Not So Different Remark / Web Original

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• The Angry Video Game Nerd muses over this at the end of his Atari Sports episode where he compares video game fans to sports fans:
  If that's the kind of game you enjoy, then game on. Maybe you're the kind of person who remembers which bush to burn in The Legend of Zelda to find the labyrinth, or maybe you're the kind of person who remembers the score to some sports game years ago. Maybe you like to go around in a Star Trek uniform, or you like to go around in a sports uniform — and I don't mean like a sports T-shirt but the same jersey that the players in the game wear. Whatever the case, maybe, somehow, in our own ways, we're all nerds.
• In Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues, Melissa claims that she and Irene are quite alike. While not entirely wrong- both are girls with Nerves of Steel and a clinical approach to their superpowers- Irene is nevertheless able to effectively refute her by pointing out that Melissa barely knows her.
• DEATH BATTLE!:
  • Used as an argument in "Batman vs. Spiderman", as Batman's fighting style is very similar to that of the Green Goblin, a gadget-wielding Badass Normal who serves as one of Spiderman's top foes. Spiderman would have some innate degree of familiarity with Batman's fighting style and hence a significant advantage.
  • Also used in "Thor vs. Mortal Kombat!Raiden", as Raiden's strategic fighting style is noted as very similar to Loki's cunning and cleverness. And hence, nothing really new to Thor. Sure enough, between this familiarity and outclassing Raiden in raw power, Thor takes the win.
  • "Prince Zuko vs. Shoto Todoroki" has this moment when both combatants realize how similar they are to each other.
    Zuko: He's just-
    Todoroki: -like me.
  • During "SpongeBob vs. Aquaman" (specifically the Memetic Loser Super Friends version of Aquaman), SpongeBob sympathizes with his opponent when the superhero realizes he is considered to be the lamest version of Aquaman, saying everyone used to think he wouldn't amount to anything either.
    SpongeBob: People used to the say the same kind of things about me. Goofball, wingnut, Knucklehead McSpazatron... but every day, I get back up and say two words: I'm... ready.
  • In "Darth Vader vs. Obito Uchiha", after a clash between Shinra Tensei and The Force knocks both combatants away, the kickback knocks the armor off one of Vader's legs. There’s a brief lull in the fight as a result once Obito sees:
    Obito: You've... lost your humanity as well.
    Darth Vader: On the path of the Dark Side, it is inevitable.
  • "Guts vs Dimitri" has Dimitri acknowledge that both he and Guts are "shackled to the dead" before declaring the demons arriving after the Berserker's death won't get his soul. And before that, when both are haunted by their inner demons, they have the same proclamation as they give in to their rage:
    Dimitri: I promise... I'll kill them...!
    Guts: All of them!
    Guts/Dimitri: Down to the LAST ONE!!!
• In Echo Chamber, Mr. Administrator claims that he is not so different from Zack.
  "You are wondering why I have given you this task. Why I trust you. My reasoning is not so difficult to understand, after all, we are similar. Your father is pushing you into a life you don't want, and my father... well... Let's just say I sympathize."
• In Farce of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang turns out to be very similar to Cao Cao (namely, he's the Evil Chancellor Man Behind the Man who follows his own ambitions while intimidating and browbeating the young ruler he nominally supports). Except, where Cao Cao runs a Repressive, but Efficient state, is usually a Benevolent Boss, and has plenty of Evil Virtues, Zhuge Liang is an incompetent Smug Snake whom no one actually likes. When people in Shu begin comparing the two, Zhuge Liang purges them from the palace.
• Made explicit near the end of Fine Structure, when one of the heroes calls out the alleged Big Good for being not so different from the Big Bad. The current version of the chapter is actually toned down from the original, which went even further with the Black-and-Grey Morality; the "deleted scene" Marooned in the extras has a discussion by the author about the Alternate Character Interpretation implied by the original version and why it was changed.
• Done in the blog-novel Flyover City!, when the protagonist tells the big bad "...you know, we really aren't so different, you and I. Us, I mean." — which compels the villain to list off all the ways they are emphatically not alike.
• In Greek Ninja Sasha and Daichi are more similar than they thought. After their fight, she tells him:
  "You have no purpose. Life is mundane to you. Each day is just another day you have to get through with. You are surrounded by nothing that’s really important to you. So why should you fight to protect it? I understand cause that’s the way I was."
• After Ink City's Event #1, Heloise attempts to convince Yakko that they share common ground — and that they can rule together if he just gives in to The Dark Side.
• Jim Sterling and Digital Homicide once engaged in an informal debate. Throughout the debate, DH tried to pull this trope on Jim, who directly called it out, noting it as their favourite trope, and dismissed it.
• In The Magnus Archives, after Michael begins to show human emotions, the Distortion destroys him and assumes the new identity "Helen", taken from a real estate agent who got lost in its corridors shortly after giving Jon her statement. Helen attempts to help the archival staff on multiple occasions, but Jon won't let her, making it clear that he doesn't consider her a person and that he despises her for killing and impersonating an innocent woman. Until Helen points out that Jon has devoted so much of himself to the Beholding that he's now essentially what she is: a monster who's assumed the identity of a human and happens to retain some of that human's personality.
  Jon: You're still wearing her face.
  Helen: Not this again. I’m not “wearing” anything, Archivist. I am at least as much ‘Helen Richardson’ as you are the ‘Jonathan Sims’ that first joined this Institute. Things change. People change. It happens.
  Jon: ...We’re not people, though, are we? Not anymore.
• This article in The Onion: Villain Contends He, Hero 'Very Much Alike'.
  • "Former Cult Members Find New Life In Christ" is a long and relatively subtle one comparing the cult to Christianity. For example, one cult member gave her belongings to the cult, but now does volunteer work and gives to charity as part of her new church.
• Red vs. Blue:
  • Played for laughs in The Reconstruction. Caboose at one point was infected by Omega, an evil AI with some rather destructive tendencies. When Agent Washington talks about how another AI implanted into him went out of control (That AI being the personification of traumatic memories), Caboose remarks, "We have a lot in common, Agent Washington."
  Washington: No, we don't. And don't ever say that again.
  • Locus sees these similarities between himself and Agent Washington (pre-Reds and Blues), being detached professionals who followed their orders. This gives poor Wash a flashback to his time as a villain in Revelation, where he used that same excuse to betray the Reds and Blues and shoot Donut, which he has regretted ever since. He eventually points out some actual similarities: Both are broken people who used being a soldier as an excuse to lash out and avoid guilt for their actions. Washington has just already had his Heel Realization. Eventually, Locus does too.
  Washington: I know I used to be a real piece of shit, but at least I'm trying to do something about it.
• We're Alive: Riley's arc in Season 4 has her chasing down Scratch in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after Scratch killed Angel. This parallels Scratch's own obsession for revenge against Pegs, who killed Scratch's brother, Latch. As Riley begins using more and more extreme tactics to try and catch Scratch, other begin to comment on the similarities between the two including Tardust and Scratch herself.
• Whateley Universe:
  • In the story "It's Good to be the Don", Don Sebastiano gives this spiel to part of Team Kimba as he tries to lure them into his group. It nearly works.
  • In "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl", Phase successfully tries this routine on Jobe. But Phase is one of the main heroes, and Jobe is the son of a supervillain.
• In Worm:
  • The supervillain Mannequin implies this while trying to recruit Armsmaster. The hero in question disagrees.
  • When Taylor is talking to Shadow Stalker in the immediate aftermath of Scion beginning his rampage, Shadow Stalker characterizes Taylor as being a copy of herself. Taylor is frankly shocked at the narcissism, since Shadow Stalker outright claims that she made her, but Taylor is forced to admit to herself that she's taken on the traits of many of her enemies: like Bakuda and Lung, she relies on fear, like Jack Slash she thrives on conflict and strategizing, like Purity she tries to protect her territory, and like Coil and Accord she plays something of a mastermind role. She is forced to admit, however, that the earliest example of her trying to be more like her enemies is probably Shadow Stalker.

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