Basic Trope: A physical or personality trait used to identify someone as the reincarnation of another character.
- Straight: On their search for the reincarnation of Alistair, the hero of Troperia whose reincarnation would be Troperia's rightful king, Bob and his fellow adventurers find Alix, who has Alistair's trademark purple eyes and a birthmark in the place where Alistair was fatally stabbed. They conclude that Alix is the reincarnation of Alistair.
- Exaggerated: Alix is the spitting image of Alistair, right down to sharing his favorite food.
- Downplayed: Alix has some personality cues that remind them of Alistair.
- Justified: Alistair was cursed "to bear the mark of my wrath forever" when Marduk slew him.
- Inverted: Alix has the very opposite traits of Alistair.
- Subverted: It's a complete coincidence. The real incarnation of Alistair turns out to be Carl, a completely normal guy with no resemblance to Alistair...
- Double Subverted: ...or so he wanted them to think. Carl has been covering up his purple eyes and Distinguishing Mark so people wouldn't target him, and he really is Alistair's reincarnation.
- Parodied: Upon his death, Alistair is asked by his psychopomp to choose which of his traits would be used to identify his reincarnation down the line.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: No reincarnations are present in the work, and if there are, there are no overt resemblances to their previous lives.
- Enforced: The writers wanted Alix to be a normal guy with no resemblance to Alistair, but the editors didn't think this was dramatic enough.
- Lampshaded: "Alistair's reincarnation has purple eyes like him? Why didn't we see that coming?"
- Invoked: Pulling from what he knows of the great heroes of yore, Alistair makes The Underworld ensure that his reincarnation can be identified somehow.
- Exploited: Alix's parents gave him purple contacts and used makeup to replicate Alistair's stab wound to install their son as the king of Troperia.
- Defied: Alix suspects he is the reincarnation of Alistair and refuses the call, disguising Alistair's trademarks so he doesn't stand out.
- Discussed: "Okay, Bob, think. If this were a fantasy novel, Alistair's reincarnation would share something with him — maybe his eye color?"
- Conversed: "Haven't you noticed that reincarnations in fantasy tend to share traits with their previous lives?"
- Implied: When Alistair dies, the scene cuts to a newborn baby opening its eyes, which are a suspiciously similar shade of purple to Alistair's...
- Played for Laughs: Alix doesn't share any resemblance to Alistair, but what ultimately identifies him as Alistair's reincarnation is...his skill at yodeling. (Alistair was a legendary yodeler, among other things.)
- Played for Drama: Fearing the reincarnation of his nemesis, Alistair's killer orders a purge on all babies who share physical traits with Alistair...except for one...
- Deconstructed: In their desperation to locate Alistair's reincarnation, Bob and company project similarities onto all the kids they meet who could fit the bill, and end up choosing the wrong person as the reincarnation.
- The identifying purple eyes winds up an Unwitting Instigator of Doom as Alistair is reincarnated into a different culture with no context of him. At best it results in Alix being mistaken for the child of an affair, at worst regarded as cursed. Regardless Alix takes a far darker path after being mistreated his whole life.
Back to Reincarnation-Identifying Trait
