History Main / IdenticalTwinMistake

* In the first book of ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'', bad girl Jess goes to a dive bar and gets involved in a fight. The cops mistake her for her more innocent twin sister, Liz, causing Liz to be the butt of rumors at school.

* A particularly heartbreaking version forms the basis of an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. A woman who had an identical twin threatened to report a crime syndicate to the cops because they were holding another sister hostage. A member of the syndicate went to her apartment to kill her, on the same night that it just so happened the other twin had come by looking for her sister. When the assassin found her there, he mistook her for his target and killed her. (Doubles as a HeroicSacrifice on the dead twin's part, since she never told the killer she was the wrong twin even though it might have saved her life.)

* The first episode of ''Series/SisterSister'' has SeparatedAtBirth twins Tia and Tamara coincidentally at the same store. One is looking for a sweater and the other is looking for a sweatshirt. They take turns asking the same sales clerk, who doesn't realize there are two of them and slowly goes crazy with them for constantly "changing their minds." Considering ''they'' didn't even know they were twins yet, a complete stranger couldn't be expected to know either.

* Features in the Modern AU ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13122923/1/Confusion Confusion]]'', as Astrid and her OC twin sister Lillian start dating Hiccup while involved with each other; as part of their efforts to stop their mother finding out about the relationship, at one point Lillian pretends to be Astrid when their mother comes to the sisters' flat while Astrid is out (their parents having been told Hiccup is 'just' Astrid's boyfriend).

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* In ''Literature/TheFolkOfTheAir'' faeries repeatedly have issues telling Jude and Taryn apart. Locke, having wooed both of them, is so bad at differentiating the two that when Jude attempt to threaten him and tell him to treat Taryn well, he initially assumes Taryn has randomly become violent with him. Cardan even goes so far as to suggest that Locke couldn't tell which was which when he first tried to court Taryn, and it was chance that Taryn ended up being the first twin he approached. Taryn also takes advantage of how few people can tell them apart (as well as the fae rarely taking into consideration that humans [[CannotTellALie are capable of lying]]) to claim to be Jude in order to take advantage of her status.

* The Main/TwinSwitch in ''Literature/LottieAndLisa'' is so successful that [[spoiler:the girls are only found out by complete coincidence]]. They look exactly alike except for their hairstyles which are easily disguised. However, they are also Main/PolarOppositeTwins and have to work hard to maintain their charade, which causes especially Lotte a lot of stress and anxiety. They would probably have been found out due to their different personalities and lack of knowledge about each others' lives had it not been for the fact of the parents being distracted by their own problems. Their looks, however, are so identical that they themselves cannot distinguish between each other in a photo.

* ''Series/{{iCarly}}'': In the episode where Sam's [[PolarOppositeTwins polar opposite twin]] Melanie is introduced, Freddie spends the entire episode under the delusion that Melanie doesn't exist, and is just Sam playing a trick on him. As the two are never seen together until the very end, the episode is set up so that the viewers are just as uncertain as Freddie.

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* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': As part of the shared universe with ''Series/MadAboutYou'', Lisa Kudrow plays both Pheobe and her twin sister, Ursula, who happens to be a character in the other show. This is joked about when the cast of ''Mad About You'' show up at Central Perk, and thinking Pheobe is actually Ursula, assume she's a waitress at the cafe (just as Ursula is a waitress at their local restaurant) and tell her their orders. Pheobe, naturally, is confused by this.

Contrast IdenticalTwinIDTag, where the twins make a conscious effort to avert this trope. Compare AmbiguousCloneEnding, where the characters and the audience is left unsure who the clone is. Also compare IdenticalStranger and InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals, who may also be confused for eachother. Supertrope to TwinSwitch and ImpersonatingTheEvilTwin, as those tropes rely on this confusion to work.

* The Main/TwinSwitch in ''Literature/LottieAndLisa'' is so successful that the girls are only found out by complete coincidence. They look exactly alike except for their hairstyles which are easily disguised. However, they are also Main/PolarOppositeTwins and have to work hard to maintain their charade, which causes especially Lotte a lot of stress and anxiety. They would probably have been found out due to their different personalities and lack of knowledge about each others' life a lot sooner had it not been for the fact of the parents being distracted by their own problems. Their looks, however, are so identical that they themselves cannot distinguish between each other in a photo.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' once used this to trick a murderer into incriminating himself. The murderer had almost run over a blind man while fleeing from the scene of the crime. Later, Columbo brought in what appeared to be the same blind man to identify the murderer. The killer protested that the man was blind. Then Columbo asked why the killer would think that, since when the man he had bought in wasn't wearing dark glasses or carrying a white cane. The killer claimed that as a trained physician he could spot subtle clues. Then Columbo had the "witness" read from a newspaper. The "witness" was the blind man's identical twin bother, and by claiming the witness was blind the killer showed that he had mistaken the man for the blind man who was almost run over.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': After his brother's disappearance, [[spoiler:Stan]] went shopping in town and was mistaken for him (the brothers are noticeably different-looking, but the townsfolk weren't very familiar with either). He [[SureLetsGoWithThat went along with it]], inspiring him to [[TwinSwitch assume his life entirely]].

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': After his brother's disappearance, [[spoiler:Stan]] went shopping in town and was mistaken for him (the brothers a noticeably different-looking, but the townfolk weren't very familiar with either). He [[SureLetsGoWithThat went along with it]], and decided to [[TwinSwitch assume his life entirely]].

* On ''Series/{{Deception}}'' identical twins Cameron and Johnny Black have been using the TwinSwitch as part of a magical act for most of their lives. Very few people know that Johnny exists which allows them to do spectacular teleportation tricks eg. Cameron disappears in an explosion on stage in Las Vegas and Johnny then appears on a similar stage in Times Square in New York City. In the series premiere Cameron is arrested for a crime committed in New York City and realizes that the police have mistaken him for Johnny. Once the twins' secret is revealed to the world, Johnny is sent to prison and Cameron tries to prove that he was framed. Once Cameron confronts the Mystery Woman behind the frameup ,she realizes that she framed the wrong brother. She once met Johnny but mistook him for Cameron and when she wanted to recruit him for her scheme, she framed the other twin to get him out of the way. She is quite annoyed when she realizes that she got the wrong brother sent to jail.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': When Patricia's [[PolarOppositeTwins polar opposite twin]] Piper arrives at the house, this trope is in full force. Apart from their FakeTwinGambit, Piper is mistaken for Patricia multiple times. This leads to Eddie kissing her, Alfie thinking his crush on Piper is a crush on Patricia, and the Sibunas thanking "Patricia" for getting rid of the stolen oxbow before the teachers checked her bag. Strangely, they did have an IdenticalTwinIDTag with their necklaces. After Piper gives Patricia hers before leaving, Eddie then mistakes Patricia for Piper.

Contrast IdenticalTwinIDTag, where the twins make a conscious effort to avert this trope. Compare AmbiguousCloneEnding, where the characters and the audience is left unsure who the clone is. Also compare IdenticalStranger and InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals, who may also be confused for eachother. Supertrope to FakeTwinGambit, TwinSwitch, and ImpersonatingTheEvilTwin, as those tropes rely on this confusion to work.