History Main / InopportuneImpersonationFailure

* In ''Series/ThePrisoner'' episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]", Number Two tries to break Number Six's mind by introducing him to a perfect double of himself and [[{{Gaslighting}} trying to make him believe]] that ''he'' is the double. When his double is killed, Number Six tries to pretend to be the double so he can escape the Village. Unfortunately, Number Two happens to ask him about Fake Six's girlfriend on the way out... and of course, the ''real'' Six has no idea about said girlfriend and is forced to improvise. Unfortunately, the answer is wrong.

** The finale of "[[Recap/FarscapeS04E16BringingHomeTheBeacon Bringing Home The Beacon]]" features Aeryn being replaced with a bioloid duplicate in the finale; for good measure, the copy is fitted with a tracker that will lead the Scarrans straight to Moya, so all she has to do is act the part and wait until the Scarrans arrive to capture the crew. Her disguise appears perfect... right up until Crichton offhandedly asks her about her pregnancy and the bioloid can only respond with a blank stare. Of course, the Scarrans didn't know that Aeryn was pregnant at the time of her capture, so they didn't program her duplicate with the information, and bioloids don't seem to improvise very well when it comes to gaps in their knowledge. A tense standoff follows, ending when the bioloid panics and pulls a gun on Crichton, only to be immediately shot in the head - revealing [[RoboticReveal the bioloid components]].

-->This game has been most amusing... '''but I think it's time for it to end. [[HellIsThatNoise HUUUUUUUUUUUU-MAAAAAAAN]].'''

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Envy [[VoluntaryShapeshifting impersonates]] Mustang in an attempt to kill Hawkeye. However, after they refer to her as 'Lieutenant', Hawkeye corrects them and states she and Mustang use their first names when they're alone; Envy is so outraged at having slipped up that they drop their disguise in outrage - only for Hawkeye to riddle them with bullets and admit 'ILied'.

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'': Marena's [[LieToTheBeholder magical disguise]] spontaneously [[https://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0356.html fails]] in front of a SecretPolice squad, bringing the entire Empire's hostile attention down on her party. As an Exalted of the TricksterGod Luna, she assumes it's [[InMysteriousWays a sign]] to set them on a better course of action.
-->'''Marena:''' Dearest Luna, thief of light, devourer of chaos, hear my words. I beseech you to guide events that [[ExactWords my sister]] will not reveal our nature to our enemies. ''[SPOING!]''
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** At the end of ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' when Bond and Tiffany Case are having a romantic cruise, [[DragonTheirFeet Wint & Kidd]] come at them disguised as cruise attendants serving them a luxury meal on behalf of Willard Whyte in order to kill Bond. While Bond had already recognized the smell of Wint's aftershave ("I've smelled that aftershave before, and both times I've smelled a rat"), he also tricks him on wine knowledge about Claret and Mouton Rothschild (Wint doesn't know they are the same, making him sound like a poor cellar master while pretending to be one).

** In ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006,'' James Bond and Vesper Lynn are eavesdropping on Le Chiffre in the corridor outside his hotel room when [[AfricanTerrorists Obanno]] bursts out in a huff, forcing Bond and Lynn into a FakeOutMakeOut so they won't look suspicious. For a moment, the ruse works perfectly, and Obanno passes them by without concern... but then Obanno's henchman notices that Bond forgot to remove his earpiece. Cue fight to the death.

** Early in ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', villain Colonel Bouvar fakes his death and attends the funeral disguised [[DisguisedInDrag as his widow]], face carefully hidden behind a veil. James Bond is almost convinced by this display... up until the "rich widow" opens the door of the car herself instead of waiting for the chauffeur to open it for her - clueing Bond in and prompting his assassination of Bouvar.

** The finale of "[[Recap/FarscapeS04E16BringingHomeTheBeacon Bringing Home The Beacon]]" features Aeryn being replaced with a bioloid duplicate in the finale; for good measure, the copy is fitted with a tracker that will lead the Scarrans straight to Moya, so all she has to do is act the part and wait until the Scarrans arrive to capture the crew. Her disguise appears perfect... right up until Crichton offhandedly asks her about her pregnancy and the bioloid can only respond with a blank stare. Of course, the Scarrans didn't know that Aeryn was pregnant at the time of her capture, so they didn't program her duplicate with the information - and bioloids don't seem to improvise very well when it comes to gaps in their knowledge. A tense standoff follows, ending when the bioloid panics and pulls a gun on Crichton, only to be immediately shot in the head - revealing [[RoboticReveal the bioloid components]].

* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIPsirens Psirens]]," the eponymous brain-eating monsters can perfectly disguise themselves as just about anyone or anything through the power of illusion, and usually have the acting ability to match. However, when one poses as Kryten in order to rescue Lister from another Psiren, it ushers him away with a remark of "come on, Dave" - but of course, the ''real'' Kryten has always referred to him as "Mr Lister." Realizing its mistake at the exact same time Lister notices, the Psiren goes on the attack.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E14HeartOfStone Heart Of Stone]]," Kira ends up trapped in a crystalline growth that begins to slowly consume her. With earthquakes making the area increasingly dangerous, she soon orders Odo to leave her behind, but he refuses, [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove admitting that he's in love with her]]... only for Kira to admit that she loves him too. Odo is suspicious: as he [[SpotTheThread begins noting all the inconsistencies]] in the disaster so far, he points out that in all the years they've worked together, Kira has never given any indication of being attracted to him, ''and'' he knows for a fact that she would never lie to him just to make him feel better. Realizing that the jig is up, the imposter reverts to her true form - [[ShapeshiftingTrickster the Female Changeling]]; turns out that the entire incident was engineered just to trick Odo into [[WeCanRuleTogether rejoining his fellow Changelings in the Great Link]].

** Throughout the game the effectiveness of any disguises often depends on how the player acts while wearing them, especially since some areas are strictly off-limits to everyone but the targets and their bodyguards. Consequently, it's possible for 47 silently assassinate a target and accomplish all the ancillary goals - only to end up blowing his cover anyway just because a guard just happened to see a waiter leaving a restricted area on the way to an exit point.
** In the ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' level "The Bjarkhov Bomb," one way of getting close to final target Sergei Bjarkhov is by disguising 47 as Fabian Fuchs, a prospective client that the ArmsDealer's been expecting (and a target you've just bumped off, incidentally). Once introductions are made, Bjarkhov offers a glass of vodka - which 47 doesn't accept, since he's wearing Fabian's ski mask and can't remove it to drink without revealing that he's an imposter. Bjarkhov is immediately suspicious of this behaviour, and if you don't kill him before he makes the offer a second time, he'll realize that 47 is an assassin and yell for the guards.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'': [[spoiler:Odin]] accidentally gives away his disguise as [[spoiler:Tyr]] when he lets his anxiousness to get [[MacGuffin the Mask]] away from the heroes and to Asgard get the better of him, proclaiming during a group meeting that he knows of a secret passage to Asgard that will allow the heroes to enter undetected. While he's able to wave off the initial skepticism pretty easily (pointing out that the party would've just gotten themselves killed charging into the lion's den early), his sudden change of heart on the issue of invading Asgard is [[SpottingTheThread the last clue]] that an increasingly suspicious Brok needs to piece together that ''something'' is going on, [[spoiler:forcing Odin to drop his disguise and kill Brok]].

* In the ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' arc "A Piece Of The World Is Missing," Linkara belatedly realizes that the Entity has stolen the image of [[spoiler: the 90's Kid]] and has been posing as him for the last few months. In the ensuing rant, he reveals that the Entity has unwittingly given itself away by virtue of surviving while everyone else in the world has been assimilated by the Entity - and also drawing attention to a morbid remark about using Kurt Cobain as a human puppet that the ''real'' [[spoiler: 90's Kid]] would never have made. As Linkara lays out the evidence, [[spoiler: 90's Kid]] begins to smirk ever so subtly, before finally unveiling himself in an increasingly synthesized voice:
-->This game has been most amusing... '''but I think it's time for it to end. HUUUUUUUUUUUU-MAAAAAAAN.'''

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': On their way to the garden of Zinnn, the gang stops at the brink of a desert. While they discuss if they must return, the Dungeon Master shows up and tells them to go forward. Hank notices that he isn't talking through riddles and warns Eric, who tests the wizard by asking him the name he gave him along with Eric's shield (cavalier), and the fake can't answer. A second Dungeon Master shows up claiming he is the real wizard and the two fight; when one of the Dungeon Masters threatens to kill the other, Hank realizes that he is the imposter because the real wizard taught the kids to fight only in self-defense, and ties him with a magic arrow. The fake turns into a phantom stalker, warns the kids the other is an imposter, too, and disappears. Unfortunately, he is right: the remaining Dungeon Master is another phantom, who tricks them into walking into a trap.

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* ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'': In "Baby Buggy Bunny", a diminutive bank robber by the name of Ant Hill Harry pretends to be a foundling to retrieve the stolen money that accidentally fell down Bugs' rabbit-hole. Bugs patiently tolerates "the baby's" antics and abuse - right up until his TV malfunctions and he hears the sound of an electric shaver from Harry's room; curious, Bugs peeks through the keyhole and sees the "baby" shaving, smoking a cigar, and sporting a tattoo that reads "Maisie Singapore 1932". Plus, the TV just happens to broadcast about the bank robber in that exact moment. Bugs then pretends he still thinks that Harry is a baby, but [[TheDogBitesBack soon takes revenge on him]] before sending the criminal to the police along with the money.

* In ''Series/ThePrisoner'' episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE5TheSchizoidMan The Schizoid Man]]", Number Two tries to break Number Six's mind by introducing him to a perfect double of himself. When his double is killed, Number Six tries to pretend to be the double so he can escape the Village. Unfortunately, Number Two happens to ask him about Fake Six's girlfriend on the way out... and of course, the ''real'' Six has no idea about said girlfriend and is forced to improvise. Unfortunately, the answer is wrong.

* ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'': In the comic "The Fake Smurf", Gargamel makes a potion to transform him into a smurf, so he'll be able to infiltrate in the smurfs' village to kill them. His impersonation is perfect except for the absence of a tail, so he sculpts a round piece of wood, paints it blue and sticks it to his rear with glue. He deceives everyone until he falls into the river and is saved by the real smurfs. [[UngratefulBastard That doesn't change his plans]], but his soaked tail drops off, being found by a smurf who shows it to Papa Smurf. With his cover blown, Gargamel locks himself into Papa Smurf's lab and concocts a potion that makes him turn back to normal... except that he is still smurf-sized, allowing him to be easily captured.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}: The Capture'', Jake is infested by Temrash 114 during the raid on the hospital, and thanks to the Yeerk's access to his memories, he pulls off such a good performance that the rest of the team are convinced that Jake is absolutely fine. For a moment, it looks as if Temrash might have the opportunity to escape and hand the Animorphs over to Visser Three... and then Jake finds himself face to face with Ax. Yeerks aren't too fond of Andalites, and Temrash can't stop himself from letting his disgust show on his face - immediately revealing the truth to Ax. The rest of the Animorphs are dubious, but then Ax touches "Jake," prompting Temrash to let out an enraged scream of "Andalite filth." From then on, the Yeerk's attempts to continue the performance are all shot down by the various team-members.

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': On their way to the garden of Zinnn, the gang stops at the brink of a desert. While they discuss if they must return, the Dungeon Master shows up and tells them to go forward. Hank notices that he isn't talking through riddles and warns Eric, who tests the wizard by asking him the name he gave him along with Eric's shield (cavalier), and the fake can't answer. A second Dungeon Masrer shows up claiming he is the real wizard and the two fight; when one of the Dungeon Masters threatens to kill the other, Hank realizes that he is the imposter because the real wizard taught the kids to fight only in self-defense, and ties him with a magic arrow. The fake turns into a phantom stalker, warns the kids the other is an imposter, too, and disappears. Unfortunately, he is right: the remaining Dungeon Master is another phantom, who tricks them into walking into a trap.

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'': On their way to the garden of Zinnn, the gang stops at the brink of a desert. While they discuss if they must return, the Dungeon Master shows up and tells them to go forward. Hank suspects him, because the wizard is not talking through riddles and warns Eric, who tests the wizard by asking him the name he gave him along with Eric's shield (cavalier), and the fake can't answer. A second Dungeon Masrer shows up claiming he is the real wizard and the two fight; when one of the Dungeon Masters threatens to kill the other, Hank realizes that he is the imposter because the real wizard taught the kids to fight only in self-defense. He ties him with a magic error; the fake turns into a phantom stalker, warning the kids the other is an imposter, too, and disappears. Unfortunately, he is right: the remaining Dungeon Master is another phantom, who tricks them into walking into a trap.