History Main / HistoricalCharacterConfusion

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', The Dude is struggling with a UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin quote ("You look for the person who will benefit...") which he cannot remember properly. Donny, trying to be helpful, starts quoting ''[[Music/JohnLennon John]]'' [[Music/JohnLennon Lennon's]] 1967 song "I Am the Walrus".

* In ''{{Film/Idiocracy}},'' UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler has been replaced by Creator/CharlieChaplin in the historical record, such as it is.

* This is combined with CompositeCharacter as the basic concept behind the comedy RPG ''Diana, Warrior Princess''. According to [[FramingDevice the people making a TV series far in the future]], any British royal with the same name must be the same person. So Diana is married to Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose mother is Elizabeth the Queen Mother, sister to Mary Queen of Scots. In the sequel, ''Elvis, the Legendary Tours'', Elvis' archenemy is his brother, [[Creator/AbbottAndCostello Abbot Costello]], and his companions are the left-wing John Lenin and the right-wing Joe [=McCartney=].

* {{Conversed}} on Fundies Say the Darndest Things. [[http://www.fstdt.com/QuoteComment.aspx?QID=90002 One acquisition]] for their museum of stupid fundie quotes said the following:

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' had a character named Pepper Mills who would ask historical characters for their autograph, then realize that she had mistaken them for someone else.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Cry Freedom Fighters!", Plastic Man mixes up UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson and [[Series/TheJeffersons George Jefferson]], and refers to John Paul Jones and [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe", Marge phones Moe's and asks for Homer. Moe tries to cover by saying that he thought she was asking for Heimlich Himmler, the guy who invented the Heimlich maneuver [[note]] '''Heinrich''' Himmler was a Nazi official. Henry Heimlich is the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver [[/note]]. When Marge says they are different people, Moe claims they are both in the tavern.
** From "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E12TennisTheMenace Tennis the Menace]]":
-->"I'm Andre Agesi." "[[Wrestling/AndreTheGiant The wrestler?]]"
** In "Bart the Genius", Homer thinks Albert Einstein invented the light bulb.

* In ''Film/RatRace'' Randy Pear is on a race across the US to try and win 2 million dollars. His family doesn't know he's a contestant in this so he's had to drag them along from the casino where the race started and he was selected. Midway on ther ace his daughter, Jillian, spots a roadside sign for a "Barbie Museum" and begs to go. Randy refuses until his wife Bev forces the issue... and to the entire family's horror they find out it's not about [[Toy/{{Barbie}} the beloved doll]], but real life member of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Barbie SS Klaus "The Butcher of Lyon" Barbie]] and the museum is run for and by Neo Nazis.

* This line from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "Haunter Vs. Kadabra";

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' - when Vitruvius is addressing the assembled Lego Master Builders (by name), he mentions "Michelangelo, Michelangelo...". The Renaissance artist and the Turtle are sitting next to each other. He also pronounces the former according to correct Italian pronunciation ('Mick''-el-angelo instead of ''Michael''-angelo).

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' - when Vitruvius is addressing the assembled Lego Master Builders (by name), he mentions "Michelangelo, Michelangelo...". The Renaissance artist and the Turtle are sitting next to each other.

-->'''Soldier''': "Then he [Sun Tzu] used his fight money to buy two of every animal on Earth, and then he herded them onto a boat, and then he beat the crap out of every single one!"

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Rimmer notes that one of the people who was laughed at historically was ''Series/{{Columbo}}''. When Lister asks for clarification, Rimmer responds that he was "the man in the dirty mac who discovered America.

The source of confusion varies. Maybe [[NamesTheSame the names sound alike]] (UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin and Music/JohnLennon), or their fields are tangentially related (UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison and UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein), or the more contemporary figure is a reference to the older (Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti the painter and [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Michelangelo the turtle]]).

See also NamesTheSame, which is [[JustForFun mostly for fun]] but can be a source of this confusion. Contrast ArtisticLicenseHistory, which is when ''the author'' gets something like this confused. Compare HistoricalHilarity and WrongfullyAttributed. A common form of InUniverseFactoidFailure.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheBackwardsR Dll Ndil Mdyaz Lziifi?]]]]

* This is combined with CompositeCharacter as the basic concept behind the comedy RPG ''[[TabletopGame/DianaWarriorPrincess Diana, Warrior Princess]]''. According to the people making a TV series far in the future, any British royal with the same name must be the same person. So Diana is married to Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose mother is Elizabeth the Queen Mother, sister to Mary Queen of Scots. In the sequel, ''Elvis, the Legendary Tours'', Elvis' archenemy is his brother, [[Creator/AbbottAndCostello Abbot Costello]], and his companions are the left-wing John Lenin and the right-wing Joe [=McCartney=].

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheBackwardsR Dll Ndil Mdyaz Lziifi?]].]]

See also NamesTheSame, which is [[JustForFun mostly for fun]] but can be a source of this confusion. Contrast ArtisticLicenseHistory, which is when ''the author'' gets something like this confused. Compare HistoricalHilarity and WrongfullyAttributed.

* One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Rat-Man}}'' that parodied ''Star Trek'' had the same gag as the ''Family Guy'' episode listed below: it began with a commemoration of the first man on the moon, but when the speaker starts talking about "his beautiful music" it becomes clear that they're talking about '''Louis''' (and not Neil) Armstrong.

* In "Bart the Genius", Homer thinks Albert Einstein invented the light bulb.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' has a musical segment in which [[StalkerWithACrush L]][[TheDitz o]][[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} la]] sings about Presidents Day. She promptly lapses into naming celebrities instead. It's when she gets to Johnson that this trope comes into play. She passes a picture of both Johnsons and says that they aren't the ones she's referring to. Upon reaching a picture of "Magic" Johnson, she says "There he is!"