History Main / ConfrontingYourImposter

->'''Barmy:''' ''[answering phone]'' Mr. Wooster's residence. ''[pause]'' Where is Mr. Wooster? He's not at home, sir. I'm Jeeves. ''[pause]'' What do you mean 'you think not?' ''[pause]'' Oh! ''[He hangs up.]''\\
'''Bertie:''' Who was it?\\
'''Barmy:''' Jeeves!
-->-- ''Series/JeevesAndWooster''

** In a [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] story, Superman is captured and, while escaping, encounters his friends Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White who claim to being held prisoner as well. He realises that these are actually robot doubles planted by his captor when he sees the remaining two prisoners: Morgan Edge and Clark Kent.

* This can also happen when something other than a person is disguised. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the British and Germans both employed armed merchant ships (the Germans used them to attack British shipping, the British to hunt down German raiders), and often used fake markings, false smokestacks, and other elements to disguise them as the other side's ship. In the 1914 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trindade Battle of Trindade,]] the German SMS ''Cap Trafalgar'', disguised as the British RMS ''Carmania'', encountered the ''Carmania''. At that early point in the war, neither side actually knew which merchant ships the other had converted into auxiliary cruisers, so captains commonly made poor choices of disguise.[[note]]''Cap Trafalgar'' had been specifically noted to greatly resemble ''Carmania'' when chosen for conversion into a raider (with the exception of having 3 funnels to ''Carmania''[='=]s 2), so the choice had seemed obvious. One of ''Cap Trafalgar''[='=]s funnels was cut off to complete the disguise (the one that was removed was a dummy to begin with, only there for appearances' sake).[[/note]] It is often claimed that ''Carmania'' was also disguised as ''Cap Trafalgar''. This is not the case, but [[RuleOfFunny it should have been]].

* Mafioso Michael Farnese, son of the infamous John "Sonny" Farnese once encountered a [[SmallNameBigEgo small-time crook]] who tried to intimidate him, not realizing who he was talking to, by claiming to be working for Sonny Farnese himself. When Michael pointed out that Sonny was in prison at the time, the crook then claimed that he had the number of Sonny's son Michael. Naturally, the real Michael called the bluff and told the crook to just call "Michael" right away and when the crook obviously couldn't do that, had his men beat him up.

* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'', two impostors pretending to be [[HeroWithBadPublicity Kazuma Kiryu]] (but overweight) and his associate [[DeadPersonImpersonation Shinji]] go around Kamurocho using Kiryu's reputation as the Dragon of Dojima to walk out of tabs. Then try to intimidate the real Kiryu, not knowing it's him, despite wearing the same outfit. He gives them a SecretTestOfCharacter. They fail, but he lets them go. He sees them try to intimidate someone who actually knows [[AllLovingHero him]] and doesn't fall for it, then treaten him as he comes to that man's defense. It goes [[CurbStompBattle about as well as anyone would expect]]. The real Kiryu doesn't even ''flinch'' when the fake Kiryu sucker punches him in the face.

* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'', two impostors pretending to be Kazuma Kiryu (but overweight) and his associate [[DeadPersonImpersonation Shinji]] go around Kamurocho using Kiryu's reputation as the Dragon of Dojima to walk out of tabs. Then they try to intimidate the real Kiryu, and it goes [[CurbStompBattle about as well as anyone would expect]]. The real Kiryu doesn't even ''flinch'' when the fake Kiryu punches him in the face.

* In the season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight dramatically stops the wedding between Shining Armor and Princess Cadance so that the ''real'' Princess Cadance can expose the one at the alter for the imposter she is: the changeling Queen Chrysalis.

* Subverted on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when Buffy calls out Kendra when the latter claims to be the Slayer... only to discover that Kendra became a Slayer when Buffy was temporarily dead.

* On ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', Sherlock's identity is stolen and Sherlock tracks down the imposter. The guy turns out to be a poor immigrant who needed Sherlock's identity to get a work permit. Sherlock is rather sympathetic and agrees to not report the immigrant if the guy tells him who sold him the identity in the first place. Before leaving, Sherlock warns the guy to quickly get a new identity since there are quite a number of people with grudges against Sherlock or his family and some might mistake the imposter for the real thing.

* On ''Series/GeneralHospital'', boozy, floozy Rhonda crashes the wealthy Quartermaine family's christening party for its newest member and promptly makes an ass out of herself, getting drunk and flirting with all the men. When an irritated woman asks why she's there, she haughtily claims to have been invited. (She's actually riding the coattails of her daughter Karen's legitimate invitation.) The equally haughty woman informs her that she most certainly was NOT invited, and she knows this because she, the child's mother, sent out the invitations.
* In the ''{{Series/Highlander}}'' episode 'The Messenger', an Immortal appears who claims to be Methos, the [[TheOlderImmortal legendary oldest Immortal]], and preaches that Immortals should live in peace and give up fighting each other. The real Methos decides to pay him a visit and ask a few questions, although it never goes beyond that and the real Methos doesn't reveal his identity.

* A ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' has three con artists start impersonating members of the ''Voyager'''s crew, specifically Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok, selling Federation membership in exchange for resources. After finding out the truth, the crew manages to track down the impostors, and each ends up confronting his or her impostor. Tuvok's exchange with Mobar (who has actually [[BecomingTheMask grown fond of Vulcan culture and insists on staying in character all the time]]) is particularly interesting:
-->(''Tuvok and Mobar are holding one another at gunpoint.'')\\
'''Mobar''': Commander Tuvok... Logic would indicate that neither of us has the advantage.\\
'''Tuvok''': (''unimpressed'') Your logic is flawed. (''blinds him with his flashlight and then stuns him'')
* A variation in an episode of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' had a cocky wannabe bandit try to intimidate Xena by telling her that he had killed the dread warlord somebody, which earned him only a passing nod. Later on, he repeats the boast, and Xena tells him he's a liar, and he didn't kill that guy. "How do you know?" "Because ''I'' did."
* One episode of the 90s ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' series had an imposter step into the Alcalde's identity while the real Alcalde was away. When the real one got back, there was much confusion where people tried to followed one man's decrees and then got punished because said decrees contradicted the other one's decrees until the real one managed to confront the impostor. Even then, the matter still wasn't resolved until Zorro appeared and offered an objective means of telling the two apart - the real Alcalde had a scar on his arm from a previous fight with Zorro. After slicing open both men's sleeves, the guards have proof as to which is the fake, and the impostor was arrested.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'', the titular character learns that someone has been going around pretending to be him. He finally has Maze track the guy down and drag him to the club. The guy nearly pisses his pants when Lucifer starts threatening him and admits to having pretended to be him to score chicks. Lucifer decides to let him go.
* In an episode of ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', Liam is capture and confronted by the real Liam Kincaid, whose identity he has taken. Apparently, the real Liam is in black ops, which is why he hasn't been seen. At the end of the episode, he tells his impostor to do right by his name.
* In one serial of ''Series/{{Mathnet}}'', Mathematician George Frankly is being framed for a crime. At trial, a self-representing George tearily admits to the crime. Cue the real George, bursting into the courtroom in a wifebeater and boxers, looking disheveled. He accuses the impostor himself of being the man framing him, which he proves by tugging on his face until a latex mask comes off.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 3, Wilson Fisk has Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter dress up in a Daredevil suit to commit murders to discredit Matt Murdock, the real Daredevil, and all three of Matt's fights with Dex happen while Dex is in costume (first while Dex is carrying out an attack on the ''New York Bulletin'' to eliminate a witness against Fisk, then when Dex attacks Matt's church to kill Karen to avenge her murder of James Wesley, and in the finale when Matt manipulates him into going after Fisk to avenge Fisk's murder of Dex's friend Julie Barnes).
* ''Radio/RoyalCanadianAirFarce'': In season 11, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or5I8NI04UU one sketch]] had "Pamela Wallin" (Luba Goy) interviewing "Jean Chrétien" (Roger Abbott), which was interrupted by the real Pamela Wallin, who continued the interview, only for the real Jean Chretien to interrupt and continue the interview with the real Wallin.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': In several sketches, an SNL performer playing a celebrity or noted person will find themselves facing the actual person.
** Creator/WillFerrell impersonated US Attorney General Janet Reno during the recurring "Janet Reno's Dance Party" sketches. In the January 20, 2001 episode, airing the same day as the end of the UsefulNotes/BillClinton presidency, the real Reno showed up during that show's sketch, shouting [[BorrowedCatchphrase "It's Reno time!"]], and after a humorously awkward meeting, they decide to dance together.
* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'': "[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E08UnderTheCloakOfWar Under the Cloak of War]]": Dak'Rah "[[TheButcher the Butcher of J'Gal]]", a former Klingon general-turned-Federation ambassador, claims to have had a HeelRealization during the bloody battle for the moon of J'Gal during the GreatOffscreenWar, killing several of his own officers to stop them from massacring everyone who wasn't a Klingon soldier and then defecting. Dr. M'Benga ultimately reveals he knows Rah didn't kill his officers, because M'Benga himself did: Rah gave the order for the massacre and then [[DirtyCoward fled when M'Benga snuck into his base camp to assassinate him]].

* [[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms WARMACHINE and HORDES]] use this to explain [[MirrorMatch Mirror Matches]]. If the same character appears in both armies, than one of them is an imposter, and the one that survives or is on the winning side is automatically the real one. This is subverted if both of them die, however, in which case it turns outs they were both imposters.

* ''VideoGame/AmongUs'': The Shapeshifter role is an Impostor with the capability to shapeshift into any live (or recently killed) Crewmate for a limited while, which can be an effective tactic to frame an innocent Crewmate. However, if a Crewmate spots and reports another player who has taken on their looks, it'll not only reveal the presence of the Shapeshifter, but also deem the Crewmate as innocent, as Shapeshifters can only shapeshift into Crewmates, not other Impostors.

** In ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}: Orphans'' the last and only surviving of the Venom-fueled Robin impersonators gets talked down from his attack on Batman by the real ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}, Tim Drake.

* In the ''ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC'' mini-series, SHADE deploys a fake version of Miss America to de-power and demoralize the Freedom Fighters, and she almost succeeds before an old woman shows up and declares that she can't possibly be Miss America... because ''she'' is Miss America. Cue CurbStompBattle...

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': During the 2012 part of the Time Heist, Steve ends up encountering his past self while retrieving the Mind Stone and has to fight him. His past self, for the record, thinks that time traveling Steve is Loki using an illusion. The fight ends with time traveling Steve telling his past self "Bucky is alive!" to get him to let go of him.

* In ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'', there's a chance that Rubber Soul will impersonate the player instead of Kakyoin in Chaos Mode. Should the player arrive to the gondola in time, they can confront him alongside Jotaro and Kakyoin.

* In ''Solar Winds'', you're given a display filter so that aliens you talk to over video communications will see you as being one of them, and thus won't attack you on sight. Unless, of course, you run into the specific alien the display filter was recorded off of, who recognizes your treachery and tries to blast you out of the sky.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Thief}} 3'', you overhear a conversation in which a guy is obtaining a lucrative contract by pretending to be you. True to the game's minimal-violence style, you also hear where he will stash the loot, so you let him do the work and then steal it.

* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'':