History Main / ActuallyThatsMyAssistant

* Early in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'', BarbarianHero Logen is called to meet with the famous magus Bayaz. Trying to figure out which person in the room is Bayaz, he notices a scholarly, bearded old man in a white robe surrounded by several servants, including a bald, stout man in late middle age who Logen takes for a butcher. Turns out that the scholarly man is an assistant librarian, and the butcher is Bayaz.

Compare MistakenAge and BossInMookClothing.

Compare MistakenAge.

* In the manwha ''Manhwa/DemonDiary'', Eclipse (Raenef's mentor) is mistaken for the local demon lord, at which point, and with much exasperation, he introduces Raenef as the real demon lord. Received a LampshadeHanging by two "hostages" that it was an official record that no has guessed Raenef correctly.

* In the ''Series/{{Allegiance}}'' episode "Strangers in a Strange Land", the operative charged with carrying out Black Dagger intentionally [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this by driving his cut-out man around Rome. Alex assumes the cut-out man is the operative and the operative is just a chauffeur. He doesn't realize his mistake until he finds the cut-out man, who has [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Outlived His Usefulness]].

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Early on in the story, NumberTwo Roronoa Zoro is occasionally mistaken for the captain of the Straw Hat pirates, due to his more serious nature and rather extreme fighting ability(which rivals the actual captain, though which of the two is stronger is a major debate among fans). As the crew continues their adventures in the Grand Line and they (and Luffy in particular) [[FamedInStory become more infamous in their exploits]], this mistake stops occurring.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': On more than one occasion, Brock Samson had been mistaken for Dr. Venture. This probably has to do with the real Dr. Venture not looking like he would live up to his father's prodigious legacy, while Brock might seemingly fit the bill better.

** In the prequel ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' novella "The Sworn Sword", Dunk is sent to meet Lady Rohanne Webber, who he knows to be widowed multiple times (and rumored to have [[BlackWidow murdered her husbands]]) and who has a terrible reputation for cruelty. As a prank, Dunk is introduced to one of Lady Webber's attendants and is told that she is Lady Webber, and he believes it, because the elderly and [[{{gonk}} unpleasant looking]] woman jibes with his assumptions about what Lady Webber would look like. He then learns that a pretty young [[HeroesWantRedheads redheaded]] woman practicing archery nearby is Lady Webber, and that she is not nearly as bad as her reputation suggests.

* Subverted in ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'': upon being introduced to the demon doctor (who happens to have taken on a form not unlike a Pacman ghost in the human world), the protagonist is disbelieving, and barges in on the patient being treated by a (apparently human) young girl in a lab coat. He therefore assumes that ''she'' is the doctor and that he was mistaken about the other one (especially as she confirms that she is the doctor)... until the original catches her by the ear and scolds her for trying to assume the identity of her boss. She's actually the assistant.

* The ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' comic ''Flight 714'' had Captain Haddock suffer this when the millionaire they are to meet turns out to be [[spoiler:the sickly, worn-down looking fellow he'd just mistaken for a vagrant]].

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In the original comics, there is the pairing of The Ventriloquist and his dummy Scarface, who is a wooden puppet named and slightly modeled after Al Capone, who behaves as a classic mob boss. One of the many Scarface's BerserkButton is when people rudely insists to talk to the Ventriloquist instead of him, ''who is the one really in control''. Of course, maybe this trope is justified if you prefer to believe Scarface is a DemonicDummy.

* In ''[[Film/IronEagle Iron Eagle II]]'', the central plot element is that a joint task force consisting of U.S. and Soviet Union troops has been assembled to perform a surgical strike on a nuclear missile silo in the Middle East. When the Soviet team arrives, their commander, Colonel Vardovsky, meets a sharp-looking officer whom he believes to be the Americans' commander, General Sinclair, and introduces himself with a crisp salute. The man informs the Colonel that he's actually just a lieutenant, at which point the real Charles "Chappy" Sinclair (played by the very black Louis Gossett Jr.) makes his own introduction.

* Played For Drama in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10SecretOfTheOmnitrix'': The Omnitrix is in it's Self-Destruct sequence and the only one that can abort it is the devices' creator Azmuth. However due to their secretive nature, Azmuth is elusive and unknown without anyone knowing what species they even are. Tracking the DNA Signature printed onto the Omnitrix leads them to a female Chimera Sui Generis (Vilgax's Species) who has a connection with the Omnitrix. Assuming that she might be Azmuth, she then points out that she's actually Myaxx, Azmuths' bitter former assistant: [[DudeWheresMyRespect who in a moment of rage at how Azmuth kept treating her like crap]] erased Azmuths' DNA Signature and replaced it with her own. Though she does offer them the location of where Azmuth really is.

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode "Golden Age of Bolloning": After stealing the plans from the Montgolfier Brothers, Louie sees George III who is being read to by his reader. Louie walks up to reader and starts to introduce himself. The reader points to George III which Louie exclaimes "Oh, Christ", turns to George III and restarts his spiel.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the elderly Impa tasks Link with visiting the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab to unlock further abilities for the Sheikah Slate. Upon reaching the Lab, a young girl named Purah directs him to a man named Symin in the back. But when Link show Symin the Sheikah Slate, he's quickly informed that Purah, who is Impa's sister, is the real director of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. This whole situation occurs because of Purah's embarrassment; thanks to a botched experiment, she had been [[FountainOfYouth regressed into a 6-year-old]], and she decided to pass off the average visitors to Symin so no one would know what state she was in. She only revealed herself to Link because the Sheikah Slate demonstrated that he was the [[TheChosenOne ancient Hylian Champion]]. However, he can read the diary of Paya, Impa's granddaughter, and discover that she has an "Auntie Purah," tipping him off to the ruse well beforehand.

* In the ''Retrievers'' books by Laura Anne Gilman, the Retrievers are Wren, a short, nondescript woman who is an accomplished thief and powerful magic-user, and Sergei, a tall, muscular man who handles the financial end of things. People usually assume their roles are the other way around.

* During the Egyptian campaign, one of Napoleon's generals was Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (father of Creator/AlexandreDumas), a very large and half-black man who was thought to be the one in charge by the locals, both because of the size difference and the fact that it wasn't unusual to see dark-skinned people in charge there.