History Main / AllegedLookalikes

Characters who have an enigmatic connection of some kind will often be similar in other ways. Usually this means they have similar movesets, or something, but sometimes that's impractical or the writers decide they need something that people can notice without seeming goofy.

That's when the goofiest similarity of all crops up, the Alleged Lookalike. This is when the cast has difficulty telling two characters apart, or otherwise notes physical similarities between them - but to the audience, they don't look any more alike than any other pair of characters. This can be a side-effect of OnlySixFaces, or GenericCuteness. It can also be a result of character design (having two characters who ''genuinely'' look identical can be confusing for the audience, unless [[TheDividual them being identical is the point]]). Due to the RuleOfPerception, most creators try to add something to make it always evident which is which. In a live-action series, oftentimes the creators don't want to put in the work to either cast twins or deal with the complexity of ActingForTwo.

** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic and Shadow are both consistently mistaken for the other. It's somewhat of a DownplayedTrope, because while Shadow ''does'' look like an EvilTwin of Sonic, there are enough physical differences between the two to tell them apart. This however is a holdover from Shadow's initial design, which even more heavily resembled Sonic than his final one did.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'', [[spoiler:the protagonist Seimei]] has an EvilCounterpart who goes around causing troubles and all the latter's victims mistake the former for the perpetrator. While the two of them do have use the exact same character model (the EvilCounterpart can [[spoiler:even be unlocked as an alternate skin for Seimei]]) their [[PaletteSwap colour schemes]] are radically different, including highly distinctive face paint on the evil twin that [[spoiler:player Seimei]] lacks. [[spoiler: Like, we know they are [[LiteralSplitPersonality separated from a single person]], but come on.]]

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic and Shadow are both consistently mistaken for the other. It's reasonable in the real world for people to have difficulty telling animals apart, but this isn't the real world. Sonic is bright blue with spines that arc downward, while Shadow is black and red with spines that turn upward. Their only similarity is that they're both hedgehogs. Even Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose gets them mixed up, and that's when Shadow is standing still in broad daylight.
** [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 The 2006 game]] tries to pull a similar stunt with Amy initially confusing Silver for Sonic. While Shadow at least looks like an EvilCounterpart to Sonic, Silver bears almost no resemblance whatsoever to him and barely even looks like he's part of the same species.

* Providing the current trope image is Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear in Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper. In the movie, Kermit and Fozzie are supposed to be identical twins, despite being... well, a frog and a bear. As soon as they put on their hats, everyone falls for it.

* ''Film/{{Twins|1988}}'' details an experiment with genetically engineered brothers, one of which was given the more desirable genes, and the other the leftovers. By the end [[spoiler:they are dressing alike and duplicating each other’s movements exactly. Everybody who sees them comments on how you just can’t tell them apart.]] They are played by Danny [=DeVito=] and Arnold Schwarzenegger who couldn’t possibly look more different.

** In the episode "Theater Thug", after Josh portrays the titular crook in an ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''-esque program, he gets mistaken as the thug by the police and several bystanders, despite clearly not looking anything like him. Even when the [[FailedASpotCheck actual thug was present]], he gets falsely arrested anyway.

* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': In the episode "Paging Dr. Drake", Drake puts on a doctor's outfit to get the attention of the female nurses, in which he gets mistaken for Dr. Nussbaum. But when Nussbaum shows up, it becomes clear he and Drake look absolutely nothing alike.

* In the very goofy 1991 movie ''Film/MysteryDate'', everyone confuses Ethan Hawke with Creator/BrianMcNamara (playing his older brother), despite the fact that the two bear next to no resemblance to each other. Seriously. They even claim to give Ethan Hawke the same haircut, but he still has that bowlcut style haircut he had in every movie he made in the early 90s. It's ridiculous.

* ''Film/{{Twins|1988}}'' details an experiment with genetically engineered brothers, one of which was given the more desirable genes, and the other the leftovers. By the end [[spoiler:they are dressing alike and duplicating each other’s movements exactly. Everybody who sees them comments on how you just can’t tell them apart.]] They are played by Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzenegger who couldn’t possibly look more different.

* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': In the episode "Paging Dr. Drake", Drake puts on a doctor's outfit to get the attention of the female nurses, in which he gets mistaken as Dr. Nussbaum. But when Nussbaum shows up, it becomes clear he and Drake look absolutely nothing alike.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', due to the [[AdultsAreUseless adults being complete idiots]]. A ''goat'' gets mistaken for Creator/StevieNicks by both the military officers and ''Fleetwood Mac themselves''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Plankton creates a shoddy robot of Mr. Krabs that both looks and sounds nothing like the real thing. [=SpongeBob=], however, is unable to tell them apart. This could be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] due to [=SpongeBob]]'s exceptional naivete, since the only other person to see the robot (besides Mr. Krabs himself) is Squidward, who isn't fooled for a moment; Plankton disposes of him by giving him the day off.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Plankton creates a shoddy robot of Mr. Krabs that both looks and sounds nothing like the real thing. [=SpongeBob=], however, is unable to tell them apart.

* ''Film/{{Twins}}'' details an experiment with genetically engineered brothers, one of which was given the more desirable genes, and the other the leftovers. By the end [[spoiler:they are dressing alike and duplicating each other’s movements exactly. Everybody who sees them comments on how you just can’t tell them apart.]] They are played by Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzenegger who couldn’t possibly look more different.

* There's a ProfessionalWrestling duo named the Dudley Boys/Team 3-D where one of the "twins" is white and the other's black. The official explanation is that they are "Brothers from Another Mother". They even managed to once pull the switch-places-when-the-ref-isn't-looking trick.

* ''Manga/SuperGals'': When Ran goes to Taiwan for a study tour, she gets mistaken for actress Vivian Lin, who apparently [[IdenticalStranger looks a lot like her]]. However, due to the series' OnlySixFaces art style, they look no more identical than any other pair.

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Solidus Snake is the leader of the terrorists behind the Big Shell Incident and claims to be Solid Snake, a lie which everyone excluding the skeptical Raiden believes because Snake and Solidus are supposedly identical. However, while they do have otherwise identical in-game models, Solidus has been afflicted with RapidAging earlier than Solid Snake, meaning that his character model is aged up to look about forty to fifty years older than him, making it strange that anyone could actually confuse the two. There’s also the FridgeLogic that, considering Solidus was the former [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President of the United States]], no one ever confused Solid Snake for being the president in previous games despite him supposedly looking identical to him. Their differences are even more pronounced in the English-speaking version of the game where Solid Snake and Solidus have different voice actors who sound nothing alike, while the Japanese version keeps them a little more similar by giving them the same voice actor.
** The trope is finally {{Subverted}} in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' where, while Snake and his identical father Big Boss do have some very subtle differences to their character models, the differences are subtle enough that it actually is easy to confuse the two (and in fact many gaming publications ''do'' confuse the two.) They also have the same voice actor in all versions of the game, making them even more identical. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', [[spoiler:the trope is subverted again because Venom Snake is truly identical to Big Boss as well, enough for it to be a surprising plot point to most players that they are actually different people]].

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are stated to be identical clones, and Solid even cuts his hair during the briefing so he won't be confused for the terrorists' commander. However, their ingame models look nothing alike. Averted in ''The Twin Snakes'' remake, where Solid and Liquid have exactly the same facial features.

* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'': Played for laughs. Shantae, Risky Boots, Sky, and Rottytops are all mistaken for the missing princess of the Tan Line Temple and held against their will. Mind you, these are four [[MsFanservice very attractive women]], though with their different (and often fantastic) [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation skin]] and [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair hair]] colors, they're not even particularly easy to mistake for ''each other''. The actual princess? Short and dumpy, not even slightly similar in appearance to ''any'' of the four. Risky threatens the High Priest with violence after realizing who she's being confused with. The townspeople only seem to notice after the princess returns (she was just shopping), and the High Priest remains confused even then.

This only covers cases where two characters are compared in a way that to the audience is clearly not appropriate; just saying YouRemindMeOfX doesn't count. See also EasyImpersonation, when it's a villain being mistaken for a hero.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** Members of Organization XIII either claim Sora looks like Roxas or just call Sora "Roxas". This is... confusing, since to some degree they seem to actually believe he is Roxas, but they're also messing with his head, and it's hard to tell which is happening. Sora and Roxas ''do'' have the same face, but they also have completely different hair, mannerisms, and voices, so it's kind of hard to actually confuse the two. Every other human/Nobody pair ''is'' basically identical, (for example, [[spoiler:the only difference between Axel and an adult Lea is the facial markings on the former and Axel/Lea is basically treated as one singular person anyway, to the point that the names are interchangeable.]]), making it seem even weirder. With later revelations about the nature of Roxas and nobodies, the Organization had reason to believe that [[spoiler:Roxas ''could'' become the dominant persona. However, as Roxas had personal reasons to hate the Organization, getting him to take charge would have been bad for them.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are stated to be identical clones, and Solid even cuts his hair during the briefing so he won't be confused for the terrorists' commander. However, their ingame models look nothing alike. Averted in the Twin Snakes remake, where Solid and Liquid have exactly the same facial features.