History ReplacementGoldfish / Literature

** Harry to Sirius Black. Harry's strong physical resemblance to his father James makes him a substitute for his best friend after Sirius escapes prison and then gets stuck going stir crazy in his parent's house in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. 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 Replacement Goldfish 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.

* In the ''Franchise/{{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.
** In the [[Literature/{{Dune}} first book]], Paul's first son - Leto II - is killed by the Harkonnens. In ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', he has a another son and names him... Leto II.

** Twice, 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.

* In one of Creator/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!]]

* In "A Double-Dyed Deceiver", a story by ''Creator/OHenry'', the Llano Kid acts as this for a grieving mother whose son is missing, as part of a plot with the local US consul to steal a load of money from the family safe. [[BecomingTheMask He ends up warming to his new 'mother' so much]] that he ultimately decides to stay behind and live as her son, and threatens to kill the consul if he makes trouble. [[spoiler:The story takes a dark twist, when it's revealed that the Kid essentially pulled a KillAndReplace, because the reason why he's in the area in the first place is because he killed a man in a bar fight and skipped town. And the man he killed? ''The missing son.'']]

* In ''Literature/LittleWomen'', Mr Laurence sees his late granddaughter in Beth as both were young girls who loved music. Beth becomes a [[MayDecemberFriendship favourite]] of his, and after her death, he tells her sister Jo that Jo "must be [his] girl now", to which Jo replies that she'll try to fill Beth's place. However, later books indicate that that role is filled by Amy after she becomes his granddaughter-in-law.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Harry to Sirius Black. Harry's strong physical resemblance to his father James makes him a substitute for his best friend after Sirius escapes prison and then gets stuck going stir crazy in his parent's house in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. 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 Replacement Goldfish 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.

* At the end of Stephen King's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, in [[Literature/TheDarkTower the final book]], [[spoiler:Susannah]] travels through a portal to an alternate version of New York where she meets [[spoiler:an Eddie and Jake Toren, a different Eddie and Jake from the ones she knew]], from a little further out on the beam from the keystone world, but close enough for her.

* ''Literature/ADogsLife'' is about a stray dog named Squirrel living on her own and looking for her brother Bone, who was taken by humans when they were puppies. Along her journey, Squirrel comes across a small female that looks very much like Bone would have as an adult. They become friends and travel together, but Bone [[spoiler:ends up hit by a car one day]].

** 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.

* Literature/HarryPotter to Sirius Black. Harry's strong physical resemblance to his father James makes him a substitute for his best friend after Sirius escapes prison and then gets stuck going stir crazy in his parent's house in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. 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 Replacement Goldfish 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.

* In ''Literature/TheMayorOfCasterbridge'', Michael Henchard, in a moment of AlcholInducedIdiocy, sells his wife Susan and infant daughter Elizabeth-Jane at auction to a sailor named Richard Newson. Nearly twenty years later, Newson is presumed lost at sea and Susan and Elizabeth-Jane track Henchard down to re-unite the family. What Henchard does not learn until after Susan falls ill and dies is that his daughter Elizabeth-Jane died a few months after the auction; the Elizabeth-Jane who has returned is Newson's daughter, and was named in her dead half-sister's honour.

* Elizabeth-Jane Newson/Henchard in ''The Mayor of Casterbridge''.

* The Literature/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 ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'', [[EldritchAbomination Abeloth]] tried to force Ben Skywalker and Vestara Khai to take the place of The Son and The Daughter, whom she had once been The Mother to back when she had been mortal.

-->"So how do you feel, Doctor, now you know? Now you realise? Like a dad who pushes his kid up to the post office in a pram then only remembers him when he's on the bus home? Like a kid who gets a new dog, then finds his old one wasn't put down after all?"
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': If he is to be believed, after the events of ''Defender of the Crown'', Reynard plans on replacing [[spoiler: Persephone with her own daughter, Larissa.]]
* ''Literature/TheRifter'': John/Jath’ibaye took up with the young Ourath because Ourath reminded him of Ravishan who was dead, even [[WrongNameOutburst calling him by the wrong name]] sometimes. Not only was it not a satisfactory relationship, but Ourath conspired to murder Jath’ibaye. Jath’ibaye, with his habitual sense of guilt and responsibility, wonders if Ourath would have been a better person if he’d had a lover who appreciated him for himself as his first relationship instead of Jath’ibaye.
* In Ed [=McBain=]'s novelette "Whatever Happened to Annie Barnes?" a ruthless, rich Italian, on discovering that the title character bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love Francesca, uses psychological conditioning in an attempt to remake her into an exact copy of the deceased.
* Lizzie, [[spoiler: for Ripred]] in ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles''. [[spoiler: She reminds him of one of his deceased daughters.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Neogicia}}'', the female protagonist ends up mentored by a man whose daughter left home a few years previously. He quick to state that this trope isn't in play after mentioning that he misses his daughter.

* The main victim in ''Literature/TheBodyInTheLibrary'' was this to elderly Mr. Jefferson, after both his son and daughter died in a plane crash.
* In ''Literature/WolfHall'', Thomas Cromwell is always trying to replace what he's lost in his life, starting with his dog. Although he considers platitudes like "you can get another dog" stupid[[note]]and any pet owner can tell you it's not a good thing to say[[/note]] it is still, ironically, how he deals with the loss of his childhood pet. The Bella seen at the start of the first book is not the first, and every small dog he acquires as an adult gets the name (at one point his nieces are referred to as walking the ''current'' Bella). When his wife Liz dies, he has an affair with her sister and sometimes mistakes her for or outright calls her Liz. He names his falcons after his deceased wife, daughters, and sisters, which his hunting companions find somewhat strange. The only loved one he doesn't try to create a substitute for is Cardinal Wolsey, but then, [[BestServedCold he does something different in that case]].
* In ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'', Hannibal seems to be trying to do this with Clarice by making her into a replacement for his dead younger sister. It's heavily implied that he succeeds, since the novel ends with [[spoiler: Hannibal and Clarice becoming lovers and going on the run together.]]

* At least twice in the ''Literature/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. Similarly, sister Elizabeth fell for a guy who looked like her ex-boyfriend Todd (who had moved to Vermont), only to find out that he was a jerk, while classmate Bill Chase fell for ''her'' because both her looks and personality bore a strong resemblance to his own dead girlfriend Julianne.

* 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 Replacement Goldfish 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.

* In ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'', Hannibal seems to be trying to do this with Clarice by making her into a replacement for his DeadLittleSister. It's heavily implied that he succeeds, since the novel ends with [[spoiler: Hannibal and Clarice becoming lovers and going on the run together.]]

* In the ''DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures, the Doctor's companion Fitz is abducted by Faction Paradox, lives with them for several years and apparently dies. The Doctor replaces him with Kode, a several generations removed copy created from the original's biodata, who he moulds into a duplicate of Fitz. Things become awkward when it turns out the original Fitz is still alive...

* [[spoiler: Sansa Stark]] is apparently one for [[spoiler: her mother Cat's UnluckyChildhoodFriend, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]] in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. He can't seem to make up his mind if she's a [[spoiler: younger and prettier Cat 2.0 or the daughter he would have liked to have had with Cat if they had married]], and it's [[{{Squick}} squicky as hell.]]

* In ''Literature/WolfHall'', Thomas Cromwell makes a habit of this. After the death of his wife Elizabeth he starts an affair with his sister-in-law and occasionally calls her "Liz" by mistake, which is a significant factor in the affair ending. Any dog he acquires gets the name "Bella" after the pet he had to abandon in childhood, and he later names his hunting falcons not only for Liz, but his deceased daughters Anne and Grace.