History Main / ReplicantSnatching

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Folklore and Mythology]]

* The Archaeologists in ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' are resurrected with no skin and have to spend most of their time floating in tanks; when one of them needs to venture outside their servants promptly flay some poor schmuck alive (with lots of screaming and thankfully some discretion shots) so the master can wear their skin.
* In ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'', Dire Wraiths don't ''have'' to kill the people they replace, but they prefer to for obvious reasons. Their preferred method is to [[EatBrainForMemories drill their tongue into the victim's brain to absorb his memories]].

* If the ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' films fit anywhere, it's here.

** The T-1000 from ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' kills its victims and mimics their appearance.
** Also happens with the Terminatrix of ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''. The current Arnie even lampshades it.

%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.

So you're a plucky highly advanced cyborg, and you want to bring about the downfall of humanity through propagation of your own kind. Good for you!

* How the Akuma of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' gain their human forms. To add to the horror of it, though, the body they use is always the one who called the soul powering the Akuma back from the dead -- which only works if they are someone the deceased cared strongly for. So the traumatised soul ends up in a robot body wearing their beloved's skin and with no free will of their own. NightmareFuel much?
* Etzali of ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has a spell that allows him to do this. He actually only needs about 10 square cm of the target's skin for it to work, but he usually kills them to prevent complications later on. He also states that he usually shadows his target for a while to get a handle on their habits so he can convincingly act like them.
* [[spoiler: Kira Yoshikage]] of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' pulls this off after their identity is revealed, but not by [[spoiler:his]] own power. They run into a beauty salon with literal MagicPlasticSurgery, force the salon owner to change they face to that of someone else in the shop, then blow up the shop, killing everyone inside, so that no one knows the new identity.

* In ''ComicBook/RomSpaceknight,'' Dire Wraiths don't ''have'' to kill the people they replace, but they prefer to for obvious reasons. Their preferred method is to [[NightmareFuel drill their tongue into the victim's brain to absorb his memories]].

** Also happened with the Terminatrix of ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''. The current Arnie even lampshades it.

* If ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' fits anywhere, it's here.
* The Edgar-Bug in the first ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie skinned and wore an "Edgar Suit" that rapidly decomposed throughout the movie.
* [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Quirky Miniboss]] Cobalt Claw does this to an OfficeLady AlphaBitch in the ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' [[TheMovie live-action movie]]. She then proceeds to wear the "suit" backwards while [[CeilingCling crawling on the ceiling]], so apparently it was just ForTheEvulz.

* Invoked in ''Film/BigBusiness1988'' when the twins meet after being SwitchedAtBirth.
* The premise of ''Film/{{Impostor}}'' is that look-alike copies of key people can be sent after targets, exploding violently once contact is made. The hero is accused of being one such impostor.

* OlderThanPrint: TheFairFolk were said to operate this way in English folklore, kidnapping babies and replacing them with lookalikes of their own kind known as "changelings"
* Foxes do this too in Eastern mythology:
** In Korean mythology, accounts vary, but typically the fox finds someone with the right skull dimensions, kills them, eats them, and then puts on their skull and assumes their identity. How long they do this depends on the purpose; maybe just long enough to get into the house and eat your baby, maybe longer.
** Japanese foxes are considerably less AlwaysChaoticEvil, and much less likely to need your skull to impersonate you, but their doing so can still have negative effects on the impersonatee. (Skull size is a factor for them in matters of possession, mostly.)
* Believe it or not, this trope might've originated with Creator/{{Aesop}}, although his characters didn't do the Replicant Snatching themselves; the disguises (in this case, animal skins) were already lying around.
** In "The [[AssInALionSkin Ass in the Lion's Skin]]", a donkey found a lion's skin and dressed up in it to scare other animals. This worked for a while - [[ImpostorForgotOneDetail until the other animals heard him braying]]. (Given a ShoutOut in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' when Shift the ape dresses Puzzle the donkey in a lion's skin to [[GodGuise pass him off as Aslan]].)

* In ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'', selkies refer to the skins as "jackets," and they can be made from any species' flesh. Weirdly enough, this is also played for comedy: high-ranking selkie switch skins so often the lower ranks are perpetually confused about their identities.

* ''Literature/CodexAlera'''s "watercrafting" can be used to imitate the appearances of others. This leads to a shock for one of our protagonists; [[spoiler:Tavi discovered that his friend Gaele was killed and replaced before he ever met her, and the young woman he knew for two years was really a spy named Rook. His superior decides to let the spy think their cover is intact and feed them misinformation.]]
* In Creator/PhilipKDick's short story "The Father-Thing", when an alien takes the place of the protagonist's father, he eats his insides, leaving only a dry, dead skin behind.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Voldemort's {{familiar}} (a snake named Nagini) lies in wait for Harry and Hermione by hiding inside a dead body that Voldemort preserved and reanimated.

** The Slitheen kill people, skin them and wear the 'suits' using gas compression technology. However, they are 8 feet tall and can only compress themselves so much, so they can only disguise themselves as obese people, and the sound of the escaping gas gives the impression they all have terrible [[ToiletHumour flatulence]].

* Happens from time to time in ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', as the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Worms]] can shape-shift into a perfect copy of any human. The most famous example is [[spoiler:Tsurugi Kamishiro, Kamen Rider Sasword]], who we later learn is a Worm who lost his memory as a Worm, BecomingTheMask in the process.

** Another terminator, [[spoiler:Vick Chamberlain, replaced a married man. Said man died in a car accident, and this terminator seems to explain his strange behavior by claiming brain damage.]]
** And [[spoiler: another terminator replaced Catherine Weaver, and is currently running her company with employees who knew her from before ''and'' has adopted Weaver's daughter!]]
** In "Allison From Palmdale" it is revealed that [[RobotGirl Cameron]] is a machine doppelganger of [[spoiler: Allison Young, a resistance fighter from the future who was "close" to John Connor. Cameron interrogates Allison and learns about her past, becoming an exact copy of her in mannerisms, and then kills her.]] Later on, after being captured by the human resistance, Cameron suffers damage to her processor that results in [[spoiler: [[BecomingTheMask her confusing herself with the "Allison" persona]].]]
** In the episode "Automatic for the People," [[spoiler: Carl Greenway is introduced. He is a power technician. Skynet makes a Terminator that looks exactly like him and sends it back in time to kill him, replace him, and blow up the nuclear power plant where he works.]] [[spoiler: Luckily, he and Sarah bond over the cancer that he survived. He has a scar on his arm from having his lymph node removed, which the Terminator does not have.]]
* In one episode of ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', Augur's girlfriend gets assimilated by an alien probe. She seemingly recovers by the end of the episode, but during the season finale she suddenly turns back into the probe to deliver a message to Augur and Liam that the species that sent the probe wished to enter into an alliance against the Taelons with them. They probably could have chosen a better way to do so.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons''' eponymous Mysterons fit this trope to a T. ''"Possessing the ability to re-create an exact likeness of an object or person -- but first, they must destroy."''
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/DieLaughing'' has the "Pods!!!" monster sheet, which translates this trope (and [[{{Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers}} accompanying movie reference]]) to gameplay by having killed player characters replaced with a pod person replicant that can be inserted into a scene once before the end.

* This is the central concept of [[http://storiesyouplay.com/44/ 44,]] in which the [=PCs=] are people who've had a close relative or friend replaced by a robot, and the GM controls the Section 44 conspiracy. Brilliantly, player characters can be replaced during the game, and join the GM on the bad guy side.
* ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'':
** The Dread Power "Skin Taker" from the corebook allows you to give an antagonist to your Chronicle this ability. It also is a common ability for [[DemonicPossession Claimed]].
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' has a Wolf Gift facet appropriately named "Skin Thief", which allows werewolves to skin an animal or person alive, then put on the skin, using their shapeshifting to fit inside and perfectly impersonate the victim.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has several monsters who do this, including an undead monster called the Ecorche and the Blood Hag.
* One ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' adventure includes doppelganger-like monsters whose natural form is of skinless humans and who need to steal the skins from other people to assume their shapes.

* The graphic-adventure game ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', despite its oversimplification of the eponymous robots' preferred method of impersonating humans: grafting the replica skin and muscle tissue of their quarry over an exoskeleton in a [[PeopleJars People Jar]].

* In the webcomic ''[[http://www.ringtailcafe.com/starfireagency/ Starfire Agency]]'' Denver discovers that TheGreys that have been periodically abducting him replace some people with clones that have a hidden sleeper personality and keep the originals in tanks. He recognizes one of the people in tanks as [[spoiler:his girlfriend, who was replaced when she was ten]], and another as [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror himself]]]].
* In ''[[http://www.willowsgrove.com/wordpress/ Willow's Grove]]'' people kidnapped by the Nexus are replaced by android replicas. In addition the Starblazer creates replicants of Fred and Becky to keep Max and Bob company while they're trapped on board.
* Played with in ''WebComic/CommanderKitty''. The Zenith project is replacing people tagged with iKnow devices with android clones in an attempt to "eliminate imperfection across the galaxy." ([[TeenGenius Fortiscue]] thought it [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/01/01/seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time/ seemed like a good idea at the time.]]) It only goes wrong(er) when his assistant Zenith [[ZerothLawRebellion gets a little too obsessed with her directive to eliminate imperfection]] and starts using them as her own personal army.

->''You will hear screaming.''
->''They stole their voices.''

* ''Literature/TheToymakersWorkshop,'' being based on the ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' example, is about the construction of a fetch.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Zeta" introduced us to an android whose purpose was to kidnap then, using a hologram emitter built into his body, impersonate targets. He kept the targets alive in case they had important info he would need. At least, until the assignment was done, when they were no longer useful. However, living with one target's family convinced him that he no longer wanted to kill, so he went rogue. By the time Batman has his first encounter with Zeta, he's on the run from the government, who want to disassemble him. The character was popular enough that he was given his own spin-off series, ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''.
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had an episode with alien cabbages. The cabbages would sprout a clone, then the cabbage would devour and capture the original.

* It's implied in the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' films that the Decepticons made a point of destroying the vehicles they mimic, partially for infiltration reasons (Blackout caused a great deal of confusion by being a helicopter that was previously destroyed) and partially because they have no regard for human life. The Autobots are, unsurprisingly, more discreet about acquiring their vehicle modes.
* Invoked in the 1988 comedy ''Film/BigBusiness1988'' when the twins meet after being SwitchedAtBirth.

Unfortunately, there's a problem. [[DemonicPossession Because you're a physical being,]] you can't [[BodySnatcher flat-out possess someone]]. Even if you can [[VoluntaryShapeShifting shape-shift]] into a perfect replica of a human, you can't just integrate yourself into normal human society, [[UndeadTaxExemption without any form of identity.]] Sooner or later you'll get the cops on your tail, and all ''they'' need to do is put you through a metal detector and it's Game Over. Even perfectly imitating a real individual will cause problems [[SpotTheImposter if the original]] [[ConfrontingYourImposter shows up]].

The InnocentBystander's family [[GlamourFailure doesn't notice anything.]] Why should they? He's [[VillainsBlendInBetter the same as he always was.]] As long as they don't check the one dumpster where you left his skinless corpse and his removed, [[ExpositionBeam scanned-for-memories brain]], you're safe. In all your plucky advanced [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]] glory.

* In ''ComicBook/RomSpaceknight,'' Dire Wraiths don't ''have'' to kill the people they replace, but they prefer to for obvious reasons. Their preferred method is to [[NightmareFuel drill their tongue into the victim's brain to absorb his memories.]]

* In ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', Korrok's clones kill/replace the originals and proceed to go about their lives with all the memories of the original. For added authenticity, although the clones can be remote-controlled in emergencies, the replacements themselves lack alien memories and have no idea they're not the originals. This eventually leads [[spoiler:to a TomatoInTheMirror situation.]]

** Another terminator, [[spoiler: Vick Chamberlain, replaced a married man. Said man died in a car accident, and this terminator seems to explain his strange behavior by claiming brain damage.]]

* In the webcomic ''[[http://www.ringtailcafe.com/starfireagency/ Starfire Agency]]'' Denver discovers that TheGreys that have been periodically abducting him replace some people with clones that have a hidden sleeper personality and keep the originals in tanks. He recognizes one of the people in tanks as [[spoiler: his girlfriend, who was replaced when she was ten,]] and another as [[spoiler: [[TomatoInTheMirror himself]]]].

* Etzali of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has a spell that allows him to do this. He actually only needs about 10 square cm of the target's skin for it to work, but he usually kills them to prevent complications later on. He also states that he usually shadows his target for a while to get a handle on their habits so he can convincingly act like them.

* In ''Literature/{{War of the Dreaming}}'', selkies refer to the skins as "jackets," and they can be made from any species' flesh. Weirdly enough, this is also played for comedy: high-ranking selkie switch skins so often the lower ranks are perpetually confused about their identities.

* The premise of ''Film/{{Impostor}}'' is that look-alike copies of key people can be sent after targets, exploding violently once contact is made. The hero is accused of being one such impostor.

* Creator/PhilipKDick's short story ''The Father-thing''. When an alien takes the place of the protagonist's father, he eats his insides, leaving only a dry, dead skin behind.

* The Slitheen from ''Series/DoctorWho'' kill people, skin them and wear the 'suits' using gas compression technology. However, they are 8 foot tall and can only compress themselves so much, so they can only disguise themselves as obese people, and the sound of the escaping gas gives the impression they all have terrible [[ToiletHumour flatulence]].
** Played much more tragically in Series 6, where [[spoiler:at the end of "The Almost People", a man who died and left a child behind is replaced by his duplicate, who has all the original's memories and feelings, but knows he's a duplicate. In a heartwarming reversal of his earlier position, the dying original insists the duplicate really is close enough to count as the "real" dad too and makes him promise not to let his identity issues or artificial origin interfere with being a father to the kid.]]
* In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'' episode "Homefront," Sisko convinces the president that security measures are needed to prevent just that. [[spoiler: It all was actually orchestrated by an evil admiral, though changelings do disguise themselves as people]]

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->''You will hear screaming.//
They stole their voices.''

** A variety of [[WitchSpecies Hag]] introduced in the 3[[superscript:rd]] edition "Oriental Adventures" sourcebook can't shapeshift like other hags; instead, she skins women and wears their hides to assume their forms.

* Invoked in the 1988 comedy ''Film/BigBusiness'' when the twins meet after being SwitchedAtBirth.

* Invoked in the 1988 comedy ''Big Business'' when the twins meet after being SwitchedAtBirth.

* There is a reversal of this trope in Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Evidence'', where it is implied that a man who was crippled in an accident created a replicant for himself, who replaced him by his own consent, [[spoiler: and eventually gets elected as the political leader of the entire Earth, ruling in a very beneficial manner.]]

* The Tsochar in the ''Lords of Madness'' supplement for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' are tentacle monsters that can insert themselves into a humanoid host and either tag along harmlessly or violently usurp the original person.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** A variety of [[WitchSpecies Hag]] introduced in the 3[[superscript:rd]] edition "Oriental Adventures" sourcebook can't shapeshift like other hags; instead, she skins women and wears their hides to assume their forms.
** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, one of the local monsters is the Skin-thief, a sort of bear/wolf-man with eight clawed fingers to each hand who flays humans so they can wear the skins as disguises. According to "Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead", some Dread Revenants have a similar ability. Subverted with the Red Men of Falkovnia; ghoul-like walking dead created when somebody is killed by flaying. They also skin people and plaster the skin on their own raw tissue, but this is an impulse to try and soothe the pain of their existence, much like the hunger of conventional ghouls, rather than a deliberate attempt at disguise.

* [[spoiler: Kira Yoshikage]] of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' pulls this off after [[spoiler:his]] identity is revealed, but not by [[spoiler:his]] own power. [[spoiler:He]] runs into a beauty salon with literal MagicPlasticSurgery, forces the salon owner to change [[spoiler:his]] face to that of someone else in the shop, and blows up the shop, killing everyone inside, so that no one knows of [[spoiler:his]] new identity.

* Believe it or not, this trope might've originated with Creator/{{Aesop}}, although his characters didn't do the ReplicantSnatching themselves; the disguises (in this case, animal skins) were already lying around.

* The trope picture comes from the graphic-adventure game ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', despite its oversimplification of the eponymous robots' preferred method of impersonating humans: grafting the replica skin and muscle tissue of their quarry over an exoskeleton in a [[PeopleJars People Jar]].

[[quoteright:350:[[VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TSP.gif]]]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Zeta" introduced us to an android whose purpose was to kidnap then, using a hologram emitter built into his body, impersonate targets. He kept the targets alive in case they had important info he would need. At least, until the assignment was done, when they were no longer useful. However, living with one target's family convinced him that he no longer wanted to kill, so he went rouge. By the time Batman has his first encounter with Zeta, he's on the run from the government, who want to disassemble him. The character was popular enough that he was given his own spin-off series, ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Zeta" introduced us to an android whose purpose was to kidnap then, using a hologram emitter built into his body, impersonate targets. He kept the targets alive in case they had important info he would need. At least, until the assignment was done, when they were no longer useful. However, living with one target's family convinced him that he no longer wanted to kill, so he went rouge. By the time Batman Terry McGinnis has his first encounter with Zeta, he's on the run from the government, who want to disassemble him. The character was popular enough that he was given his own spin-off series, ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''.