History Main / EasyImpersonation

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' has the Other Brothers Elric. Though they’re not evil, they do cause trouble for Ed and Al. And vice versa, actually. For example, the fake Elrics get arrested when a warrant goes out for the real one. Now, the fake Elrics do look somewhat like the real ones did before they lost or maimed their bodies, but no one who saw them since would be fooled. Ed has ArtificialLimbs, and Al is AnimatedArmor.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:Live Action Television]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Played hilariously straight, along with a LampshadeHanging, in [[http://www.teamfortress.com/war/soldier/05.htm this comic]] accompanying the [=WAR!=] Update in ''TeamFortress2''.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic is imprisoned for crimes committed by the recently un-SealedBadassInACan, Shadow the Hedgehog. Where this trope comes into play is the fact that Shadow has a different coloration, different spike patterns, and otherwise only has the slightest of similarities. At one point, a reporter even puts up footage of Shadow and claims him to be Sonic. This also falls under the "Not even trying to fool anyone" clause; when they finally meet, each claims that the other is their fake.
** And of course, the scene where Amy, Sonic's ''stalker'', mistakes Shadow for him, despite her approaching while he's having a non-hostile conversation with Dr. Robotnik. She eventually realises her mistake after she hugs Shadow.
** Amy has also mistaken Silver the Hedgehog for Sonic (again, different spike patterns and color) in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', and in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' she glomped Sonic himself without noticing that he had been transformed into a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent hedgehog-werewolf]]. [[WildMassGuessing Theory has it]] that Amy is near-sighted.
** This also happens in the OVA. Tails describes Metal as "a robot that looks exactly like Sonic!", and Amy is fooled enough to go up and hug it. Metal is silver, shiny, and has a rocket engine in its back.
* Furio Tigre impersonates [[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]] at one point during ''Trials and Tribulations'', purely because they have similar [[AnimeHair hair]]. Note that Tigre is buff, has a completely different disposition, and is ''orange''. Oh, and [[PaperThinDisguise his attorney's badge is made of cardboard]].
** At least with the Phoenix Wright example, the writers had the decency to have Phoenix lampshade [[IdiotPlot the sheer stupidity required on the part of everyone involved in the case]] to not recognise that it wasn't him.
* In one episode of ''DiGiCharat'', Dejiko is accused of various misdeeds by the other members of the cast. Though she insists she's innocent, no one believes her. She attempts to bribe the other characters into forgiving her with some Dejiko Candy, which happens to draw out her imitator, which is simply a blob with a Dejiko hat.
* In the opening act of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', Mario is sent to KangarooCourt and imprisoned based on his resemblance to a rough police sketch of the perpetrator: Shadow Mario.
** Made especially stupid when even a casual observer would have noticed that Mario had only been in the country for a matter of ''minutes'' when he was arrested, making it impossible for him to have committed the crimes that had been happening over the past week.
* Played for laughs in ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' in that the duplicate of Mr. Krabs made by Plankton was horrendously fake. However, [[TheDitz Spongebob]] still couldn't tell the difference, despite the fake talking in a CreepyMonotone, having a metal body with a PaperThinDisguise, and ''[[FrickinLaserBeams shooting lasers]]''.
* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when the Scoobies mistake the Buffybot for Buffy she gets very angry that they can not tell the difference. To be fair, the 'Bot does really ''look'' like her....until it opens its mouth, of course.
* In the 1980s ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, Shredder sends mutant frogs on a crime spree, and the Turtles get blamed. When the two groups finally confront each other, Donatello [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] by saying "I am so insulted. How could they mistake these things for turtles?"

* One episode of ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' had a trio of burglars get into Powerpuff Girls Halloween costumes and claim to be the Powerpuff Girls. Despite their being about three times taller than the girls, with hairier legs, fingers and masculine voices, everyone except Ms. Bellum actually believed that they were the Powerpuff Girls, and the girls got in trouble for everything the crooks did.
* WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}} was once jailed for crimes committed by Tap-Tap the Chiseler. Despite being a cigar smoker, Tap-Tap fooled everyone with his Underdog costume.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' had Dale picking up a [[GreenRocks meteorite fragment]] that allowed him to turn into a RubberMan; sick and tired of being TheLoad, he adopts the SecretIdentity of "Rubber Bando" and [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper leaves the rest of the Rangers feeling inadequate]]. Unfortunately, a ''bigger'' chunk of the meteorite fell into the hands of a sleazy travel agent named Seymour, who began abusing its power to ''steal entire monuments''. Naturally, his shenanigans were blamed on Dale, even though Seymour was quite obviously several times ''bigger''.
* In ''GummiBears'', while not ''abused'' as such, Cubbi's alter ego of the Crimson Avenger ends up wrapped in so much legend that no one bats an eye when someone who is most obviously ''not'' the diminutive bear shows up in costume claiming to be the Zorro-esque (or perhaps more appropriately, [[RomeoXJuliet Red Whirlwind]]-esque) hero.
* In an episode of ''SushiPack'', four members of the Pack are framed for robbing a bus, and are sentenced to house arrest, despite surveillance video showing the real culprits are simply the members of [[EvilCounterpart The Legion of Lowtide]] painted to be the right colors.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode, "Game Over for Owlman!", Batman is framed for crimes committed by his evil counterpart from a mirror universe. Said double is wearing a costume with pointier ears and a darker color scheme. The only person who figures out it's an impostor is not one of Batman's superhero allies, but the Joker.
** To be fair in this case, the costume in question was based on the one Batman wore in his first appearance and it was later revealed in the episode, "The Golden Age of Justice!", that Batman did wear that costume when he was starting out.
* Played hilariously straight, along with a LampshadeHanging, in [[http://www.teamfortress.com/war/soldier/05.htm this comic]] accompanying the [=WAR!=] Update in ''TeamFortress2''.
--> '''RED Demoman:''' *Bzzt* "I-will-kill-the-Soldier." *Bzzt* *Bzzt* "He-is-a-bad-friend." *Bzzt*\\
'''BLU Soldier:''' "Ahhhh, but ''damnit'' - it doesn't matter '''''what''''' he said in that weird robot voice I've never heard him talk in before."
** Not to mention the in-game disguise ability of the Spy class. While the spy looks like the intended class to everyone on the opposite team, everyone on the Spy's team sees them as they are, wearing [[PaperThinDisguise a paper mask of the intended target.]]
* In a Superdude skit on AllThat, Superdude (Keenan Thompson) was baffled that an imposter (Amanda Bynes) had all the people fooled. He even lampshaded the fact that a small white girl looks nothing like a larger black guy and that she didn't even have superpowers.

* During the ''{{Mystery Science Theater 3000}}'' episode "Hobgoblins", the Satellite of Love crew creates cardboard cut-outs of themselves, a generic tape recording. This fools Pearl and Bobo. Brain Guy can see through the disguise, but has trouble convincing the others until Mike's cut-out falls down and he enters the frame to right it
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' has the Other Brothers Elric. Though they’re not evil, they do cause trouble for Ed and Al. And vice versa, actually. For example, the fake Elrics get arrested when a warrant goes out for the real one. Now, the fake Elrics do look somewhat like the real ones did before they lost or maimed their bodies, but no one who saw them since would be fooled. Ed has ArtificialLimbs, and Al is AnimatedArmor.
** Part of this is just that nobody who hasn't seen them before seems to know what they look like, and just assumes its then based on the height difference and blond hair. It's part of the same gag for why people mistake Al for Ed.
* In the fourth ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, the pirate who has been impersonating Captain Jack Sparrow (and very convincingly, at that) turns out to be a [[PenelopeCruz girl.]]

* In ''SonicAdventure 2'', Sonic is imprisoned for crimes committed by the recently un-SealedBadassInACan, Shadow the Hedgehog. Where this trope comes into play is the fact that Shadow has a different coloration, different spike patterns, and otherwise only has the slightest of similarities. At one point, a reporter even puts up footage of Shadow and claims him to be Sonic. This also falls under the "Not even trying to fool anyone" clause; when they finally meet, each claims that the other is their fake.

** Amy has also mistaken Silver the Hedgehog for Sonic (again, different spike patterns and color) in ''SonicTheHedgehog2006'', and in ''SonicUnleashed'' she glomped Sonic himself without noticing that he had been transformed into a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent hedgehog-werewolf]]. [[WildMassGuessing Theory has it]] that Amy is near-sighted.

* A hilarious example in The Tick, when criminals stole Tick and Arthur's arms and went on a crime spree. (The only part of them that even slightly resembled Tick and Arthur were... their arms. Despite that, everybody was fooled.)
* During the MST3K episode Hobgoblins, the Satellite of Love crew creates cardboard cut-outs of themselves, a generic tape recording. This fools Pearl and Bobo. Brain Guy can see through the disguise, but has trouble convincing the others until Mike's cut-out falls down and he enters the frame to right it
* {{Anime/FullmetalAlchemist}} has the Other Brothers Elric. Though they’re not evil, they do cause trouble for Ed and Al. And vice versa, actually. For example, the fake Elrics get arrested when a warrant goes out for the real one. Now, the fake Elrics do look somewhat like the real ones did before they lost or maimed their bodies, but no one who saw them since would be fooled. Ed has [[ArtificialLimbs Artificial Limbs]], and Al is [[AnimatedArmor Animated Armor]].

* In the fourth PiratesOfTheCaribbean movie, the pirate who has been impersonating Captain Jack Sparrow (and very convincingly, at that) turns out to be a [[PenelopeCruz girl.]]

* In the ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode, "Game Over for Owlman!", Batman is framed for crimes committed by his evil counterpart from a mirror universe. Said double is wearing a costume with pointier ears and a darker color scheme. The only person who figures out it's an impostor is not one of Batman's superhero allies, but the Joker.

* In ''SonicAdventure 2'', Sonic is imprisoned for crimes committed by the recently [[SealedBadassInACan Shadow the Hedgehog]]. Where this trope comes into play is the fact that Shadow has a different coloration, different spike patterns, and otherwise only has the slightest of similarities. At one point, a reporter even puts up footage of Shadow and claims him to be Sonic. This also falls under the "Not even trying to fool anyone" clause; when they finally meet, each claims that the other is their fake.

* The current Venom (as in, the one in the Thunderbolts) is ''still'' being mistaken for {{Spider-Man}}, leading Spider-Man to get a bad reputation for murdering people. What surprises this troper is that the new "Spider-Man" is wearing the black suit, while the other one is wearing the ol' red and blue.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Easy_Impersonation_-_PPG_9938.jpg]]

* One episode of ''ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' had Dale picking up a [[GreenRocks meteorite fragment]] that allowed him to turn into a RubberMan; sick and tired of being TheLoad, he adopts the SecretIdentity of "Rubber Bando" and [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper leaves the rest of the Rangers feeling inadequate.]] Unfortunately, a ''bigger'' chunk of the meteorite fell into the hands of a sleazy travel agent named Seymour, who began abusing its power to ''steal entire monuments''. Naturally, his shenanigans were blamed on Dale, even though Seymour was quite obviously several times ''bigger''.

* {{FullmetalAlchemist}} has the Other Brothers Elric. Though they’re not evil, they do cause trouble for Ed and Al. And vice versa, actually. For example, the fake Elrics get arrested when a warrant goes out for the real one. Now, the fake Elrics do look somewhat like the real ones did before they lost or maimed their bodies, but no one who saw them since would be fooled. Ed has [[ArtificialLimbs Artificial Limbs]], and Al is [[AnimatedArmor Animated Armor]].

* In the opening act of ''SuperMarioSunshine'', Mario is sent to KangarooCourt and imprisoned based on his resemblance to a rough police sketch of the perpetrator: Shadow Mario.

* {{Underdog}} was once jailed for crimes committed by Tap-Tap the Chiseler. Despite being a cigar smoker, Tap-Tap fooled everyone with his Underdog costume.

* Played hilariously straight, along with a LampshadeHanging, in [[http://www.teamfortress.com/war/soldier/05.htm this comic]] accompanying the [=WAR!=] Update in ''TeamFortress 2''.

After trying to [[ClearMyName clear his name]], the hero finally finds his impersonator, who... doesn't really look that much like him. For starters, his insignia looks like it was made of cardboard, his costume is [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience black]], and, of course, he has that [[BeardOfEvil goatee]].

* Deconstructed in SpectacularSpiderman. When Chameleon impersonates Spider-man, his impersonation is bad enough that the audience, who constantly sees the wall crawler in action, clearly know it's a fake, but to people in the actual world, most of whom have never seen anything more than a photograph, he's close enough to convince them. Detective Stacey is familiar enough with the web head to immediately know he's a fake. It's later played ridiculously straight when Venom tries to frame Spider-man, and nobody (except Stacey) notices that he's two feet taller, built like a brick, fights completely differently, and has razor sharp teeth and a salivating tongue.

* Played to some extent in ''TheDarkKnight''. Batman has to deal with a number of impostors who, upon close examination, barely resemble him (one's overweight). Leads to the "hockey pads" line. Of course, since Batman is essentially an American {{ninja}}, few people ever ''get'' a closer look at him. It's also worth noting that the Scarecrow--the one guy in this scene who ''had'' fought Batman before--recognized that these Batmen were impostors, mostly because [[{{ptitle51e8o7filuhv}} they used guns]].

* Furio Tigre impersonates [[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]] at one point during ''Trials and Tribulations'', purely because they have similar [[AnimeHair hair]]. Note that Tigre is buff, has a completely different disposition, and is ''orange''. Oh, and his attorney's badge is made of cardboard.

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when the Scoobies mistake the Buffybot for Buffy, she gets very angry that they can't tell the difference.
** To be fair, the 'Bot does really ''look'' like her. Until it opens its mouth, of course.

* Furio Tigre impersonates [[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]] at one point during ''Trials and Tribulations'', purely because they have similar [[AnimeHair hair]]. Note that Tigre is buff, has a completely different disposition, and is ''orange''. Oh, and his attorney's badge is made of cardboard.
** At least with the Phoenix Wright example, the writers had the decency to have Phoenix lampshade the sheer stupidity required on the part of everyone involved in the case to not recognise that it wasn't him.

* Played to some extent in ''TheDarkKnight''. Batman has to deal with a number of impostors who, upon close examination, barely resemble him (one's overweight). Leads to the "hockey pants" line. Of course, since Batman is essentially an American {{ninja}}, few people ever ''get'' a closer look at him. It's also worth noting that the Scarecrow--the one guy in this scene who ''had'' fought Batman before--recognized that these Batmen were impostors, mostly because they used guns.
**He says "hockey pads", as in, what goalies wear whilst playing hockey.

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