History Main / RoleSwapPlot

* In ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'', Usaida gets a dream where all the toddlers in their daycare and the teenaged/adult characters swap ages, so that Taka, Kirin the Mamizuka twins are high school students, Midori is a teacher, while Inomata, Yuki, Yagi, Nezu and Saikawa become the kids. Later, Kotaro and Ryuichi arrive, also with their roles swapped, and Usaida remarks that the older brother role really doesn't fit Kotaro.

It is related to, but distinct from, RoleSwapAU--a broader AlternateContinuity premise in which the characters' established roles are switched from the start, and typically serves as a more extensive retelling of the familiar plot, while exploring how this simple swap [[ForWantOfANail changes the course of the story]], and [[InSpiteOfANail how much things stay the same]] despite the swap.

* ''Fanfic/TorqueJakAndDaxter}'': Taking place during ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', Jak is a loyal brainwashed Dark Warrior of Barron Praxis. Keira with the help of Daxter is forced to take on the path that Jak was meant to follow in order to save him. In a sense the story was changed from ''Jak 2'' to ''Keira and Daxter''.

* ''Fanfic/{{Torque}}'': Taking place during ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', Jak is a loyal brainwashed Dark Warrior of Barron Praxis. Keira with the help of Daxter is forced to take on the path that Jak was meant to follow in order to save him. In a sense the story was changed from ''Jak 2'' to ''Keira and Daxter''.

->'''Sharon''': I was having this great dream. I was really rich, you was really poor and she was my ugly old skivvy!

** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' there is an episode in which Ben unexplainedly winds up back in the pilot, but Gwen ends up with the Omnitrix instead of him.

** In episode "Bad Boy" Ron is turned evil and Drakken is turned good by the Attitudinator. Ron gains Drakken's blue skin while Drakken gains white skin. Ron turns out to be a very threatening villain compared to the other evil doers and unlike Drakken can keep Shego in line. And almost beats Kim.
** Ron is momentary turned evil again in "Stop Team Go" much to Shego's horror.

* In the ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' movie ''Road to Ninja'', Naruto and Sakura are sent to an alternate world where Naruto's parents are alive while Sakura's are dead. In this world Sakura's parents are heroes and her father was the fourth Hokage, both of them gave their lives protecting the village. Many of the younger kids look up to Sakura for this. Most of the characters in this world have opposite personalities from their counterparts; the two that are role reversed are Kakashi and Gai. The Akatsuki are also good guys in this world.

See also: NowLetMeCarryYou. StaticRoleExchangeableCharacter, HourglassPlot, PersonalitySwap, FreakyFridayFlip, HalfwayPlotSwitch, InAnotherMansShoes. Compare SwappedRoles.

->'''Sharon''': I was 'avin' this great dream. I was really rich, you was really poor an' she was my ugly old skivvy!

This type of plot usually takes place in an AlternateRealityEpisode or an {{Omake}}--and, in the case of the former, often ends with the characters gaining a newfound appreciation about each other's roles in the story, or their own reality.

* There exist two ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfictions in which Twilight Sparkle and her {{Gender Flip}}ped counterpart Dusk Shine change roles. One of the fics shows the events from Dusk's perspective and the other shows them from Twilight's perspective.
* The fairytale parody "The Curse of the Cursed Curse" from the ninth ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'' uses this as a plot point. In this setting, [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Gaz]] is a cruel noblewoman who likes tormenting peasants, including [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Mabel]], who is forced to work on a [[TheDungAges poo farm]]. Finally reaching her [[RageBreakingPoint breaking point]] from Gaz's abuse, Mabel cuts a deal with the [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents fairies]] that causes them to switch lives. As such, Mabel goes on to live a wonderful fantasy life, while Gaz is condemned to a miserable life as a peasant.

** For a time Spock is the Captain of the Enterprise and Kirk is the First Officer.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Marty and Doc's roles of "voice of reason" and "swayed by emotions" are reversed, so much so that at one point they even exchange their respective "Great Scott!" and "This is heavy!" catchphrases.

* In the ''Series/SpaceCases'' episode "Both Sides Now", Davenport suddenly gains psychic powers that enable her to swap the kids' races and personalities (so that Radu becomes human, Harlan becomes Andomedan, etc.) This also forces the kids to swap roles aboard the ship.
* A late game episode of Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad has Sam sent to a parallel universe where [[TheDragon Malcom]] is a NiceGuy, [[MsFanservice Jennifer]] is a ShrinkingViolet, [[SurferDude Lucky]] is a FrenchJerk, [[TheSmartGirl Sydney]] is a BrainlessBeauty, [[DeadpanSnarker Mrs. Starkey]] is polite and cordial and [[StudentCouncilPresident Yolanda]] is the one creating monsters fo [[BigBad Kilokhan]].

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': When Reese is shot, Finch is forced to do all the field work while Reese sits behind the computer.

* ''Series/TheInBESTigators'': When Maudie loses her notebook in "The Case of the Very Lost Notebook'', she becomes the hapless victim and the usually clueless Kyle is the one who manages to put the clues together to find it.

* Briefly done in VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum during the last encounter with Scarecrow where the intro of the game is played again but with Batman and the Joker switched around.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'':
** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' there is an episode in which Ben unexplainedly winds up back in the pilot, but Gwen ends up with the Omnitrix instead of him.
** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' references this as part of an alternate timeline and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' later plucks her from that timeline to help with a ComicBook/SpiderVerse type crossover. We also briefly see a version of ''Argit'' with the Omnitrix.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', in the episode "Reflekdoll", Marinette and Adrien remove their Miraculouses just before an akuma attack, and they both recover each other's Miraculous, forcing Marinette to take a turn as the cat hero and Adrien to take a turn as the ladybug hero.

* ''Fanfic/SashaAndTheFrogs'': The premise of the story. The story focuses on Sasha, having switched places with Anne at the beginning of the source material and now currently residing with the Plantars.

* In WesternAnimation/Ben10 there is an episode in which Ben unexplainedly winds up back in the pilot, but Gwen ends up with the Omnitrix instead of him.
** WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien references this as part of an alternate timeline and WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse later plucks her from that timeline to help with a ComicBook/SpiderVerse type crossover. We also breifly see a version of ''Argit'' with the Omnitrix.

* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': In Season 8 episode 7, Happy S. discovers Careful S. had written this sort of story in a notebook, featuring him and Kalo in swapped roles. Sound fine and dandy? [[spoiler:Kalo had ''died'' before the events of this episode, and the story Careful S. wrote is about what it would be like if he had died in his place. Caregul S. misses his buddy ''that'' much.]]

This type of plot usually takes place in an AlternateRealityEpisode or an {{Omake}}--and, in the case of the former, often ends with the characters finding a newfound appreciation about each other's roles in the story, or their own reality.

It is related to, but distinct from, RoleSwapAU--a broader AlternateContinuity premise in which the characters' established roles are switched from the start, and typically serves as a more extensive retelling of the familiar plot, while exploring how this simple swap [[ForWantOfANail changes the course of the story]], and [[InSpiteOfANail how much things stay the same]] despite it.

* ''''Series/TheInBESTigators'': When Maudie loses her notebook in "The Case of the Very Lost Notebook'', she becomes the hapless victim and the usually clueless Kyle is the one who manages to put the clues together to find it.

* Series/PersonOfInterest: When Reese is shot, Finch is forced to do all the field work while Reese sits behind the computer.
* Series/{{Smallville}}: As Clark and Lois start getting serious about their relationship, Jor-El decides Lois needs to really understand Clark if she's going to spend the rest of her life with him. So Jor-El takes away Clark's powers and gives them to Lois for a day. HilarityEnsues.

A plot device has in some way swapped the roles of several of the characters or has had one character take the role of another and that one has a new role. They've effectively changed destinies with one another.

This often happens in an AlternateUniverse setting. This sometimes has a drastic change on the plot as the characters will often maintain their personalities or at least one of them will and this changes how events take place.

This can sometimes lead to the canon main character turning into a supportive character while a once supportive character is now the main character.

It's more common in fan fictions. The author may switch two characters' roles around around and still have the plot play out mostly the same. However, sometimes the author will have the differences in personality as well as other factors make change in how the plot goes.