History Main / SwappedRoles

* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episode "Henry Gets the Express" is about Henry and Gordon doing each others' jobs for the day. The passengers think that Henry is a much nicer express engine than Gordon, while Gordon spends the entire day complaining about doing goods work.

* For a video, ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'' hunts down George instead of the usual.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', in the Pokéstar Studios minigame where the player can film Pokemon-themed movies, one of the possible movie choices is "Timegate Traveler." The main character travels to the future to find a world where ''Pokémon catch people.'' Unlocking the movie's [[GainaxEnding strange ending]] causes a Ledian to throw a "human ball" at the player, catching them. The main character laments about their new role in society but points out that being the Ledian's pet wasn't so bad, and although their master could be cruel, she was also nice to humans who pleased her. They then [[StockholmSyndrome grow more loyal to Ledian]] and accept this new future, idly wondering if their old Pokémon became a human trainer too.

* The “Role Reversal AU” is a type of fic which uses this to pull off ForWantOfANail.

* ''LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV'': Discussed at the end of the first episode of Season 5. When the group started out, Holms was the skilled player who kept getting screwed over by the other players and got salty about it, while Clel was largely calm but consistently in last place. Nowadays Clel is the one taking the lead and then being screwed over by everyone else, while Holms never gets the success in the first place. Punctuated by Holms deciding not to get his hopes up, while Clel says "Bullshit!" on several occasions.

* PlayedForLaughs in the {{crossover}} between ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}'' and ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'', where Grian and Impluse track down Pixlriffs and proceed to narrate everything he's doing in a deliberate reversal of the CompanionShow ''Hermitcraft Recap'' (which he provides the voiceover for).

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': In "Papa Johnny", Johnny and his dad agree to getting their brains switched by the twin’s invention so they can switch roles for a day and see who has the harder life. Johnny gets AmusingInjuries from the chores [[HenpeckedHusband his mother Lila forces on his dad]], while Hugh is harassed and humiliated by [[TheBully Bumper]] and Johnny’s SadisticTeacher. Johnny and Hugh express a new respect and understanding for each other… [[HereWeGoAgain only for Susan and Lila to start arguing between themselves who has it harder and switch their own bodies]].

* In Victorian Britain there was a tradition of the well-to-do treating their servants to a banquet on Boxing Day, and acting as servants for the duration. This may have been based on earlier traditions such as the early medieval Feast of Fools, in which the clerical order would be reversed on 1st January so that subdeacons took the place of high clergy (a remnant of this survived into later periods as the "boy bishops"), and the Roman Saturnalia, where some sources say householders would serve their slaves for the day.

** In every Eggman fight in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, Sonic is on foot while Eggman pilots a mecha. This is flipped on its head in ''VideoGame/SonicMania'''s Hydrocity Act 1 boss, where Sonic pilots the mech and Eggman is on foot (or in this case, swimming around).

** Occurred between Plankton and Mr. Krabs in "The Algae's Always Greener", though it really only affected Plankton in the end.

* ''Series/TheThundermans'': In "The Girl with the Dragon Snafu", after complaining that their parents aren't doing enough chores in the house, the parents challenge Nora and Billy to run the household chores with the bet that if they do better, they can permanently do so. While at first it seems the kids are doing far better, Billy finally confesses that [[spoiler: they got some of Hank and Barb's superhero friends to help them out]].