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Author: berr

Oct 12th 2010 at 1:25:10 PM

One of the OldestOnesInTheBook.  Contrast MosesInTheBullrushes, where the roles are reversed.

* ''{{Changeling}}'' (2008) is a modern version of the same ancient fear, with TheFairFolk replaced by [[SevenBasicConflicts society]] as the antagonist.

* There is an actual medical phenomenon that fuels this, [[strike:I forget the name (anyone?)]] known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion the Capgras Delusion]]. Basically, a parent with a specific brain injury thinks that their child is not theirs, has been replaced by a doppelganger who [[TheOtherDarrin looks alike]], and cannot be convinced otherwise (in the age of mythology, elves would be a convenient explanation).  I think it was referenced in ''The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat''.

* An episode of ''LawAndOrderSVU'' did a piece on a woman with Capgras syndrome recently, which reminded me of this trope, and the fact that we don't have it. The suspect, a video game addict with a BastardBoyfriend, kept her daughter [[HarryPotter under the stairwell]] and refused to believe she was real, but had been replaced with another -- unless she only heard her daughter's voice.