to Tanna after Zalanna pronounces them feral. The unusual arrangement of panels on that page emphasizes Tanna's point.
  Zalanna: You see, they live in the untamed wilds.
  Tanna: So do we.
  Zalanna: In a secret, secluded village.
  Tanna: So do we.
  Zalanna: With border guards dedicated to not letting a soul in.
  Tanna: So do we.
  Zalanna: They hide away from any non-elf race, threatening banishment to any who commune with outsiders.
  Tanna: So do we.
• In Erfworld, Stanley declares that his enemy Ansom rules by "violence and fear" (with "just like me" implied though not admitted), not by "nobility" as he likes to believe. Later, it becomes evident that Ansom and Stanley are both fighting for their respective visions of the Titans' will.
• Not said by a villain, but comparing a Corrupt Corporate Executive to his son: Rollie, of Gene Catlow, explains exactly how Steven Avariss is like his father. It boils down to an aspect of their personalities that could be good or bad, depending on how it's applied.
• Girl Genius:
  • This strip has Gil realize this about his father, Baron Wulfenbach.
    Gil: ...Oh. Oh, no. This must be how my father feels — all the time!
  • Agatha implied this to poke fun at both of her suitors.
  • Tarvek counterattacks whenever Gil tries to claim a moral high ground. And after being provoked into the rant says it straight (while Agatha still pokes fun at them both):
    Tarvek: I'm guessing you might be just as much of a sneaky, manipulative weasel as me. Probably even for a lot of the same reasons.
  • And again, in the cousin banter:
    Tarvek: I... keep forgetting he's a spark.
    Violetta: Really. So you've completely missed the fact that he's overbearing, self-aggrandizing and certain death to be around?
  • When Gil and Martellus make the same snarky comment about Tarvek in unison, you can see the wind disappear from Gil's sails as he realises his and Tarvek's regular Snark-to-Snark Combat has suddenly put him on the same side as the resident Smug Snake.
• In Goblins Forgath tries to invoke this to persuade his specist partner Minmax that their new snake-girl companion is in fact a perfectly normal and sound being and thus shouldn't be slaughtered for XP as Minmax is eager to do. Hilarity ensues.
• Homestuck:
  • Jade is so frustrated with her newly resurrected dream self that she begins verbally and physically beating her. Then Karkat comes pestering with a "friendly" reminder that this behavior isn't unlike his insulting his past/future self...which she had gotten quite pissed off at him about not much earlier.
  • Vriska attempts this with Terezi, but given that Vriska has greviously injured other trolls just for fun while Terezi only ever murdered 'bad' trolls or to seek revenge, and given that Alternia is a Crapsack World anyway, it falls flat.
    AG: Cause even though you got all these highfalutin morals and fancy reserv8tions, you know as well as me that a killer is a killer is a killer!
  • Occurs again in the Act 6 Act 3 Intermission when Meenah chides Cronus for bullying Mituna and he points out that she's not exactly a saint either and that in alternate timeline she basically used him to power her spaceship. Meenah struggles to find fault with his argument, but ultimately gives up because she doesn't really care what Cronus thinks.
  • Another event in that intermission has Porrim deliver a massive social justice rant to Latula, who comments that she seems to be pulling a Kankri.
  • Vriska is introduced to us right away as an overdramatic troll who wants to involve herself in absolutely everything important, even if it means making terrible decisions. Her corresponding pre-scratch troll, Aranea, seems to be much more softspoken, described by Terezi as "4 N1C3 VR1SK4". However, when Aranea decides to try to defeat Lord English by reviving herself and preventing our heroes from creating a new universe, as is the goal of the game, we find that Aranea's and Vriska's motives are very much the same. She ultimately fails and dies. After all this, John later refers to Aranea as "the other vriska", showing just how similar the two really are. This makes quite a bit of sense when you consider how messed up Mindfang, Aranea's post-scratch self, was.
• Happens a lot in Lightbringer.
  • The titular character quickly becomes tired of it:
    Lightbringer: It's the same damn speech I keep hearing. "You're just like me." "We both want the same thing." 'why are you fighting against me?" The Gentleman told me it. The Smiling Man said he used to be just like me. Werres told me we fought the same fight. And now Darkbringer is using the tired old bit.(...) I'm sick of evil people telling me I'm like them.
  • Also, one interesting example was when Police Chief Eddie Crane tried to arrest Bruiser, former cop turned into Vigilante Man after death of his kids. Bruiser said he knows what Crane did to murderers of his own family, making Crane left him go.
• Manly Guys Doing Manly Things: It's hinted that the reason Commander doesn't try to change Jared is because he's not very much different from Jared, especially around his siblings and army family. Jonesy even literally called him Angel's fuzzy, 300 pound Jared.
• Myth: A Promise has Cronus making the comparisons between himself and his son Zeus. Both were the youngest child of their generation, choosen and empowered by Gaia. What makes them different is that Zeus never breaks his promises.
• In No Rest for the Wicked,
  • Red and The Witch, as Perrault pointed out.
  • Claire and her parents, according to her.
• Order of the Stick:
  • Almost lampshaded in this comic, when Redcloak points out that Miko having class-induced lack of fear makes her just as "unnatural" as the undead sorcerer Xykon. It doesn't take, however, especially considering Redcloak has been granted immunity to aging and disease thanks to his Crimson Mantle, and thus is unnatural through divine magic but doesn't recognize this in the speech.
  • Later on, Shojo gives Belkar this line, kicking off what's effectively a Chaotic Good Break Them by Talking. Of course, in the same sentence, he also adds that they are Not So Similar, but adds that such distinctions aren't necessary at the moment.
  • When Elan finally realizes that his father is Evil, he declares that he's no better than his Evil Twin Nale. Tarquin takes offense, deriding Nale as an egomaniac more interested in being the center of attention than a functioning plan for world domination. But as the arc goes on, Tarquin proves to be no different; he continues to antagonize the Order because he wants to be main villain in an traditional hero-son vs villain-father story, which he thinks only works if Elan is the leader, which means Roy and others who could overshadow him must die. He wastes time, manpower and personal favors pursuing this goal, showing himself to be more concerned with being the center of attention than his long-time goal of taking control of the continent.
• In The Order of the Stick fancomic anti-HEROES, Finx attempts a "Not So Different" Remark when facing down Aldran. Aldran responds by deconstructing it before declaring I'll still win.
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Strip 1451 demonstrates the underutilized tactic of trying this on God.
  God: "What about all those children you killed?"
  Guy: "They were all firstborn sons of Egyptians."
• Sinfest There is a strange variation in this strip, where Fuchsia, formerly a Depraved Bisexual succubus and Torture Technician for The Devil, in the midst of a Villainous Crush and a High-Heel–Face Turn, listens to her love interest, Criminy, relate a story that could very easily be about Sinfest's main character, Slick, and comes to realize that she has a lot in common with the Damned Souls that she formerly took delight in tormenting. Her response, is to sit with the Damned and hold their hands, offering them comfort.
• Sluggy Freelance has a rare example where all the people involved are good guys (or at least Designated Good Guys). Mad Scientist and Badass Longcoat Riff has always taken the view that Aylee, an originally man-eating alien is too big of a threat to the world to be allowed to live. Eventually Torg delivers the NotSoDifferentRemark on Aylee's behalf:
  Torg: We're her family, Riff. This is her home now. She's not going to destroy it anymore than you would ... with your various nuclear isotopes and biological pathogens ... OK, bad example. Actually, it's not! Riff, with all your dangerous scientific experiments, I put it to you that Aylee is less likely to threaten humanity than you!
• Strong Female Protagonist has the titular heroine deliver one of these to a villain she's visiting in prison, admitting that she sometimes fantasizes about cutting loose and killing people, noting that it was just luck of the draw that she (unlike him) had good parents and looks like a normal human, and concluding with "So if I've got a voice in my head that tells me to crush people, then I think you probably have the voice that says the other thing too."
• Tower of God: Kim Lurker sees the parallels between him and The Hero Ja Wangnan. They both had their dreams toyed with and both have sacrificed a lot of people to get where they are. Ja is shocked and admits the similarity, but this immediately leads to his showing how they are also different, as he shows mercy to Lurker, who'd just brutally killed his friend for not much reason.
• Paranatural: Played for Laughs here when Johnny goes on a more bizarre rant than usual to distract Max long enough to steal his bat.
  Johnny: Listen, we're not so different, you n' me. Like, our faces are very similar.
  Max: I'm kind of on the phone, so...
  Johnny: Point is, Max, we live in a world with lots of similar things. Lots of stuff is the same as other stuff.
  Max: Can I have my scooter back?
  Johnny: I forget where I was going with this but the takeaway is your parents don't love each other.
• Parodied in this strip of PepsiaPhobia when Pneuma's attempt to invoke this falls completely flat.
• Weak Hero establishes that Ben and Jake are foils to each other in the lead-up to their showdown; both are kind-hearted and only fight when needed, but have a terrifyingly powerful side that comes out when their friends or family are crossed. Ben realises this when they come face-to-face, and thinks to himself that Jake isn't that much different from him.
• Sarah from Weregeek recently met a pack of non-geek girls and proceeded to make a rather disturbing discovery.
• Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic: Arachne has a rather dim view on "good" folk.
  Arachne: Sweetheart... in this world, the difference between Good and Evil is that good pretends not to enjoy this sort of thing.

---