History Main / BodyDouble

* In ''Film/TheDeathOStalin'', an early background detail concerns the secret police rounding up the now-redundant body doubles of the deceased dictator. This happens in the background while the principal characters joke about their suddenly being out of work and whether they have retirement plans.

** Much later, [[spoiler:after Asseylum is shot in the back at the end of the first season, she is in a ConvenientComa for a good part of the second one... and [[ElCidPloy the one who goes around in a wheelchair and makes speeches]] is her half-sister, Princess Lemrina.]] There's also kind of a subversion: [[spoiler:rose-haired Lemrina does ''not'' look like HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Asseylum, so she uses [[{{Hologram}} holographic disguises]] to fix that]].

* A man who [[IdenticalStranger happens to look an awful lot like Lord Vetinari]] is crucial to a plot to discredit the real Patrician in ''Literature/TheTruth''. A later novel in the series mentions in passing that Vetinari occasionally hires the man to stand in for him when he needs a short holiday.

This is TruthInTelevision, and generally the more paranoid a leader, and the more people who want to kill them, the more doubles they will have. Saddam Hussein reportedly had over 50 doubles that he used at various times, and other notorious leaders like Josef Stalin and Hitler have also had confirmed body doubles. Even if doubles don't "take an assassin's bullet" their deployment will at the very least complicate any assassination plots, as the planners will get intel about the leader being in many locations at once.

In Japan this practice was known as ''kagemusha'' (literally "shadow warrior"), and was fairly common during the Feudal Era for warlords. Oftentimes the ''kagemusha'' were convicted criminals who [[BoxedCrook took the opportunity in exchange for not being put to death]]. Of course, given the perilous position they were in, this ''rarely'' guaranteed their ultimate survival.

In a less notorious case, General Bernard Montgomery employed a double to confuse the Germans during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. This story became a book and a film, called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Was_Monty%27s_Double ''I Was Monty's Double''.]]

* ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo'' has two: One for UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu (the real one turns out to be [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo]]) and one for UsefulNotes/SanadaYukimura, who is actually a woman (the body double, not the guy, though it's an [[DudeLooksLikeALady easy enough mistake to make]]).
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', aspirant singer Meer Campbell fills this role for Lacus Clyne, [[spoiler:though she's actually working for the BigBad, who has told her that she'll be able to help keep the fragile peace if she poses as Lacus]]. Meer eventually begins to crack under all the stress and self-esteem problems, deciding that she doesn't care that she's being used to further Durandal's goals and only wants to continue to pretend being Lacus [[IJustWantToBeLoved since nobody loves Meer herself]]. [[spoiler:Lacus herself faces Meer and manages to talk her out of it... only for poor Meer to be [[RedemptionEqualsDeath shot to death]] while TakingTheBullet for Lacus and perish in her arms.]]
* In ''Manga/MurderPrincess'' the maid Milano takes princess Alita's place during an invasion and dies, causing the [[FreakyFriday body-swapped]] Alita to take on her dead maid's name and role.
* Makoto in ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'' reluctantly agrees to impersonate Princess Fatora (with whom he bares an uncanny resemblance, despite being the opposite sex) after she is captured. He's convincing enough that even Fatora's lesbian lover Aliellie is fooled... at least until [[CrotchGrabSexCheck she tries to get frisky]].
* As revealed in ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'', this was what led to the advent of Char Aznable: [[spoiler:the ''real'' Char Aznable was a friend of Casval Rem Deikun, the exiled son of Zeon's founder, who at the time was living under the pseudonym of Edourad Mass. Casval wanted to enlist in Zeon's military academy in order to exact his revenge against the Zabi family, and Char was instrumental to his plan as the two looked practically identical except for their eyes. Casval tricked Char into swapping identities so that he could go to the academy under Char's name while Zabi assassins killed Char under the belief that he was Casval. From that point forward, Casval lived as Char Aznable, and would take to wearing sunglasses (then later, his iconic visored helmet) to hide the fact that his eyes were blue, instead of brown like the real Char.]]
* In the second-to-last episode of ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', Ukyo uses [[spoiler:other clones of the Emperor, who are all genetically and physically identical to him]] as his body doubles. It almost works.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', C.C. occasionally stands in for Zero/Lelouch when he needs to keep up the {{Masquerade}} of being a normal student. Given that C.C. is also [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortal]], there's also a practical application of this, as if she were to take a bullet for Lelouch she could just walk it off.

* In ''Anime/AshitaNoNadja'', [[spoiler:Rosemary becomes Nadja's Body Double and the accomplice of SmugSnake Hermann.]]
* Captain Kuro of ''Manga/OnePiece'' hypnotized one of his crew members to think that he was Kuro. After a good get-up, Captain Morgan took him in, and Kuro was assumed captured while he went on to put together a three year long plan.
* Played with (in both versions) at the beginning of ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund''. In both cases a tall, voluptuous, raven-haired beauty in [[TheVamp vampish]] attire is initially introduced as the Princess of Vampires. Of course when [[Really700YearsOld Mina Tepes]] makes her first actual public appearance, her [[BattleButler aide]] Vera becomes completely useless as a decoy.
* [[spoiler:Dix-Neuf Noinheim]] from the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' novel ''Frozen Teardrop'' was this for his brother-in-law, [[spoiler:Milliardo Peacecraft aka Zechs Merquise. And was killed for it, [[DecoyGetaway but his sacrifice let Zechs escape safely]].]]

* One episode of ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'' had a situation where Golgo was hired to kill a client's double so he could fake his death. The double arranges for the real man to take his place, taking over the mob boss's life after his death. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of turning Golgo into an enemy.
* One chapter of ''Manga/FrankenFran'' is about a mobster who frequently makes use of her services to create body doubles. Then, his latest double tries to turn over a new leaf with his company, he assassinates him, and things get a bit hectic.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed''.
** In an early case, Kogoro is given the supposedly easy work of spying on a certain man in exchange for a large sum of money... but in a subversion, said man turns out to be a Body Double. [[spoiler:The guy that said actor is impersonating? He's found dead some days later -- and the dude who hired Kogoro not only is the killer, but he ''[[UnwittingPawn he had used Kogoro to have an alibi for said murder]]''. Kogoro really hates being lied to, so he's understandably pissed off but has no evidence to get to him. Of course, the murderer ultimately doesn't pass through Conan's deducing skills.]]
** Again subverted in a {{filler}} case where [[spoiler:the Body Double ''was the killer''. She was an aspiring actress who worked as the double for a famous idol, then her envy and jealousy peaked to the point of killing her boss, hiding her body, and then impersonating her until the dead woman was found and everyone believed she had commited suicide. Again, Conan easily saw through her.]]
** Played straighter in the "Fake Wedding" case, where Yumi and Takagi have to be body doubles for a soo-to-be married couple who have been threatened by a SerialKiller. [[spoiler:Then Yumi's best friend/Takagi's girlfriend Sato switches places with Yumi, having deduced the killer's identity and fearing that he will harm Yumi... and since said culprit is soon found out ''and he attacks her while she's still posing as the bride'', [[KickingAssInAllHerFinery it's a good thing]].]] Sato does this [[spoiler:again]] in a later case, where she covers up for [[spoiler:her IdenticalStranger and Shiratori's soon-to-be girlfriend Sumiko Kobayashi, who is being targetted by a killer who wants to silence her because s{{he knows too much}}.]]
** In the "Heiji Hattori in the Vampire Mansion" case, [[spoiler:Kazuha Touyama switches places with the maid Hikaru so she and Ran can catch the culprit that is after her.]]
** In another case, ''Kogoro'' is the one who gets an impersonator: a guy named Tatsuo Mori, who looks a bit like him save for a different shaped moustache. Kogoro decides to go along with it and find out what's going on... but later Tatsuo is found dead, so he and Conan have to find out who did him in.
* In one ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' filler episode, Ino serves as the body double for a girl named Fuku, [[TheOjou a princess]] who [[IdenticalStranger greatly resembled her]]... until she started [[ComfortFood binge eating out of stress in anticipation for meeting her fiance]] Chikara, and now [[WeightWoe doesn't want him to think she's fat.]] Ino finds [[BigFun Chikara]] obnoxious and refuses to continue setting Fuku up with her, so Naruto steps in to do things his way... inadvertently resulting in Chikara encountering the real Fuku and [[ChubbyChaser revealing he's attracted to heavyset women]], so [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage everything works out.]]
* One chapter of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has the title character's family butler recruit a small squad of body doubles for him. He is later thanked for a variety of things he didn't do, including dating one of his students.
* Creator/MichiyoAkaishi uses these this trope once in a while in her stories:
** In ''Manga/HonooNoAlpenRose'', [[spoiler:Toulonchamp's BatmanGambit relies on using [[DaddysLittleVillain his daughter Mathilda]] as one of these, acting as the stand-in for the lead female Jeudi. Jeudi herself went missing as a little girl in an horrible accident that left her mother Helene Durant with severe physical and psychological consequences, and Mathilda's mission is to make the almost blind Helene believe that ''she'' is the real Jeudi; meanwhile, Toulonchamp forces the Durant family to do whatever he wants on the threat of taking Mathilda away, which would send Helene into a DeathByDespair. [[SpannerInTheWorks Too bad that Jeudi showed up anyway...]] ]]
** In ''Manga/{{Amakusa 1637}}'', the plot heavily leans on lead female Natsuki becoming one of these for a local swordsman, Shirou. [[spoiler:Yes, she's one for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amakusa_Shiro THAT Shiro]]. Who in this story, is actually dead.]]
** In ''Manga/PrivateActress'', being hired as body doubles is a rather common task for Private Actors like Shiho and her boyfriend/co-worker Tomoomi, so both of them do it quite frequently.
* The "shadows" in ''Manga/KyoumenNoSilhouette'', like Teshio who became one for the heir princess Elnavista. You hear me, [[DudeLooksLikeALady a female-looking guy]] [[WholesomeCrossdresser must sometimes be a princess]] who DoesNotLikeMen.
* It's not fully explained until a later series, but in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' [[spoiler:the young ruler of Zeon, Mineva Lao Zabi, has actually been switched with a double by the end of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' by her regent Haman Khan as part of a GiveHimANormalLife, one of the few PetTheDog moments Haman ever gets]]. No one knows what happened to the real one until ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', where we met her again [[spoiler:now living under the alias Audrey Burne]].
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the Survey Corps use Jean and Armin as body doubles for [[spoiler:Eren and Historia/Krista]] when necessary, due to the latter's LivingMacGuffin status.
* ''Manga/SailorMoon''
** It looks like a part of Minako's job description as Minako "Sailor Venus" Aino is being Usagi "Sailor Moon" Tsukino's body double, explaining both their [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101122182432/nonciclopedia/images/3/32/Usagi_e_Minako.JPG extreme resemblance (Minako has the white cat)]] and Minako's ability to change appearance. In the manga, ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', and ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', Venus even explicitly poses as the Moon Princess before TheReveal, making this a rare case where even the person who the double is standing in for isn't aware of it, as Usagi hadn't yet recovered her PastLifeMemories. In the first season of the first anime, the Senshi thought Venus was the Princess but she denied it when asked, though in the third season she ''actually'' had to sub in for a kidnapped and temporarily depowered Moon (which was almost completely PlayedForLaughs).
** A popular fan theory is that this explains [=CereCere=]/[[spoiler:Sailor Ceres]]'s resemblance to Chibiusa: she's meant to be Chibiusa's decoy should the need arise.
* Used at least twice in ''Anime/AldnoahZero'':
** First, Princess Asseylum was apparently killed in the first episode, but the one who died was her body double and she managed to get away to safety, reappearing very soon afterwards.
** Much later, [[spoiler:after Asseylum is shot in the back at the end of the first season, she is in a ConvenientComa for a good part of the second one... and [[ElCidPloy the one who goes around in a wheelchair and makes speeches]] is her half-sister, Princess Lemrina.]] There's also kind of a subversion: [[spoiler:Rose-haired Lemrina does ''not'' look like HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Asseylum, so she uses [[{{Hologram}} holographic disguises]] to fix that.]]
* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': Diego, the dictator of East Gorteau, uses a body double for his safety, [[spoiler:but we don't know about it until he's seen alive at the end of the Chimera Ant arc.]]
* In ''Literature/RakuinNoMonshou'' Fedom claims Orba is acting as a body double for Prince Gil due to the danger of assassination as the royal wedding approaches. Orba sees through this excuse fairly quickly as Fedom's people are the only ones aware of it and the political dangers of having a body double standing in for Gil so often.

* In ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'', each member of the Yagyu clan has their own double. One of them cheerfully commits {{seppuku}} so that Retsudo can tell the shogun his son is dead (and show his severed head as proof).
* In ''Manga/SleepyPrincessInTheDemonCastle'', Princess Syalis recruits Bussy the succubus as her body double after noticing how much they resemble each other. The training includes all of the princess's usual activities, like slaughtering ghost shrouds and even attacking high-ranking demons. The rememblance is strong enough to even fool [[spoiler:Syalis's mother, Queen Aurora Nem Lis Goodereste]] during an excursion to the human capital.
** This is pretty much always played for laughs, as it's mostly Syalis and Bussy who are convinced they're doubles. While having the same height, build, facial structure, and similar hairstyles, their eyes, hair ''colors'', skin tone, body language, and personalities are all quite different. Bussy can pass for the princess while wearing her clothes, addressing a crowd at a distance (lip-synching) and in the company of somebody vouching for her, but there's only one time anybody who knew either of them was clearly fooled, and it's developed [[spoiler:that most of Syalis's family are surprisingly okay with her kidnapping so Queen Aurora was almost certainly entertaining herself at Bussy's expense and helping her get away with it]].

* In ''Literature/{{Overlord|2012}}'', one of Ainz's servants is Pandora's Actor, a Greater Doppelganger NPC Ainz created. As a Greater Doppelganger, Pandora's Actor has the power to shapeshift into any of the 41 guildmembers of Ainz's former guild, including Ainz himself. Pandora's Actor throughout the series has filled in for Ainz to help facilitate various plans. In volume 14 [[spoiler:the "Ainz" that fights Platinum Dragon Lord's remote armor is actually Pandora's Actor.]]
* In ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' it's revealed in the GXP novels and later OVA series entries that Seto Kamiki Jurai Seto makes use of a woman named Kuis Panta as a double, but the two periodically sync their memories so both can be said to be Seto. They did this after Seto was injured in an accident so as not to tip off Jurai's enemies that the TheDreaded Demon Princess was out of commission. There's implication that the two are starting to undergo a TwinDesynch because Kuis is in love with Seina while Seto isn't, and the Seto seen in GXP is most likely actually Kuis due to her behavior around him.

* An early story of the 1940s ComicBook/{{Batman}} comic book strip had Broadway star Rita Rollins making a huge comeback following a car accident that had people convinced she'd never dance again. When a "Phantom" disrupts her debut, Batman and Robin investigate. They're thrown to find Rita in her dressing room when she's supposed to be on stage. It turns out the accident really was bad enough to end Rita's career, but she couldn't stand losing the spotlight. So she got a talented understudy to don makeup and pose as her for performances, and Rita could come out to take the bows. In the end, Rita accepts it's time to retire and the understudy becomes a star under her true name.
* ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} had a [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2003-04-09 brief strip or three]] where the boss turns Asok into one to avoid decisions.
* The premise of the [[Creator/DCComics DC]] character The ComicBook/HumanTarget; if you fear assassination and offer the right money (or at least the right thrill), Christopher Chance will assume your identity and deal with the threat personally. The ''Vertigo'' series establishes that Chance has a pathological hatred of himself that motivates him to assume others' identities.
* In ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark'', Lord Julius (a parody of Groucho Marx) hired several "Like-a-looks" to stand in for him (lampshading the fact that anyone with the right build, walk, fake mustache and attitude can look like Groucho Marx.) It was never entirely clear who was the real Lord Julius after that, especially after a mob of increasingly absurd Like-a-looks (including the Elrod the Albino!) invaded the palace and all claimed to be the real one.
** In a reprint, Sim mentioned the story was inspired by the scene from ''Film/DuckSoup'' where Chico and Harpo both impersonate Groucho using greasepaint and the right props.
* The in-canon ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic book has her using body doubles to spread misinformation. It helps that all the doubles have her durability and healing powers as well.
** One of those was {{RetCon}}ned in an episode of ''Angel''.
* Marvel's 616 Universe has created LMD (Life Model Decoys) which can fill in whenever needed. Handy for {{retcon}}s as well. Nick Fury, among others, has used them.
* ComicBook/DoctorDoom, of course, [[ActuallyADoombot has his Doom-Bots]]. Which can pass for him so well that writers use this to [[NotQuiteDead retcon story arcs they don't care for]], to the point that the practice occasionally undergoes LampshadeHanging.
* In the ''ComicBook/YokoTsuno'' story "The Prey and the Shadow", [[spoiler:a secretary named Margaret is blackmailed into becoming the double of Cecilia, her boss's unstable adoptive daughter. As time passes, she's more and more aware that something ''horrible'' will happen, but she's completely trapped in the web of lies that her boss extended around her. Once the titular ActionGirl and her PowerTrio spend a night in the boss's castle, Margaret confides on her so they can both save Cecilia from her "father" ''and'' free Margaret from him as well.]]
* MediaNotes/{{The Silver Age|OfComicBooks}} Franchise/{{Superman}} used [[RobotMe robot doubles]] to help him conceal his SecretIdentity. These were phased out by MediaNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}.
** Starting in the Bronze Age and used intermittently, Batman and Superman have doubled for each other on occasion. In costume, it's merely a matter of switching outfits since they are pretty much identical in height and build. Out of costume, they're still close enough that skillful application of make-up, hair combing, and Bruce wearing Clark's glasses renders them pretty much identical.
*** In one story, Bruce was doubling for Clark and a reporter at the Daily Planet who liked to pull cruel pranks on Clark (Clark always went along to protect his secret identity) decided it would be fun to humiliate Bruce/Clark and tripped him while he was walking down a hallway. Clark would have gone along, but ''Bruce'', who didn't have to worry about his own secret identity, proceeded straight to laying down an ass-kicking.
* In the first issue of ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', Batman takes on who he thinks is ComicBook/TheJoker wearing a red hood at the ACE Chemical Plant. [[spoiler:He pulls the hood off to reveal Harley Quinn]]!
* Happens once in a while in ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'', but with a twist: the double is almost always unwilling, being a poor shmuck that Diabolik has kidnapped and drugged up because he needs a double for himself or Eva (the willing ones are extremely rare, and Diabolik wouldn't trust them unless there are mitigating circumstances). The resemblance is normally {{Justified}} with Diabolik's [[LatexPerfection perfect masks]] or getting a lookalike (even searching them ''across the world''), but in one occasion Diabolik needed to fool Ginko while FakingTheDead it was simply a stolen body who he beheaded (with a swap of the genetic samples to fool the DNA test).
* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': [[spoiler:Young lord Noriyuki]] had one who was identical in all but voice, and he never said a word even as he was dying; two other "doubles" turned out to be dolls. Usagi hated the idea of people dying because they didn't know they were only protecting a doll even though he understood how their ignorance helped keep the "original" safe; later [[DramaticIrony he used the same trick which caused someone to die trying to protect a doll because he was trying to keep the "original" safe]].
** ''Space Usagi'' used the same princess-handmaiden/bodyguard trick as ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' except that the only thing the pair had in common was that they were rabbit-women (it helped that no one on Usagi's side knew what the princess looked like).
* Playing body double for various Allied [=VIPs=] is a frequent task for the original Bronze Age incarnation of ''ComicBook/TheUnknownSoldier''; typically this is just the framing device for given story, and he must then track down a would-be assassin's collaborators.

* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'':

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14997911/chapters/34760702 The Horsewomen Of Las Vegas]]'', when Wrestling/CharlotteFlair agreed to meet with Wrestling/BeckyLynch, she instead sends her SexSlave, Wrestling/SummerRae, as a double. Becky saw through it when she slowly realized that the words coming out of her mouth (Charlotte was feeding Summer lines through an earpiece) did not flow off her tongue naturally.

* The leader of the Red Claw organization [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the Batfamily]] fight against in "Grudge Match" is revealed to be the right-hand woman and lover of the real leader, [[spoiler:Nyssa Al-ghul]]. An example of this trope where the person and their decoy don't look anything alike, but it still works because no one knew who [[spoiler:Nyssa]] was, much less what she looked like, aside from [[spoiler:her sister Talia, who believed she was long dead]].
* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops:'' Used in one snippet to explain how the Equestria Girls Rainbow Dash can supposedly be the head of every sports team at Canterlot High, while also doing all the things the EG cast get up to. She just uses Substitute Rainbow Dashes (namely, other girls pretending to be her).
* ''Fanfic/QueensOfMewni'': the bastard Hilda Blade bears a strong enough resemblance to Vesper the Morning Star that she sometimes poses as Vesper so the queen can have some downtime. Most notably, its alleged that it was Hilda-posing-as-Vesper that competed in a tournament that had re-admission to Elfendor University as the prize at stake. And apparently, even Vesper's husband Caspian can be psyched out into thinking they switched.

* One of the plot twists of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' is that [[spoiler:the man identified as Ra's al Ghul was just a front for the real Ra's -- the man who until this point had called himself Ducard. The fake Ra's is not a doppelganger but an older Asian man who would fit Bruce's preconception of what the leader of an ancient cult of ninja assassins would look like.]]
* ''Film/ABetterTomorrow 2'' does this in the final shootout. All the mooks wears black suits, while the main villain, Ko Ying-pui, wears white. The heroes Ken, Tse-Ho and Lung managed to corner Ko Ying-pui and empty their guns into him, only to realize that was a decoy - cue the ''real'' Ying-pui sneaking up from a corner and shooting Lung InTheBack.
* Creator/BrianDePalma's film ''Film/BodyDouble'', of course. The fact is that it's actually a SpoilerTitle giving away the PlotTwist!
** Interestingly, [=DePalma=] came up with the basic idea for this movie while working with an actual body double: for Angie Dickinson in the infamous shower scene in ''Film/DressedToKill''.

* The wuxia film ''Film/CallToArms'' gad the main villain, a ruthless warlord, assasinated by the hero in the first 10 minutes of the film... except it's not the warlord. It's a double, and the ''real'' warlord then shows up in the immediate scene.
* ''Film/IronChainFighter'' has the main villain, Black Leopard, who escaped custody, changed his facial appearance, and had a legion of his followers pretending to be him for most of the film. The titular hero's mission in the film is to hunt down Black Leopard, by killing his doubles one at a time in a series of fights - he knew whom to kill because the ''real'' Black Leopard has a tattoo of said animal.
* A non-action example: The Georgian movie ''Film/ComradeStalinsTripToAfrica'' is about a Georgian Jew who is recruited to double for Stalin.
* The entire premise of the comedy ''Film/{{Dave}}'' is the snide President getting a mild-mannered civilian to be his body double for a function while the President is with his mistress. When the President suffers a stroke, his Chief of Staff forces Dave to keep playing the role for real.
* ''Film/TheDevilsDouble'', [[BasedOnATrueStory based on the]] RealLife Latif Yahia, a body double for UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein's son Uday.
%%* ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' has multiple copies of Blofeld; they all die painful deaths.
* The film ''Film/TheEagleHasLanded'' is about a group of Nazi paratroopers who sneak into England in an attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill. The last member of the team succeeds in doing so before being shot, but after he dies, it is revealed that the Prime Minister was out of the country at a secret conference in Teheran - the man who was just killed was actually a vaudeville comedian and impressionist whose turn as Winnie was good enough that he ended up on the government's payroll. The double could have revealed this to save his life, but chose to maintain his role to the end.

* ''Film/TheGameChanger'' has a rather depressing example (like so many HeroicBloodshed movies) when Zi-Hao, in his RoaringRampageOfRevenge final shootout, guns down who he assumes is the BigBad and the person responsible for his best friend Fang-Jie's demise. It turns out to be a double, and it is [[spoiler:said BigBad's ''daughter'', Qin-Qin, who serves as Zi-Hao's LoveInterest, hoping to atone for her father's sins by dying in his place]]. Oops.

* Parodied in ''Film/HeadOfState'', where [[Creator/ChrisRock Mays Gilliam]] is running for President. His campaign manager hires a guy who looks similar to him to precede him to all official functions. Mays half-jokes that Tupac could have used a guy like that. In the epilogue, after [[spoiler:Mays wins]], the body double is shot.

* In the 2007 movie ''Film/{{Hitman}}'', Agent 47 kills Russian President Mikhail Belicoff in a public appearance, only to discover Belicoff is still alive and well. In a twist, it turns out [[spoiler:the living Belicoff is actually a body double who has usurped the murdered Belicoff]].
* ''Film/{{Kagemusha}}'', the famous Creator/AkiraKurosawa movie, has a convicted criminal offered the role of warlord Takeda Shingen in exchange for sparing his life.

* Prior to the climax of ''Film/SecretServiceOfTheImperialCourt''; the hero, Zhao Bu-Fan, has been marked for death by Imperial assassins, anticipating him to attend the anniversary of his mother's death by sending a number of mooks to hide in the graveyard. Zhao's wife and brother-in-law (who got him into the mess the first place) decides to drug him, and attend the anniversary with the brother-in-law serving as a double. [[spoiler:The brother gets killed via OffWithHisHead as a result]].
* ''Film/ShaolinPrince'' has a depressing example where the doubles are ''babies'', during the opening scene where the two baby princes are being secretly hidden and several random babies purchased from poor families are used to mislead the villains intending on terminating the Emperor's bloodline. None of the baby doubles made it.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In the prequels, Padmé does this a couple times. In the EU it is explicitly stated that the purpose of the handmaidens is to act as bodyguards and they are chosen to be similar in appearance to her. As Queen in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Padmé switches places with Sabé during the Trade Federation's invasion, and remains in the handmaiden role for most of the movie; the switch isn't revealed until shortly before the final battle (though they switched back for the meeting with the Senate[[note]]a scene between the Queen and Anakin on Coruscant strongly suggests that it's Padmé he's speaking to[[/note]]). In addition to protection, this allows them to confuse Nute Gunray during a pivotal moment. She keeps up the practice as a senator in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', where her decoy, Cordé, dies in an explosion meant for her.
* In ''Film/VantagePoint'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the President who was assassinated was actually his body double, which sucks for the guy, but is good news for the rest of the American population. Seeing as the double was shot on camera some skilled maneuvering is used when the President is revealed to be alive, so they make it look like he was only wounded. It helps that the President actually was hurt in a subsequent kidnapping.]]
* ''FIlm/VengefulBeauty'', a {{wuxia}} kung-fu film, have the main villain having his cadre of PraetorianGuard disguised as himself in the final battle. All of them uses the same weapon, and are expert fighters, with each onscreen kill quickly revealed to be a double. Expectedly, the main villain is the ''last'' one to bite it once all his doubles are slain.
* In the ActionPrologue of ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', James Bond tracks down and kills Ernst Stavro Blofeld, right before he's going to use plastic surgery to make one of his minions look like himself as a decoy. Halfway through the movie however, Bond is shocked to find Blofeld not only alive, but living with an identical impersonator, as it turns out the Blofeld he killed earlier was also a decoy. Though Blofeld admits that after Bond killed the last two decoys, further volunteers for the job were somewhat scarce.

* Inverted in the ''Literature/HIVESeries'', where [[spoiler:Otto]] masquerades as his own clone, killing the clone and pretending it was himself who died.
* ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Crown of Slaves]]'' by Creator/DavidWeber and Creator/EricFlint opens with Berry Zilwicki being offered the job of body double for Princess Ruth of Manticore.
* Mary Hoffmans' ''Literature/{{Stravaganza}}'' has this in the first book, as the Duchessa of Belleza uses different doubles for all the flashy ceremonies, such as the Marriage with the Sea. She began this procedure when [[spoiler:she became pregnant with her daughter, Arianna.]] One such double thinks she can outsmart the Duchessa, rat out her secret, and throw her lot in with the di Chimici with no ill consequences. She's wrong.)
* In one of Francoise Rivier and Michel Laponte's ''Literature/JonathanCap'' books, [[spoiler:a dangerous {{plan}} to overthrow an Arabian Sheik depends on one of these, a Middle-Eastern OrdinaryHighschoolStudent named Jamil who is forced by the terrorist group to serve as the double to the Crown Prince (whom they plan to kidnap, kill, and then replace with the kid, whom they have trapped in a complicated web of lies to make sure he can't escape). Coincidentally, the BigBad chooses a Parisian private clinic as its hideout since the gambit's supposed to take place during the Prince's visit to France, and a girl named Juliette is operated there... and [[SpannerInTheWorks she happens to be the best friend]] of Jonathan's {{Kid Sidekick}}s and nephews Alex and Nico...]]
** Used in a lighter note afterwards. [[spoiler:Once the deal is defused and Jamil is released from his captors's control, the Crown Prince forgives him on grounds of having been ForcedIntoEvil without any way out. ''Then'' he makes Jamil replace him during the official activities in Paris, therefore making him a full-blooded Body Double, while he goes outside to have fun with Alex, Nico and a girl named Elisabeth who had also been forced to help the group.]]
* Near the end of Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Spindle's End'', the characters attempt to thwart an evil fairy's curse on secret princess Rosie by having Rosie's best friend Peony claim to be the princess in her stead. Unfortunately, while everyone else is fooled, the fairy is not.
* ''The Leader and the Damned'' by Colin Forbes. One of the assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler is successful, so Martin Bormann uses a body double to maintain the Reich and his own power. Unfortunately the double isn't interested in being Bormann's puppet, and is somewhat insane, [[InSpiteOfANail so ends up doing all the crazy things Adolf is famous for that made him lose the war]].
* Creator/JackHiggins is fond of this in his works:
** Both the original novel and the movie version of ''Film/TheEagleHasLanded'' have the twist of how the Winston Churchill the Germans are trying to kill is an actor while the real Churchill is at a conference. The novel had this as the final twist at the end as a writer is going to publish it only to be informed it will be cited as fiction because records show Churchill was in Teheran at the time. He thus realizes the truth. In a sequel novel ''The Eagle Has Flown'', the one survivor of the mission literally howls with laughter at realizing it was [[AllForNothing all for a fake Churchill]].
** ''Night of the Fox'' has Erwin Rommell meeting with German generals plotting to kill Hitler. To give himself a perfect cover, Rommell gets lookalike Eric Berger to pose as him touring bases. What Rommell doesn't know is that Berger has been dead for years and his identity taken by Jewish actor Heini Baum, who now plays two roles at once.
** ''Cold Harbour'' has British intelligence pushing Anne-Marie Trevaunce to spy on the Germans. When she's killed, they get her twin sister, Genevieve, to take her place. While Genevieve does well at first, she's undone by the one detail OSS never knew: [[spoiler: her sister had switched sides and was working for the Nazis.]]
* A man who [[IdenticalStranger happens to look an awful lot like Lord Vetinari]] is crucial to a plot to discredit the real Patrician in ''Literature/TheTruth''. A later novel in the series mentions in passing that Vetinari occasionally hires the man to stand in for him when he needs a short holiday.

* In ''Literature/ThePrincesOfTheAir'', Queen Rachel has several, of which at least one is an android and one is a male relative who has the same build and shares the distinctive family eye colour. At one point the protagonist goes to the palace with an important message, and has to observe several Queen Rachels before finding the one he's looking for.
* In ''Literature/TheBloodyRedBaron'', Dracula deploys a number of decoy body doubles during the climactic battle (one of whom, in an AllohistoricalAllusion, is implied to be Creator/BelaLugosi). It backfires once the decoys start being killed, because the news that "Dracula's dead" travels faster than the news that there are decoys in play, and his troops are demoralized by their leader's apparent death (and then also bewildered by the arrival of multiple conflicting accounts of his death).
* In ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', upon learning that the King is going to get ambushed and killed, [[spoiler:Jean de Vrailly]] has the two of them switch armour (which is full plate, so you can't really see who's underneath it) and takes the should-be-killing blow for him.
* ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' novel "Tehran Wipeout" opens with Mack Bolan assassinating the Ayatollah Khomeini! Sure enough this trope is in play, but the true twist is that Khomeini has been dead for years and the Iranian government is using the doubles to maintain their power.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', the Order of the Phoenix try to smuggle Harry from Privet Drive to a safe house by using Polyjuice Potion to transform six of them into Harry, assigning each one a body guard, and going in seven different directions. They're attacked by an army of Death Eaters when they leave the house, but the plan works until something [[SpotTheImposter gives the real Harry away]] (Harry using his signature "Expelliarmus" spell in the book, Hedwig trying to protect him in the film).
* In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', Mikodez had all his siblings modded to look like him (including sex change when necessary) so that they might pretend to be him during various meetings and trips he doesn't have time or patience to attend.
* In one of the Otto Stahl novels by Leo Kessler (aka Charles Whiting), a double of General Eisenhower is used as a precaution against an attempt by SS commandos to assassinate him during the Battle of the Bulge. At the end of the novel Otto begins to suspect that the attempt may have succeeded after all, and [[YouKnowTooMuch barely escapes with his life]]. As is pointed out, the real question is whether General Eisenhower was only [[EmergencyImpersonation temporarily incapacitated]], or did his double go on to become President of the United States?!!
* A ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novel shows Joshua Marik, son of ruler of the Free Worlds League Thomas Marik, dying of leukemia on the capitol of Federated Commonwealth, New Avalon. Thomas' legitimized daughter Isis is betrothed to Sun-Tzu Liao, who has a massive chip on his shoulder towards the Commonwealth and, should the marriage go forward, likely waste no time in mobilizing the Free Worlds' League and his own Capellan Confederation against the [=FedCom=], distracting them from the still-present threat of the invading Clans. So Victor Steiner-Davion, ruler of the Federated Commonwealth, goes through with a plan his father Hanse had initiated to replace Joshua with a body double, letting everyone think he's still alive. Notably, the plan was never for this imposter Joshua to assume the throne of the Free Worlds' League as a PuppetKing, but rather just to buy time and keep Thomas Marik nominally an ally. Of course, once the plan comes to light, everyone assumes that's exactly what Victor had intended, half his own realm turns against him and a not-so-minor war kicks up. [[spoiler:And Thomas Marik himself was an imposter installed by [=ComStar=], with the real Thomas Marik still alive elsewhere, a fact which would have dire consequences for the [=BattleTech=] universe in the near future.]]
* In the second ''Literature/{{Quiller}}'' novel, the British shadow executive is sent to counter-snipe a ProfessionalKiller out to assassinate an [[InvisiblePresident unnamed British royal VIP]] in Bangkok. It's only after he shoots his target and the VIP is kidnapped that Quiller realises he's been set up. He's just shot a double while the real killer fired from elsewhere at the VIP's driver, sending the car off the road. In this case the deception was helped by the decoy shooter firing from inside a darkened building, so he didn't have to look much like the assassin. The real assassin had also shown up in the same location earlier, as if to scout it out, to further the deception.

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''The Tercentenary Incident'', the ineffectual President of the United States (now part of a Global Federation) disappears in a glitter of dust, only to reappear shortly thereafter, giving belief that what turned into dust was a body double. However, two years later, a former Secret Service agent bodyguard who witnessed said attack tells the President's personal secretary that he suspects it was actually the President that was killed, and his robotic body double the one to replace him, based on his post-attack OOCIsSeriousBusiness. [[spoiler:Unknown to him, he's completely right - only that the secretary was the one that pulled the trigger.]]

* Ba'al on ''Series/StargateSG1'' created numerous clones of himself to act as decoys, and aid in some elaborate schemes of his.
* ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'': [[spoiler:in Acts 44 and 45, it's revealed that Takeru is a kagemusha for the true 18th head, Shiba Kaoru. He is later adopted by Kaoru and made her official successor in Act 48.]]
** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' copies this, with [[spoiler:Jayden taking the Red Ranger role on behalf of his older sister Lauren.]]
* In the ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'' episode "A Dance With Death", Odette, a spoiled UpperClassTwit is found dead on a dancing show. However, various confusing bits such as how someone saw Odette shooting up but no drugs were in her system. It then turns out the prints match those of Barbara, a stripper who had died in a train crash a year earlier...a crash Odette barely escaped from. It finally clicks when Castle finds photos showing Odette doing court-ordered service at a soup kitchen yet able to attend a fancy brunch across town at the same time. It turns out Odette saw Barbara perform and realized that with a little surgery, they could be doubles. She thus hired Barbara to pose as Odette for stuff like community service and weekly meals with her wealthy grandmother while Odette could party like old times. When the crash happened and Odette was killed with her face horribly managled, Barbara realized that no one knew about the deal so, as Castle puts it,"She saw her chance to [[DeadPersonImpersonation go from understudy to leading lady]]" with no one the wiser.
** At first, Castle and Beckett think the killer was someone from Barbara's past blackmailing her. It soon turns out the killer was Odette's financial manager as he and Odette had conspired to kill her grandmother so they could control the fortune. When he yelled at Barbara over this, her shock made him realize she wasn't the real Odette so he killed her to keep it quiet.
* On ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'', Sonny is on a date with Chad, biking on the lot, when she suddenly sees ''another'' Chad nearby. It turns out that Chad's contract prevents him from doing stuff that might be dangerous as it could hurt his show so he got a lookalike to be on this date. At first, Sonny understands...but then realizes that Chad has been interpreting "risk" as everything from dart playing to eating Mexican food and Chad has been using his double on almost ''every other date he and Sonny have had.''
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Turns out that the houses in Iraq that the Bluth company built were housing a group of UsefulNotes/{{Saddam|Hussein}} doubles. [[spoiler:Though one of them may be the real Saddam and a double was killed in his place.]]
* ''Series/ChrisRyansStrikeBack''. An assassination attempt on Robert Mugabe fails because of this. Turns out the whole thing had been sent up to discredit British Intelligence, which meant the body double had been set up to be killed.
* In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', back when Darken Rahl was in charge, one of his officers found a beggar who looked remarkably similar to him and brought him to Lord Rahl with this trope in mind. Rahl almost had the beggar (and the officer) executed, claiming that the guy looks nothing like him (despite being played by the same actor). The officer has the beggar physically altered (painfully) to look just like Rahl and provide voice coaching to have him sound like the Lord of [[TheEmpire D'Hara]]. After Rahl's death, the beggar and the officer (who have become friends) escape and engage in cons involving the beggar pretending to be Rahl. As it turns out, Rahl had a backup plan to have his spirit be brought back into the beggar's body. This works, although the beggar's spirit is put in another man's body, much to the beggar's delight (he hated having Rahl's face).
* ''Series/CSIMiami'' used this twice.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. In the finale of Season 7, Dick Roman knows the Winchesters are coming to kill him, so has his fellow shapeshifting Leviathans create copies of him so they won't know which one to kill.
* An episode of ''Series/TheBlacklist'' has the team tracking a man who specializes in providing rich killers with airtight alibis. Part of this involves giving a random "actor" a big payday in exchange for wearing a special mask likeness of the killer and be photographed at specific places at the time of the crime.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'', set during D-Day, has Watson confronting sometime enemy Druitt, who claims he is trying to help the war effort. When Watson snorts that if Druitt wanted to help, he would kill Hitler, Druitt matter-of-factly reveals he did...six months earlier at an opera. Watson realizes the Reich has been using body doubles to hide the fact the Fuehrer is dead. ,
* On ''Series/{{VIP}}'', the gang befriend a Cuban man vacationing in L.A. While clean-shaven, his voice and mannerisms are strikingly like UsefulNotes/FidelCastro. His being attacked by a Cuban hit squad adds to it. Tasha meets a KGB contact who tells her that every few years Castro tests the loyalty of his inner circle. He makes it known he's going on a secret trip and then sends out a double "disguised" as an "incognito" Castro to see who takes shots at him. When attacked, the double comes up with a smart battle plan, claiming he read it in a book. The episode ends with it up in the air whether this is a double or, in fact, the real Castro taking a real vacation.
* A variant in the ''Series/ForeverKnight'' episode "Dying for Fame". The main plot involves Rebecca, a rock singer being stalked by an obsessed fan. Near the end of the episode, Rebecca is BoundAndGagged and hidden in a closet by one of her backup singers, so she can impersonate Rebecca on stage (that night's concert was on tape) and be the star herself. Unfortunately, that turns out to be the night Rebecca's obsessed fan is in the audience and pulls out a submachine gun.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Dead Reckoning", a DoubleAgent handed over by the Bulgarian secret police is poisoned while under [=CI5=] protection. They suspect that his daughter did the deed, even wondering if someone did a KillAndReplace on her. Turns out the dead man was an imposter who somewhat resembled the spy and had been surgically implanted with his fingerprints years before. The daughter was convinced to play along but had no idea the imposter was meant to be killed, so her father could fake his death and continue his spying under another identity.

* [[http://www.toccionline.com/creations/the_real_hussein/ The Real Hussein]], a parody of {{Music/Eminem}}'s "The Real Slim Shady" highlights UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein's use of these.
--> '''Saddam:''' And there's a million of us just like me, who dress like me, walk, talk, oppress like me, mustache like me, a big piece of trash like me, and just might be a piece of sh*t, but not quite me!

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': ''Every'' Trueborn member of Dark Eldar Archon [[MeaningfulName Vhane]] Kyharc's Kabal has been surgically altered to look exactly like him, and the lower orders wear masks of his face. In theory, this is to prevent assassinations ([[KlingonPromotion always a good idea with Dark Eldar]]), but the truth is, the aptly-named Vhane really is that much of a narcissist (he once bombarded an ''entire planet'' with a virus that gave every living thing his face).

* The titular king in ''Theatre/HenryIV, Part 1'' has a number of doubles during the climactic battle.

** In the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Decoy Octopus takes on the appearance of several different people, and has to be psychologically evaluated after each one to return to his core personality. In the [[FanWork Fan Comic]] ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'', set prior to the game, Revolver Ocelot expresses disappointment at Decoy Octopus' decision to stop impersonating him, because it meant that there was no longer a 50/50 chance that someone out to get him would kill Octopus instead.

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' [[spoiler:this is the endgame twist. The player character in ''The Phantom Pain'' is not Naked Snake who was the protagonist in the previous prequels (including ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]''), but rather an MSF Medic (the same one who extracted the bomb from Paz in the closing sequence of ''Ground Zeroes'') who become his double. While Naked Snake builds up the nation of Outer Heaven off-screen, Venom Snake lead the Diamond Dogs in order to build up his legend in your own way, in addition to seeking retribution for the events of ''Ground Zeroes''. By the end, Naked Snake acknowledges that Venom is just as worthy of the title as he is, and it turns out that Venom did become the Big Boss of the original ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', whereas Naked Snake is the Big Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''.]]
* After the first chapter of ''Rondo of Swords'', the player learns that the main character, Prince Serdic, is in fact a double of the actual Prince Serdic.
* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}:'' As detailed [[AllThereInTheManual in the companion novel]] ''Literature/BioShockRapture,'' this is how [[spoiler:Frank Fontaine]] managed to [[spoiler:fake his death]]. It was actually [[spoiler:Fontaine's longtime henchman Reggie, made to look like Fontaine with surgery by Dr. Steinman, who was killed in the Fontaine Futuristics shoot-out. The real Fontaine went on to become [[BadSamaritan Atlas]]]].
* There are two cases of this in ''Franchise/FireEmblem''. First is Samto from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', body double of Navarre, second is Shanam from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' (cameo) and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' ([[AscendedExtra made playable]]), body double of Prince Shanan.
* The playable version of [[BloodKnight King Lion]] in ''VideoGame/SavageReign'' and ''[[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover Neo Geo Battle Coliseum]]'' is actually a body double (referred to as a "shadow") of [[SNKBoss the real]] [[FinalBoss King Lion]].
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps''' [[spoiler:first level has the player unknowingly assassinating Fidel Castro's body double.]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'': [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Hades]] has a body double whom he uses to host a meeting with several KVA supporters/officials. The team sent in to assassinate him don't figure this out until ''after'' the imposter has been shot, and right before a bomb goes off in the room they're in.]]
* Used for Sakaki Joushiro's backstory in the ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' games (more exactly, Warrior's Rage). [[spoiler:With a twist, though! The body double was not ''him'' but his girlfriend Karen, an ActionGirl who posed as a princess's double... but was killed by the BigBad Oboro. Joushiro got wrongfully blamed for all of it and now he's a runaway.]]
* Tokugawa Ieyasu uses multiple body doubles while on the run in ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' during the Battle Of Mikatagahara as five of his retainers pretended to be Ieyasu so he can escape. Often a tearjerker scene as he was against such an idea and swore to unite Japan so sacrifices like these will never have to be made ever again.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', a [[LaResistance small rebel faction]]'s ZanyScheme to capture [[PresidentEvil President Vinzer Deling]] alive succeeds...only for him to turn out to be an undead body double who [[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate TaLKs liKE TorGO]].
* Subverted and played for laughs in ''VideoGame/BangaiO'', with one boss character. A few levels after [[BigBad Gai]] is defeated, Riki and Mami encounter a doppelganger of him that was raised to fill in as the Cosmo Gang's substitute leader, to the point that no one remembers who he is anymore. Said "doppelganger" happens to be a furry, green creature that sports [[PaperThinDisguise a hairstyle vaguely resembling Gai's, glowing eyes, and a cigar]]. [[HilarityEnsues Naturally, Riki isn't fooled]].
* The ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' series love having the villains sent these into your dungeon before themselves.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the [[TheGambler wandering gambler]] Setzer sends a calling card to the Opera House, professing his intention to kidnap the opera singer Maria. The party needs to get on his airship to make their way to the Imperial continent, so they have Celes (who, strangely enough, looks a bit like Maria) act as a decoy and sing her part in the opera that night. She manages to fool Setzer until after he kidnaps her.
* In ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'', [[spoiler:the Body Double of the President of Zheng Fa, conspiring with Blaise Debeste and Patricia Roland, hires ProfessionalKiller Sirhan Dogen to kill the true president and takes his place. The truth is not discovered until after the double himself is murdered, twelve years later]].
* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'', [[spoiler:Robert de Sable]] has [[spoiler:Maria Thorpe]] impersonate him at a funeral after he ([[ProperlyParanoid correctly]]) guesses that he's on the Assassin's hit list. Additionally, had he not done that [[spoiler:Desmond would have never existed, as Altair and Maria end up marrying and conceiving Desmond's ancestor]].
* In ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', the "Doppleganger" character is a body-double for Jack. His real name is Timothy Lawrence, who took the job out of desperation because of his crushing student debt, and was surgically altered to look and sound like Jack (with implications that they also implanted a bomb in him that would explode if he ever tried to get the surgery reversed). However, he is very much his own person, and while he is required by law to act and talk like Jack (and even has a contractual clause that forbids him from using his real name), he proves to be far more morally sound compared to the real Jack, especially after he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] halfway through the game. The "Handsome Jackpot" DLC of ''Videogame/Borderlands3'' reveals that Timothy actually survived past Jack's death and has been stuck in an abandoned casino built by Jack where he's hunted down by the survivors due to both his appearance and the fact that he has a VIP Pass grafted to his hand that can grant anyone full access to the casino's systems.
** In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', the player is required to kill a body double of Jack in order to snatch a piece of Jack's DNA for a disguise. Unlike the above however, this one is just a regular Engineer mook using a holographic disguise, and doesn't sound ''at all'' like the real Jack.
* In ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', Jeanne's childhood friend Lianne is forced to do this for Jeanne [[spoiler:after she disappears and is believed to be dead.]] Ultimately, [[spoiler:''Liane'' is the one who [[BurnTheWitch is burned at the stake]], [[BreaktheCutie much to Jeanne's horror]].]]
* ''VideoGame/LastAlert'': Chairman Steve uses one to speak for him at a corporate banquet. It doesn't really matter much since Guy Kazama blows up the double in the same cutscene he's introduced.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry4'': Pagan Min has one named Eric, who apparently [[RaceLift isn't even really (half) Asian]]; just a white Australian guy with hair loss, [[VillainousCheekbones high cheekbones]] and a ''lot'' of [[MagicPlasticSurgery plastic surgery]]. Pagan mostly uses him to pose as him for portraits and statues in his stead, probably out of sheer laziness. Ajay only finds out [[ActuallyADoomBot after he's killed Eric, at which point the real Pagan calls him up to taunt him]].

* In ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'', Duke Luca Abele has a body double living within his personal estate. If the player can find him... [[spoiler:he'll agree to replace the duke by taking his medallion and have the real one arrested, telling the guards that his "body double" went mad and believes he's the real thing. Luckily, he proves to be a far better ruler than the real thing]].
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWars'' have you fighting the tyrant, Dong Zhuo, roughly halfway into the game. Once you killed him, you realize you just killed a double and the ''real'' Dong Zhuo is getting away on horseback.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series' backstory, the [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade more "heretical" tales]] of Tiber Septim's life state that he was served by a powerful MysteriousBacker known only as the Underking, believed to have possibly been the ancient Nordic king and [[EternalHero Shezarrine]], Wulfharth Ash-King. In addition to protecting Septim (then known as the Breton Hjalti Early-Beard) in the form of a great storm, the Underking is also believed to have been able to impersonate Hjalti, allowing them to conquer and govern in two places at once.
* In ''VideoGame/LoveNikkiDressUpQueen'', the titular Nikki pulls this for her IdenticalStranger Bai Jinjin, [[spoiler:when her dad's envoys try to kidnap her back into her rich home ''and'' take a hold of some ''very'' important items that she supposedly took with her when she ran away.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2ThouShaltNotDie'', Keigo Kyogoku employs a body double [[spoiler:to commit suicide when his coup fails at the end of chapter 8, allowing Kyogoku to summon Musashi as part of his evil plan]].
* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' reveals that [[spoiler:Joon-gi Han]] from ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'' has one, whose real name is [[spoiler:Yeonsu Kim]]. Although it wasn't by choice, [[spoiler:as Yeonsu's father drugged him and forced him to undergo plastic surgery to get on his good graces.]]
* ''VideoGame/SniperGhostWarriorContracts:'' One of your targets employs a body double who carries a dead man's switch: if you shoot the double first, then the target will be alerted. If you search the body of your other main target for the level, you will find out that the target doesn't smoke.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', it's revealed in chapter 30 that the "Val'Sharess Diva'ratrika" seen in a parade is actually a double. Slightly different than most examples in that [[spoiler:the double isn't there to protect Diva -- it's to hide the fact that ''she's been dead for 16 years'', and it was her ''own daughters'' that did it]]. Needless to say, [[spoiler:the ''real'' Diva, who in fact is NotQuiteDead and [[FusionDance took over the body of her servant]], is pretty shocked to hear that "she's" holding a parade]]. After a 15 year {{timeskip}} [[spoiler:both the Sarghress and Vloz'ress clans put a large amount of effort into assassinating the various doubles that have been brought out since in an attempt to publicly expose the deception, with Kiel'ndia Vloz'ress succeeding in killing one and having it publicly announced, in a chapter appropriately titled "End of Charades"]].
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has several for Xykon [[spoiler:one of whose head Belkar uses as a weapon for a short time]]. This is also something of a subversion, as the doubles look like Xykon simply because they're all skeletons.
* ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'': The prince of Eldenlon has a body double that has made no attempts to recreate some of his very noticeable injuries which he picked up in the same incident that killed his previous body double.

* In ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit'' Queen Xantippa once used a double to get out of attending a party celebrating her [[http://www.brunothebandit.com/d/20020507.html engagement to Bruno]].
* ''Webcomic/TheSilverEye'': Walter's curse turned Thoth St. Claire into a perfect doppleganger of Bhatair Hollingsworth, the king of a far away land. Bhatair somehow conviced Thoth to play the part of the king while Bhatair traveled and [[spoiler:it was Thoth who was decapitated and chopped to pieces in the arena attack not Bhatair, though the curse did transpose many of the injuries onto Bhatair.]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''[[Literature/PayMeBug A Rake by Starlight]]'', the coup that's been brewing against Baron Tyrelos finally comes to a head when her body double gets vaporized by a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill nuclear bomb]] during a speech the Baron herself was originally supposed to give.
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' one of Bonesaw's tactics when being cornered is to capture civilians and [[MagicPlasticSurgery modify them to look like the Slaughterhouse 9]]; the 9 can then use the confusion to attack or retreat. Even after the 9 leave Brockton Bay several surviving body doubles have to completely cover themselves to avoid being attacked.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'', Julien decides to hire a body double to handle a potentially risky dangerous meeting with the crocodile kingdom, but due to the body double's low-self esteem from constantly being mistaken for Julien, he tries to take Julien's place instead.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan Smith has a body double issued by the CIA. It gets {{Squick}}y when the body double starts dating Stan's daughter Hayley.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** [[TheAhnold Rainer Wolfcastle]] has one that looks 100% like him but with a different voice and without the accent.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E15HomieTheClown Homie the Clown]]", Homer is a licensed lookalike for Krusty (similar to Bozo's licensees) and unknowingly becomes mistaken for him when the latter was being targeted by the mob.[[note]]This also serves as a dual LampshadeHanging of their similar physical appearances and a DevelopmentGag, since Matt Groening originally intended to have Krusty and Homer be one in the same, the irony being that Bart worshiped Krusty but disrespected his dad not knowing they were the same person.[[/note]]
* In some incarnations of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', Megatron has one named Megaplex.

* To protect Timmy from the Eliminators in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishology}}'', Jorgen transforms himself into Timmy and lets them capture him so the real Timmy can escape because, since Timmy's TheChosenOne, only he can defeat the Darkness.

* When WesternAnimation/DangerMouse is held captive by the motorcycling Mongols ("The Spy Who Stayed In With A Cold"), master of disguise Agent 57 changes himself into DM and buffaloes the Mongols into a mass retreat.
-->'''DM Agent 57:''' ''[to the Mongols]'' You're outnumbered, two to 7,643 so you'd better untie me now before I come down there and do it myself!
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingChanAndTheChanClan'' episode "To Catch a Pitcher," star baseball player Boo Blue (a loose expy of Oakland A's star Vida Blue) is kidnapped by some thugs--or so it seems. When the Chan Clan arrive to rescue him, they find he's a lookalike planted while the real Boo Blue was safe and secure in another location.

** Similarly, after Boris Yeltsin left politics there were some theories about how he actually [[VodkaDrunkenski drank himself to death]] in 1999 and the Yeltsin that lived until 2007 was a body double.

* UsefulNotes/JosephStalin also said to have at least four body doubles, and one of them, Felix Dadaev, came forward after the fall of the Soviet Union to tell his story.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._E._Clifton_James M.E. Clifton James]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Banwell Keith "Tex" Banwell]] both were this to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery,_1st_Viscount_Montgomery_of_Alamein Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery.]]

** Also as recounted in Laura Hillenbrand's book this was pulled off by another team during a race. A horse called Stagehand was entered into a race alongside his brother Sceneshifter, who was identical to him in appearance, and Seabiscuit's jockey George Woolf was told that Stagehand's jockey would be wearing a white color cap to differentiate the two horses. During the race he carefully followed the white-capped jockey's horse and eventually used their burst of speed to move to the front, only to realize too late that the rival team's jockeys had switched their caps prior to the race and the real Stagehand had been waiting in the wings behind both of them and burst past them for the win.
* In Sengoku-Era Japan, it wasn't uncommon for a Daimyō to have a ''Kagemusha'' (影武者 ''Shadow Warrior'') to keep order in their castles while out on a campaign. Often Kagemusha were trusted retainers to their lords who would take the fall in a siege. Those mentions of UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu on other folders above? It has grounds from old rumors that Ieyasu died a bit too early and then his Kagemusha has to take over being the real Ieyasu.

* UsefulNotes/{{The Silver Age|OfComicBooks}} Franchise/{{Superman}} used [[RobotMe robot doubles]] to help him conceal his SecretIdentity. These were phased out by UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}.

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "A Dance With Death", Odette, a spoiled UpperClassTwit is found dead on a dancing show. However, various confusing bits such as how someone saw Odette shooting up but no drugs were in her system. It then turns out the prints match those of Barbara, a stripper who had died in a train crash a year earlier...a crash Odette barely escaped from. It finally clicks when Castle finds photos showing Odette doing court-ordered service at a soup kitchen yet able to attend a fancy brunch across town at the same time. It turns out Odette saw Barbara perform and realized that with a little surgery, they could be doubles. She thus hired Barbara to pose as Odette for stuff like community service and weekly meals with her wealthy grandmother while Odette could party like old times. When the crash happened and Odette was killed with her face horribly managled, Barbara realized that no one knew about the deal so, as Castle puts it,"She saw her chance to [[DeadPersonImpersonation go from understudy to leading lady]]" with no one the wiser.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan Smith has a body double issued by the CIA. It gets Squicky when the body double starts dating Stan's daughter Hayley.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', [[TheAhnold Rainer Wolfcastle]] has one that looks 100% like him but with a different voice and without the accent.
** On another occasion, Homer was a licensed lookalike for Krusty (similar to Bozo's licensees) and unknowingly became mistaken for him when the latter was being targeted by the mob.[[note]]This also serves as a dual LampshadeHanging of their similar physical appearances and a DevelopmentGag, since Matt Groening originally intended to have Krusty and Homer be one in the same, the irony being that Bart worshiped Krusty but disrespected his dad not knowing they were the same person.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "The Laughing Fish", Batman disguises himself as one of the Joker's targets and has the actual target wear a spare Batsuit. It doesn't work; the Joker sends in the target's cat, who recognizes its human and delivers a dose of Joker venom.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': In "Attack of the Killer Bebes", Ron uses his [[LatexPerfection "Movie Magic Kit"]] to impersonate Kim's dad so that the Bebes kidnap him instead.

-->'''DM!Agent 57:''' (''to the Mongols'') You're outnumbered, two to 7,643 so you'd better untie me now before I come down there and do it myself!

* In one of Francoise Rivier and Michel Laponte's ''Jonathan Cap'' books, [[spoiler:a dangerous {{plan}} to overthrow an Arabian Sheik depends on one of these, a Middle-Eastern OrdinaryHighschoolStudent named Jamil who is forced by the terrorist group to serve as the double to the Crown Prince (whom they plan to kidnap, kill, and then replace with the kid, whom they have trapped in a complicated web of lies to make sure he can't escape). Coincidentally, the BigBad chooses a Parisian private clinic as its hideout since the gambit's supposed to take place during the Prince's visit to France, and a girl named Juliette is operated there... and [[SpannerInTheWorks she happens to be the best friend]] of Jonathan's {{Kid Sidekick}}s and nephews Alex and Nico...]]

When important figures feel they need extra insurance against assassins, someone takes on their appearance and role, especially in higher-risk situations. Though this is still used today by some leaders, before the advent of modern photography this was much easier to pull off, since the average person would probably not know what the leader looked like outside of a vague description or drawing, making any differences between the double and the real person less noticeable. In more modern works the close resemblance may be explained away by MagicPlasticSurgery or espionage-level disguise, while science fiction settings may use SendInTheClones and have clones made with this purpose in mind.

This is very much a TruthInTelevision, and generally the more paranoid a leader, and the more people who want to kill them, the more doubles they will have. Saddam Hussein reportedly had over 50 doubles that he used at various times, and other notorious leaders like Josef Stalin and Hitler have also had confirmed body doubles. Even if doubles don't "take an assassin's bullet" their deployment will at the very least complicate any assassination plots.