History Main / DoppelgangerSpin

** [[spoiler:Maz Koshia]], the {{Superboss}} of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', has this as one of his many techniques that he uses during the second phase of combat. He has no obvious tell, except that his real self usually stays in the same location while his clones fan out; however, they can easily become so thickly clustered that it's nigh-impossible to find the real target. This strategy is especially daunting in Master Mode, where attacking a clone gives the real opponent a chance to regenerate his health.

** Invoked by Dormammu in ''Film/DoctorStrange'' - in the first round of the Final Battle, Dormammu blasts a version of Doctor Strange and then sees another one appear. He immediately suspects this trope and asks if it's an illusion, and upon hearing the new Strange say "this is real," he says "good" and blasts him again. [[spoiler: In fact, there are no illusions, it's a time loop and it's real every time.]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} does this to baffle his enemies (and the audience) in the climax of ''Film/SupermanII'', the same battle where we learned his S-shield can be torn off and used as a poorly-animated weapon.

** Phantom Ganon does this too in his first two appearances, in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]''. In ''Ocarina of Time'', he disappears into a painting of a spooky road in his boss room, and several of him ride back (he rides a horse here); the real one creates a portal and come out, while the rest turn back at the last second. In ''Wind Waker'', he gets simple and only surrounds you, and the real one is always the one behind you.

* ''The Compleat TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'', ''Book 2: Resources''. Landular's Multiple Image Spell allows the caster to create up to three illusory images of themselves. They move with the caster, doing everything the caster does.

** [[spoiler:Maz Koshia]], the BonusBoss of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', has this as one of his many techniques that he uses during the second phase of combat. He has no obvious tell, except that his real self usually stays in the same location while his clones fan out; however, they can easily become so thickly clustered that it's nigh-impossible to find the real target. This strategy is especially daunting in Master Mode, where attacking a clone gives the real opponent a chance to regenerate his health.

* [[TheSmartGuy Taion's]] Interlink form can do this in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', mostly in cutscenes but also forming the basis for some of his Arts.

* ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'' used it the quantum physics way: "[[http://dresdencodak.com/2005/06/14/lil-werner/ What would you say is my current momentum?]]"
* Used by Cerise in ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'', where [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/magick-chicks/the-real-witch they're used as a distraction]].

* The Succubus in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' does this as part of her attack chain, filling up the top of the screen with duplicates. They all do the same choreographed moves, and there's no real way to play "One of these things..." other than to attack each one in turn until the real one doesn't vanish after one hit (or you 'cheat' and use an item/spell that hits everything on the screen at once). Death has a similar tactic in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]]'', and Dracula appears to do a 2D version of this in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''.

* While cephalopod ink is best known for clouding predators' vision, some creatures can mix ink with mucus to release blobs shaped and colored similarly to the real cephalopod in question. Predators have been documented mistakenly attacking these "pseudopods".

* In Reika's first fight as Cure Beauty in ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'', she's able to find the real MonsterOfTheWeek by attacking the one that's a "mirror image" of what the others look like (the other four girls just aimed randomly, not realizing that bit.)

* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Koro-sensei, being a creature [[SuperSpeed that has a top speed of Mach 20]], can make clones by moving at high speeds. More often than not, he uses this ability [[MundaneUtility to teach his students individually to prepare them for exams]]. It gets weirder. Destroying one of his tentacles makes his clones somehow got ''smaller'', almost child-sized. And the clones are pretty unstable, too, being able to form into freaky shapes when threatened.
* In the ''Anime/{{Blade}}'' anime, Blade gets this in the form of "Deadly Sword Technique #1: Residual Moon". The illusory copy even looks like it takes damage. This confuses the enemy long enough for the real Blade to attack from behind.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Villain ComicBook/{{Mysterio}} is fond of this tactic, although he uses [[MasterOfIllusion holographic projectors]] and other technological means rather than any natural ability.

* Franchise/TheFlash's enemy The Mirror Master practically made this trope in comics; it's one of his favorite tricks. In fact, the various Flashes have mimicked this ability many, many times.

* In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1984'', evil sorceress Selena creates magically a bunch of copies of herself to surround ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and prevent her from saving Ethan.

* ''ComicBook/Ratman1989''': In his younger days fighting manga characters in an arena, Rat-Man used this ability. We see it twice: the first against a [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]] {{Expy}}, who sees through the illusion and punches the real deal before starting a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown, and then against The Dragon, an invincible [[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] {{Expy}}.
* ComicBook/{{Loki}} has this power since the first ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' story, though he uses it more frequently in the movies.
* ComicBook/DoctorDoom has an Image Projector that can create a lifelike projection of himself nearby. He uses it as a decoy.
* Franchise/WonderWoman has been using her speed to create after images/speed clones since her earliest appearances.

* Franchise/{{Superman}} does this to baffle his enemies (and the audience) in the climax of ''Film/SupermanII'', the same battle where we learned his S-shield can be torn off and used as a poorly-animated weapon.

--> “Are you ever not going to fall for that?”
** Invoked by Dormammu in ''Film/DoctorStrange'' - in the first round of the Final Battle, Dormammu blasts a version of Doctor Strange and then sees another one appear. He immediately suspects this trope and asks if it's an illusion, and upon hearing the new Strange say "this is real," he says "good" and blasts him again. [[spoiler: In fact, there are no illusions, it's a time loop and it's real every time]].

* Invoked, but not seen during a Halloween episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', when the guys all dress up as Franchise/TheFlash.

* Klungo in ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo-Tooie]]'', when he uses the blue potion.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' and ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' both play this one. In ''[=StarCraft=]'', the High Templars can create several illusions out of any unit, while in ''Warcraft III'', the Blade Masters can create several illusions of themselves.

* CanonForeigner Luminus from ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' liked to do this, but never had the good sense to get away while the getting was good. In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream Only a Dream]]", Luminus had improved his duplicates into HardLight [[DoppelgangerAttack combat-capable]] versions, as Franchise/TheFlash discovered the hard way. Just two little problems: [[spoiler:holograms don't have skeletons, and taking down the real Luminus also disposed of the duplicates]].

* Franchise/SpiderMan's foe ComicBook/{{Mysterio}} is fond of this tactic, although he uses [[MasterOfIllusion holographic projectors]] and other technological means rather than any natural ability.

* In his younger days fighting manga characters in an arena, [[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]] used this ability. We see it twice: the first against a [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]] {{Expy}}, who sees through the illusion and punches the real deal before starting a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown, and then against The Dragon, an invincible [[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] {{Expy}}... [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And it succeeds]].

* This is how the 'Double Image' ability is portrayed in the various ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games.

** And then actually utilized by Doctor Strange in the fight against Thanos in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. He casts first the Images of Ikkon and then the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak ([[ShownTheirWork both spells from the comics]]) to overwhelm the mad titan. Unfortunately, Thanos uses the soul stone to pick out which Strange is the real one, and the power stone to obliterate the rest.

* Loki does this a couple of times in ''Film/{{Thor}}.'' He does it again in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', prompting Loki to mock Thor when he doesn’t realize they’re copies.
--> “Are you ever not going to fall for that?”

** Hidden Phantom in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''.

* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'''s [[SimSimSalabim Great Tiger]] has a number of attacks like this, especially his upgraded Tiger Punch in the Wii Title defense version. '''''[[{{Kiai}} SALZARAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!]]'''''

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s Captain Jean-Luc Picard is credited with the creation of the eponymous "Picard Maneuver," in which a starship makes a short-distance warp jump, effectively outrunning light and thus creating an "afterimage" of the ship in its former location. Later justified in the ''Literature/StarTrekTheLostEra'' book "The Buried Age": It was an unexpected maneuver because it would divert power from the weapons and shields; the enemy was relying primarily on short-range, light-speed-limited Tactical sensors in the heat of the battle; but above all, they needed to do something drastic, and they wouldn't get a second shot.

* Invoked by Dormammu in ''Film/DoctorStrange'' - in the first round of the Final Battle, Dormammu blasts a version of Doctor Strange and then sees another one appear. He immediately suspects this trope and asks if it's an illusion, and upon hearing the new Strange say "this is real," he says "good" and blasts him again. [[spoiler: In fact, there are no illusions, it's a time loop and it's real every time]].

* ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}'s enemy Multiplex.