History Main / SpotTheImposter

* ''[[[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2747440 Winter's Child]]'' depicts a reality where Literature/HarryPotter was raised by Bucky Barnes (Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse) (who is actually [[CrossoverRelatives Harry's maternal grandfather]], having conceived a child out of wedlock before being deployed). When Bucky witnesses Gilderoy Lockhart arrive at Flourish & Blotts, a quick glance at Lockhart's book Break with a Banshee is enough to satisfy Bucky that Lockhart is a fraud, as the book describes Lockhart resisting the cry of a Banshee, which is something that only a woman can do (Bucky reflects that the Howling Commandos had a brief encounter with a Banshee during the war when they avoided a creepy castle due to the accompanying wail, musing that if even Steve Rogers would back down from a banshee someone like Lockhart would never be able to hold out).

* In the ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3322402/1/Memory-Lapse Memory Lapse]]", a monster tries to trick the Zeo Rangers' acquaintance Shawna by posing as Aisha, the ex-girlfriend Shawna still has trouble remembering, but Shawna swiftly realises the truth when "Aisha" can't catch a punch to her face as she recalls Aisha being a skilled martial artist who would have been able to catch the punch.

* ''WebVideo/SolidJJ'': "Superman VS The Impostor" begins with Lois holding Superman and Bizarro at gunpoint, unable to tell which one is which. It quickly turns into PreferableImpersonator when Superman's incredulity that Lois can't tell the difference causes her to decide ''he's'' the impostor and shoot him ([[ShootingSuperman which is as effective as you'd expect]]). Parodied at the end when Bizarro picks up Lois' discarded gun and complains that ''he'' can't tell who the real Superman is, despite Superman and Lois looking nothing alike.

* During the Battle of the Bulge, German troops in US Army uniform infiltrated the lines with the intent of causing sabotage and disruption. Checkpoints grilled [=GIs=] on things every true-blooded American was expected to know such as the identity of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, who last won the World Series, or the capital of Illinois. This last question resulted in the brief detention of General Bradley; although he gave the correct answer (Springfield), the GI who questioned him apparently believed the capital was Chicago. Creator/DavidNiven was asked by suspicious American sentries who won the World Series in 1943. Having left the States in 1939 to rejoin the British army, Niven replied: "Haven't the foggiest idea, but I did co-star with Creator/GingerRogers in ''Film/BachelorMother."'' Although this behavior is often ridiculed in fictional depictions of the battle, it did succeed in identifying a number of infiltrators, many of whom didn't speak fluent English or know anything about American society. There's also a legend about a German spy who was caught because he could recite the entire "Star-Spangled Banner" when no ''true'' American knows anything past the first verse. Other things that gave the infiltrators away were that the Germans would pack four men in a jeep and drive it with the black-out slits on the headlights. The well-equipped US troops drove one or two men per jeep, and being used to their side having air superiority didn't bother with the black-out covers.

---> "There's no way to tell you apart," she said, raising the blaster. "I'll just have to shoot you both."

---> Tash shrugged. "Clones don't really understand feelings that well. The real Hoole would have known [[YouWouldntShootMe I couldn't shoot him]], but the clone wouldn't know that. I knew he would believe my threat, and try to stop me."

-->'''Magic Brian:''' [[BigNo Oh noooooooo]], the mystery is solved! You’ve solved my final riddle, you are ze new riddle master-!
-->''[[[{{Corpsing}} the other hosts]] (and probably their characters) are in stitches]''

::: They left out the obvious ''[[TakeAThirdOption fourth]]'' [[TakeAThirdOption option]] -- shooting both of them.[[note]]Or if you wanted to get especially comedic, [[DrivenToSuicide shooting]] ''[[SuicideAsComedy herself]]''. Or running off. Or shooting her two husbands ''and'' herself. Really, there are tons of other options besides those three, but shooting both of them really is the most obvious one they left out.[[/note]]

-->'''Mell''': But how can I tell which one is the real Dave?\\
'''Artie''': The one without the flannel is the evil imposter! Punch him!\\
''[[ExactWords Mell punches Artie]]''\\
'''Artie''': Let's try again: I'm the ''good'' imposter. Don't punch me.\\
'''Mell''': That's what they all say.

* Literature/WhateleyUniverse story "Test Tube Babies": FlyingBrick Lancer fights power mimic Duplikat. Shroud finds herself facing two identical Lancers. One even tells her to shoot both of them to be sure. [[spoiler: The team has a secret comm system so Shroud knows which one is the real Lancer.]]

## If you shoot the one with the green shirt, [[spoiler:both the remaining guy AND the girl are revealed to be aliens]].
## If you shoot the one with the yellow shirt, [[spoiler:you killed the alien impostor]].
## And if you shoot neither, [[spoiler:the woman instead suggests a threesome between herself, her husband, and the alien clone, which is then [[AllJustADream revealed to be just a nightmare]] that the real husband was having]].
:: They left out the obvious ''[[TakeAThirdOption fourth]]'' [[TakeAThirdOption option]] -- shooting both of them.[[note]]Or if you wanted to get especially comedic, [[DrivenToSuicide shooting]] ''[[SuicideAsComedy herself]]''. Or running off. Or shooting her two husbands ''and'' herself. Really, there are tons of other options besides those three, but shooting both of them really is the most obvious one they left out.[[/note]]

* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode, "Jeffy Sneaks Out!", Mario [[YouAreGrounded grounds Jeffy from going to the movies with Bowser Junior]] for repeatedly saying the F word, so Jeffy creates a clone of him from his Play-Doh (ItMakesSenseInContext) to take his place while he sneaks out. Play-Doh Jeffy causes havoc at Mario's house, and towards the end of the episode, the real Jeffy gets into a fight with Play-Doh Jeffy, and Mario gets a hold of officer Brooklyn T. Guy's gun, with intent to shoot the Jeffy impostor. Despite the two Jeffys looking nothing alike, Mario and Rosalina are unable to tell them apart. At first, Mario sings "The Bunny Do", but both Jeffys dance along to it. He then grounds both Jeffys, and the real Jeffy goes into a swearing fit, prompting Mario to shoot Play-Doh Jeffy.

* ''Website/ClickHole:'' In [[https://clickhole.com/incredible-we-asked-these-astronauts-what-it-s-like-to-1825124428/ "Incredible! We Asked These Astronauts What It's Like To Be In Space"]], most of the fictional astronauts' replies are completely inane, but Barry Wilmore's quickly turns disturbing:
-->You never know true beauty until you see Earth from space, or true terror until you hear someone knocking on the space station door from outside. You look through the porthole and see an astronaut, but all your crew is inside and accounted for. You use the comm to ask who it is and he says he's Ramirez returning from a repair mission, but Ramirez is sitting right next to you in the command module and he's just as confused as you are. When you tell the guy this over the radio he starts banging on the door louder and harder, begging you to let him in, saying he's the real Ramirez. Meanwhile, the Ramirez inside with you is pleading to keep the airlock shut. It really puts life on Earth into perspective.
* {{WebVideo/Woolie|Versus}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEcUT5YSZPE once went against]] his EvilCounterpart, [=GreatBlackOtaku=], which ended when {{WebVideo/Matt|McMuscles}} shot Woolie dead, either believing GBO to be the real Woolie or [[FairWeatherFriend pretending to think so to get on his good side]].

* When she is in someone else's form, Mystique's eyes usually flare yellow when she is tired, excited, angry, or about to shapeshift again.
** While she can copy someone's appearance, Mystique can't replicate powers. Thus, all it takes is seeing, say, [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] not firing eye beams or [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]] not phasing to realize who this is.
** DependingOnTheWriter, [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] (or others with heightened senses) can sniff out Mystique but other times, they'll be caught off-guard. Likewise, sometimes son [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] and foster daughter [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] are able to somehow tell it's her but other times can be fooled like everyone else. Perhaps justified as occasionally, Mystique lets them tell in order to get close.
** Mystique used the "Shoot us both!" move when she and the SWAT team commander she was imitating were surrounded by SWAT officers; the cops obeyed, one fell, the other didn't. When a cop asked "Why are you still standing, sir?", "he" replied, ("His" eyes flaring yellow) !I just moved my vital organs into my lower body.....".
* Even without Mystique, this happens a few times to Franchise/XMen:
** Several of the team are at a beachside cafe when Gambit comes up. Everyone is shocked when Rogue tackles him over a cliff but when they land, "Gambit" turns into a Skrull. Rogue brushes it off as, having been raised by Mystique, she can tell a shapechanger.
** The X-Men are fighting the Starjammers who they think are being mind-controlled and thus holding back. Corsair blasts [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] and gloats that "these Earthers aren't so tough!" Storm immediately notes how odd a phrase that is as "Corsair was born on Earth and proud of it!" The X-Men realize these are really Skrulls and thus can cut loose.
** Visiting the mansion, Banshee is in a hallway corner when Psylocke exits Xavier's personal study. Banshee is less thrown by her being in an off-limits area than how he was able to hide in the shadows five feet away from a ninja-trained telepath. This leads to the discovery almost all the X-Men have been replaced by the Phalanax.
** More than once, Wolverine has suddenly sliced up what seems to be a normal person only to reveal it to be some sort of robot and saying "it didn't smell right." Wolverine was able to figure out the Dark Phoenix the X-Men were fighting was an illusion created by Mastermind because he ''couldn't'' smell her. Mastermind also made the mistake of shooting Cyclops with a silencer-equipped gun, not realizing Wolverine would be able to hear it.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Heading to rescue Steve Trevor from shapeshifting Durlans, Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}} and ComicBook/CaptainAtom know who they're dealing with. When they're separated, each is approached by a Durlan posing as the other but see through it fast. In Diana's case, she asks "Atom" if Captain Nate Adam was with Trevor, the Durlan confirming it...not knowing Nate ''is'' Captain Atom. In Atom's case, he's able to quickly see that "Diana's" lasso isn't glowing.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'' story "Fairy Tale" sees the title character recruiting hapless apprentice fairy Blunderbell to transform him into Caliph Haroun el-Plassid so that he can replace the real Caliph as head of state. However, she transforms the sleeping Caliph into a copy of Iznogoud instead; the copy then wakes up and immediately gets into an argument, then a fistfight with the original over which of them is the real Iznogoud. Blunderbell tries to resolve things with another spell, but only succeeds in transforming both Iznogouds into copies of the Caliph - and then she turns one copy of the Caliph into ''two'' copies of Iznogoud!

* ComicBook/SgtFuryAndHisHowlingCommandos:

* In the 2020 arc of ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', Deadshot goes to find Ted Kord, the man who's been manipulating the Squad for some time. He's surprised to find Superman standing before a broken window with Kord bound and gagged. After they talk for a bit, Deadshot asks Superman to sign an autograph for his daughter. Once he does, Deadshot tells the Squad something is wrong: There's no glass from the window where Superman supposedly flew in, it's odd for Superman to tie and gag someone and the autograph says "to Zoe" when Deadshot [[INeverToldYouMyName never said who his daughter was]]. "Superman" is really Black Mask, having acquired a cloaking technology (which he's been using to impersonate Kord all this time).

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The Saturinans Sheika and Bandia impersonated Diana and Hippolyte to force the Amazons to declare war on the US, the originals escaped Saturnette's ship and called on the Amazons to tell the fakes from the true versions. The Amazons didn't have too hard a time, given that two of them were calling for war and to be an Amazon required women to take an oath declaring they wouldn't kill any humans.

* Somewhat complicated version in a ''ComicBook/NickFury'' comic: Fury is battling Baron von Strucker, the head of ComicBook/{{HYDRA}} in his soon to be CollapsingLair, but he has to disguise himself as Strucker using a convenient masking device in order to commandeer a plane out. However, he also sets up Strucker's death by first disguising Strucker as Fury and then putting a ''second'' mask on Strucker so he's wearing his own face on top of Fury's. Result? HYDRA troops burst in and see two Struckers fighting. Fury-disguised-as-Strucker convinces the HYDRA troops he's the real Strucker by yelling louder and ordering troops to remove Strucker-as-Fury-as-Strucker's mask, so the troops comply. Strucker panics and dives into the alpha particle generator, dying. Fury-as-Strucker jets off. A bit of FridgeLogic: Fury wears an {{eyepatch|OfPower}}, while [[http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/baronstrucker.htm Strucker]] wears a monocle. Where did Fury get two eyepatches and two monocles from?

* A heartbreaking one during Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion|2008}}'' (the main mini-series): In Issue #8, BackFromTheDead Characters/{{Mockingbird|MarvelComics}} is confronted by her ex-husband, ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} (who, at the time, was presumed dead and operating as masked hero Ronin). To prove she wasn't a Skrull, Hawkeye states a certain date, and asks Mockingbird what it meant. Turns out, Mockingbird had a miscarriage on that date and only she and Hawkeye ever knew she was even pregnant. This also served to tell Mockingbird who was under the Ronin mask.

** DependingOnTheWriter, Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} (or others with heightened senses) can sniff out Mystique but other times, they'll be caught off-guard. Likewise, sometimes son [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] and foster daughter [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] are able to somehow tell it's her but other times can be fooled like everyone else. Perhaps justified as occasionally, Mystique lets them tell in order to get close.

* ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'': [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avenger]] Crusader (who is actually a Skrull who decided to [[GoingNative live as a human super hero]]) is in the Avengers' commissary, with a plate of kiwi fruit, strawberries and pickles. Together, the combo approximated the taste of a favored Skrull fruit. He realizes the Avengers have been infiltrated by (other) Skrulls when he sees [[spoiler: Hank Pym]] serve himself the same combo.

* Attempted by Gordon in ''Film/WildWildWest'' to save UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant from [[BigBad Loveless]], when he dresses up as the general and tries to pretend ''he'' is the real one while "Grant" is an imposter. Loveless doesn't even blink and [[TookAThirdOption just captures them both]].

** In ''Literature/IAmYourEvilTwin'', the protagonist uses [[PlotAllergy his food allergy]] to prove that he's not the evil clone. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the clone swaps the target food for a version the protagonist is not allergic to, and then vomits on purpose, successfully fooling everyone into thinking ''he'''s the real thing]].

* ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack''

* Happens in ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', when Adachi gets wrangled into a struggle with Mirror Face, an assassin disguised as him. Since Adachi worked at the DMV, Ichiban decides to quiz them on traffic laws, with one answering accurately and the other able to answer only vaguely or not at all. [[spoiler:Ichiban proceeds to punch out the one who answers accurately, leading to Mirror Face lying on the ground wondering how someone like Adachi even kept his job in the first place]].

** Parodied when [[spoiler:a newly revived Tex]] is [[CurbStompBattle fighting the rest of the soldiers]]. At one point, Tucker's armor [[spoiler:gets turned black (like Tex's) and Tex starts pummeling him.]]

* Somewhat complicated version in a ''ComicBook/NickFury'' comic: Fury is battling Baron von Strucker, the head of ComicBook/{{HYDRA}} in his soon to be CollapsingLair, but he has to disguise himself as Strucker using a convenient masking device in order to commandeer a plane out. However, he also sets up Strucker's death by first disguising Strucker as Fury and then putting a ''second'' mask on Strucker so he's wearing his own face on top of Fury's. Result? HYDRA troops burst in and see two Struckers fighting. Fury-disguised-as-Strucker convinces the HYDRA troops he's the real Strucker by yelling louder and ordering troops to remove Strucker-as-Fury-as-Strucker's mask, so the troops comply. Strucker panics and dives into the alpha particle generator, dying. Fury-as-Strucker jets off. A bit of FridgeLogic: Fury wears an {{eyepatch|OfPower}}, while [[http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/baronstrucker.htm Strucker]] wears a monocle. Where did Fury get two eyepatches and two monocles from?

* A heartbreaking one during Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion|2008}}'' (the main mini-series): In Issue #8, BackFromTheDead Characters/{{Mockingbird|MarvelComics}} is confronted by her ex-husband, ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} (who, at the time, was presumed dead and operating as masked hero Ronin). To prove she wasn't a Skrull, Hawkeye states a certain date, and asks Mockingbird what it meant. Turns out, Mockingbird had a miscarriage on that date and only she and Hawkeye ever knew she was even pregnant. This also served to tell Mockingbird who was under the Ronin mask.

** DependingOnTheWriter, Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} (or others with heightened senses) can sniff out Mystique but other times, they'll be caught off-guard. Likewise, sometimes son [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] and foster daughter [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] are able to somehow tell it's her but other times can be fooled like everyone else. Perhaps justified as occasionally, Mystique lets them tell in order to get close.

* ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'': [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avenger]] Crusader (who is actually a Skrull who decided to [[GoingNative live as a human super hero]]) is in the Avengers' commissary, with a plate of kiwi fruit, strawberries and pickles. Together, the combo approximated the taste of a favored Skrull fruit. He realizes the Avengers have been infiltrated by (other) Skrulls when he sees [[spoiler: Hank Pym]] serve himself the same combo.

* Attempted by Gordon in ''Film/WildWildWest'' to save UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant from [[BigBad Loveless]], when he dresses up as the general and tries to pretend ''he'' is the real one while "Grant" is an imposter. Loveless doesn't even blink and [[TookAThirdOption just captures them both]].

** In ''Literature/IAmYourEvilTwin'', the protagonist uses [[PlotAllergy his food allergy]] to prove that he's not the evil clone. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the clone swaps the target food for a version the protagonist is not allergic to, and then vomits on purpose, successfully fooling everyone into thinking ''he'''s the real thing]].

* ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack''

* Happens in ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', when Adachi gets wrangled into a struggle with Mirror Face, an assassin disguised as him. Since Adachi worked at the DMV, Ichiban decides to quiz them on traffic laws, with one answering accurately and the other able to answer only vaguely or not at all. [[spoiler:Ichiban proceeds to punch out the one who answers accurately, leading to Mirror Face lying on the ground wondering how someone like Adachi even kept his job in the first place]].

** Parodied when [[spoiler:a newly revived Tex]] is [[CurbStompBattle fighting the rest of the soldiers]]. At one point, Tucker's armor [[spoiler:gets turned black (like Tex's) and Tex starts pummeling him.]]

Compare CoverIdentityAnomaly, ImposterForgotOneDetail (where the imposter's disguise has one subtle flaw), ImpostorExposingTest, LegendaryImpostor, and TwinTest (which may involve a person impersonating their identical sibling). See also: EvilTwin, BluffTheImpostor, ConfrontingYourImposter, TenLittleMurderVictims.

* Deconstructed in ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires''. [[Franchise/XMen Mystique]] impersonates ComicBook/CarolDanvers and is spotted by Carol's lover Mike Barnett. Mystique proceeds to beat him to death.

* In the story "Literature/TheBrainStealersOfMars", the ''thushol'' are Martian {{shapeshifting}} parasites who impersonate the heroes. They're also mind-readers, so that a duplicate has all the knowledge of the original, and the heroes can't find out who is the real one by questioning each other.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': This happens a lot when the Chameleon is involved. (He is a MasterOfDisguise, after all.)
** A ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story resolves the situation of the Chameleon impersonating Spider-Man in a distinctive manner. Characters/TheThing, holding one in each hand, throws both several meters into the air. The Chameleon reveals himself by screaming in terror and the Human Torch flies up to catch him while the real Spider-Man, who is used to this kind of situation, calmly shoots a webline to swing to safety.

* A heartbreaking one during Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion|2008}}'' (the main mini-series): In Issue #8, BackFromTheDead Characters/{{Mockingbird|MarvelComics}} is confronted by her ex-husband, Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} (who, at the time, was presumed dead and operating as masked hero Ronin). To prove she wasn't a Skrull, Hawkeye states a certain date, and asks Mockingbird what it meant. Turns out, Mockingbird had a miscarriage on that date and only she and Hawkeye ever knew she was even pregnant. This also served to tell Mockingbird who was under the Ronin mask.

** Comicbook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse stories featuring [[MasterOfDisguise Miklos, the Grey Mouse]] elevated this trope to an art form, as Miklos can do a ''perfect'' Mickey Mouse impression, and looks just like him with grey fur (hence the nickname):

* ''[[Comicbook/InvasionDCComics Invasion!]]'':

* The ''Comicbook/IronMan'' novel ''Operation: A.I.M.'' had several Avengers battling shapeshifting "adaptoids"; Iron Man tricks the War Machine impostor into giving himself away by pretending his PoweredArmor had a [[ShoutOut chameleon circuit]]. When the android uses this as an excuse to shapeshift in front of the others, his cover is blown [[spoiler: two of the three other heroes there, Captain America and the Black Panther, were also adaptoids. Iron Man was at that point on his own but hadn't realized it yet]]. Later, the heroes must fight their own doppelgangers and resort to uncharacteristic tactics to win since the fakes know all their usual moves.

* A heartbreaking one during Marvel's ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' (the main mini-series): In Issue #8, BackFromTheDead Characters/{{Mockingbird|MarvelComics}} is confronted by her ex-husband, Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} (who, at the time, was presumed dead and operating as masked hero Ronin). To prove she wasn't a Skrull, Hawkeye states a certain date, and asks Mockingbird what it meant. Turns out, Mockingbird had a miscarriage on that date and only she and Hawkeye ever knew she was even pregnant. This also served to tell Mockingbird who was under the Ronin mask.

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'':
** Page quote of BluffTheImpostor... and the closing fight scene where [[spoiler:the shapeshifting Terminator has impersonated Sarah Connor, and John must work out which is the real one (which wants him alive) and the bad one (who wants him very very dead). He picks the good one]].
** In the extended version, [[spoiler:they reveal how John was able to make the right choice: due to the freezing/smashing/recombining the T-1000 went through, its morphing is damaged and it ends up copying the appearance of materials it is in contact with. John looked down and noted that the fake Sarah had a corrugated metal pattern on its legs. In another version, the heat rising through the grating below has melted her legs in the pattern of the grate]].

** ''Point Blanc'' ends with a genuinely disturbing sequence in which Alex and [[CloningBlues a clone of the Big Bad surgically altered to look exactly like Alex]] go ''mano a mano''. The prose deliberately acts like a distant camera, leaving the reader to play Spot The Doppelgänger and find it impossible, [[AmbiguousCloneEnding even when one falls into an inferno]]. In the next book, everything's all fine and dandy with Alex being the survivor, but...