Impersonating the Evil Twin: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
The situation where [[Evil Twin]] is
Compare with [[Hugh Mann]]. Sometimes exposed by a [[Bluff the Impostor]] maneuver.
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== Literature ==
* Played both ways and then subverted multiple times in thriller ''The Third Twin'' by Ken Follett. Main character, [[Plucky Girl|plucky academic underdog]], has uncovered evidence that eight identical twins (including her boyfriend) were implanted secretly (and nonconsensually) in separate mothers during the early days of ''in vitro'' fertilization; boyfriend's [[Evil Counterpart]] and titular Third Twin, who was raised by the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who ran the experiment, spies on her on his father's behalf. Evil Counterpart's cover is blown when he shows a behavioral tic she saw his dad use, and then captured when Boyfriend intervenes. Boyfriend then impersonates Evil
* In [[Keith Laumer|Keith Laumer's]] classic ''[[Imperium]]'', a man is recruited by an interdimensional empire that occupies alternate Earths. His mission is to replace the overlord of one of these realities, who is his alternate self. The ruse works perfectly until the first time he confronts one of the overlord's inner
* Done inadvertently in [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s ''The Door Through Space''; the hero and his antagonist both fit the same general description, and when the hero realizes that the bad guys have mistaken him for the other guy he proceeds to take advantage as best he can.
* Similarly, in the ''[[Animorphs]]'' story ''The Andalite Chronicles,'' Elfangor impersonates Visser Three shortly after the latter managed to take control of Alloran's body. The thing is, the Visser's subordinates only know that he's supposed to have an Andalite host now, but doesn't know ''which'' Andalite, so they believe Elfangor and obey his order... to attack the ''real'' Visser Three while Elfangor escapes. Oops.
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* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Dopplegangland," Willow pretends to be evil vampire Willow. She gets caught due to being insufficiently evil, which one supposes you could call an error in the impersonation. However, it initially works well, and has an effect on helping the Scoobies' strategy, because the [[Mirror Universe]] [[Evil Twin]]'s mooks don't know her much either and also are scared of her.
* On ''[[Knight Rider]]'', Michael Knight impersonates his evil twin, Garth, in "Goliath". Revealed when his [[Beard of Evil]] is torn off.
* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'': Done when Hercules ends up in a [[Mirror Universe]]. In this case, though, he ''is'' undone by a flaw in his
* ''[[Star Trek]]''
** The only really good example of this in canon ''[[Star Trek]]'' is the original Mirror Universe episode "Mirror, Mirror". In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' Mirror Universe episodes, counterpart visitors are either known to be counterparts or were replacing good guys, and in ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' Mirror Universe episodes, there ARE no counterparts. Non-canon novels, comics, and fanfics still feature this trope, though.
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== Video Games ==
* Weird example in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'', as it was coincidental. Solid Snake dresses as a fictional Navy SEAL in order to get into an offshore cleaning facility without arousing suspicion. He encounters Raiden, who instantly recognises him as being a dead ringer for Liquid Snake, another survivor of the [[Cloning Blues|cloning project]] which Solid Snake was born
* At the beginning of ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', Basch was imprisoned for regicide on Dalmasca's sovereign, Ashe's father, though {{spoiler|it comes to light later when Basch is rescued that it wasn't he who committed the crime, but his identical twin brother who works under the Archadian Empire: Judge Gabranth. This was reversed at the end of the game when Gabranth, on his dying breath, asked Basch to protect Larsa, who was to be the next Archadian Emperor. Basch takes on the role of Judge Gabranth for this purpose, his brother's death kept a secret.}}
* ''[[Mother 3]]'': {{spoiler|Lucas was accidentally allowed into several Pigmask complexes after the Pigmasks mistake him for his twin brother Claus, aka their commander the Masked Man. The Pigmasks even gave him "his" uniform and provided Pigmask ones for his friends! Lucas had no idea that his brother was still "alive", much less the commander of the Pigmasks, so he was probably thoroughly confused by the incidents.}}
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== Web Comics ==
* This is toyed with in a storyline for ''[[Bob and George]]''
* Inverted in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'': Elan manages to (finally) use his twin situation to his advantage when he tricks a prisoner of {{spoiler|his father}} into attacking Nale by making said prisoner believe Nale is him.
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* Also from ''[[Justice League]]'', the League members are sent to a [[Alternate Universe]] where their counterparts, known as the Justice Lords, [[The Psycho Rangers|eventually went rogue]] and took the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] route. There's a point when the League members (excluding Batman) try to enter the alternate universe Arkham by pretending to be their counterparts, which they fail to pull off due to not following the secret password procedure correctly.
** The trope is then subverted when the league are surrounded by the police; Lord Batman shows up and calls them off, escorting the League to safety. Superman at first thinks it's really their own Batman obeying this trope, [[Actually, I Am Him|but it turns out that it really is Lord Batman]].
* Scarlett from ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' is a [[Master of Disguise]], but was typically horrible at actually impersonating somebody. In one episode, she attempts to impersonate an evil scientist's wife/partner. The trope is subverted in that she is immediately spotted because she did not greet "her" husband by insulting him. Typically Scarlett will get caught one way or another. Her evil counterpart -- [[The Baroness]]
* ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''
** Darkwing Duck tries to pull this off once. It actually works perfectly, but [[Legion of Doom|The Fearsome Five]] had just decided to betray Negaduck....
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