Not So Different/Western Animation

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Not So Different in Western Animation include:

  • Family Guy: Stewie realizes he's not so different from one of his "potential siblings" when one of them mentions that he too hates Lois.
  • American Dad: Subverted in "Weiner of Our Discontent" when Roger and Stan find that they both like to feel important:

Roger: We're not so different, you and I.
Stan: Yes we are. We're night and day. Except for in this specific instance.

    • Also Stan belittles Steve for being nerdy and unpopular, while flashbacks reveal that he was just as nerdy and more unpopular. Indeed, a major facet of Stan's character is how he wants Steve to be cool and popular like he never got to be (not becoming athletic until college), and Stan gets very upset whenever he discovers he is not liked by people, and is desperate to be accepted among his colleagues at times because of his past.
    • Played straight when Stan kidnaps the children of a lesbian couple. When he hears them fighting in the backseat, he realizes that they are no different from his own kids.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Parallel plots frequently point out that the hero, Aang, and Worthy Opponent, Prince Zuko, are not so different, but any stress spent over the situation pre-Heel Face Turn was on the dark Anti-Villain prince's part, not the hero's. Zuko and Sokka also get their Not So Different episode in "The Boiling Rock".
  • After Matt and Trey of South Park turned Cartman and Kyle into Sitcom Arch Nemesises, the two have been on-ends for season after season, mostly with Cartman doing something morally questionable and Kyle trying to stop him. However, in more recent episodes, it's shown that Kyle will go to extreme lengths that could be considered immoral just to put Cartman in danger to get rid of him.
    • Cartman isn't the only person Kyle puts in danger. He almost had HIS OWN BEST FRIEND killed by Puff Daddy so he can get Stan's vote for his candidate and then he got even madder at Stan for voting for Cartman's Candidate. He was also willing to send Cartman's entire Pirate crew to their death in Somolia (which included classmates such as Butters and Clyde). This is something Cartman is expected to do, not Kyle. What the Hell, Hero? indeed.
    • Both Stan and Kyle were far more callous and self serving in earlier episodes. They often joined Cartman in bullying or exploiting other kids such as Butters and Pip and were equally unempathetic to the abuse Kenny suffered. It is vaguely hinted it was their bullying of Cartman that embittered him into the Comedic Sociopath he is today, much in a similar manner that Cartman is grating on Kyle's morals and standards as of recently. These aspects are less prominent in later episodes though are still evident at times.
      • In a later episode, Cartman pulls the Not So Different speech on Cthulhu. Think about that for a second....
  • In the finale of the second season of Justice League Unlimited, the heroes face Alternate Universe evil twins of themselves. Superman's evil twin taunts him as being Not So Different from him: "Power corrupts, after all, and who has more power than Superman?" This is followed by Superman following the trope exactly by shouting: "I'm not like you! I'm nothing like you!"
  • Vlad Plasmius, being Danny Phantom's Evil Counterpart, loves messing with him this way:

Plasmius: Sneak attack -- very good, Daniel. You're getting more like me with every battle.
Danny: I am NOTHING like you!
Plasmius: Oh, you're not? Using your powers to get back at people you don't like? Throwing the first punch? You're more like me than you know.

Ben: (under his breath) You don't care about anyone but yourself.
Kevin: You talking about me?
Ben: No. I'm talking about me!

    • In Secret Of The Omnitrix, Azmuth is shown to be immature, selfish, and kind of a jerk, but he's ultimately helpful when he really wants to be... Kinda like Ben, really, when he asked Ben if he wanted to learn about the Omnitrix like a "true hero" would, Ben said he didn't want to, Azmuth didn't tell him the code, but, he did say:

Azmuth: Heh, I like that boy.

    • In the Grand Finale of Ultimate Alien, Vilgax of all people claims he and Ben aren't so different since they both use power to impose their will on the universe. Vilgax attempts to corrupt Ben into being a tyrant just like him and it almost works.
  • Kim and Shego of Kim Possible after the events of "Stop Team Go."
  • Teen Titans likes this a lot.
    • Slade is obsessively fond of doing this to Robin, because he wants to make Robin his apprentice. It always makes Robin go into a frenzy of rage, which is always fun for Slade, who just clearly enjoys messing with his head. This was the premise of the "Apprentice" episodes. Robin ponders near the end, "Focused, serious, determined...as much as I hate to admit it, he and I are kind of alike. But there's one big difference between me and Slade -- He doesn't have any friends." Slade even manages to do this when he's dead in "Haunted" by making Robin act crazy and violent through drugs. He later taunts him by referring to them as "friends" when they team up in "The End".("I'm NOT your friend!" - because he doesn't have any, remember?) Slade is not all that different from Robin's mentor Batman, with the key difference there being that, while they are both cold and meticulous, Slade is cruel and self serving while Batman is selfless and compassionate behind his ruthless exterior.
    • Trigon tries to persuade Raven he and Raven are this (he is her creator), but she realizes they aren’t so similar.
    • Beast Boy and Raven may seem opposites at first, but it’s not wrong to find them both to be hilarious. And Raven is named after an animal herself.
    • Brother Blood tries to do this to Cyborg, but it's not as effective as with Robin, because Cyborg is marginally sane. In fact, it's Brother Blood who takes this the most seriously, to the point that he makes himself into a cyborg to prove his point.
  • In The Batman, villains try this on Batman with increasing frequency as the series goes on. To his credit (and the misfortune of said villains), Batman proves quite capable of rationally explaining the key differences while he beats the snot out of them.
  • In Mighty Max, Norman confronts the semi-immortal that slaughtered his village centuries ago. Norman eventually defeats him and has him held over an effectively bottomless chasm when the villain, having a moment of Genre Savvy, triumphantly invokes this trope with the standard declaration of "If you kill me, you'll be just like me!" Norman just looks at him for a moment, before calmly stating, "I can live with that" and dropping him. Aversion from the typical in that Norman never evinces a single bit of guilt over doing so, but then, he was never exactly the touchy-feely hero type in the first place.
  • In an episode of The Venture Brothers, the Mighty Monarch deliberately invokes this trope, convincing the extremely naive Dean Venture that, if he reports the Monarch's actions, telling will make Dean JUST LIKE HIM!
    • Subverted in an episode of season 2 when Phantom Limb attempts a Not So Different speech on Brock Samson, only to have him interrupt it.

Phantom Limb: We're not so different, you and I-
Brock Samson: Yeah, I don't need another "We're not so different" speech, I get those a lot.

    • Dr. Girlfriend mentions this trope once, remarking that the Monarch and Dr. Venture have a lot in common. She does want this whole rivalry thing to stop; at least once, The Monarch (having been too obsessed with Venture to get a proper anniversary present) tries to pass off his normal bring-Venture-to-his-knees thing as the anniversary present (Dr. Girlfriend was appropriately incredulous at the notion that The Monarch accomplishing goals that were utterly meaningless to her made a good anniversary present).
  • In The Fairly OddParents with Remy and Crocker. Timmy did Crocker's fairy spaz when he went back in time.

Timmy: Fairy Godparents!!!
Cosmo and Wanda: (smack and hit him)
Timmy: Thanks for not using the oar.

    • When Timmy met Remy, Remy asked for him to wish his fairies away. Timmy said "You know what stinks about you, Remy? You're rich, you got godparents and you're still miserable. I know, at least, that I'm happier than you, Remy." Later, he says:

Wanda: What's wrong, Timmy?
Timmy: (as a dragon) I felt sorry for Remy. I wish I could help him.
Wanda: We can do that.
Timmy: (as a dragon) I wish Remy could spend more time with his parents.

    • Also, Norm the Genie did it really subtly in 'Genie Meanie Menie Moe':

Norm: I hate being out-jerked.

    • The Not So Different is in the choice of words. He chose to say 'out-jerked' instead of outwitted or something like that, which meant he acknowledged both he and Timmy were jerkasses.
    • Or perhaps he was talking about the Lawyer Timmy wished for.
  • The Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy tries this against Dave the Barbarian. It ends up as a spoof of this trope.

Chuckles: We aren't so different, you and I. We are but twin sides of the same coin.
Dave: Uh, no we aren't.
Chuckles: ... You're right! What was I thinking?

The Shredder: Two turtle teams from two turtle worlds, different in so many ways...but deep down, there are similarities.

  • However, the same applies to the different Shredders, because in the end, the Turtles are able to lure him out of the Technodrome and into a trap by giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, knowing that...

2003 Leonardo: If there's one constant in the multiverse, it's the Shredder's big, fat, ego!

Doof-2: So you and I are exactly alike?
Doof-1: ... I suppose so...

  • In Transformers Animated Prowl often dislikes Bumblebee's childish and reckless antics. Yet Prowl was just like Bumblebee before becoming a cyber-ninja.
  • Elise in Dan Vs. is Dan's biggest critic but is also the one character who is just as ruthless when it comes to pursuing revenge. In the first episode, she shares Dan's grudge against New Mexico. In the childhood flashback explaining why she hates the state, she even let out a Skyward Scream just like Dan does every episode.
  • The resolution to the first Lenny and Sid video, "Love Thy Neighbor". Sid really wants to be Lenny's friend, but Lenny doesn't want it at first — but at the end, Sid stands up for Lenny, which helps him realize that he and Sid can be friends despite their differences.
  • The Daria Musical Episode has a song dedicated to how Helen and her daughter Quinn use their respective obsessions to bolster their self-esteem.
  • In the climax of The Incredibles 2:

Screenslaver: It's a shame, really. If not for your core values, we could have been such good friends.
ElastiGirl: At least I have core values.

  • DC Super Hero Girls has an odd case where the hero is the one to realize this. Bizarro Supergirl is an evil Card-Carrying Villain and Supergirl knows it, but Bizarro Supergirl is jealous of the original Bizarro, feeling overshadowed and insignificant as a result. Kara realizes this is exactly how she feels towards her cousin - and they actually become kindred spirits as a result. Babs even states that this is an Evil Counterpart who is not a "complete opposite" of the original.
  • In an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures, Valmont - who has been possessed by Shendu - manages to stun the demon, and tries asking Jackie's uncle for help. However, his old henchman Tohru is Uncle's disciple now, and he is still very angry at his old boss for the incident that prompted his Heel Face Turn in the first place, where Valmont had told him to fight Shendu, resulting in Tohru being badly injured. Valmont replies by saying, "Oh, and I suppose that's totally different from what Chan has you doing?" Possibly a valid point, but Tohru shoots this argument down quickly by saying that working with the Chans has gotten him far more respect and satisfaction than he ever did working for Valmont.
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