History Main / ReplacementGoldfish

* Two examples in the ''PhantomOfTheOpera'' sequel ''Love Never Dies'':

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Some non-pet owners, in an attempt to be nice, commit a massive faux pas when trying to cheer up a friend who has just lost a beloved pet. How? By getting a new one for them that they believe is identical. Trouble is, most pet owners want that one specific pet back, not one that looks like it. Better let them grieve and let them get a new pet on their own. ** When RickyGervais' talk-show host friend got him a Siamese kitten after his cat died on live tv, he took it surprisingly well and was comforted by how much his friend cared. This is probably because he loves animals and [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter kittens are cute]]. He named the cat Oliver.

* A significant problem in SpiderMan and Mary Jane's marriage is that M.J often had the problem of feeling like she couldn't measure up to Spidey's first love, Gwen Stacey. But hey, it's not like [[OneMoreDay THAT'S a problem any more!]] Hell, it was shown in HouseOfM that his heart's desire is to be married to Gwen and to a father a kid with her.

* ''YTheLastMan'' averts this in the DistantFinale. Yorick refuses to even consider the offer implied by theories concerning 'bringing back' any number of dead women and a sample of [[spoiler: 355's hair]].

->'''Ryan:''' No, you don't understand: [[ExactWords "Edgar" is the one in the hole.]]

* In ''{{Maus}}'', Art's mother sometimes treated him like this, comparing him to his brother Richelieu, who died in childhood years before Art was born (today, she would be diagnosed with manic depression, but back then she was just "crazy"). Vladek also sometimes calls Art "Richelieu". Whether this is an honest mistake that every parent with multiple children makes or a FreudianSlip is intentionally ambiguous. It's possibly a mix of both considering the traumatic circumstances surrounding Richelieu's death.

* Some non-pet owners, in an attempt to be nice, commit a massive faux pas when trying to cheer up a friend who has just lost a beloved pet. How? By getting a new one for them that they believe is identical. Trouble is, most pet owner want that one specific pet back, not one that looks like it. Better let them grieve and let them get a new pet on their own.

->'''Michael:''' Of course it matters, that was the original Edgar!
->'''Ryan:''' No, you don't understand: [[ExactWords Edgar is the one in the hole.]]

*** This practice was actually used as a plotpoint in [[spoiler:''Beethoven's Last Night''.]]

->'''Ryan:''' No, you don't understand: [[ItMakesSenseInContext Edgar is the one in the hole.]]

* A [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] example: God/Satan punish Job by killing off all seven of his sons and three of his daughters in the beginning of the Book of Job. At the end of the Book of Job, Job bears a replacement seven sons and three daughters, and said daughters are specifically stated to be the most beautiful in the land.

->'''Tycho:''' In my grief, I paid a MadScientist twenty million for a cybernetic replica of my dead wife. It was my wish that it look, feel, and behave just as she did.
->'''Gabe:''' Is that it?
->'''Tycho:''' Yeah.
->'''Gabe:''' That's just a bucket on roller-skates.
->'''Tycho:''' It really wasn't a good investment.
-->-- ''[[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/03/02 Penny Arcade]]''

* Part of the reason Jason Todd went nuts after his resurrection was because he thought {{Batman}} just replaced him without question. The other part was that [[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker Jason's killer]] was still alive.

*** Of course, suddenly having a redheaded Robin when Bruce Wayne had just taken on a redheaded ward would've been suspicious, to say the least. Black hair minimized the switch.

* Havok from the ComicBook/{{X-Men}} was adopted as a child...by parents seeking to replace their dead son. How they got past psychological screening is anyone's guess, but then again, future X-Villain Mr. Sinister was the one running the place.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* Nuku Nuku from ''Anime/AllPurposeCulturalCatGirlNukuNuku'' is not quite a ReplacementGoldfish, in that the scientist takes the brain of the cat he struck in an accident and resurrects it in the body of a hyper-powered, incredibly cute [[RobotGirl cybernetic]] [[{{Catgirl}} cat-brained girl]].
* ''Manga/AstroBoy'', a replacement for the son Doctor Tenma lost, who died in a car accident playing with a robotic car that Doctor Tenma gave him to make up for the fact that he was so obsessed with developing a super-robot that he forgot to pay attention to his son. In one version, he was about to apologize for neglecting his son when he got the news.
** Now, the incredible super-powers? If you're going to make a robot son, you would want it to be the best robot ever! And not get hit by a car. (Well, ''this time'', his son is not going to be run over by anything short of an imperial battlecruiser.) And he already had the plans mostly finished...
** Though, for some reason, in the original, the Doctor gets freaked out that his son, a '''robot''', doesn't grow up. In other words, he got surprised that his [[NoWaterProofingInTheFuture robotic goldfish couldn't swim.]]
*** ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'' manages to one up this. Tenma realizes that the boy he created isn't Tobio, but the ideal child that Tobio never was. So Atom is in the horrible position of not being able to measure up because he's too perfect.
** Of course, even though Tenma gets freaked out, he still helps Astro off and on and off again (see one example in the "World's Strongest Robot" story-arc and its remake, Urasawa Naoki's ''Manga/{{Pluto}}''). And then in the [[Anime/AstroBoy 2003 TV version]], Tenma becomes the stalker dad.
*** In the [[WesternAnimation/AstroBoy 2009 movie]], he decides to accept Astro as a different, but equally valid son. Freakin' ''finally'', dude.
* Honey Kisaragi in ''CuteyHoney'', a robotic replica [=/=] partial clone of the daughter that Dr. Kisaragi lost. She was specifically told by her father that she was her own person, though.
** ''[[MiracleShojoLimitChan Miracle Shoujo Limit-chan]]'', which was something of a "sister show" to the original Cutey Honey TV anime (but much more kid-friendly and much less popular), has a similar setup. The title character, Limit Nishiyama, was nearly fatally injured and the only way to save her life was to make her a cyborg.
* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', Majihal creates simulacra of his lost love interest from years ago. Turns out she was alive, but he had become so obsessed with perfecting his ideal android that he refused to accept an average-looking middle-aged woman as the genuine article. Alchemist Shou Tucker is also obsessed with using human transmutation to recreate his lost daughter, whom he "killed" by using as ingredients in a transmutation experiment, which then died. (In addition, this is pretty much ''the'' reason anyone creates homunculi; the ones made for reasons other than replacing dead loved ones are exceptions.) There are also two ReplacementGoldfish relationships that complement and parallel each other. The orphaned Elric brothers take on their alchemy teacher Izumi as a mother figure, while Izumi herself had a stillborn child and now accepts the Elrics as surrogate children.
** Considering the result is pretty consistently a [[VGCats pus-oozing, organ pile, sin against God]], you'd think people would learn eventually.
** In one ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Brotherhood]]'' OVA, the Elric brothers encounter a rich couple that lost their daughter and apparently succeeded in transmuting her back, as they see the girl completely healthy, [[spoiler: but it turns out that, unsurprisingly, the transmutation had failed, and the couple lied to the alchemist (who lost his eyes as payment) to make him believe he succeeded, and the girl was, in reality, an orphan they adopted because of her uncanny resemblance to their late daughter.]]
** In one of the Yonkoma, Van Hohenheim accidentally drops [[spoiler:the flask containing the Homunculus, killing it]]. He replaces it with a goldfish.
* Rei Ayanami from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is [[spoiler:partly cloned from the DNA from Gendo Ikari's wife, Yui, and is therefore Gendo's replacement goldfish for Yui. She has also died and been resurrected twice, which would make her a replacement goldfish for ''herself'', and she is the surrogate host for the soul of Lilith because she has no soul of her own]]. Furthermore, Ritsuko considers herself to be a substitute of sorts for Rei. Meanwhile, Gendo considers Ritsuko a substitute for her mother Naoko, however, his feelings for both of them were equally cynical in nature. He didn't love either of them so much as he needed access to their skill sets and one was just as good as the other. The Dummy Plugs, which are intended to replace pilots, are based on Rei and Kaworu's personalities. And don't even get started on the whole thing with Kaji, Misato, and Misato's father.
** Rei could also be considered Gendo's replacement for Shinji. In one of his angry inner rants, Shinji even says as much. The fact that Rei was the name Gendo had planned on giving Shinji, if he had been born as a girl, seems to support this.
* An old man in the anime of ''RozenMaiden'' convinced himself the boyish doll Souseiseki was his child, Kazuki, and went so far as to dress her in boy's clothing.
** More like he chose her because she wore boy's clothing in the first place. She wears the same outfit in flashbacks from long before she met the old man, best seen in Overture.
* Variation: [[spoiler:Fate Testarossa]] from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' was [[spoiler: [[TomatoInTheMirror (unknown to her)]] supposed to be a [[CloningBlues replacement]] for Alicia Testarossa, the daughter of Precia Testarossa. Unfortunately, even with Alicia's memories, Fate was not a perfect copy (the Movie mentions that unlike Alicia, she's not left-handed and has different magic potential). In the end, she unwittingly became merely a tool to help Precia resurrect Alicia, while her inability to mimic the original led to much suffering on her part.]]
** Her adopted son was in a similar position: [[spoiler:he's a product of the same cloning tech that created Fate. It seems to have improved somewhat in the interim, as he's never mentioned to be different from the original Erio. He was taken away from his "parents" when the Bureau found out about his origins. One of the reasons Fate took him in was to try to prevent him from going through the same kind of pain she did as a child.]]
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' CD drama short story "The Birth of Mewtwo," the scientist who was working on Mewtwo was attempting to recreate his daughter at the same time. He was successful only in creating a clone that would live for only a year in a tank.
** There's also Jessibelle, James's psychotic would-be fiancée who looks almost identical to Jessie. James drifted toward a life of crime (and to Jessie) partially out of spite for his arranged engagement with Jessibelle as a child.
* In ''Anime/TheBigO'' anime, R. Dorothy Wayneright was an android created as a surrogate for the deceased daughter of her creator.
* Likewise Naomi Armitage in ''ArmitageIII''.
* In ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'', Minoru's persocom Yuzuki was a replacement for his sister (whom you might recognize as [[spoiler:Kaede]] from ''KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'').
** It should be noted, though, that he eventually understands what he is doing to Yuzuki and decides to stop updating his sister's personality into her. Also, the whole thing might be insane if it came from a scientist with no interest for ethics, but it's understandable since he's a lonely 12-year-old who needs some kind of emotional protector.
* Inverted in ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}''. [[spoiler:Minagi's mother has been traumatized by her miscarriage and thinks that Minagi is the dead baby and there was no older child, leaving Minagi to live as "Michiru" at home. Minagi's relationship with her mother deteriorates along with her mother's mental state, and she starts blaming herself for the baby's fate.]]
* Nataku in ''{{X1999}}'' is the botched, emotionless, genderless [[CloningBlues clone]] of the resident MadScientist's dead daughter.
* An unusual case crops up in {{xxxHOLiC}} when it turns out the reason [[spoiler: Watanuki]] was even born was because the ''universe generated him'' to fill the void [[spoiler: Syaoran]] left behind when he was removed from his own timeline. It's unusual because this isn't about filling an emotional void, just a ''literal'' one.
* In ''ToukaGettan'', [[spoiler:Yomiko considers Touka to be her dead daughter]].
* Eris did this with her dead love [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Rezo]], giving us Copy Rezo.
* Suzu in ''Hotori - Tada Saiwai o Koinegau'' is a robot replacement for a couple who has recently lost their son to illness, and struggles with the question of whether he has an identity of his own. The "doctor" who's overseeing the process of implanting the dead boy's memories into Suzu also has a terminally ill daughter, but (perhaps wisely) decides against getting a Replacement Goldfish because he's got enough experience with the robot doubles to know that however good the replacement is, it will never really be ''her''.
* There's a trace of this in ''SonicX'' where Shadow the Hedgehog, despite his current outright abhorrence of humans, chooses to save Chris Thorndyke from an exploding island after envisioning him as Maria Robotnik (it's all in the eyes, apparently). Somewhat subverted as it does not stop him from bashing the kid about a bit several episodes later.
* Played with in the second season of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]''. [[spoiler:Neil Dylandy, the original Lockon Stratos, has a twin brother named Lyle, who eventually takes up his brother's place as Lockon in Celestial Being.]] He grew into being his own person by acting like as much of a {{Jerkass}} as he could when he first came to Celestial Being, purposely failing to deliver during battle, and refusing to feel vengeful when everyone expected him to. Only later does he actually put his heart into filling [[spoiler: his dead brother's shoes]], and it was when he was trying to save [[spoiler: Katatron, the group for whom he was acting as a DoubleAgent]]. Later, he says that, as a child, he had himself sent to boarding school to get away from the comparisons and laments the fact that he will never live [[spoiler: Neil]] down.
* An episode of ''The Third'' features the superweapon Gravestone, whose creator made it in the image of his dead son and ended up trying not to use it for that reason.
* In ''H2OFootprintsInTheSand'', Hinata is a ReplacementGoldfish for [[spoiler:''her own sister''. Her older sister, the real Hinata, drowned, and the family forced Hotaru to replace her, telling everyone that Hotaru had died instead.]]
* In ''PetShopOfHorrors'', an early chapter of the manga which became the first episode of the anime involves the Count selling a "rabbit" to a pair of distraught parents - a "rabbit" who looks exactly like their dead daughter, Alice. They take her in and treat her exactly the same as their own daughter, [[spoiler:with disastrous results. It turns out that the "rabbit", when fed sweets, "gives birth to" (is eaten from within by) dozens of {{killer rabbit}}s, each of which go forth, kill, eat, and "give birth" to more killer bunnies until the town is overrun.]]
** Quite a few ''PetShopOfHorrors'' chapters deal with D giving a pet as a replacement for a lost child, spouse, or family member. Almost all of them appear human to the owners and (thankfully) they don't all end like Alice the Rabbit did. In one chapter, D is visited by a man whose famous fiancée just died and [[spoiler:gives him a mermaid that looks just like her...a mermaid which enchants and seduces him before devouring him]]. Another chapter has Leon's younger brother Chris bond with a Maya bird [[spoiler:which appears in the form of Chris and Leon's deceased mother, giving both a chance for emotional release before finally dying of old age]]. In fact, it was in that chapter that D comments on how the pets in his shop will deliberately take the form and role of whomever the owners want, including lost loved ones.
* In ''{{Sola}}'', we find out that the protagonist, Yorito, is actually [[spoiler:a replacement made out of paper by Aono to replace the REAL Yorito, who died sometime in the feudal era in a landslide. Using her paper manipulation abilities as a yaka, she basically planted dead!Yorito's personality and memories into origami!Yorito.]] The whole thing is a bit disturbing when you think about it.
** Near the end, [[spoiler:Aono uses her powers to control Yorito when he tries to intervene in a fight. Yorito calls her out on this and points out that she would never have done that to the real Yorito.]]
* [[spoiler:Shiina]] in ''{{Narutaru}}'' gets to be this in a ''very'' strange way in the manga. [[spoiler:She's a replacement for ''herself'' after she is killed by a fighter jet; it's basically the handiwork of her real {{Mon}}, the Earth itself, because she still has to fulfill her role in what will become of the world]].
** Not to mention that [[spoiler:if you believe the theory that Shiina drowned in the very first chapter, the Shiina we see throughout most of the manga is a replacement of ''that'' Shiina]]. And it's possible that there were other examples even before then. You gotta love ''{{Narutaru}}''.
* In ''[[CaptainHarlock Cosmo Warrior Zero]]'', the new first mate, Marina Oki, looks EXACTLY like Captain Zero's late wife.
** ''GalaxyExpress999'''s Maetel has a startling resemblance to KidHero Tetsuro's MissingMom. This is not a coincidence...
* The Manwha (and movie) ''Film/MySassyGirl'' is about [[spoiler: a man who meets a seemingly deranged woman who forces him to act like her deceased lover ("No soda, ''coffee!''"). By coincidence, the dead lover is the man's cousin.]]
* Sharem in ''ImmortalRain'' is so into her ReplacementGoldfish son that she has no issues with his...eccentricities or his [[KillEmAll views on humanity]].
* The second season of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has Rolo, who was [[spoiler:inserted into Lelouch's modified memories by Emperor Charles as part of a backup plan should Lelouch ever realize who he truly is.]]
* In ''FruitsBasket'', Yuki sees Tohru as a replacement mother figure.
** Kyo sees his sensei as a replacement father; the man in turn sees Kyo as a son.
* A story in ''MermaidSaga'' has Mana and Yuta meet a woman and her young son [[spoiler:who turn out to be both immortal and together since World War II. Turns out, the boy isn't the woman's biological child. He became immortal first and offered her a chance to eat the mermaid's flesh and be with him. She accepted because her own child died and she saw the boy as a replacement.]]
* In the ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'' novels, this can be a rather disturbing (and possibly implied) view of the two (male) twins that Gauron [[WifeHusbandry took in]]. It's revealed that Gauron had actually wanted to lure and take Sousuke in [[LoveAtFirstSight the first time he saw him]], giving him a "dark smile" (read: ''rapeface''), and, later, even coming out and saying that his plans for Sousuke had been less than pure (hint: it involves raping him). Later, Gauron ends up taking in two male twins that he tells Sousuke "were quite similar to you". It gets worse: The twins are both Asian (like Sousuke), and they are described using similar terms to Sousuke's physical looks ("slender" build, around the same age, with a similar sort of haircut, and one of the twins even uses the same kind of gun Sousuke normally uses - an automatic pistol, which was also why Kaname knew how that gun worked better than if he had been using a different kind).
* Happens twice in ''RahXephon''. The two main leads, Ayato and Haruka, inadvertently seek out a ReplacementGoldfish for one another after they're separated across time by the arrival of the Mulians. Haruka starts dating [[spoiler:Ayato's twin brother Itsuki]], and Ayato becomes infatuated with a girl named Reika [[spoiler: who's actually a spirit that's adopted the guise of Haruka ''because'' Ayato misses her that much.]]. Eventually, they are reunited and everything is set right with the help of the titular GiantMecha.
* ''GameXRush'' features the 'replacement child' type, with [[spoiler: Miyuki's damaged mind believing that Yuuki was her son, Memori... and that anyone who tried to say differently was clearly trying to take Memori from her, and thus should be stabbed until they're dead]].
* In one episode of ''GhostInTheShell:StandAloneComplex'', a woman wants to kill her ex-boyfriend and become the ReplacementGoldfish for him herself. Given that both are cyborgs with interchangeable bodies, it might even have worked in some twisted way.
** Considering how the writers are [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastards]] they never let us know whether or not she failed and if Pazu was or was not killed and replaced.
* In ''VampireKnight'', after noticing Yuuki's resemblence to her mother Juri, Yuuki's uncle Rido (who was in love with Juri) changed his plans from devouring Yuuki to keeping her as a substitute for Juri.
* In the original TV series of ''{{Hellsing}}'', studio Gonzo reveals in an interview of Newtype that the reason why Alucard turns Seras Victoria into a vampire was because 'her eyes' reminded him to 'Integra's' when she was a young girl. This is never brought up in the series, though they do make an emphasis on her eyes when he's about to shoot her.
* This shows up occasionally in the ''{{Dolls}}'' series with people trying to use the titular [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Ridiculously Human Robots]] as Replacement Goldfish. In one story, a little boy who is neglected by his mother is given a Doll that looks exactly like her for Christmas. When the boy tells his real mother that it's okay that she ignores him because he doesn't need her anymore, she has a HeelRealization -- which might have been the Doll's creator's goal all along. In another story, a woman who lost her son when a Doll accidentally drowned him in the bathtub and formed an anti-Doll terrorist group in response and begins to see the enforcer Doll (that looks like a young boy) that was sent to stop the group as a replacement son. The inventor of the Dolls nearly went through with this after his wife -- who helped invent the Dolls -- succumbed to a neurological disease that left her a listless shadow of her former self. In his grief, he designed a Doll that looked exactly like her and uploaded her memories into the Doll. When the Doll is activated and greets him with his wife's voice, he embraces it in joy -- but stops when the Doll calls him "Master". Coming to his senses, the man devotes himself to taking care of his invalid wife.
* An episode of ''Manga/BlackJack 21'' has the good doctor (and his assistant/adopted daughter/wife, Pinoco) befriend a young guy living in a developing country. Originally one half of a pair of identical twins, his brother was adopted as a ReplacementGoldfish for a wealthy man whose child (who looked identical to the brothers) perished in the same flood that rendered the twins orphans. The man hid the death of their child from his wife, and thus couldn't adopt both of them, forcing the twins to be separated, and the adopted twin to act like the long-dead boy in order to avoid breaking the heart of his adopted mother. (On top of this, she was injured during the flood and was left with a delicate health.) Cue his twin brother winding up mortally ill and in dire need of a kidney-transplant...and only one compatible donor in the city.
* In ''TenshiNiNarumon'', [[spoiler:Kai knows that Natsumi, who he is in love with, sees him just as a replacement for her dead brother Fuyuki, who Natsumi had obsessed over constantly since his death. He eventually decides that, for her own good, it would be the best if they parted ways]].
* In the original, 1969 ''{{Himitsu no Akko-chan}}'' series, Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami, the main protagonist, has to ask, for a school assignment, the origins of her name. She discovers that Atsuko was actually supposed to be her older sister who was stillborn. Being born a little girl, the "younger" Atsuko was given the name already used for her dead sibling, with no one ever mentioning that until she asked first.
* [[BigBad The Millennium Earl]] from ''DGrayMan'' uses this trope in what could be the most sadistic and horrible way ever invented. He takes advantage of the grief of somebody and offers him a ReplacementGoldfish of the loved one that he lost. This wouldn't be that bad if the replacement wasn't an EldritchAbomination that will kill the person who invoked it and use his body as a disguise so it can wander outside looking for more victims without being spotted. Not to mention that [[AndIMustScream the soul of the invoked one will be permanently attached to the monster until an exorcist frees it.]]
* Kagome of ''Manga/InuYasha'' has major insecurites over the fact that she may be the title character's ReplacementGoldfish for his lost love, Kikyou, aka [[{{Reincarnation}} Kagome's self in her past life]]. As the love plot thickens and Kikyo is brought back to life, it continues to play into Kagome's inferiority complex that Inuyasha will eventually return to her.
* An interesting variation in ''TenchiMuyo'': In the OAV timeline, Sasami's connection to Tsunami began when Sasami, as a toddler, fell from a near-fatal height to the base of Tsunami's tree. To do so, Tsunami saved her by combining their lifeforce to heal the little girl; however, Sasami didn't understand and was afraid that she might just be Tsunami's copy of the real girl, and so carried the secret for years for fear of losing her family's love. When it's revealed, however, Tenchi and the other girls didn't exactly care, and Ayeka openly told her that she was still Sasami.
* In ''Anime/MawaruPenguindrum'', [[spoiler: Ringo Oginome]] actually ''aims'' to become one of this in regards to [[spoiler: her deceased older sister, Momoka, even when her parents had not asked her for anything by these lines.]] By episode 14, [[spoiler: she has decided to not go through it]].
** [[spoiler: For major irony, however, right as Ringo gives up on the whole deal... it turns out that Momoka's UnluckyChildhoodFriend Yuri Tokikago ''does'' see Ringo as a RG for her, since [[StrongFamilyResemblance she looks and acts almost exactly as Momoka would if she still lived]]. Unfortunately, [[BrokenBird Yuri is so mentally/emotionally broken]] at that point that she drugs Ringo and then gets ready to ''rape'' her. She ultimately doesn't go through it.]]
* ''FamilyCompo'' revolves around this. The adult protagonist is taken in by his aunt (who is near-identical to his deceased mother), her husband, and their daughter. The protagonist [[KissingCousins has romantic feelings]] toward his cousin but other than that they act like a typical family.
* Midori Wakatsuki's foster parents in ''Manga/EdenNoHana'' adopted her to fill in the blank left by the death of her biological daughter Reika. Her mentally-broken foster mom treats her with relative kindness, but calls her by the dead little girl's name and acts as if Midori was the real Reika. Her issues are made worse by the fact that [[BrotherSisterIncest her stepbrother]] [[RapeAsDrama sexually abuses her]].
* {{Franken Fran}} has one truly brilliant {{subversion}} of this trope. One story follows a robotics expert asking for Fran's help in putting his dying wife's personality and memories into a robot program so he never has to lose her. [[spoiler:In usual ironic fashion, he uses the program to make his new robot model, gets rich by selling them and starts to mess around with other women while ignoring his wife's robotic form because he doesn't believe it's her anymore.]] In comes karma like a steamroller, [[spoiler:with a large army of robots with his wife's personality eventually become far too lonely and all go after him, unaware of their own strength and nearly kill him.]] When Fran enters the picture again, [[spoiler:a robot remaining asks that he be saved so they can be together forever, and Fran figures there's only one way to do that properly. She turns him into a robotic program as well, that becoming his second model and him being so scared that he becomes a floor mat to the innocent wife robot.]]
* In ''LightNovel/SakurasouNoPetNaKanojo'', Misaki's older sister, Fuuka, tells Jin in episode 11 that she sees herself as this to him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''[[LoisMcMasterBujold Ethan of Athos]]'': Terrance brings his wife's corpse to the best scientists money can buy and asks them to revive her. They can't, but offer to create a clone identical to Janine in looks, personality, and mannerisms - perhaps even with a few improvements. Terrance declines, but he does have the scientists splice her DNA into donor ovaries so that he can have thousands or millions of Janine's babies.
** Averted with prejudice in the same series's ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Mirror Dance]]'', by both Miles' and his mother Cordelia's emphatic refusal to treat Miles's clone Mark as anything but Miles' brother. One of the reasons for this is that in the setting, most civilized societies with cloning technology treat a clone as legally either the child of the person who originally commissioned its creation, or the sibling of the clone's genetic progenitor.
* In ''Forever Amber'', the heroine Amber marries the creepy, elderly Earl of Radclyffe. It turns out he's attracted to her because of her resemblance to his long-lost love, Judith, and even has Amber wear Judith's wedding gown. Neither Radclyffe nor Amber realize that [[spoiler:Judith was Amber's mother]].
* In ''Double Identity'', [[spoiler:Bethany was cloned from her parents' deceased daughter Elizabeth]].
* Inverted and played straight in Dave Duncan's ''Strings''.
* In one JamesHerriot's Yorkshire vet books, he is trying to clip the beak of a bird (a needed procedure for the health of the bird) belonging to an old, blind lady who is easily upset. The bird dies, and he stares with horror at it. He and the caretaker conspire to buy another exactly like it. The lady accepts it as the original. [[spoiler:except she mentions the bird never sang so much before- clipping its beak did wonders!]]
* ''My Sweet Audrina'' by VCAndrews has an odd twist to this trope. Audrina, the title character, is a girl living in the constant shadow of her elder sister who had died nine years before she was born, and her parents have absolutely no qualms about letting their daughter know that she was born and raised for the sole purpose of replacing her dead sister. [[spoiler:But as it turns out, Audrina and her sister are one and the same. Audrina had a very sheltered life and, on one of the few times she was allowed to walk home without an escort, she was attacked and raped. She managed to get home safe and sound, but after a few suicide attempts her father forced her into [[LaserGuidedAmnesia electro-convulsive therapy]] in order to erase her memory of the event. Many of her supposed mental problems, as well as the personality defects her parents are constantly trying to fix, are caused by the initial treatment and the constant confusion her parents keep her in to maintain the amnesia]]. And, as it turns out, that's only ''one'' of her problems...
** VCAndrews is very fond of this trope. Another example is in the ''Heaven'' series, in which the titular character dyes her hair blond to resemble the [[DeathByChildbirth mother she never knew]]. Problem is, this causes her father (who ''already'' seems to be displaying an unhealthy interest in her) to confuse her with her mother (whom he raped, resulting in Heaven's birth), to the point where he tries to force himself on her. This is still a subverted example, as she chose to dye her hair rather than being pressured into it, but in the next book, her daughter ''is'' pressured into doing this by her grandfather (she's living with him, recovering from injuries sustained in the car accident that killed her parents). Sure enough, she nearly becomes his victim as well.
** In the "Gemini" series, the main character, Celeste, is forced to take on the identity of her dead twin brother by her mother. Yeah.
* ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' was the replacement for his [[RaisedByWolves ape mother's]] dead infant.
* [[BrokenAce Kaladin]] [[spoiler:collects young draftees into his squad as replacements for his dead brother Tien]] in ''[[Literature/TheStormlightArchive The Way of Kings]]''.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Only In Death'', after [[spoiler:Caffran]]'s death, [[spoiler:Dalin Criid]] is slotted into [[spoiler:his father]]'s place in the Ghosts. He bitterly resents it but is aware that he can do nothing to stop it.
* Elizabeth-Jane Newson/Henchard in ''The Mayor of Casterbridge''.
* Literature/HarryPotter to Sirius Black. Harry's strong physical resemblance to his father James makes him a substitute for his best friend when Sirius escaped prison. This causes some tension between the two in the text when Harry is revealed to be less daring than James and Sirius is unable to handle it appropriately (saying things like "you're not so like your father at all" and "the danger is what would have made it fun for James" (paraphrasing)), and is reflected also in the film version when Sirius actually calls Harry by James' name in the battle scene where he dies. This ReplacementGoldfish situation is also what prevents Sirius from being the father figure that Harry desires, and Harry from being the best friend that Sirius desires, neither are able to fully transition into the Godfather/Godson relationship because of their inability to get past the physical similarities that James and Harry had. Harry can't be the James that Sirius remembers because he never knew him, and Sirius can't be the father that Harry craves because he's trapped by the trauma of his youth.
* [[spoiler: Sansa Stark]] is apparently one of this for [[spoiler: her mother Cat's UnluckyChildhoodFriend, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]] in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.
** And when Cersei gets separated from her brother Jaime, she uses her cousin Lancel as one of these. [[spoiler:Complete with sleeping with him]].
*** Also, Cersei's marriage was doomed as Robert Baratheon treated her like one for his lost love, Lyanna Stark.
** Daenerys is one for [[spoiler: Jorah Mormont's estranged wife, Lynesse Hightower.]]
** In a very screwed-up version of this trope, Theon Greyjoy [[spoiler: ends up being ''made'' into a replacement for Ramsay Bolton's servant Reek, via horrific torture and mental condition.]]
* In ''Jessica'', Ruthie seems to have a rather odd version of this. Her ImaginaryFriend, Jessica, is her constant companion, always eager to play whatever game Ruthie devises and willing to take the blame for Ruthie's actions. Ruthie's parents are unamused and do not play along. Shortly before starting kindergarten, they suggest that Jessica should stay home. Ruthie, of course, takes her along anyway. After spending the majority of the day homesick and unhappy with only Jessica for companionship, Ruthie is approached by a girl volunteering to be her partner. Ruthie, unsure, brightens up considerably when the girl's name happens to be Jessica. Soon they are best friends, illustrations showing them happily doing all the activities that Ruthie and the first Jessica enjoyed.
* In Edith Pattou's ''East'', main character Rose was born to replace [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth her dead older sister Elise]], their mother's favorite of her (altogether) eight children.
* In the ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' series, Duncan Idaho (who was killed in the first book) is eventually resurrected as a series of clones (which become pretty much disposable at one point). Eventually, the Idaho clones learn to awaken their latent memories of the past.
* ''{{Rebecca}}'', by Daphne du Maurier, is an inversion of this. The second Mrs. de Winter spends most of the book failing to live up to the memory of Rebecca, her husband's first wife, who had drowned accidentally. She is explicitly told, often, that she doesn't measure up, by Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca's personal maid. The second Mrs. de Winter becomes more and more desperate in her attempts to live up to Rebecca's memory, because Mrs. Danvers has her convinced that that is what Maxim, her husband, wants. Just when the second Mrs. De Winter (she is never given a first name, and the book is a first person narrative) is near a breakdown, and Mrs. Danvers suggests that she throw herself out of a window, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Maxim never really loved Rebecca, and in fact, came to hate her, because she was cruel, cold, manipulative, and unfaithful. Not only that, she had taunted him one night until he murdered her, by telling him she was pregnant with another man's child, which she intended that he would support.]] It doesn't end there, and [[spoiler: Maxim is vindicated,]] so they can go on with their lives together.
* In the novel ''Literature/{{Skinned}}'', if a person dies but their brain is intact, the brain is scanned and the information is placed into a human-like robot body. Sometimes a person will choose to have it done to themselves. The main character of the book, Lia, is "killed" in a car accident, but her parents choose to keep her around as an android. Needless to say, this causes many emotional difficulties for both the now-robot Lia and her family.
* In the German novel ''The Adopted Room'' by A. Michaelis, 11-years old boy Achim is adopted by a family. He later discovers that they had a son called Arnim who died in an accident when he was 4 - and they were born very close to each other. He contemplates that this is the reason he was adopted by them, despite having asthma.
* At least twice in the ''SweetValleyHigh'' series, Steven ditches his girlfriend Cara to pursue girls who resemble his dead girlfriend Tricia. To make matters worse, he refuses to see either girl as her own person and instead tries to mold them into Tricia's image--the food they eat, places they go, interests that they have. Not until one of the girls finally blasts him for this and declares that she deserves better than being used as a substitute does he finally realize how unhealthy his behavior is.
* [[spoiler:Daphne]] in ''Literature/TheGoldenOecumene'' made a replacement for ''herself'' as a last gift to her lover before retreating into a LotusEaterMachine, making its personality an exaggerated parody of everything she thinks her lover wanted in her. CloningBlues are touched upon, but the duplicate eventually develops its own sense of selfhood--and in any event, [[spoiler:the lover is also an ArtificialHuman, having been created from a computer simulation.]]
* The BerenstainBears book "The Berenstain Bears Lose A Friend" featured a literal replacement goldfish like the Monk example below. Sister's goldfish died and Papa got her a lookalike to try to keep her from noticing and getting sad. It only worked for a short time.
* Nurse Agnes Meredith in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' starts hoarding dolls after losing her son Merrin in the first book - after all, with dolls you at least know what you are with.
* [[spoiler:Descarta]] of ''Literature/WithinRuin'' is originally one of these for [[spoiler:Virgil]]'s first love Ankaa. However he comes to love her for herself and decides not to put Ankaa's soul into her has he originally intended. [[spoiler:Descarta]] is completely taken surprise by this revelation.
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', Katniss can't help but see her little sister Prim in Rue, both being the same age and roughly the same size. When [[spoiler: Rue was dying]], Katniss actually calls her "Prim" in her thoughts before correcting herself.
* In Creator/PeterDickinson's book ''Eva'', scientists have developed a procedure where the neural patterns of one creature can be 'regrown' in the brain of another creature, thereby preserving the mind. One of the scientists is in a horrible car accident with his wife and daughter. [[spoiler:When his daughter is left shattered and in an irreversible coma, the procedure is done on her, placing her mind in the body of a chimpanzee.]] It's a roller coaster from there.

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' featured a literal replacement goldfish. Natalie's daughter, Julie, had a goldfish given to her by her father who was subsequently killed in combat. Natalie repeatedly replaces the goldfish so that the daughter won't lose this emotional link to her father. Unfortunately, she does this well beyond the average lifespan of the domestic goldfish, which Julie's science teacher notices.
* ''DenjiSentaiMegaranger'' has Shibolena, the android created in the shape of Dr. Hinelar's daughter, Shizuka.
** Earlier than that, ''ChoudenshiBioman'' had the Black Prince, who was created in the shape of Doctor Man's son, Shuichi. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Shuichi is actually alive, and met the Biomen after the Black Prince's demise. In fact, his appearance revealed that Doctor Man [[WasOnceAMan was once]] [[IncrediblyLamePun a man]]]].
** And in one episode of ''TaiyouSentaiSunVulcan'', Black Magma builds a robot replica of a scientist's dead daughter in exchange for his creating a lethal poison. [[spoiler:The robot eventually accepts the scientist as its father and refuses to kill him when ordered to, leading the villains to destroy it.]]
* K9 from ''Series/DoctorWho'' was created by Professor Marius to replace the dog he couldn't take to his new home, Titan.
** Also used with K9 in a later episode; after bidding farewell to Leela and K9, the Doctor immediately takes out a box marked "K9 Mark II".
*** And ''again'' in the new series, with K9 Mark IV being given to Sarah Jane Smith immediately after the heroic sacrifice of K9 Mark III.
** Also in the Doctor Who episode Journey's End, when [[spoiler:Rose must return to the alternate universe she was trapped in for two years, The Doctor gives her a replacement copy created when he transferred his regeneration energy into his severed hand, and Donna touched it, creating a second Doctor]]
*** Not to mention, the whole ending of "Doomsday", where Jackie becomes alternate-Pete's replacement for alternate-Jackie, and alternate-Pete becomes Rose and Jackie's replacement for Pete, and Mickey becomes the replacement for Ricky (alternate-Mickey).
** Also, in the Doctor's Daughter, Jenny could be seen as a replacement goldfish to his family on Galifrey, which he remarked had died previously. Though as far as the Doctor knows, he's lost Jenny as well, so not much of a replacement.
* In ''DarkAngel'', Max is eventually informed by her former commander and father figure, Donald Lydecker, who had been hunting her and the other escaped X5s for a long time, that her genetic code contains DNA preserved from his dead wife. She is not an exact duplicate, "more like inspired by".
* A really unpleasant twist for Michael Knight occurs in Series/KnightRider. Turns out ''he's'' the replacment for his benefactors rotten-apple of a son.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Requiem for Methuselah", Rayna is a replacement for a woman from Flint's past.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Dr. Noonien Soong replaced his wife with an android (with her memories) despite the fact that she was going to divorce him. He went to such extreme measures to make her seem human, even the most advanced technological equipment and everyone she ever met, [[spoiler:except Data]], couldn't tell the difference.
** Actually, Soong stated in a recording that he didn't just replace his wife; he transferred her whole mind into an android body while she was in a coma. Another cyberneticist, Ira Graves, did this with Data in a previous episode in order to cheat death. Soong's wife was still the same person, but had unknowingly become a TomatoInTheMirror who would never find out.
*** Data himself is arguably a replacement for Lore.
*** And in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', [[spoiler: B4 is clearly set up to become one for Data.]]
** [[spoiler:Data]] himself didn't know Soong's wife was an android until her arm came off.
* ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'': This is the origin of [[spoiler: the Cylon Centurions. Replace a goldfish (namely your dead daughter),]] set in motion the end of your civilization.
** Oh, and Cavil was made [[spoiler:in the image of Ellen's father.]]
** All the human models seem to be [[spoiler: Ellen and Tigh's replacement children and/or the Final Five's replacement PEOPLE.]]
* Lighthearted example:In the original ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic Battlestar Galactica]]'', the robotic-drone [[CallARabbitASmeerp daggit]] [[hottip:*:((AKA a dog))]] replica Muffet II was created as a replacement for Boxey's pet daggit Muffet who was killed by falling debris during the attack on Caprica.
* In a more realistic version, ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had Dean replace his dead mother by looking after both his father and his brother when he shouldn't had to. [[LoveMartyr And]] [[MartyrWithoutACause we]] [[DrivenToSuicide all]] [[HeroicBSOD know]] [[DeathSeeker how]] [[BreakTheCutie well]] [[TheChewToy that]] [[TheWoobie turned]] [[SadClown out]].
* ''Series/HamishMacbeth'': The episode "Wee Jock's Lament" [[spoiler:has the title character's dog, Jock, run over and killed at the beginning of the episode. At the end of the episode, he ends up receiving another dog of the same breed as a reward for solving the crime of the week -- and he names it Jock]].
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': As of the volume 4 finale, [[spoiler: Sylar has become one for Nathan Petrelli, complete with his [[EasyAmnesia memories being wiped]] and [[FakeMemories replaced with those of Nathan]], his [[ShapeShifting shapeshifting ability]] being used to turn him into a lookalike of Nathan (which, since he doesn't remember that he can shapeshift, leaves him effectively [[ShapeshifterModeLock mode-locked]]), and the [[FakingTheDead burning of a fake Sylar body]] to convince him that Sylar is most definitely [[KilledOffForReal dead for good]]. Of course, that still leaves [[HereWeGoAgain the hunger that made Gabriel Gray into Sylar in the first place...]]]]
* A mad scientist in one episode of ''{{Sliders}}'' was, in fact, his robotic replica without even knowing it.
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': [[spoiler:Peter Bishop. The Peter from our universe died as a child and in his grief, Walter, his MadScientist father, dragged an [[AlternateUniverse alt-reality]] Peter into our world as a replacement.]]
* "Hi. I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl." On ''{{Newhart}}'', you didn't even have to be adopted to be a ReplacementGoldfish.
* In the ''{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "Man on the Street" (1x06), an Internet billionaire, Joel Mynor, uses Echo as a replacement for his dead wife Rebecca, but only once a year - the anniversary of her death in a car crash on her way to the new house Joel bought when he finally hit it big in business. Later, toward the end of "A Love Supreme" (2x08), Echo - who now can control the 40 personalities in her brain - briefly becomes "Rebecca" for the last time to give her blessing to Joel's remarriage.
** In the episode "Instinct" (2x02), another Rich Dude rents Echo as a longer-term replacement for his wife and mother of his infant child; again, the client's wife had died too young (in this case, of complications from the birth).
* In ''ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', Dreamy Pastures Insurance offers, as a life insurance policy, to replace your dead loved one with someone "prettier and kinder", usually in the Russian bride mold.
* The golem in ''TheXFiles'' episode "Kaddish" is also a replacement goldfish, [[spoiler: specifically created by the fiancee of an assassinated man to "play" him in a fake wedding]].
* Juliet from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' is made into this twice, both times by Ben. The first time, he tries to use her as a replacement goldfish for Jack's ex-wife Sarah to further his MindScrew on him. Then before that, for himself as a replacement goldfish for his [=MIA=] childhood sweetheart Annie.
* ''Series/AaronStone'' (the ''series'', not the character) is essentially meant to be this for the long running PowerRangers franchise, especially considering [[ScrewedByTheNetwork what had been going on]] with [[Series/PowerRangersRPM RPM]].
** And how'd it work? ''AaronStone'' ran for a total of 35 episodes. ''PowerRangers'' is still going strong after a ChannelHop. Nobody (but the network, likely) is shocked.
* Dewey did this in an episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' with, indeed, a goldfish.
** A subversion of this trope, since Dewey kept replacing the goldfish in order to fool his parents into believing he could reliably care for a pet so he could have a dog.
* It is hinted in ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' that Allison Young and Future!John have a relationship, and that Cameron may be her replacement in more ways than one...
* The Buffybot in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' doesn't start out this way, but after [[spoiler: Buffy dies]] at the end of Season 5, one of the series' more poignant scenes features Dawn, missing her big sister, lying down next to the Buffybot and cuddling with the robot as it charges.
** Well, it actually sort of did start out that way, since it was built by Warren to be Spike's DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest for Buffy who rejected his advances. Ironically [[spoiler:after Buffy's death]] Spike can't stand to look at the Buffybot, and is disgusted when it obeys its earlier programming and tries to flirt with him.
* In the British comedy series ''TheVicarOfDibley'', Alice (the vicar's assistant) had a reincarnating budgie named Carrot. She never realized until the vicar told her that her mother kept buying her new budgies after each one died, [[TheDitz even though the budgies looked completely different]].
* Parodied in ''Elvis And Slick Monty''. In one episode, Slick had to get a literal replacement goldfish after [[DropInCharacter Dr. Leon]] [[CloudCuckoolander ate Elvis's old one while he is away]], only for Leon to eat the replacement goldfish itself. With no time left to get another one, Slick stuck Dr. Leon's hand into the bowl. Elvis [[TooDumbToLive was fooled]].
* In the ''LawAndOrderSVU'' episode "Locum", a couple is revealed to have adopted a orphan girl simply because she looked almost identical to their biological daughter who was lost years before. To make the newly adopted kid look as much like their lost child as possible, the parents (mostly the mother) forced the 8-12 year old to wear the girl's clothes, dye her hair, and even get a nose job. The kicker? [[spoiler:The biological daughter is found by the police alive and, at the end of the episode, is returned to her parents as the replacement daughter watches on.]]
* Nancy for Nellie Oleson on ''LittleHouseOnThePrairie''.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In Season 5 Wesley's LoveInterest 'Fred' Burkle is killed so her body can by used by [[EldritchAbomination Illyria]]. In exchange for Illyria agreeing not to kill anyone, Wesley acts as Illyria's guide to this strange new world she's been reborn into. Angel flat-out asks Wes if he's in love with Illyria; he denies it adding, "But I do need her." Wes does try to limit this trope -- when Illyria [[ShapeshiftingSeducer offers to take Fred's form]] to [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove understand human relationships]] Wes is outraged and refuses to speak to her for a while. Just before the GrandFinale, which no-one expects to survive, Team Angel spend their time doing simple things they enjoy. Wes on the other hand just tends to Illyria's wounds, and she once again offers to comfort him by taking Fred's form, but Wesley refuses because he knows Fred is gone and to accept anything else would be a lie. "And since I don't actually intend to die tonight, I won't accept a lie." When Wes receives a fatal wound, Illyria asks "Do you want me to lie to you now?" Wes agrees, and Illyria morphs into Fred, telling Wesley she loves him and that they'll be together in the afterlife.
* By the series finale of {{Caprica}}, Daniel and Amanda Graystone have fully accepted the Zoe avatar as a substitute for their dead daughter (it helps that she possesses almost every memory that the original Zoe did), even providing her with a physical body so she can interact with the real world.
* Subverted in ''Series/DirkGently'', where Professor Jericho has built a voice-responsive RobotKid named after his daughter, who died in a car crash. However [[spoiler: the real Elaine is not really dead but in a coma, Jericho is in denial that she's not going to recover, and far from transfering his affection to the robot, he's planning to sell her to China]].
* TheBorgias has [[TheScrappy Ursula Bonadeo]], [[VillainProtagonist Cesare's]] love interest. He meets Ursula while visibly distraught during his sister Lucrezia's wedding, and essentially transfers his [[IncestSubtext obsession with Lucrezia]] to Ursula. They share the same hair color/clothing styles, and both suffer from abusive husbands. [[IncestYayShipping Fans]] love pointing out how many of Cesare's conversations and even poses with Ursula mimic his interactions with Lucrezia.
* In the second episode of ''[[Series/{{Eureka}} EUReKA]]'' it is revealed that a scientist (after his wife leaves him) makes a clone of his wife and acts as if she had never left, even having a child with the clone.
* This trope is discussed by name - and involving an actual goldfish - in a second series episode of ''Series/BeingHuman''.
* In the ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' episode "Saving Face," a wealthy couple have a new kid to replace their treasured son, whom they view as having possessed MartyStu levels of perfection. Their daughter is perpetually TheUnfavorite her entire life and eventually resorts to crime in her desperation to gain her parents' approval.
* On ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Raj becomes closer friends with Stewart, the local comic book shop owner, after his {{Heterosexual Life Partner| s}} Howard Wolowitz gets married and goes to space. At one point Sheldon even refers to him as "fake Wolowitz" and insists that if Stewart if is hanging around the group more now he has to act just like Wolowitz. It's worth noting, however, that [[TheChewToy Stewart is also a very lonely individual]] and was more than happy to be recognized as the replacement so long as he gets companionship out of it.
* Tony on {{NCIS}} has a goldfish named Kate, after a teammate who died early in the series.
* In the ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode ''Be Right Back'' there is a whole online service devoted to replacing loved ones with an online relationship. [[spoiler: And if the client wishes it; to have a full replica of the person.]]
* [[BlackComedy Darkly]] subverted in ''OneFootInTheGrave''; after accidentally killing the tortoise they were looking after for a neighbour, [[GrumpyOldMan Victor]] comes clean to them. But his wife Margaret has already replaced the tortoise with a new one and not informed Victor [[spoiler: and the episode ends with the neighbour and their tearful daughter burying the Replacement Tortoise alive]].

[[folder:Music]]
* The song "Silver Bride" by the folk metal band Amorphis is about a widower who creates a woman of gold and silver to serve as this. It was inspired by a passage from ''Literature/TheKalevala'', the Finnish national epic that has inspired much of Amorphis' work.
* In Music/TheProtomen's RockOpera, VideoGame/MegaMan is a goldfish for the fallen Proto Man. In a way, Proto Man could be seen as a variation - the son Dr Light never had, since Wily murdered his girlfriend.
** ''TheMegas'' version of Protoman also sees Megaman as this.
* The title character of the Music/{{Voltaire}} song "The Mechanical Girl" was created by a tinker who had lost his daughter and made her to be a new one.
** Although Voltaire takes pains to avert this trope; the tinker is specifically making himself a ''new'' daughter, not a clone of the former one:
--> ''"...his daughter passed away that summer
--> and though he knew he could not replace her
--> he missed his family"''

[[folder:Myth and Religion]]
* A [[Literature/TheBible Biblical]] example: God/Satan punish Job by killing off all seven of his sons and three of his daughters in the beginning of the Book of Job. At the end of the Book of Job, Job bears a replacement seven sons and three daughters, and said daughters are specifically stated to be the most beautiful in the land.
* In ''Literature/TheKalevala'', mythical master smith Ilmarinen is widowed and, in his loneliness, searches for a new wife. No maiden accepts him, fearing to meet the fate of his dead wife. Having forged the sky and the miracle machine Sampo, he decides to make himself a perfect wife from silver and gold. It turns out badly, as the new wife says nothing, feels nothing, and is as cold as a stone. In the end, disappointed Ilmarinen pushed her back into the forge, destroying her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]
* In ''{{Exalted}}'', the Celestial Exalted get reborn after they die. The Exalted part goes on into a new person, retaining some small bits of its memories and personality traits, while the human part dies. Most new Exalts are treated by their peers that remember their previous lives as being the same person, even though they are not and have personalities of their own. (Swan was Desus, Contentious Sword etc)
* In the storyline for the ''MagicTheGathering'' set ''Planeshift'', Yawgmoth (the Big Bad) grants Crovax (the Dragon) a Replacement Goldfish for his lost love, Selenia. Later Crovax lures Gerrard (the main protagonist) to the dark side with false promises of a Replacement Goldfish of his own, though Gerrard sees through the ruse in time. It is unclear whether Crovax realizes that his Selenia Mark II is not the genuine article.
* In 4th Edition ''DungeonsAndDragons'', there is an Epic Destiny called "Hordemaster." As one of its features, you gain a number of followers that, upon your death, take up your mantle until such a time you can be resurrected. Conveniently, your replacement is mechanically identical to you, but your party might not be so warm to him/her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In the anime and videogame of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', the character of MOMO was an ArtificialHuman reconstruction of her creator's daughter, Sakura.
** He went a little further than that with Momo being the 100th Replacement Goldfish he created in a full scale production line of androids with her face. His wife, on the other hand, was none too pleased with seeing a hundred copies of her dead daughter running about the galaxy and mentioned as much.
** Something of an unusual example, as MOMO and the others were originally only meant to replace part of Sakura, as she suffered from a disease similar to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-In_syndrome Locked In Syndrome]] and MOMO was meant to become a new body for her. It was only after the poor kid bit it that Mizrahi decided to go the whole hog and use MOMO as a full Replacement Goldfish.
*** This becomes a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming in the third game when Mizrahi tells MOMO that he had long since accepted that he would never get his daughter back, and had truly grown to love his 'second daughter' as a completely separate being.
**** Scores more heartwarming when Juli herself accepts this fact too.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'', the BigBad tried to clone his long-lost love. It ended ''badly''.
* Subversion: In ''[[SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam and Max: Season 1]]'', Sam and Max actually get a replacement goldfish, and they worry he'll find out.
** In Season Two, the Goldfish dies, and returns from Hell to kill them. They replace him in their office with a stone replica naming it as the prophesied leader of the sea chimpanzees.
** At the end of Season Three, [[spoiler:Max is killed, but Sam meets another Max from an AlternateUniverse who had similar adventures, but Sam died in that universe instead. They're each other's replacement goldfish]].
* In the ''Rockman.EXE''/''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, [[spoiler:Rockman/Mega Man was made by Netto/Lan's father FROM his dead son Saito/Hub]]. In later games, this is spoken of casually. This is also the reason Netto/Lan can use his EleventhHourSuperpower.
** The sequel series, ''Ryuusei no Rockman''/''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', [[spoiler:the robot Empty/Hollow is a replacement for the BigBad Orihime/Vega's dead husband. Ironically, she never pays proper attention to him because he isn't an exact copy, but he ends up developing a soul and falling for her.]]
* In the Nintendo DS game ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'', [[spoiler:Lady Dahlia is a robot, like everyone else in St. Mystere except for Flora. She was created by Baron Reinhold to be a replacement for his dead wife. However, her existence as a replacement for the dead wife was so traumatic to his daughter that he had the robot's memory wiped and the Lady Dahlia personality created instead.]]
* ''SilentHill'' example: [[spoiler:Maria]], who was born from [[spoiler:James' wish to be with his dead wife Mary.]]
** In ''SilentHill3'', Heather is, in a way, a ReplacementGoldfish for Cheryl. Slightly different in the fact that she [[spoiler:is the reincarnation of Cheryl and Alessa (who were originally one person to begin with. At the end of the game, she starts going by Cheryl again.]]
* According to the enemy notes and her appearance, in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', [[spoiler:[[RobotMaid Lil' Miss Marshmallow]] was built by Porky to replace his human maid, Electra, from the previous game (''VideoGame/EarthBound''), who he apparently had a crush on and who he could no longer be with due to TimeTravel problems.]]
* This is the backstory behind the Prismriver Sisters from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''. A long time ago, a man named Count Prismriver had four daughters, but he tragically died and the sisters were orphaned. Each went their separate ways, but the youngest couldn't bear to part with her sisters, so she created three poltergeists with the appearances and personalities of her sisters.
** Reisen Inaba used to be owned by the Watatsuki sisters but after fleeing to earth and becoming an outlaw, the Watatsuki sisters still felt attached to Reisen and named their new pet Reisen as well.
* This is also the backstory of ''Seihou''[='s=] (''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''[='s=] "sister" series) main character [[ArtificialHuman VIVIT]]; Erich, the developer of Saboten energy, suffered an accident that left him a cyborg and took his daughter's life. Thus, VIVIT was created by him as a replacement for the original Vivit. And because Erich [[DirtyOldMan is a bit of a perv]], he dressed his robo-surrogate-daughter [[{{Meido}} in a maid outfit]].
* In ''RogueGalaxy'', Steve was created as a replacement of sorts for Dr. Pocacchio's son Mark, and apparently has some of Mark's thoughts in his neural network.
* This becomes glaringly obvious when you play the prequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII: CrisisCore'', when you realise that all of that cool stuff Cloud did? Zack did it first, and Aeris noticed.
* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' you have the option to help a woman get back her droid. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he became a replacement for the woman's dead husband. '''In a lot of ways.''' If you find him, he asks you to end his misery.]] "Wow. She really misses her droid, doesn't she?"
* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' lets you buy [[spoiler:Tiptron]] in place of [[spoiler:Tippi/Timpani after you lose her to Count Bleck/Blumiere]]. You'll ''want'' to do so more likely than not.
* Mona, the protagonist of ''AVampyreStory'', is the latest in a protracted line of ReplacementGoldfish for the villain, Shrowdy von Keifer. After his mother vanished, he went a little goony (well, moreso than usual - the dialog is peppered with implications that even before the Baroness disappeared, Shrowdy was everything wrong with mama's boys) and started kidnapping young women and keeping them in his castle. It's stated once or twice that Mona's been around the longest of all of them because she bears an uncanny resemblance to the missing Baroness.
* In ''VideoGame/MoonCrystal'', Ricky is aided by a mysterious girl named Rosina who claims to be the daughter of [[BigBad Count Crimson]]. It is later revealed [[spoiler: that Rosina is, in fact, an automated corpse; she died long ago and Crimson used the Moon Crystal to bring her back to a half-living state.]]
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', where [[spoiler:Luke is a replica of Asch, created by the BigBad prior to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo the prophesied death]] of the original in order to die in the original's place]]. While considered little more than a cheap knock-off by his creator, the people who genuinely care never consider him a replacement, [[spoiler:because they weren't in on his creation in the first place and considered the two to be distinctly individual people when they learn the truth]].
** The one instance this is actually played straight in the game is with [[spoiler:Nebilim]], who was intended to 'replace' [[spoiler:the person she is a replica of]] on an emotional level.
*** Actually, [[spoiler:Ion is another instance, as the Ion you travel with turns out to be a replica of the original Fon Master Ion, who died two years prior to the game's events. After this Ion [[KillTheCutie is killed]] as well, he's replaced yet again with another goldfish, Florian.]]
* Likely unintentional, but in ''HarvestMoon: Animal Parade,'' if you decide to start a [[NewGamePlus new game]] when your child recently grew up, your spouse might suggest to have a second child before your first leaves on their journey (although, you can't continue your file after they leave anyway, sooo...).
* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': "I loved my chosen. How then to face the day when she left me? So I took from her body a single cell, perhaps to love her again."
* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', the scientist Corin builds a clockwork replacement for his daughter, Orianna. Because she had wanted to compete in the league, he also made her a killer robot. She has at least some of the original's memories, but her personality seems a bit limited, and everyone but her questionably sane father finds her unsettling.
* ''VideoGame/OverBlood'': It turns out [[spoiler: that Milly is a clone from the villain's wife who died, she still has all the memories in tact so she would still love him. Didn't work.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration 2'', Lemon Browning is revealed to have been an android (or possibly resurrected cyborg) made by the parents of an alternate universe Excellen Browning, who didn't survive the near-death incident of her backstory. However, her parents quickly realized the disrespect they had done to their daughter, and rejected Lemon ([[FridgeBrilliance which may explain her name]]). This is apparently what motivated her to create human-like androids of her own, and why she was actually happy when one of them made friends and betrayed her for their sake.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. Partway through the second act, [[spoiler: Hawke will meet a "Quentin", who has been killing women throughout Kirkwall to recreate his diseased wife out of their body parts, using BloodMagic.]]
* In the ''{{Pokemon}}'' fandom, some consider [[GirlyGirl Lyra]] to be this to [[{{Tomboy}} Kris]], even going as far as to refer to one of the ships involving the former as Replacement Shipping (Ethan x Lyra).
* Done subtly, but very creepily in {{Robotrek}} on the SNES. Nagisa is an android created by the protagonist's father to look after him. She's also modeled to look like his dead wife, something you can easily miss via dialogue until a flashback midway through the game shows the protagonist's mother.
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* In the second episode of ''EUReKA'' it is revealed that a scientist (after his wife leaves him) makes a clone of his wife and acts as if she had never left, even having a child with the clone.

* On TheBigBangTheory Raj becomes closer friends with Stewart, the local comic book shop owner, after his HetrosexualLifePartner Howard Wolowitz gets married and goes to space. At one point Sheldon even refers to him as "fake Wolowitz" and insists that if Stewart if is hanging around the group more now he has to act just like Wolowitz. It's worth noting, however, that Stewart is also a very lonely individual and was more than happy to be recognized as the replacement so long as he gets companionship out of it.

*** Also, [[spoiler: in the Doctor's Daughter, Jenny could be seen as a replacement goldfish to his family on Galifrey, which he remarked had died previously. ]]
**** [[spoiler: Though as far as the Doctor knows, he's lost Jenny as well, so not much of a replacement.]]

* In {{Underworld}} Viktor turns Selene into a vampire because she was the spitting image of his daughter. Who he had killed hundreds of years before.

* In Underworld Viktor turns Selene into a vampire because she was the spitting image of his daughter. Who he had killed hundreds of years before.