History Main / HalfIdenticalTwins

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' has [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]]'s elder siblings Edric and Emira. Apart from a few minor differences in appearance and personality, they put great effort into looking identical. Subverted in that they study the [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion]] [[ColorCodedWizardry magical track]] at school and use their powers to amplify their resemblance; without them they look much less identical. They also start diverging from their primary track later in the show, reflecting their increasing tendency to drop the act and become their own individual. [[spoiler:They look even less identical in the DistantFinale, where Edric's jawline is wider.]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Ser Jaime and Queen Cersei Lannister. As kids they would TwinSwitch. The fact that their parents were cousins might have helped. They're also {{Twincest}}uous (with the implication that the narcissistic Cersei sees it as the closest she can get to ScrewYourself). When Jaime starts to grow a beard while spending time as a prisoner in the third book, he thinks to himself that Cersei will hate that it makes them look less alike, and it becomes a very important symbol of their growing distance. It's also noted to Cersei's displeasure that Loras and Margaery Tyrell look even more alike, despite not being twins.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': Zigzagged by the "Vampire Twins" Hansel and Gretel. They appear to be brother and sister only differentiated by clothes, [[LongHairIsFeminine the sister's longer hair]], and separate voices actors in the anime. Then they casually pull a flawless TwinSwitch[[labelnote:*]]Besides switching clothes and mimicking the other's personality, they have the same short that one wears a long wig over and [[CastAsAMask switch voice actors]] as well.[[/labelnote]], [[AmbiguousGender begging the question what sex either sibling is]]. Given there was no practical purpose behind the switch, it's highly possible that they are same-sex identical twins who are just acting out separate gender roles. Notably, "Gretel" [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior flashes her genitals]] to Rock [[DoesNotKnowHowToSayThanks as her idea of gratitude]]. Besides being disgusted by a child prepositioning him, Rock may have also been [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused that she was male]]... or horrified by signs of the twins' violent and sexually-abusive upbringing.\\

In the omake where Rock wakes up in a GenderBentAlternateUniverse, the twins look exactly the same. In a different one about the cast as AnimatedActors, Hansel and Gretel are played by female identical twins.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': Zigzagged by the "Vampire Twins" Hansel and Gretel. They appear to be brother and sister only differentiated by clothes, [[LongHairIsFeminine the sister's longer hair]], and separate voices actors in the anime. Then they casually pull a flawless TwinSwitch[[labelnote:*]]Besides switching clothes and mimicking the other's personality, they have the same short that one wears a long wig over and [[CastAsAMask switch voice actors]] as well.[[/labelnote]], [[AmbiguousGender begging the question what sex either sibling is]]. Given there was no practical purpose behind the switch, it's highly possible that they are same-sex identical twins who are just acting out separate gender roles. \\

* Possibly Hansel and Gretel from ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. They appear to be brother and sister, and are nicknamed "Vampire Twins", but it's never revealed whether they are different sexes or not. Confusing things further, they have switched roles ''on-screen'' at least once, by having "Gretel" remove "her" long-haired wig (revealing a haircut identical to "Hansel"'s, down to the color and style) and hand it to "him" to put on. As their highly stylized school uniforms are effectively unisex, the switch is flawless. It gets weirder in the end when (Hansel?) Gretel talks with both Hansel and Gretel's '''personality''' by (him?)herself. It's highly possible that they are same-gender full-identical twins who are just acting out separate gender roles. Though it's strongly implied that they are either UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} or were mutilated and forced into it, judging by the look on Rock's face when Gretel shows him. {{Squick}} either way.
** This is lampshaded in a manga omake where it's stated the AnimatedActors who "played" the twins are actually the same gender (female).
** In the omake where everyone's genders are switched, they look exactly the same.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. Robert and Rosalind Lutece seem to be this at first, though this is the ''least'' abnormal trait they display. They actually turn out to be [[spoiler:different versions of the same person from parallel universes]].

* {{Defied|Trope}} ''VisualNovel/Ever17''. You are confused as to why [[spoiler:Sara and the Kid]] don't have the same abilities or look similar despite being twins, at which point it's explained with some amusement that biology doesn't work like that.

* Averted and discussed in ''VisualNovel/Ever17''. You are confused as to why [[spoiler:Sara and the Kid]] don't have the same abilities or look similar despite being twins, at which point it's explained with some amusement that biology doesn't work like that.

* PlayedWith the by demons Zepar and Furfur from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''. They're twins that look and dress the same besides [[PaletteSwap the color of their hair and clothes]], though they have different voice actors. Both look like women, but the game's profile says they're opposite-gender, [[AmbiguousGender not specifying which is which]]. The boy is more likely Zepar, as they have a deeper voice and [[ExpositoryPronoun use a more masculine pronoun]].

* PlayedWith the demons Zepar and Furfur from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', who are twins that look and dress the same besides [[PaletteSwap the color of their hair and clothes]]. The game's profile says they're opposite-gender, but [[AmbiguousGender doesn't specify which is the boy and who's the girl]].

* PlayedWith the demons Zepar and Furfur from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', who are twins despite having differently coloured hair and different overall colour schemes -- and then there's the fact that [[AmbiguousGender we don't know who's the boy and who's the girl]]. However, they do have the same eye colour and wear the exact same outfit.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Before the {{Retcon}}, Peggy and her brother Hoyt were stated to look very much alike, but after the retcon they look nothing like each other.

* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'' [[DownplayedTrope Downplays]] this trope with Euden and Zethia, similar to [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Dipper and Mabel]]. Although they have the same face, same blond hair, and are even about the same height, they have distinct features, such as their eye color, with Euden having green eyes and Zethia having blue eyes. [[spoiler: Although there is a slight subversion: Euden and Zethia are ''not'' twins, but rather, Euden is a clone of the original twin, Nedrick. When is comes to Nedrick and Zethia, this is completely averted, as Nedrick looks quite different from Zethia (even without his curse). This means that Euden [[IdenticalGrandson looks just like a male version of his aunt]].]]

* {{Downplayed}} in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Dipper and Mabel, the main characters, are twins with identical bodies and faces with the exception of small skin details (rosy cheeks for Mabel, eyebags and a red nose for Dipper); Mabel also has braces. The resemblance isn't generally brought up, as their clothes and personalities are closer to PolarOppositeTwins. In the defictionalized ''Literature/GravityFallsJournal3,'' Dipper writes that Mabel looks like him but with "girl hair."
** [[spoiler:Stanford and Stanley Pines]] are a strange same-sex example. They are actual identical twins ([[spoiler:apart from Ford's [[ExtraDigits sixth fingers]]]]), but because they have very different personalities and lifestyles, they grew up to look very similar but still noticeably distinct. Even as teenagers they had different body shapes, jawlines and haircuts.

* Jasmine and Violet St. George in ''Manga/TheAncientMagusBride''. Their alikeness isn't made a major point of, but the associated androgyny ties into both their characters: in response to Violet's crossdressing tendencies, their parents put pressure on Jasmine to take Violet's place as the family's sorcerous heir, leading her to take on a more masculine presentation as she tries to live up to the role.

* Ser Jaime and Queen Cersei Lannister of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. As kids, they looked so much alike that they would sometimes wear each other's clothes and swap places for a day without anyone suspecting. The fact that their parents were cousins might have helped. They're also {{Twincest}}uous (with the implication that the narcissistic Cersei sees it as the closest she can get to ScrewYourself). When Jaime starts to grow a beard while spending time as a prisoner in the third book, he thinks to himself that Cersei will hate that it makes them look less alike, and it becomes a very important symbol of their growing distance. It's also noted to Cersei's displeasure that Loras and Margaery Tyrell look even more alike, despite not being twins.

It's common -- especially in drawn or animated media, where the creator has complete control over the appearance of the characters -- to use brother-sister twins as being each other's DistaffCounterpart and SpearCounterpart. They often display identical twin tropes, such as TwinTelepathy or {{Synchronization}} -- ''especially'' if they are CreepyTwins. It's a way to make sure that twins, even if they're not identical, [[CastSpeciation are immediately identifiable as such]] if it's relevant to their characters, and there are no other visual cues to show that siblings are fraternal twins instead of just regular brothers and sisters. If the two siblings drift apart at any point during the story, a TwinDesynch is likely, and often occurs at puberty when the secondary sexual characteristics start becoming more apparent. In fact, if they ''don't'' desynch to some degree during puberty, they're likely to come across as a little ''[[{{Twincest}} too]]'' close.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' episode "[[Recap/Ben10S2E7CampFear Camp Fear]]" features brother-sister twins named Andy and Mandy.

** [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25336706?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg Another case of different-sex identical twins]] involved twins both of whom had some 47,XXY and 46,XX and showed signs of Klinefelter's Syndrome. That being said, in this example it's possible that a rigorous and expensive combination of surgery, drugs, and therapy ''could'' make the "unhealthy" male of a brother-sister twin pairing turn out "normal" if Klinefelter's Syndrome was detected early enough. However two major issues are: #1 such a scenario has not been medically documented, #2 medicalizing intersex people to make them ''look'' more normal, rather than for health reasons, is morally iffy.

Also note that due to the androgynous features of this trope, such twins will traditionally be depicted as AmbiguousGender, playing DudeLooksLikeALady, {{Bishonen}} and WholesomeCrossdresser for the brother, and GenkiGirl, {{Tomboy}}-type {{Tsundere}} for the sister. For this reason, this trope is also very common in stories with TransgenderFetishization and OtokonokoGenre or SweetOnPollyOliver, where it serves as a standard explanation for the protagonist's femininity or the reason for his forced dressing up. On a less fetishistic note, one twin being UsefulNotes/{{trans|gender}} can be used as a plausible explanation with genetically identical twins, which is why this trope can lend itself to a TransAudienceInterpretation.

* Toko and Nika from ''Anime/BeybladeBurst''.

* In ''Manga/FinalFantasyLostStranger'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Palom and Porom]] make an appearance as the Mahlwon court mages of the Mysidian royal family. They look identical aside from their hairstyle, and they both share an incredible gift for magic.

* The Hayasaka Twins from ''Manga/BusoRenkin''. May also count under {{Twincest}}...

* Kurt and Chloe Klik from ''Anime/GenesisOfAquarion'', complete with TwinTelepathy.

* The Endoh twins, [[GenkiGirl Shizuna]] and [[NiceGuy Izuna]], from ''Manga/LinebarrelsOfIron''.

* Tsukasa and Subaru of ''Manga/NamelessAsterism'' are a strange, somewhat borderline case. They do look similar, and the first time we see Subaru he happens to be crossdressing in Tsukasa's school uniform. Her friends do point out that he looks just like her... eventually. Personality-wise, they're [[PolarOppositeTwins completely different]], and Tsukasa deliberately downplays the fact that they're twins, claiming he's her "younger brother" (by a few minutes, presumably).

* The ''Fanfic/OfficialFanfictionUniversity'' of ''Redwall'' [[JustifiedTrope has an excuse]] for this; in one of the original printings of the book ''Redwall'', the character Killconey swapped between male and female pronouns thanks to a typographical error. (According to later printings he's meant to be male, in case you're wondering.) In the OFUR, this has resulted in there now being two of him, one male and one female. The female one is generally referred to as Konnie to avoid confusion. She's technically more of an OppositeSexClone, but they think of each other as twins.

* Ash and Caiden from ''Fanfic/VOCALOIDForever'', along with Rin and Len Kagamine listed below.
* Grodyn and Rhejya from ''Fanfic/TheServantsOfUngoliant''.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' fan series ''WebAnimation/ZanyToTheMax'' has Zak Warner and his sister, Ko. Then they're [[ConjoinedTwins conjoined]].
* The roleplay group ''Roleplay/TheStrexFamily'' has Diego and Divina, who in addition to being half-identical are [[CreepyTwins supremely creepy.]]
* The Beauvoi twins, Reynard and Hermione, from ''Fanfic/BeCareful'' are described as this, with Reynard being referred to by Lord Voldemort in one side-story as looking like a male version of Hermione, which is particularly notable given that their canon counterparts, Hermione Granger and [[spoiler:Draco Malfoy]] are not related and bear no resemblance to one another at all.

* In ''Fanfic/PrisonIslandBreak'', Shadow the Hedgehog can tell that E-123 Omega's LivingBattery is his sister - or at least, an experiment based on his genes - even though she's also a feline instead of a hedgehog, because she has distinctive red streaks on her body and around her eyes, and chest fur.
* "Fanfic/TheVictorsProject" has Gloss and Cashmere as this. When they were adolescents, once Cashmere had to cut her hair after some gum got stuck in her hair, and until it grew back none of their friends or relatives could tell her or Gloss apart.
* ''Fanfic/PackStreet'' has Anneke and Wolter, who are at least depicted this way in the art, and common fan art has fun with the two of them being confused for each other. In the actual text, however, people seldom have trouble telling them apart, even the generally clueless Remmy.

* In the WebVideo/SandersSides fanfic "Kill the Lights" Roman and Remus are revealed to be this: they're identical twins, but Remus is [[Rule63 a cis woman]] while Roman is a trans man.
* Hazeltail and Mousewhisker in the ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'', due to Hazeltail being transgender. Though they are actually two out of a set of triplets, the third who doesn't look like them at all.

* Widget and Sludge from the 2009 film of ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy''.

* Played completely straight with the BrotherSisterTeam of [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaname.PNG Kaname]] and [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saori_8.PNG Saori]] Shishido from ''[[VisualNovel/ShallWeDateNinjaShadow Shall We Date?: Ninja Shadow]]''. It's even a huge plot point since Kaname is killed off almost at the start of the game and Saori pulls a SweetPollyOliver to join a group of vigilante that he was supposed to become a part of, needing just an ImportantHaircut and putting on male clothes to pass as Kaname.
* Averted to some extent with the demons Zepar and Furfur from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', who are twins despite having differently coloured hair and different overall colour schemes -- and then there's the fact that [[AmbiguousGender we don't know who's the boy and who's the girl]]. However, they do have the same eye colour and wear the exact same outfit.
* Played totally straight in ''Ladykiller in a Bind'' where the plot revolves around the fact that The Beast can easily impersonate her brother by simply wearing a suit.

* Walky and Sal in ''[[Webcomic/WalkyVerse It's Walky!]]'', but less so in ''Joyce and Walky,'' and not at all in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''. This is due to ArtEvolution, with the fact that they do have differences (in particular, Sal claims ParentalFavoritism for Walky because he "came out more white" while she has naturally kinky hair) being a point of contention between them. However, it might be there on ''some'' level, as Walky has mentioned that he's been mistaken for Sal before.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' episode "Camp Fear" features brother-sister twins named Andy and Mandy, who fit this trope to a T.

* WesternAnimation/EdgarAndEllen look exactly the same, except that Ellen has long hair in pigtails and no bangs. They even dress exactly alike.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': The ComicBook/WonderTwins Zan and Jayna.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'', the only differences between Jason and Michelle are their outfits and Michelle's pigtails. As shown on this page's quote, Fidgel {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how alike they look.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The twins from Audrey [=McConnell's=] 4th grade class at Springfield Elementary. The twins consist of one boy and one girl.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': Jason and Cheryl Blossom are twin siblings with the same deep red hair. It only makes their [[{{Twincest}} incestuous feelings]] more disconcerting in ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''.

* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': In the original continuity, Lightning Lass easily posed as her dead brother for one story, but was revealed because she didn't have an Adam's Apple. Much later, it was shown that her planet is almost all twins, but the twins were generally depicted as identical.

Also note that due to the androgynous features of this trope, such twins will traditionally be depicted as AmbiguousGender, playing DudeLooksLikeALady, {{Bishonen}} and WholesomeCrossdresser for the brother, and GenkiGirl, {{Tomboy}}-type {{Tsundere}} for the sister. For this reason, this trope is also very common in stories with TransgenderFetishization and OtokonokoGenre or SweetOnPollyOliver, where it serves as a standard explanation for the protagonist's femininity or the reason for his forced dressing up. On a less fetishistic note, one twin being UsefulNotes/{{trans|gender}} can be used as a plausible explanation for this trope. In this case, the twins look the same because they're ''genetically'' identical, but their ''gender identity'' is different, and one twin has transitioned to better reflect that identity.

** [[spoiler:Stanford and Stanley Pines]] are a strange same-sex example. They are actual identical twins ([[spoiler:apart from Ford's [[ExtraDigits sixth fingers]]]]), but because they have very distinct personalities and lifestyles, they grew up to look very similar but still noticeably distinct. Even as teenagers they had different body shapes, jawlines and haircuts.

* From the Franchise/MarvelUniverse:
** Andrea & Andreas von Strucker (a.k.a. Fenris), and Jeanne-Marie (Aurora) & Jean-Paul (Northstar) Beaubier. Both have superpowers that are [[WonderTwinPowers activated by touching each other]], though the latter pair also have powers on their own.
** Brian and Betsy Braddock -- a.k.a. Captain Britain and Psylocke -- used to be half-identical (Betsy's Caucasian body was naturally blonde and resembled her brother a bit). They aren't anymore due to Betsy dyeing her hair purple, then getting stuck in the body of an Asian woman (and dyeing her hair purple) while Brian [[HeroicBuild got bigger and more ripped]]; hard to imagine anyone would think they are related at this point, let alone twins.
** Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie Baubier -- a.k.a. Northstar and Aurora of ComicBook/AlphaFlight -- started off this way too. Both had the same silvery-black hair and identical powers (super-speed, flight, and creating blinding light when they touch), and wore similar outfits with the only difference being half of a star on their opposing hips, symbolizing their synergy. However, when Aurora fell out with Northstar after he slut-shamed her (in addition to being tired of his abrasive and self-serving personality in general), she changed her costume to be different from his, and even had her boyfriend Sasquatch, a geneticist, alter her powers. The end result being that she isn't ''quite'' as fast but can generate light on her own.
** Trin and Kirby Richards-Banner, the twin grandchildren of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed and Sue]], in ''ComicBook/MarvelOneHundredthAnniversarySpecial''.
* The rare aversion to this trope in Marvel are Vanguard/Red Guardian and Darkstar of the Soviet Super Soldiers/Winterguard and X-Corporation. He's a redhead HuskyRusskie and she's an icy blonde, nor do their powers resemble at all. He fires concussion blasts that he must focus through his hammer and sickle while she's a [[CastingAShadow darkforce manipulator]].
* In the original continuity of ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', Lightning Lass easily posed as her dead brother for one story, but was revealed because she didn't have an Adam's Apple. Much later, it was shown that her planet is almost all twins, but the twins were generally depicted as identical.
* An interesting case was a story arc in the ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic (the "Season Zero" between "The Origin" and "Welcome to the Hellmouth", published in 2003) where she goes to UsefulNotes/LasVegas. The villains are a pair of conjoined twins: a male vampire and a female mortal. They didn't particularly look alike, but the fact remains that conjoined twins are identical by definition and always the same sex, so a pair that are opposite sexes is a case of ArtisticLicenseBiology.
* Somewhat {{squick}}y example from the ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' strip ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante'': Alexandr and Alexandra Romanov are twins, lovers, and specially enhanced killing machines that can create and throw nano-mines. Oh, and they can fuse themselves into one deadly [[BodyHorror grotesque, six-limbed form]].
* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel1977'', [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Vila Vila]] and [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Denin Denin]] aren't ''exactly'' the same. You can see from the second link that Denin is taller and a little broader across the shoulders. Still, after Denin died Vila was able to impersonate him.
* Sidney and Toots the twins in the ''Bash Street Kids'' (a comic strip in ''ComicBook/TheBeano'').
* ''ComicBook/ZipiYZape'': The twins look exactly the same... except for their hair color.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in one instance when they reveal that they were both born black-haired but Zipi's wearing a blonde wig. Jaimita complains that [[AnimatedActors their revelation might have cost them the job]].
* Torr and Tarra from ''ComicBook/{{Swordquest}}'', who look completely identical except for their genders.

* Jason and Cheryl Blossom from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' are twin siblings with the same deep red hair. It only makes their [[{{Twincest}} incestuous feelings]] more disconcerting in ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' gave Nack the Weasel a CanonForeigner twin sister named [[ThemeTwinNaming Nic]], who looks exactly like a female version of him, facially identical save for a ponytail and [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics eyelashes]]. Strangely, on her entrance in one issue, the woman Nack is flirting with mistakes her for his ''[[LookAlikeLovers wife]]''.
* They're not twins, but Alex and Julie Power of ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' look like they are. Especially when they reunite in ''ComicBook/FutureFoundation2019'', and the cartoony artstyle gives them very similar faces.
* Violet and Barrie of ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' are both red-haired light-skinned dwarves with beards, but the social conventions afforded to their genders lead them to very different outlooks on life.

* Kit and Heloise, the twin children of ComicStrip/ThePhantom.

* A rare {{Justified}} example through non-supernatural means occurs in ''VideoGame/TellMeWhy'': Alyson and Tyler were both assigned female at birth and are actually genetically identical, but Tyler is a trans man while Alyson is a cisgender woman.