History Main / SeparatedAtBirth

* [[spoiler: Mei Misaki and Misaki Fujioka]] from the anime {{Another}}. [[spoiler: Mei was adopted by their aunt, but when they learn the family secret, they spend all their time together until Masaki’s death. ]]

* [[http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/01/twinsters-samantha-reunited-with-twin-sister-anais-by-youtube-video-4286957/ Anais Bordier And Samantha Futerman]], twins born in South Korea and given to foster families on different continents. They discovered each other through social media in 2013, at the age of 25.

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* Part of a subplot in ''DigimonFrontier'', where two boys named Kouichi and Kouji discover they are twin brothers, and one of them is lured to the dark side. It takes a ''lot'' for his brother to make him pull a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler: And then, they discover that in the real world, the first twin is ''[[DeadAllAlong dead]]'' and only his subconscious remains in the Digital World. A bit of TimeTravel (as in, returning to Earth almost at the same time the dead twin has the accident that eventually killed him) was needed to save the kid's life.]]
* ''Heavily'' subverted in {{Gundam 00}}. [[spoiler: After the death of their family when they're teenagers, the twins Neil and Lyle Dylandy ''consciously'' decide to stay out of each other's lives since they weren't able to properly deal with their own problems ''and'' Neil wasn't very into the idea of having Lyle learn about his involvement with terrorists either. Ironically, more than a decade later Lyle would take up Neil's place as "Lockon Stratos" in Celestial Being and ''heavily'' deconstruct the idea of being a BackUpTwin for him.]]

* Ninjas Jago and Black Orchid aren't necessarily twins, but find out they're long siblings orphaned and separated shortly after Jago's birth at the end of the first ''VideoGame/{{Killer Instinct}}'' game.

* ''GundamSEED'', due to the fact that Kira and Cagalli, despite being twins separated at birth and raised by different parents. It should also be noted that [[AllThereInTheManual other materials]] state that Kira's adoptive mom Caridad Yamato is, in fact, his and Cagalli's maternal aunt (the sister of Via Hibiki). This is a {{Homage}} to ''StarWars'' anyway...

* ''Heavily'' subverted in {{Gundam 00}}. [[spoiler: After the death of their family when they're teenagers, the twins Neil and Lyle Dylandy ''consciously'' decide to stay out of each other's lives. Ironically, more than a decade later Lyle would take up Neil's place as "Lockon Stratos" in Celestial Being]]

* Popular fan theory, along with other variants of LongLostRelative, for DetectiveConan's lead Kudo Shinichi and his {{foil}} and WorthyOpponent the Kaitou Kid. (Who had his own very brief manga series before Aoyama started Conan and folded Kid into it.) Interesting meta-use of OnlySixFaces, since what the manga-ka actually did was use the same basic design for two heroes and then {{Lampshade}} it--specifically, by showing that Kid, a MasterOfDisguise who usually relies heavily on LatexPerfection, can dress as Shinichi without a mask. Just has to change his hair and body language.

* Ninjas Jago and Black Orchid find out they're long lost twins orphaned and separated at birth at the end of the first ''VideoGame/{{Killer Instinct}}'' game.

* ''GundamSEED'', due to the fact that Kira and Cagalli, despite being twins separated at birth and raised by different parents. It should also be noted that [[AllThereInTheManual other materials]] state that Kira's adoptive HotShounenMom Caridad Yamato is, in fact, his and Cagalli's maternal aunt (the sister of Via Hibiki). This is a {{Homage}} to ''StarWars'' anyway...

* Prince Adam and Princess Adora, the secret identities of He-Man and She-Ra in ''HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' cartoon and its SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'', were separated at birth, unintentionally. Hordak, the BigBad of the She-Ra series, intended to abduct ''both'' of the infant twins but had only managed to pick up Adora before he was interrupted by the palace guards, taking the little girl away and raising her as a TykeBomb. Sorceress had to give everyone in the kingdom (except the royal family, of course) LaserGuidedAmnesia to cover the incident up, and Adam/He-Man himself had to help Adora/She-Ra recover her identity in the She-Ra pilot.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Valis}} II'', Queen Valna reveals on her deathbed that Yuko and Valia were her twin daughters, with Yuko sent to Reality to avoid a SuccessionCrisis.

* This trope forms the basis for Shakespeare's ''TheComedyOfErrors'', which was itself cribbed from Creator/{{Plautus}}'s ''Menaechmi'', making it OlderThanFeudalism.
* It's also the plot of Willy Russell's ''Blood Brothers''. The boys meet as children and become friends into adulthood... it doesn't end well.
* Oscar Wilde's ''TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'' deals with a man who was lost by his governess a few weeks after birth. He eventually meets up with his younger brother while pretending to be a fictional version of said brother, and they both end up getting married. Oh, and the name 'Earnest' comes into play more than once, used by both brothers....

* In {{Ever 17}} fraternal twins [[spoiler:Kid and Sara]] were anonymously placed in an orphanage by their mother, who was on the run from an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Evil Corporation]] and hoped to keep them safe. Unfortunately the corporation managed to track them down and kidnap them both, ending up separating the two twins to really [[KickTheDog put the boot in.]]
* In the [=PopCap Games=] title ''[=AstroPop=]'', [[spoiler:Vector and Sprocket]] turn out to be fraternal twins.

A plot in which two siblings (usually identical twins) who were separated at birth now meet up as youngsters or adults. Usually the twins are mistaken for one another by family/friends and HilarityEnsues (e.g. ''The Parent Trap''). Often the two characters were previously unhappy with their lots in life, but after having walked a mile in somebody else's shoes, they gain a new appreciation for what they have. Notice that Separated at Birth doesn't have to apply ''literally'' - their parents might have divorced, and each parent took one kid and neither kid was told of the other's existence, but before that they were one family for some time. But Separated At Birth, especially if combined with DeathByChildbirth, can make for so much ''drama.''

* Austin and his [[spoiler:twin Dr. Evil]] are separated in AustinPowers, with one being raised by a negligent spy father and the other raised by [[spoiler:a cruel Belgian man and his French whore girlfriend]].

* The Jackie Chan film ''Twin Dragons''.
* The Jean Claude Van Damme film ''Film/DoubleImpact''.

* Late in ''TheLossOfSexualInnocence'', two orphan twin girls cared for by Italian nuns are separated when one of them is adopted by an English family, so that one grows up Italian and the other English. As adult women (played by the beautiful Saffron Burrows), they meet face to face by chance and stand transfixed for a while, staring at each other in wonder. But then they go their separate ways without even having spoken to each other.

* The original [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Marvel#Original_Fawcett_origin Fawcett background]] had this history for [[CaptainMarvel Billy]] and [[MaryMarvel Mary]] Batson.[[hottip:*:DC changed it.]]

* Walky and Sal, in ''ItsWalky'', though it's hard to see why they didn't [[HalfIdenticalTwins figure it out sooner]]. In this case, Sal was switched with another child (Beef) to generate the impression she was more important and needed hiding when the more important one was actually Walky. Sal herself, and for a long time the reader, is fooled too. Tragically, their reunion ultimately triggers Beef's FaceHeelTurn.
* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' Although artificial creature Molly and her [[CloningBlues identical "sister'']] Golly were born in different places a few months apart, most aspects of this trope still apply. They had radically different upbringings giving them very different personalities, they only met after they were both fully-grown, Golly was initially mistaken for Molly, and each regards the other as an object lesson in what they might have become under other circumstances (the story title is "There But For the Grace," as in, ''"There but for the grace of God go I."'')
* ''{{Homestuck}}'': [[spoiler: John and Jade are the twin ectobiological children of Nanna Egbert and Grandpa Harley, while Dave and Rose are the twin ectobiological children of Dave's Bro and Ms. Lalonde. All eight of these people were born at the same time.]] [[MindScrew God bless]] TimeTravel.
* ''ElGoonishShive'' heavily implies that [[spoiler:Susan and Diane]] are identical twins separated at birth, since they're physically identical aside from hair color (and one dyes her hair) and were born 20 minutes apart on the same day. This trope is also used as the cover story for Elliot's OppositeSexClone Ellen when she suddenly appears, claiming that the two are fraternal twins but Ellen was raised by a foster family until they were teenagers.

* Northstar and Aurora of ''AlphaFlight'' were separated as infants when their parents died. They quickly developed a very... ''intense'' sibling relationship, despite not having been raised together.

* {{Batman}} villains the Trigger Twins ''think'' this is what happened to them. They don't know for sure, but there aren't a lot of other explanations for two complete strangers who look exactly identical to one another. One of them even mentions something he saw on TV about separated twins leading unusually like lives as adults... and the Trigger Twins met when they tried to rob the same bank.

* The basic premise of ''TheParentTrap'', in all its various remakes.

* Walky and Sal, in ''ItsWalky'', though it's hard to see why they didn't [[HalfIdenticalTwins figure it out sooner]]. In this case, Sal was switched with another child (Beef) to generate the impression she was more important and needed hiding when the more important one was actually Walky. Sal herself, and for a long time the reader, are fooled too. Tragically, their reunion ultimately triggers Beef's FaceHeelTurn.

* Two shows that get significant mileage on this trope are ''SisterSister'' (with the Mowrys) and ''So Little Time'' (with the Olsens).

* Goku and Raditz in DragonBallZ. It's a non-twin case. It's apparantly common for Saiyans to send babies to planets with weak people to kill off the population.
* Hiei and Yukina of YuYuHakusho are this. Well, it varies, depending on the translation, or if you believe what Hiei has to say in the dubs. The generally accepted belief is that they're twins separated at birth; Hiei was cast off the Koorime Island for being born male in their female-only race, while Yukina was allowed to stay with their mother. While they do meet in the series and are often in each other's company, Hiei is the only one of the two definitely aware of their relationship while it was never made clear if Yukina was aware herself.

* In the Code Geass spinoff manga NightmareOfNunnally, [[spoiler: Lelouch Lamperouge and Rolo vi Brittiana]] are examples.

** Due to the OnlySixFaces rule of this show, many viewer didn't realize that Kira and Cagalli are twins [[TheReveal until it was pointed outright]]. And then there's numerous ShipTease...

* A particularly freakish example in ''[[AnneMcCaffrey Acorna's Children: Second Wave]],'' in which we learn that [[spoiler:Khorii's twin Arriin was telekinetically kidnapped from their mother's womb]].

* The Lois Duncan book ''Stranger with my Face'' is based entirely on this trope. The main character was adopted at birth, but her parents decided not to take her twin sister because ''they could sense her evil''. The other twin grows up to come and ruin the heroine's life, using, of all things, astral projection. This becomes rather perplexing when the main character and her family are described. They're all blond, pale, and white, while she's half Native American.

* In the {{Saiyuki}} manga, Hakkai and his twin sister were placed in different orphanages shortly after birth, but met and fell in love. Even after learning their identities as brother and sister, they continued the affair.

* State Farm insurance has a series of ads depicting insurance agent Cliff Paul, the long-lost twin of NBA star Chris Paul. Naturally, Cliff is just a character played by Chris.