History Main / PrinceAndPauper

* BloomCounty had Opus temporarily switch places with MichaelJackson at his request during MJ's heyday. Surprisingly, none noticed.

* Happens in the ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode "Warrior... Princess", where Xena (a commoner, despite her nickname) temporarily switches places with an [[IdenticalStranger identical-looking princess]] at the local king's request.

* In the third season ''TheManFromUNCLE'' episode "The Galatea Affair", U.N.C.L.E. agent Mark Slate is tasked with teaching working-class Bronx bar performer Rosie Shlagenheimer to act like THRUSH minion Baroness Bibi De Chasseur (both roles played by Joan Collins).

->''God bless the King--I mean the faith's defender;\\

God bless us all--that's quite another thing.''

* ''Clambake'', in which {{Elvis|Presley}}, heir to an oil fortune, switches places with Will Hutchins, water ski instructor, in order to prove he can win the girl and win the race without Daddy's money.

* Quoted, played straight, subverted, lampshaded, deconstructed, and reconstructed in ''[[{{Duumvirate}} Billy and Howard]]''. Repeatedly.

* ''TradingPlaces'' plays with this; the people aren't physically identical. Instead, two really rich old guys are pulling the strings.
* The various versions of ''TheParentTrap'', including a movie starring the Olsen Twins circa age 11, use a variant on this plot in which each of the swapped characters is both "prince" and "pauper" at the same time.

* ''TheLittleRascals'' short "Alfalfa's Double" has a rich kid named Cornelius from another neighborhood who looks just like Alfalfa. When he bumps into Alfalfa they decide to swap roles. HilarityEnsues.
* ''TheGreatDictator'', where Charlie Chaplin plays both a Hitler-esque dictator and a Jewish barber, naturally ends up like this.
* ''ClassAct'' has a juvenile delinquent and a genius high school student end up swapping roles when their pictures are swopped on their school records.
* ''{{Dave}}'' is a 1993 film about Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline), who is hired for a night to replace President Bill Mitchell (also Kline) to cover up an affair. After the president unexpectedly suffers a stroke during sex with his mistress, Kovic becomes the "real" president and gets to work.
* ''Summertime Switch'' is another non-identical version of the plot: an orphaned delinquent and a spoiled rich kid are being sent to a juvenile detention center and a luxury summer camp respectively for the summer. However, since they [[NamesTheSame both have the same name]] (Fred Egan), there is a mix up at the bus terminal and they end up switching places.

* ''{{Dave}} is a 1993 film about Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline), who is hired for a night to replace President Bill Mitchell (also Kline) to cover up an affair. After the president unexpectedly suffers a stroke during sex with his mistress, Kovic becomes the "real" president and gets to work.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' episode "April's Fool", Shredder kidnaps April confusing her for a princess, in order to [[HostageForMcGuffin get a jewel as ransom]]. It's played with in this case; April shows up for a party in a pretty dress, and because it's fancy dress, she's the only person there dressed like royalty. Meanwhile, the princess gets pissed off with all the parties, and sneaks out dressed as an ordinary person. The two don't actually see each other until near the end, and April never expresses a desire to be a princess.

* A {{Jem}} episode featured a Princess who looked like Kimber.

* In JohnnyTest episode Princess Johnny, Johnny is asked by [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black and White]] to impersonate a missing princess to avert a war. The princess (Who looks like Johnny with lipstick) is found in an arcade; She ran off to 'be a normal kid'.

* In the [[LittlestPetShop2012 Littlest Pet Shop]] episode "Lights Camera Mongoose" Sunil feels underappreciated, while another Mongoose who is a famous movie star wants to get away from stardom, so they switch places for the day. Though half-subverted as all of Sunil's friends knew about the switch to begin with while he movie crew on the other hand plays this straight.

* In the [[LittlestPetShop2012 Littlest Pet Shop]] episode "Lights Camera Mongoose" Sunil feels underappreciated, while another Mongoose who is a famous movie star wants to get away from stardom, so they switch places for the day. Though subverted as all of Sunil's friends knew about the switch to begin with. The movie crew on the other hand plays this straight.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* This happens in ''[[MobileSuitGundam Turn-A Gundam]]'' when the queen of the Moonrace decides to switch places with a lookalike on a whim. This has severe repercussions on both characters and on the war between the Moonrace and Earthrace, ultimately culminating in [[spoiler: the lookalike going to be Queen of the Moonrace in the actual queen's place]]

* This trope [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] is the premise of ''Manga/{{Barrage}}'': Prince Barrage finds Astro, a boy from the slums who looks and sounds exactly like him, and forces Astro to take his place as prince while Barrage runs off intending to lead a life of hedonism--but Barrage gets assassinated by a sniper as he's leaving and disappears off the rooftops they're on. This effectively forces Astro to [[EmergencyImpersonation impersonate Barrage to keep the kingdom's political enemies at bay]]. [[spoiler:Those closest to Prince Barrage knew immediately that Astro was an impostor but have agreed to keep the façade as well for the same reasons.]] Then it's subverted: [[spoiler:Astro is the true Prince. His ParentalSubstitute and mentor kidnapped him from the palace and replaced him with a doppelganger made of dark power and raised Astro in the slums to spare him the court's manipulations.]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In one [[ArchieComics Archie comic]], Lil Archie agrees to take the place of a weary prince who is identical to him. Lil Archie then successfully puts down an uprising, while the Prince is off enjoying his freedom.

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Clambake'', in which [[ElvisPresley Elvis]], heir to an oil fortune, switches places with Will Hutchins, water ski instructor, in order to prove he can win the girl and win the race without Daddy's money.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

[[folder: Theater]]

[[folder: Visual Novel]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* [[spoiler:Justin Beiber]] of all people and Joel in WebComic/{{Forever16}} [[http://jbwarner86.deviantart.com/art/F16-Unheard-Voices-197648813 as explained here]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* In an episode of [[Creator/TheHub The Hub's]] ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010 Pound Puppies]]'', team member Squirt and high society pooch Mr. Cuddlesworth switch places after meeting at the shelter when the latter chihuahua runs away from his home.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* MickeyMouse starred in an adaption of the Twain story.

* ''Anime/LupinIIIVsDetectiveConan'', the MadeForTVMovie {{crossover}} incorporates EmergencyImpersonation into this trope by having one of the parties (a bratty RebelliousPrincess) trick the other (Ran Mouri from ''Conan'') into swapping clothing, then runs off. Comes complete with EvilChancellor attempting to murder the princess.

* The ''DetectiveConan''/''LupinTheThird'' crossover special twists this trope a little by having one of the parties (a bratty RebelliousPrincess) trick the other (Ran Mouri from ''Conan'') into swapping clothing, then runs off.

* This trope [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] is the premise of ''Manga/{{Barrage}}'': Prince Barrage finds Astro, a boy from the slums who looks and sounds exactly like him, and forces Astro to take his place as prince while Barrage runs off intending to lead a life of hedonism--but Barrage gets assassinated by a sniper as he's leaving and disappears off the rooftops they're on. This effectively forces Astro to [[EmergencyImpersonation impersonate Barrage to keep the kingdom's political enemies at bay]]. [[spoiler:Those closest to Prince Barrage knew immediately that Astro was an impostor but have agreed to keep the façade as well for the same reasons.]]

* Used in [[{{Vocaloid}} The Story of Evil]] when[[spoiler: [[MeaningfulName Rillianne]], who was a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen terrible ruler]] switches places with her servant and [[TwinSwitch twin brother]], Allen. A bit unusual in that this is not the beginning of the plot, but rather the dramatic climax of it and that Allen himself organizes the whole thing to save her from an uprizing. Under the Princess' guise he gets captured and promptly [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] while the Princess successfully escapes. In a later song Rillianne is shown being burdened with regrets over his death, though, and in the finale she becomes a lowly nun in a monastery, so I guess AnAesop was learned as usual.]]

* In JohnnyTest episode Princess Johnny, Johnny is asked by MenInBlack Black and White to impersonate a missing princess to avert a war. The princess (Who looks like Johnny with lipstick) is found in an arcade; She ran off to 'be a normal kid'.

* BloomCounty had Opus temporarily switch places with MichaelJackson at his request during MJ's heyday. Suprsingly, none noticed.

* A recent ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode (pictured above) had Dawn trade places with Princess Salvia - who wanted to participate in a Pokémon contest - who then gave her Togekiss to Dawn to gain experience as she traveled.

* A similar plot is used by RobertAHeinlein in ''Literature/DoubleStar'' (although, to be fair, in this novel the duplicate is an actor, who uses his own skill at acting rather than merely accidentally being a body double)

* ''Summertime Switch'' is another non-identical version of the plot: an orphaned delinquent and a spoiler rich kid are being sent to a juvenile detention center and a luxury summer camp respectively for the summer. However, since they [[NamesTheSame both have the same name]] (Fred Egan), there is a mix up at the bus terminal and they end up switching places.