Strong Family Resemblance

No, they're not clones. They're mother and son.

This is an extremely common practice in animation where, to establish a familial relationship, a child looks more or less identical to one of his or her parents. Frequently occurs when a show uses garish or outlandish designs, where subtlety and fine physical detail are already lost, and we need a quick visual aid that other characters may not seem to notice.

This is probably born out of the Economy Cast mindset of a single character for a single role, since we're not given clues to what the other parent might look like and thus shouldn't think about it. Predictably, this trope is less frequent when the child has a non-twin sibling who can't also look identical, although occasionally the difference is to show they're not related by blood.

Often, if a family is the stereotypical four-member "nuclear" one, the son might resemble his mother, or the daughter her father, in an attempt to mix things up. Another common variant is to make the father and the son/the mother and the daughter look nearly identical, but with the other parent's hair or eye color. Also, if there's a Tomboy and Girly Girl (especially if they are sisters), expect that the tomboy will resemble her father more and the girly girl will resemble her mother more.

Some will go as far as to make the parents look similar. It's usually done innocently, often in children's shows where the offspring are seen first, but the possibility of Incest Subtext can be shady to older fans.

Compare Uncanny Family Resemblance, Identical Grandson. Contrast The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter, where you'll find yourself relieved that this trope isn't always the case. Two subtropes would be Hereditary Hairstyle and Family Eye Resemblance.

Examples of Strong Family Resemblance include:

Anime and Manga

• In Hare+ Guu, Hare looks exactly like his mother Weda enough that the school doctor initially confuses him for a girl. In a huge irony, the school doctor turns out to be his father.
• Likewise, Fuyuki's mother Aki in Keroro Gunsou looks mostly like him, and was Lampshaded in a Fountain of Youth episode with predictable results. (The fiery-tempered Natsumi, meanwhile, gets stuck with red hair).
• While not very closely resembling her half-sisters at all, Urd of Ah! My Goddess is a dead-ringer for her own mother, Hild. If it weren't for Hild's slight height advantage, different hairstyle, and slightly larger bust they could pretty easily be mistaken for one another.
• In Sailor Moon, Usagi and Chibi-Usa are very similar (except for the hair colors), and the few glimpses we get of parents have them looking nearly identical to their daughters. Minako and Usagi's entire families are copies of each other, which wouldn't be so jarring if the 'newer' plot didn't force Usagi to resemble her mother in a past life, meaning she doesn't look like her modern family at all.
  • The parody manga Parallel Sailor Moon introduces daughters of the four Guardian Senshi, who look exactly like their mothers and have the same names.
  • According to the manga and Eternal, Ami and Rei VERY strongly resemble their respective mothers, Dr. Saeko Mizuno and Risa Hino.
• Ichigo of Tokyo Mew Mew looks like her mother, Sakura. She's basically just Ichigo's head on a sliiiiiiiiiiightly more mature body.
• In Please Teacher, Mizuho and her mother look very very similar. so much so that Kei confuses the two of them on more than one occasion with embarassing consequences.
• In Lucky Star, Konata Izumi is basically a clone of her dead mother Kanata, with her father Soichirou's skin tone and mole. It's obvious enough that the Hiiragi twins mistakes a picture of her parents together for Konata and her dad, and that leads to some interesting questions (Hilariously, Kanata was the older of the two).
  • The same is true of all the mothers seen in the series. The Hiiragi twins' father Tadao gets more onscreen time than their mother Miki, but since all four offspring in their family are daughters, they all resemble Miki.
• Girl-type Ranma, color of hair and eyes aside, is almost identical to his mother Nodoka. Unfortunately for him, Nabiki decides to point this out at the most inopportune moment, specifically when he's trying to pass himself off as Akane's cousin in order to avoid fulfilling a rather nasty ritual suicide pact.
  • The anime shows that the late Mrs. Tendo looked like an older and more feminine Akane.
• Subaru and Ginga Nakajima of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha look like splitting images of their mother. Subverted when it's later revealed that they were experimental cyborgs that Quint rescued and then adopted partly because they looked like her. Doubly subverted when it's even later revealed that Quint is their genetic mother... in the cloning sense, since the illegal researchers had somehow gotten hold of Quint's DNA and used it to create them.
  • In a more typical case, Nanoha herself ends up looking rather similar to her own mother Momoko when she grows up.
  • Lutecia looks very much like her mother Megane, particularly in her hair color and style.
  • Subaru looks almost exactly like her adopted sister Nove, who was also cloned from Quint, with only her hair color being different, to the point where someone she has only just met immediately guesses that they're related.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Ed and Al (pre-transmutation, anyway) both look a lot like Hohenheim, especially Ed. In the 2003 anime, so does their "half-brother" Envy, but only in his true form.
  • Also Armstrong family guys (and two of the women, Amue and Strongine). All of this comes from the family patriarch, Philip Gargantos Amstrong, who's basically Alexander but older and with a beard.  
  • In the finale family photo, Ed's and Winry's unnamed son looks uncannily like Daddy, down to the shit-eating grin. Baby Daughter looks to take after Winry, as she has Winry's eye and hair colors.
• Akira Maeda from Sakigake Cromartie Koukou is "renowned throughout Japan for his startling resemblance to his mother", as it's put in the manga. His friends keep confusing the two of them. They were also played by the same actor in the live-action adaptation.
• Very common in Dragonball Z. The most obvious example is Goten, who looks(and acts) like Goku when he was a kid; this is Lampshaded in the games where he and a younger version of Goku appear. Goten may have initially been created to fill the 'young Goku role' left as the real Goku was too aged and Gohan was evolving into his own character, but that didn't work out too well. Since not every child in the series has such a strong family resemblance, it's also removes lingering doubts that the often absent Goku isn't his father...
  • Similarly, the few times one sees Vegeta's father, he looks pretty much like Vegeta with a few minor differences: brown hair, a slightly sturdier build, and a goatee. Many years later, Vegeta's long-lost younger brother Tarble shows up and he also strongly resembles Vegeta, in fact he looks a lot like the child one seen in the Bardock movie.
  • Goku's father Bardock is nearly identical to his younger son, except for scars and a slight difference in facial shape.
  • Incidentally, the resemblance is "second son identical to his father": Goku is Bardock's second son while Goten is Goku's second. . . More like "second child identical to one of the parents". Bra looks exactly like Bulma, and is her second child with Vegeta.
    • Interestingly enough, Gohan's hair resembles that of his father's older brother Raditz when it's ankle-length on Namek, though it does manage a Goku-ish shape during the Cell Games.
    • Gohan himself resembles both of his parents, as he looks like a more slender and short-haired Goku with Chichi's hair / eye / skin color scheme.
  • Apparently this all has to do with Saiyan genes. It's a form of identification to tell the weak Sayains from the strong ones easily through facial features and whatnot.
  • Krillin and Android 18's daughter Marron looked like Krillin with pigtails as a toddler. As a young woman, she resembles her mother.
• Variation: In Yes! Pretty Cure 5, Komachi and her older sister Madoka look nearly identical (to the extent that, when several characters meet Madoka for the first time, they mistake her for Komachi). Their mother has never appeared, so whether she looks the same as well is unknown.
• In Mahou Sensei Negima, when Negi magically ages himself up, he's virtually indistinguishable from his father Nagi. When he travels into the magic world, the resemblance is a bit of a plot point. Naturally, the strong resemblance, combined with the fact that Negi's mother has barely even been mentioned, led for a while to a number of Epileptic Trees concerning Negi's possible origin. The identity of his mother was later revealed; personality wise he resembles her quite strongly, although he's much more upbeat.
  • Negi's cousin Nekane is revealed to look like her aunt, Negi's mother Lady Arika.
• Azumanga Daioh, the manga, doesn't show us any of the girls' parents (unless you count Chiyo's dad) but in the show, we get a brief glimpse of Kaorin's mother, who is basically a slightly taller Kaorin in an apron. We're also told that Tomo and her father had the same hairstyle at some point.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has a weird version with Lordgenome and Nia, who look nothing alike as they are in the series, but as this video made after the end of the actual series shows Lordgenome used to be a Cute Shotaro Boy and basically a male version of Nia. Seriously.
  • Rossiu also looks uncannily like the priest of his village at the very end of the series, leading to WMG as to whether or not they're related.
• Naruto, especially after Art Evolution, looks just like his father, Minato Namikaze (the 4th Hokage). Though later, Naruto meets his mother Kushina and at one point she mentions Naruto has her face and Minato's hair.
  • Most of the Konoha Twelve look like younger versions of their parents, especially the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Hinata's mother, who was only shown in a flashback in the anime, strongly resembles her after the timeskip.
  • Mikoto Uchiha is literally Sasuke with long hair. True to form, she's incredibly pretty.
    • The Uchihas, expecially the ones whose first names are known, all look the same, to the point that they can only be distinguished by little details in their faces/had such details added so we can tell them apart. Subtracting the little lines around Madara's eyes, over Izuna's upper lip or on Itachi's cheecks will get Sasuke.
  • Gaara's mother Karura and uncle Yashamaru have essentially the same face and hair, to the point people thought they were Half-Identical Twins.
  • Gaara and Kankuro both look a lot like their father Rasa while appearing somewhat different themselves; same goes for Temari and their mother Karura.
  • At the very end... Naruto and Hinata's eldest son Boruto looks quite a bit like Naruto, while his little sister Himawari resembles Hinata and has Naruto's whiskers. Asuma and Kurenai's daughter, Mirai, resembles her mom a lot but also has touches of her late dad. Shikamaru and Temari's son Shikadai is basically Shikamaru but with Temari's eyes, Ino and Sai's son Inojin resembles Sai but with Ino's hair, and Chouji and Karu's daughter Chocho is a genderflipped Chouji with Karui's dark skin and red hair. Last but not least, Sarada follows the Uchiha tradition to a degree: she looks a bit like a girl!Sasuke, but inherited her mother Sakura's forehead and eyebrows.
  • It's been said that Kakashi looks like a clone of his father Sakumo (to the point that Chiyo, whose son and daughter-in-law died at Sakumo's hand, is NOT happy when she sees Kakashi), but since Sakumo died when Kakashi was a child, one cannot confirm. Sakumo's looks are revealed when Kakashi pretty much dies in the Invasion of Konoha and meets his dad's soul, but one doesn't see Kakashi's face... until an artbook sketch and the anime reveal it, and the similarity is confirmed: Kakashi is, basically, a younger Sakumo plus the Sharingan, the scar over said Sharingan eye, and a Beauty Mark.
• In Detective Conan, Yuusaku Kudo and his son Shinichi look almost exactly the same (Yuusaku has glasses and a funky mustache, Shinichi has a cowlick and a pointy rat-tail). Especially in the flashbacks to Yukiko and Yusaku's youth.
  • Actually, a huge plot point in a case of the fifth season. The detective Yusuke Sakata, whose father died in strange circumstances 20 years ago, confronts a Serial Killer. Much to his shock, the Serial Killer starts referring to him as "Instructor Inaba" and babbling in horror about how "the prank went too far". Said prank, obviously, refers to the death of Sakata's dad Inaba, which he and other five people caused. Yusuke, who had become a policeman to investigate what went on with his father, became a Serial Killer himself, catching and murdering the other culprits while keeping the other murderer alive and hidden while planning to kill him last and frame him for all the deaths. All to punish those who robbed him of his dad when he was a little boy. And on the other hand, this was also Yusuke's perdition: at some point Heiji and Conan saw a picture that included all of the victims plus other two persons whom Yusuke had still not killed... as well as Inaba. This lets them notice how physically alike Yusuke and Inaba were, identifying Yusuke as the killer.
    • Also a plot point in a Filler case: when a woman named Chihiro finds her Rich Bitch mother Hiromi dead and fears that she'll be blamed for it, she uses their physical resemblance to create an alibi via putting on Hiromi's bed clothes and a facial mask to impersonate her briefly. It backfires since people suspect her ''even more'', but Conan through Kogoro reveals the true culprit.
  • Conan's friend Mitsuhiko looks a lot like his older sister Asami, while Genta looks like his mother.
  • When Ai/Shiho and Akemi's parents are finally fully shown in the manga, it turns out both girls resemble their mother Elena in one or another way. Akemi has the hair color and the eyes of their father Atsushi, however.
  • Quite later, it's seen that Masumi Sera resembles both her brother, Shuichi Akai, and her mother Mary Sera. Mary herself resembles Elena Miyano, and the author implies that Mary and Elena are VERY closely related (either sisters or cousins)
  • A policeman from outside Tokyo (Takaaki Morofushi) is revealed to have a younger brother (the late Hiromitsu "Scotch" Morofushi). True to form, the brothers look alike a lot, with the main differences being their eyes and skin tones (Hiromitsu had Purple Eyes and was more tanned than the blue-eyed Takaaki), plus Takaaki's Badass Moustache compared to Hiromitsu's Perma Stubble
  • Aaaand Movie 27 may or may not have confirmed something that the fandom had betted on ever since the beginning. That Shinichi himself and Kaito Kuroba from Magic Kaito are cousins, too.
• In Pokémon, the Nurse Jennys are revealed to be identical even when young — identical to the adult specimens, that is.
• Brilliantly carried off in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Initially one can't see any resemblance between Shinji Ikari and his father Gendo Ikari... but in episode 5 Shinji briefly puts on a pair of Gendo's old glasses, and the flashback in episode 21 show a Gendo in his 20/30's. The resemblance is disturbingly striking, without the two of them looking like lazily designed age-clones.
  • Ironically, according to episode 21 as well, Shinji also resembles his late mother Yui quite a bit.
  • Ritsuko Akagi, as it turns out, shares quite a resemblance to her mother Naoko, as seen in episode 21 where one learns that she wasn't a natural blonde - save for her characteristic mole on her cheek, Ritsuko would look a lot like her mother when she's older if one were to superimpose her original hair colour over her current one. Much like the Shinji-Gendo similarity above, this is intended to be a display of Not So Different, and rather disturbingly so - even her hair and clothing styles become more like Naoko's as she gets older, not to mention her sleeping with Gendo just as her mother had done.
  • And of course, in the most disturbing example and the most loose definition of family resemblance, Rei Ayanami shares a striking resemblance to the woman from whom she was at least partially cloned - Yui Ikari, Shinji's mother. Which makes her Shinji's half-sister... sorta.
• The way the nations in Axis Powers Hetalia are related can be a little confusing, but England and Sealand are most certainly related since Sealand looks like a younger, more hyper England. Other former members of the British Empire kinda resemble England too, especially thanks to their eyebrows.
  • If Germany were to grow his hair long, he'd be identical to his ancestor, Germania. His older brother, Prussia, also shares a certain resemblance with them, though his eye and hair color sets him apart. A sketch of a Prussia with slicked-up hair confirms their close resemblance.
    • Depending on whether or not you believe that Germany is related to the Holy Roman Empire, or is the Holy Roman Empire, you can't deny that HRE looks like a younger Germany, and that Germany bears a resemblance to the sketches of teenage HRE when his hair isn't slicked back. Meanwhile, in North America, Canada and the U.S. look identical to the point that poor Canada is often mistaken for his more noticeable brother. Fanon has it that they're twins. South Italy looks to be a darker, meaner, and slightly taller version of North Italy, and is otherwise completely the same. Several of England's relatives apparently share his eyebrows.
    • Both Italies strongly resemble their grandfather Ancient Rome. Italy looks a bit more like him generally speaking, while Romano has his eyes and skin tone.
  • In the Slavic side, Russia and his older sister Ukraine look pretty similar: they're both tall, light-haired, a little pudgy and with similar features except for Russia's Gag Nose. Via adding their genderflipped versions, the similarity is even stronger: male!Ukraine is basically a more insecure Russia with blonder hair and a smaller nose, while female!Russia is a long-haired and more smily Ukraine.
  • Subverted with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. They're not exactly siblings (more like adoptive sibs, though it's easy to infer they're at least distantly related due to being Germanic), but they look almost exactly alike. And even more when Liech cuts off her braids.
  • Also subverted with Cyprus and Greece. He does look like a younger and slimmer Greece... but lacks his trademark Idiot Hair.
  • Romania and his baby brother Moldova also look a lot alike, despite the huge age gap.
• This is the case for the Laforets in Baccano!, where you can probably pick out one of them from a sea of Loads and Loads of Characters on the basis that they're all nearly identical to their father, Huey. The only Huey-descendants who don't resemble him being his great-great-granddaughter, Claudia, who looks like a female version of her great-grandfather Claire, and his son by Monica, Luchino, who looks exactly like his mother.
• One Piece: Robin and her mother Olivia; Robin ends up being identical to her as an adult, with the exception of different hair colours.
  • Also, Vivi and her mother Titi. It's so striking that during Vivi's coming of age ceremony, her father Cobra almost mistook her for a spitting image of Titi. Here's what Titi looked like when she was young.
  • Similarly, in the Dressrossa arc Rebecca looks near exactly like her Missing Mom Scarlett.
  • Monkey D. Garp, Luffy's grandfather, looked almost exactly like Luffy did when he was a kid. Even now one can sees the resemblance, as Garp looks like a much older and brawnier Luffy. Averted with Dragon, Luffy's dad, who doesn't really look much like either of them.
  • It later turns out that Portgas D. Ace looked like a male version of his late mother Portgas D. Rouge, down even to the Youthful Freckles - but with his father Gol D. Roger's black hair.
  • Usopp looks like a blend of his parents, inheriting Yasopp's general looks and Bachina's Gag Nose and eye/hair color combo.
  • When Vinsmoke Sanji's family finally appears, it's seen that he looks a lot like his siblings and particularly like his older sister Vinsmoke Reiju. And both he and said sister resemble their late mother, Lady Vinsmoke Sora
  • Trafalgar Law looks like his father, though with his mom's eyes.
• In Angel Densetsu, Kitano looks a lot like his father. Which is very sad for him.
• Ciel from Black Butler already looks almost exactly like his late father, Earl Vincent Phantomhive, and will definitely be a carbon copy of him once he's older. He was shown as an adult in the 'Ciel in Wonderland 2' OVA and the resemblance was striking... And considering Sebastian has taken the appearance of Earl Phantomhive, except for the eyes, this could raise some interesting questions when he's older.
• In Full Metal Panic, interestingly enough, Sousuke Sagara is shown to look almost exactly like his beautiful Missing Mom in his backstory. No wonder Even the Guys Want Him.
• Clannad has Nagisa and her mother Sanae. Later on, there's Nagisa and her daughter with Tomoya, Ushio.
• Prince of Tennis: Kaoru Kaidou looks almost identical to both his younger brother Hazue and his father Shibuki, with the two of them essentially being older and younger versions of him. The notes to Shin Tenipuri make the resemblance between Kaoru and Hazue even stronger since Hazue plays tennis too and will apply to Seigaku once he's old enough, meaning that he actively aims to be more like his older brother.
  • Kunimitsu Tezuka looks a lot like both his father Kuniharu and his grandfather Kunikazu in the manga. Much more the latter than the first, though, as Kuniharu is a Nice Guy but both Grandpa and grandson are The Stoic.
  • Though more subtle, Ryoma definitely shares his father's eyes and intensity.
• It's revealed about 4/5ths of the way through Macross Frontier that Alto Saotome is pretty much a clone of his Missing Mom Miyo, Hime Cut and all, in boy-drag. That explains a LOT.
• Mizuho from Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru looks exactly like his mother. IT ALSO EXPLAINS A LOT.
• Pretty much the same case with Joey Jones from Heroman, except unlike with Mizuho's case, Joey's looks aren't Lampshaded at all.
• In Fruits Basket, Akito and Ren look almost exactly the same — except for Ren's long hair, and um... assets. Also, Ayame and Yuki have been mistaken for each other [by a minor character], when we get a short glimpse of Shigure's parents he looks exactly like his mother, and Kagura is basically a younger clone of her own mom.
  • A picture of Ayame when he was in high school seems to just be a palette-swaped Yuki with longer hair.
  • In the sequel Fruits Basket Another, several of the Sohma's children look like their parents. i.e, Shiki Sohma resembles his mother Akito, Mutsuki Sohma is a more cheerful version of his father Yuki, Hajime Sohma looks like his father Kyou (though trading the Hot-Blooded side with aloofness), etc. There are also some non-Sohma examples: Ruriko Kageyama is a younger and black-haired version of her mother Motoko Minagawa, while Michi Manabe is a genderflipped Kakeru but with her mom Komaki's eyes.
• In Game X Rush, Memori is an almost exact younger male clone of his mother, to the point where Ken mistakes the latter for the former.
• Souma Saiki of Sakura Gari looks like his dead beautiful mother, Abigail, to the point where all he has to do is grow out his hair and wear her shawl to look exactly like her.
• The Babies Ever After scene at the end of Digimon Adventure 02 played this unsettlingly and hilariously straight, right down to the last child. Between that and the conspicuous absence from the reunion of any spouses who aren't former Chosen Children, it's a popular snark among whinier fans to suggest that they all just cloned themselves.
• Miharu and his mother, Asahi, as seen in the picture above.
• In Bakuman｡, when Akito Takagi and Moritaka Mashiro look through a yearbook that Moritaka's uncle Nobuhiro "Taro Kawaguchi" Mashiro had, they realize that Miho Azuki's mother, Miyuki Haruno, looks quite a bit like Miho did when she was in high school.
  • Moritaka also looks very similar to a younger version of his uncle.
• Mirielle Bouquet of Noir looks almost exactly like her deceased mother, Odette, and this winds up being a plot point later: Odette was killed by Kirika, and their resemblance later clues her in....
• In Stitch!'s reunion episode with Lilo, it's revealed that the series was a Time Skip all along and Lilo had an identical looking daughter in the time that's passed since they went their separate ways.
• In Soul Eater, even at thirteen Black Star resembles his father rather strongly, although this flashback was based on Sid recalling what White Star was like because his son's behaviour had become so similar.
• Victorique of Gosick is so identical to her mother Cordelia Gallo (save for the hair color and make-up) that just wearing a different hat is enough to throw people off.
• The women of the Misaka family of To Aru Majutsu no Index all look very similar. Well, saying that is unfair considering most of them are clones of Mikoto, who already looks like her mother Misuzu.
• Bleach:
  • Rukia Kuchiki has an uncanny resemblance to her late older sister Hisana. For that matter, she and Byakuya also look alike despite not being blood-relatives. It's eventually lampshaded: Rukia tells Byakuya that she believed for years that she had been adopted into the Kuchiki clan solely because she looked like a younger Hisana, and in one novel she even wonders if Byakuya wants to marry her later (he doesn't), but he explains that Hisana's Last Request was for her to be located and adopted.
    • Byakuya himself resembles his late father Soujun, save for the hair and for Soujun being less stoic.
  • Ichigo Kurosaki, from his own part, looks like a younger, red-haired and more frowny version of his father Isshin. A Whole-Episode Flashback features a younger Isshin (in the days when he met his wife Masaki and he still was a Shinigami captain) and makes the physical similarities even stronger
    • The often-noted resemblance between Ichigo Kurosaki and Kaien Shiba is finally explained as this: they're paternal cousins, what with Isshin being Kaien and his siblings' uncle. And sharp-eyed readers will notice that Ichigo, his little sister Karin, Kaien himself and Kaien's siblings Ganju and Kuukaku have similar eyes.
  • Uryuu Ishida already resembled his father Ryuuken, but much later it's seen that he inherited his hair/eye colors and some mannerisms from his late mother, Kanae Katagiri.
  • Yoruichi Shihoin has a little brother named Yuushirou, and when he appears he's basically a younger, genderflipped and more cheerful version of her.
  • In the last chapter, two young children join the cast and they fit in the trope to a T. On one hand Kazui Kurosaki has his father Ichigo's hair and his features are a mix of his dad's and those of his mother, Orihime, especially her eyes and her smile. On the other hand, Ichika Abarai has her mother Rukia's face and eyes, plus her father Renji's hair.
    • The second-to-last chapter has Nemuri Hachigou aka the eight "Nemu" from the Nemuri Project; she looks a LOT like her late "older sister" and predecessor, Nemu Kurotsuchi, though much younger and with shoulder-length loose hair.
    • The Animated Adaptation has a flashback to Jushiro Ukitake's past right before his Heroic Sacrifice, and one gets to see that he looks exactly like his Hot Dad save for the hair color. Out of his younger siblings, two of the boys (a teenager and a toddler) resemble him the most whereas his two little sisters (a young teen and a little girl) and his remaining pre-teen brother look like their mother.
• Shuichi from Wandering Son looks a lot like her older sister, Maho. When she grew her hair out into a bob they looked near identical.
  • Makoto "Mako" Ariga also looks a lot like her mother... to the point that when she once complained about her looks, Mrs. Ariga felt insulted.
• Yukari Wakanae from Family Compo resembles her dead sister quite a lot. When she asks her nephew to move in with her family he's captivated by their resemblance.
• Kei in Houou Gakuen Misoragumi looks almost like a younger version of her father.
• Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, compared to her mother Karin during her younger days... (That's from the Karin Side Stories.)
• In Fairy Tail Hoteye, the man with the polygonal face, mentions he had a missing younger brother, who is later revealed to be the even more polygonal Wally from a previous arc.
  • Lucy is basically a younger version of her late mom Layla.
  • It's eventually revealed that Erza looks a LOT like her mother Irene.
• Not only does Shobu of Duel Masters look almost exactly the same as his Disappeared Dad (Animation Anatomy Aging the only real difference), but the two even dress the same.
• Captain Tsubasa has a case of Only Six Faces, but it still qualifies in this trope:
  • Tsubasa Ohzora resembles both of his parents, inheriting Natsuko's features and Koudai's hair/eye colors. As he grows up, though, he looks somewhat more like his dad - especially in the flashbacks that show how the Ozora parents met, which have Koudai as a shorter-haired and more muscled Tsubasa. In World Youth Cup Tsubasa's 14-years younger brother Daichi shows up, and he's basically a bitty Tsubasa with a more Hot-Blooded disposition.
  • Tsubasa's Love Interest Sanae is revealed in the manga to look like both her mother and grandmother.
  • Genzo Wakabayashi AND his older brothers, Shuichi and Eiji, resemble their father Shuuzo to different degrees.
  • Jun Misugi and Taro Misaki resemble their respective mothers. In the second case, Taro's half-sister Yoshiko also resembles their mom — and him.
  • Regarding the Schneider family, Karl-Heinz looks like a younger version of their father Rudi (save for the hairstyle) whereas Marie looks like their mother.
  • Averted with the Konsawatto brothers, who look nothing alike. Though two of the brothers resemble their father in one or another way.
  • In Golden-23, the brothers Hayato and Gakuto Igawa look a lot like one another. Gakuto's daughter, Lisa, resembles her late mother Katerina instead.
  • When one meets Carlos Santana's mother and clearly sees her face, it's extremely easy to note that they're mother and son.
• GoLion and its Americanized version, Voltron (Lion series) have some cases of this:
  • Princess Fala/Allura and her distant cousin Princess Amue/Romelle look more like twin sisters, which is eagerly lampshaded when both girls meet. Unfortunately, Allura's Stalker with a Crush Prince Sincline/Lotor enslaved Romelle (and is widely believed to have raped her in the JPN version) because of that.
  • In Golion itself, the surviving Alteans don't doubt Fala's identity as their Princess for one single second because she looks near exactly like a younger version of her Missing Mom, the murdered Queen of the planet. This is taken out of Voltron to downplay the massacre of the Royal Family.
  • The Shirogane brothers, Takashi and Ryou, look pretty much identical; the only actual differences were that Ryou's hair reached his shoulders, his features were finer than his older brother's, and his voice had a higher pitch. Voltron used this to its advantage to Bowdlerize Takashi's death via "merging" him and Ryou into a single character named Sven, who was severely wounded in an attack at the beginning and then returned to both help the team and have his revenge for his almost death and the time he spent enslaved afterwards.
• Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics:
  • Snow White and Rose Red has the eldest sister Snow White, who looks like a younger version of her and Rose Red's mother. Rose Red has features similar to them, but her red hair and Genki Girl attitude change things a bit.
  • The titular Rapunzel looks like her birth mother, only younger and with her trademark blonde Rapunzel Hair (both of her parents are brunettes, and her mom has long hair but nowhere AS long). The son of Rapunzel and the Prince has his father's features and his mother's eye and hair colors.
  • In The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes, the three Princesses (Genevieve, Louise and Julia) look quite similar. Their clothes and hairstyles / colors are the biggest differences: Genevieve is a blonde, Louise is a brunette, and Julia is a redhead.
• Fushigi Yuugi Byakko Senki: Suzuno Oosugi looks a lot both of her parents: she has her father Takao's hair/color scheme and her mother Tamayo's features.
  • One of the reasons why the audience did not know which of the Raotsue brothers was the true Tatara from 2017 to 2024 is this: Kasaru and Karumu look terrifyingly alike, down to pretty much every single physical trait (including the same Mismatched Eyes), save for Kasaru being a young adult and Karumu being a pre-teen. The deal was resolved -- but in one HELL of a Wham! Episode.
• In The Story of Perrine, Perrine Paindavoine inherited her mother Marie's looks and her father Edmond's hair/eye colors. It's a bit of a plot point later: after Perrine arrives to her father's birth-place under a Secret Identity, Edmond's once-caretaker Francoise (the grandmother of Perrine's best friend Rosalie) sees her and starts suspecting that she is Edmond's child. . .
• In Hajime no Ippo, Ippo is basically a dead-ringer for his Disappeared Dad Masao.
• Gundam metaseries:
  • In the original, Amuro Ray looks like his estranged mother Kamaria while his prospect girlfriend Sayla is a girl version of her older brother Casval aka Char Aznable.
  • In Zeta Gundam, Hathaway Noah looks like his father Bright while his little sister Cheimin is a younger version of their mother Mirai. The resemblance is even stronger in Char's Counterattack, where the pre-teen Cheimin is basically a pre-teen Mirai with Bright's hair color; from Hathaway's part, he looks even more like a young Bright (but with Mirai's hair and eye color) not only in CCA, but in the Hathaway's Flash movie.
  • In Gundam SEED, Kira and Cagalli are Half-Identical Twins and both resemble their late mother Via Hibiki, and to a smaller degree their maternal aunt/Kira's adoptive mother Caridad Yamato.. Also, Yzak Joule looks like a younger, male version of his mother Ezaria.
  • In Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Akatsuki Augus looks like a mini version of his late father Mikazuki, but with his biological mother Atra's hair and eyes.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury, Suletta Mercury looks near exactly like her older sister Ericht aka Eri (Before Eri had to go through an Emergency Transformation and be turned into the AI of her Gundam Aerial, that is.) It's later explained that Suletta is a clone of Eri, bringing in Clones Are People, Too deals into this.
• In Touch, Tatsuya and Kazuya Uesugi resemble their mother Haruko rather than their father Shingo.
• In Dororo, the titular character looks quite a lot like his late mother Ojiya. The very last part of the 2019 anime reinforces it - she looks a lot like her mom.
  • Hyakkimaru looks like his mother Nui-no-Kata, whereas his younger brother Tahomaru resembles their father Kagemitsu Daigo.
• Kyojin no Hoshi: Hyuuma Hoshi resembles his father Ittetsu. His older sister Akiko looks similar to their Missing Mom Harue, but with lighter hair.
  • Out of Housaku Samon's siblings, the two girls (Chiyo and Michi) look very similar. Two of the boys (Seiichi and Jiro) also have Housaku's eyes and Youthful Freckles, while the other (Masahiro) looks like his sisters.
• In Karin the Chibi Vampire, Karin Maaka is a bustier version of her paternal grandmother Elda Marker. Her siblings Ren and Anju resemble their paternal grandfather James and their other grandmother Cecilia Armash, respectively.
• In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Tanjiro Kamado looks like a younger version of his and Nezuko's late father Tanjuro, while pre-demonization!Nezuko looks like their also late mother Kie. Thir late little siblings (Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru and Rokuta) also resemble their parents and all have the same pale skin/reddish eyes combo. And Tanjuro (and the siblings, to a degree) also resemble the family ancestor, Sumiyoshi, while somehow also resembling Sumiyoshi's friend the legendary Yoriichi Tsugikuni. (As a plus, Nezuko looks like Sumiyoshi's wife Suyako and their daughter Sumire.)
  • Inosuke Hashibira's Dude Looks Like a Lady actual looks are explained by his extreme resemblance to his Missing Mom, Kotoha. It eventually becomes a plot point, when he runs into Doma aka the demon who killed her...
  • The Flame Hashira, Kyoujurou Rengoku, looks like a younger version of his Alcoholic Parent Shinjurou and also heavily resembles his younger brother Senjurou.
  • Subverted by the Demon Spider Family: several of them do look alike (save for the Father and the Older Brother, and especially the Mother and Daughter), but they're not blood-related at all. The physical resemblance comes from their leader (Rui, aka the Younger Son) making a sort-of blood oath with them that altered their looks accordingly. But later it's revealed that Rui, when he was an Ill Boy human, looked exactly like his human father, down to the hairstyle.
  • Downplayed, then deliberately invoked in the case of the sisters Kanae and Shinobu Kocho. They did resemble each other but not a huge lot at first... but when Kanae was killed in action, Shinobu took up lots of her Yamato Nadeshiko-like mannerisms (in a way). When Shinobu dies in battle and her soul is reunited with Kanae's and her parents' own, one can see that both girls resemble their Missing Mom.
  • The Epilogue also uses this, to quite the degree: Out of Tanjiro and Kanao's descendants, Sumihiko Kamado resembles Tanjiro while his older brother Kanata is pretty much a male Kanao. Zenitsu and Nezuko's descendants include Kanata's girlfriend and second cousin Touko Agatsuma aka a tomboyish Nezuko, and her brother Yoshiteru who heavily resembles the Zenitsu from before lighting "painted" his hair blond. Also: Sumihiko's best friend Toujurou Rengoku is a very obvious descendant of Kyoujuro's surviving brother Senjurou, the gymnast and School Idol Tenma Uzui looks like his ancestor Tengen, the schoolboy Giichi Tomioka looks like a smiley version of his own ancestor Giyu, and the shy scientist Aoba Hashibira looks a LOT like his ancestor Inosuke but with a hair/eye color scheme similar to that of his eventual lady Aoi Kanzaki.
• In My Hero Academia Izuku Midoriya, Ochako Uraraka, Kyouka Jiro, Yuga Aoyama, Katsuki Bakugou, Eri and Tenko Shimura aka Tomura Shiragaki look VERY similar to their respective mothers. In the Bakugou family's case it's used for great effect when All Might visits their home and sees that Katsuki got his looks AND temper from his mother Mitsuki.
  • Despite the 15 years age gap, the Iida brothers Tensei and Tenya look near identical.
  • Shouto Todoroki looks a bit like a mix of his parents Enji and Rei, though resembling Rei more closely. His big brother Natsuo is basically a white-haired and younger Enji, while his big sister Fuyumi looks like a younger Rei with a rounder face and a larger chest. And their eldest brother Toya aka Dabi may be horribly burned and scarred all over, but those who look closer will notice that he takes a lot after Rei while having Enji's eyes and hairstyle.
• In Psycho Pass, Akane Tsunemori looks near exactly like her grandmother Aoi. A manga panel shows that she also resembles her unnamed mother.
  • Sakuya Togane from Season 2 heavily resembles his Missing Mom, Misako.

Comic Books

• Sarah Stacy, the identical daughter of Spider-Man's Gwen Stacy. It led to intense squick.
  • It's worth noting that in most Elsewords where he's a father, Peter's children end up looking a lot like either MJ or Gwen. The exception being Spider-Girl, where May looks like both of her parents (and has her Aunt May's eye color!). The trope's played straight with Ben Reilly's son, instead... although somehow only MJ has noticed the resemblance.
• Regardless of continuity, Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver looks like an aged-down clone of his father Magnus aka Magneto. Pietro's twin, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, looks very much like the twins' mother Magda, ranging from 'Really A Lot Alike' to 'Her Younger Clone' in resemblance.
  • This continues to the Scarlet Witch's 'children', Billy "Wiccan" Kaplan and Tommy "Speed" Shepard, who are (male) Expies of Wanda and Pietro respectively, down to powers and costumes.
• The artists for Archie Comics apparently strongly support this. For example, whenever Betty fantasizes about her and Archie being married with children, their kids look like miniature clones of them. They don't even bother giving the son(s) their mother's hair color.
  • Even the company's Sonic the Hedgehog title bows to this. Sonya and Manik, Sonic and Sally's future children who appear in flashforward stories/scenes, look exactly like their mom and dad, even though their parents, being of different species, would be more likely to have "mutant hedge-squirrel babies".
• The Dalton brothers are identical except in height, and their resemblance to Ma Dalton is so strong that the shorter brothers can pass as her just by shaving and putting on a dress.
• In the Disney Ducks Comic Universe, most adult members of the Duck and McDuck families are basically Donald with accessories (beards, hairdos, bows ect.). The same can be observed when you compare Huey, Dewey and Louie with all other Duck and McDuck kids.
• Sharon Carter, erstwhile girlfriend to Captain America, strongly resembles her aunt (World War II resistance fighter and Cap's wartime girlfriend) Peggy, though the two were originally written as sisters before being retconned into being niece/aunt.
• In most Superman media, the Big Blue Boyscout is said to be damn near-identical to his father Jor-El.

Films — Animated

• In the Disney film Meet the Robinsons, Wilbur is virtually a male clone of his mother, Frannie.
  • On that note, almost every (biological) member of the family sports the "family cowlick"...on both sides of the family. That's convenient.
• In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora looks remarkably like her mother Queen Leah.
• Marie from The Aristocats basically looks like a younger version of her mother, Duchess.
• According to Pixar, the redneck boy that attacks Randall Boggs in the trailer home at the end of Monsters, Inc. actually has the same model as the animatronic boy in the training room at the very beginning of the film. Also, said boy's mother is essentially another model of the boy, but with a bun placed on his/her head.
• Played straight in Ariel's Beginnings. Queen Athena looks exactly like Ariel with Green Eyes.
  • In the sequel, Melody looks like an ideal blend of her parents: she looks like Ariel, but has Eric's eyes and hair.
• The Queen (Rapunzel's mother) from Tangled looks a lot like Rapunzel, especially due to both having Green Eyes. She's a brunette, however. And so's Rapunzel herself, since she's a "blonde" due to her Magic Hair. When it's cut and becomes brown, the resemblance is even stronger.
• Subverted in The Lion King II where despite having a black mane and Green Eyes like you-know-who, Kovu is not the son of Scar.
• In Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Lilli looks so much like her late mother Lilliana as to be a symbol for her continued lingering presence in Frederich's heart.

Films—Live Action

• Star Wars: The Skywalker twins inherited the looks of the parents whose sex they shared, Luke looking like a blond Anakin and Leia looking like a slightly more baby-faced Padmé.
  • As revealed in The Rise of Skywalker, Rey looks eerily like her mother, even sharing the same hairstyle.

Live-Action TV

• Dinosaurs did this with the daughter resembling and acting like the father and the son resembling and acting like the mother. The third child didn't act or look like anyone in the family; in one episode, it was revealed that he was Switched At Birth, ending up in a "Family is the people you love" Aesop and a parody of the Reset Button, with the doctor who confirmed the switch jumping out of a cloud and proclaiming "Science was wrong!"
• Occurs on Glee. Thanks to actresses Lea Michele and Idina Menzel looking near-identical, no one bought that Shelby was just the director of Vocal Adrenaline and not Rachel's birth mother. "Dream On" finally confirmed it.
• Everyone in Paul Pfeiffer's family on The Wonder Years has black hair and glasses, kind of like Milhouse's family on The Simpsons. Milhouse is also based on Paul in appearance and as the protagonist's best friend.
• It's possible that THE reason Jonathan Taylor Thomas was hired for Home Improvement is that he looks so similar to Tim Allen.

Literature

• Harry Potter is frequently - make that at least once every book - described as looking like a miniature copy of his dad James, only with his mother Lily's Green Eyes.
  • The Weasley family can be counted on to have bright red hair and freckles, while ladies of Fleur Delacour's family, thanks to a veela grandmother, are all blonde, willowy, and gorgeous (leading to much speculation of what Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's daughter will look like).
  • Also remarkable are the Malfoys, who are all pale and blonde - even Narcissa Malfoy née Black (to be fair, she is actually related to her husband).
  • Throw in Bellatrix and Andromeda, Tom Riddle and his father, Dumbledore and his brother - I'm sensing a pattern here, are you?
  • Though the Epilogue doesn't go into detail, it is implied Harry's middle son Albus Severus and Malfoy's son Scorpius look exactly like their fathers. All we know about Harry's other kids is that they do not have his Green Eyes.
• Meet the Abhorsens of the Old Kingdom! Notice their unnaturally pale skin that tends to burn in the sun and their black hair. And also meet their cousins in the Charter bloodline, the Clayr, who are all Dark Skinned Blondes, and almost exclusively female.
  • In the first book, it is all but stated that the Abhorsen have the colour drained out of them by walking in Death, with the changes noted in Sabriel by the midwife. Of course, that doesn't explain Lirael.
• Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife is noted to look a hell of a lot like his mother. Despite her status as a Hot Mom, this doesn't work as well for him as one might think as it's very difficult living with a father trying desperately to forget his wife's death when you constantly remind him of her.
  • And then there's Alba, who looks exactly like Henry. Which, this being Niffennegger, is history repeating itself; Alba reminds Clare painfully of Henry after his death.
• In Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Gods of Mars, John Carter is haunted by the familar look of a fellow prisoner. Perhaps he should have looked in the mirror more often.

The youth's face had haunted me. Where had I seen him before. There was something strangely familiar in every line of him; in his carriage, his manner of speaking, his gestures. I could have sworn that I knew him, and yet I knew too that I had never seen him before.

• In Kushiel's Legacy books, innumerable instances: the entire House Shahrizai has unusually dominant genetics, coined the "unmistakable stamp", House L'Envers has violet eyes that show up with alarming frequency, and the two princesses look like their parents, but with the eye colors swapped.
• In the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Gemma has enough of a resemblance to her mother to really freak out multiple characters.
• In A Song of Ice and Fire, a member of any given noble family is immediately identifiable by various distinct features. The Targaryens all have violet eyes and silver hair, the Lannisters are all blond(e) with Green Eyes, the Tullys all have auburn hair, the Baratheons all have thick black hair, the Manderlys all resemble walruses, the Mormonts and the Umbers all look like bears, the Florents have huge ears, I could go on. This becomes a massive plot point early on: Whenever a Baratheon has a child with a Lannister, the child always inherits the Baratheon black hair. The Baratheon king's bastards all have his black hair. But the children that the king's Lannister wife has given birth to? All blonde.
  • Plus, Ageon Targaryen VI dyes his hair blue while in hiding. He doesn't need to bother with his eyes, as the hair distracts from them so much.
• Oliver Twist apparently resembles both of his parents (Edwin Leeford and Agnes Fleeming) so strongly that people who knew said parents yet not of his existence can pick him out as their child. Like Mr. Brownlow, the late Edwin's best friend, and who started suspecting the truth when he saw Oliver standing next to a portrait of the also late Agnes...
• In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter trilogy, Theo is in fact taken for his father by his own sister. He had after all stop using magic to keep himself from aging. Caurus realizes he's not Prospero only by his aura — whereupon he deduces that it's a seeming and an imposter, and Mab has to throw himself between them to keep him from attacking.
• The Ashkevron family in the Heralds of Valdemar series. One character even comments, "The Ashkevron family look tends to breed true, and when it doesn't, the poor thing generally runs off to Haven."
• In the Dresden Files, once Thomas reveals to Harry that they're related, Harry frequently compares and contrasts their looks. Nobody else seems to notice, not even Harry before he found out.
  • Harry notes that all of the Raiths are impossibly beautiful, and at least somewhat similar. That subconscious awareness saves Murphy from being Fed on at one point. Recurring examples: contrasting Thomas and the reigning Lord Raith, and comparing the Raith sisters.
  • Maggie Dresden looks a lot like her mom, Susan Rodriguez.
  • Molly Carpenter takes after Charity a lot. In more than just looks.
  • Averted with Lily, despite being the new "Summer Lady". It's because she was the closest Summer vassal when Harry killed Aurora.
  • Murphy's sister looks a lot like her.

Newspaper Comics

• Zippy the Pinhead and his two identical children, Fuelrod and Meltdown.
• In Blondie, Dagwood and his son Alexander look like identical twins. On the other hand, his daughter Cookie looks a lot like her mother Blondie, the only real difference being their hairstyles.
• Arlo from Arlo And Janis and his son look nearly identical.
• Jon Arbuckle from Garfield resembles both of his parents while his brother Doc Boy looks like his father.
• Although the characters in Peanuts have Only Six Faces, only the Van Pelt family (Lucy, Linus and Rerun) have half-circles around their eyes all the time.

Professional Wrestling

• Funny inversion with the Basham Brothers, as they were just two guys who were paired together since they looked alot alike.
• The Dudley Boyz didn't resemble each other aside from body build as they were in fact not related. Similar with the Undertaker and Kane
• Edge and Christian initially were said to be brothers despite not resembling each other, by the 2010's this was retconned to both just being friends.
• An actual related version would be Rey and Dominik Mysterio, where even not counting mask Dominik's build barely resembles his father's and is much taller.
• The Anoa'i family all have visual similarities to each other.
• Kurt and Eric angle looked very similar, this was used in some storylines.

Video Games

• N and Ghetsis in Pokémon Black and White. A sage of Team Plasma suggests that they may not be related.
  • The mother of the player character from the same game practically looks like an adult version of Hilda, the female protagonist.
  • Pokemon in general invokes this with the parents. Ethan and Kris look like their Gen 2 mother, and Lyra looks like the remake redesign of her. Dawn looks like a younger version of her mom with longer hair, and Lucas looks like her but with a darker shade of hair. May looks like the Hoenn mother and Birch, and Brendan possibly looks like Norman.
  • In Pokémon Sun and Moon, the protagonist's friend and companion Lillie looks a lot like both her older brother Gladion (The Rival) and their mother Lusamine (the Big Bad).
• Bowser, the arch Nemesis of Mario from the Super Mario Brothers, has got eight children. 7 don't resemble him that much. But his youngest, Bowser Jr. might as well be a clone of him. He looks absolutely identical to his father's younger self from the Yoshi games , or Mario and Luigi: Partners in time. He's also got the same personality.
  • Rosalina actually resembles her dead mother as revealed in the subplot of Super Mario Galaxy.
• Potentially subverted in Star Ocean Till the End of Time, where Fate and Maria look strikingly alike but the plot only tells us they went under similar 'treatment' as kids. Whether they were siblings seems to be a (deliberately?) hanging detail, although they do have an potential ending together.
• The Ace Attorney series has Kristoph and Klavier Gavin, brothers who are eight years apart but look almost identical.
  • Also done in a much subtler, but very interesting way with the von Karmas and Edgeworth. Franziska and Miles don't resemble Manfred physically (and the 2nd shouldn't, being adopted), but if you look at each of the three character's animations and mannerisms, they are varients of all of Manfred's tics. The more noticable ones are the Finger Wag, the clentching of the sleeve, the fist-pound on the desk, and the bow/curtsy.
• Revolver Ocelot of the Metal Gear Solid series looks more like his mother The Joy/The Boss when he's younger and more like his father The Sorrow when he's older.
• Every Princess Zelda is related to each other and every Princess Zelda looks almost identical to every previous Princess Zelda. (except for her hair being a few shades darker in Twilight Princess) Exspecially jarring in Spirit Tracks, where Princess Zelda might as well be a clone of Tetra (Who was the Princess Zelda of The Wind Waker), who supposedly ruled less than a hundred years prior to her.
• Knights of the Old Republic has Carth Onasi and his son Dustil: it's patently obvious they decided to save themselves some development time, removed the permastubble from Carth's facial texture and called it a day.
• Bubble Bobble, as if it wasn't confusing enough.
• Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade does this for some of the rival kids and your own children. While some of the rival kids (like Heath and Angie) have a plausible combination of their parents' features, others are... less subtle. Vivian especially is more or less her father in miniature, only with longer hair. Your own kids look exactly like you, only (in Animal Parade) with your spouse's hair and eye color.
  • A milder example is in the A Wonderful Life series, where your child always inherits their hair and eye color from whoever you marry. In the girl version, at least, this troper recalls Takakura mentioning that your son is "the spitting image" of your husband.
• This is Isaac, the hero of the first Golden Sun. This is Matthew, his son and the hero of the DS sequel Golden Sun Dark Dawn, which takes place thirty years later. "Spitting image" doesn't begin to cover it. In fact, when various outlets previewed Dark Dawn at E3 2009 (before Matthew's name and familial relations were revealed), several of them mistook his character to be a redesigned Isaac. Bizarrely, Matthew's resemblance to his mother (Jenna) is the one noted in-game, even wise ancient thing that met his father need to be told who he is; in all fairness, the character who comments on Matthew's resemblance to Jenna never canonly met Isaac and wouldn't have had that point of reference.
  • This is also present to a lesser extent with Garet and Tyrell being another father-son pair.
  • Also, Alex and his bastard son Amiti. Noted by NPCs enough times that by the end of the game, the only person who doesn't seem to realize this is Amiti himself... and even he's starting to catch on, if you read his mind right after the final battle.
  • While it's not as extreme as Matthew or even Tyrell, both of Mia's children (Nowell and Rief) bear a strong resemblance to her. This led to some confusion with her son.
  • Not a physical similarity, but Eoleo seems to share his elemental affinity, snarky attitude, strange mental tangents, and tendency to hang out with Kid Heroes with his great-grandma Obaba.
• In Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Alister Azimuth instantly recognizes Ratchet as his late friend's son by the fact that he looks almost like his teenage clone. Afterwards, Azimuth continues to dwell almost obsessively on the similarities, to the point that he occasionally seems to assume they're the same Lombax — or gets irritated by the fact that they're not.

Azimuth: Ask yourself this: how relevant is the past when it can be changed? Your father would have said, "Not very." Ratchet: That's him.

• In Mass Effect 2, Samara and her daughter, Morinth, are completely identical in appearance. This is to Morinth's advantage if you decide to recruit her; she is able to perfectly impersonate her mother, with only Kasumi (and, of course, Shepard) ever finding out the truth.
• Bayonetta is implied to look exactly like her mother, Rosa, down to her outfit of choice. It's a plot point later: Bayo's misplaced child self, the Cheerful Child Cereza, attaches herself to Bayonetta because she believes her to actually be Rosa... and it turns out their experiences together are what inspired Cereza to become Bayonetta, creating an odd Time Loop.
• In Tomb Raider: Legend, we get a look at Lara Croft's mother Lady Amelia Croft, and hot damn now we know where Lara gets her good look from. Amelia is basically a more dignified, less action girl-looking Lara.
• The Devil May Cry series has Sparda, twins Vergil and Dante, and if you tilt your head and squint a little, Nero.
• Tekken frequently uses this trope, the most obvious being how Jin Kazama resembles both his father Kazuya (especially regarding their bodies and, for some time, their fighting styles) and his mother Jun (his finer features and his eyes come from her). Hilariously, in Tekken the Motion Picture Jin was basically a tiny, gentler Kazuya - down to the gigantic brows.
  • Kazuya and Heihachi loathe one another, but they look extremely similar. Same to Heihachi and his own father, Jinpachi. And of course Jin resembles the three to a smaller degree.
  • Forest Law is a younger version of his father, Marshall Law. One guesses that's why, in later games, Marshall has a Badass Moustache.
  • Leo Kliessen looks like a more androgynous version of their Missing Mom, Dr. Emma Kliessen.
  • Downplayed compared to others, but still present regarding Nina Williams and her son Steve Fox (who was conceived in a test tube during Nina's cryosleep).
• Alistair of Dragon Age has a face very similar to that of his half-brother Cailan, as lampshaded by Anora, who is uncomfortable with the idea of marrying Alistair because he looks so much like her dead husband.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Fire Emblem Tellius has this with Ike and Soren, who both resemble their respective mothers (Elena and Lady Almedha) in hair and eye color. Mist resembles both of her parents, via having Elena's looks and Greil's hair/eye color scheme. And later, it turns out that Almedha's brothers, Rajaion and Kurthnaga, also look like their sister and Soren. Plus King Caineghis and his nephew Skrimir are very different attitude wise, but look alike quite a bit.
  • Between the two Fire Emblem Elibe titles, Eliwood and his son Roy in their teenage years (Eliwood at 17, Roy at 15) look disturbingly similar to the point of near-identicality; it doesn't help that they even wear almost the same clothes and it takes looking up their full official artwork to see any significant difference between them. Pretty much the biggest difference is that Eliwood was thinner and wore longer sleeves, neither of which could really be gleaned from ingame appearances. Fire Emblem: Heroes settles the matter via making Roy resemble Blazing Blade!Eliwood a lot, yet also being shorter AND notoriously more baby-faced.
    • On one hand, Eliwood's best friend Hector and his older brother Uther are very different personality-wise... but on the other, looks-wise they are near terrifyingly similar. When an Hector in his 30's appears in the epilogue and in Heroes, the similarity straight-up goes off the ceiling.
  • Fire Emblem Awakening also has this, especially regarding the Second Gens. Out of Chrom's potential children, his "fixed" daughter (Lucina), his potential son with Olivia (Inigo) and his potential daughter with Sully (Kjelle) look quite like him; also, Laurent is basically the male version of his mother, Miriel. Morgan subverts it as he/she ONLY will resemble their fixed parent the Avatar in a very specific circumstance: if the player chooses the second alias the "younger" model for said Avatar, as Morgan's sprites basically re-use their "child-like" one... but coincidentally, a Female Morgan's features kinda resemble those of her potential mother Sumia.
  • Fire Emblem Fates is chock-full of this as well. The Crown Prince of Hoshido, Ryoma, looks near exactly like his late father King Sumeragi, and even more in Fire Emblem: Warriors when he promotes and gains a white and gold armor not unlike his dad's. The Avatar, no matter the gender, has features very similar to those of their mother Mikoto, and even more if s/he has long, straight black hair like her AND is given a Beauty Mark. In Nohr, Crown Prince Xander and his half-brother Prince Leo have somewhat similar features despite otherwise NOT looking alike, and Xander's son Siegbert looks near creepily like a teenage Xander. Plus, FE Cipher has a card that shows a younger and non-evil King Garon - and he looked exactly like a bearded, somewhat older Xander with white hair and darker skin.
  • In Fire Emblem: Heroes, Alfonse looks like his and Sharena's dad King Gustav while Sharena herself is a younger version of her and Alfonse's mother Queen Henriette.
  • Fire Emblem: Warriors has the Half-Identical Twins Rowan and Lianna. Lianna herself looks a LOT like their mother, Queen Yelena.
  • Fire Emblem: Three Houses has Dimitri and Felix looking like younger versions of their fathers, King Lambert and Lord Rodrigue. Caspar and his uncle Randolph subvert it: Randolph's mother married into Caspar's family after having him and his sister Fleche, so Randolph is not blood related to Caspar and both young men's resemblance, which kicks in fully after the Time Skip, is a mere coincidence.
    • It's revealed in a DLC mini-path that Byleth may not look a lot like his/her father Jeralt, but do resemble a younger version of his/her Missing Mom Sitri. Especially the Female Avatar, who's a more boyish and quiet Sitri.
    • The half-siblings Mercedes and Emile/Jeritza also fit in here, especially when he takes off his mask.
  • Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes shows several fathers who had been only mentioned in Three Houses. Some of them fit in here: Linhardt's father Waldemar, Sylvain and Miklan's father Matthias (though Miklan resembles him more) and Lorenz's father Erwin.
    • One also finally sees Dimitri's uncle, Grand Duke Rufus, and he looks a lot like both his younger brother Lambert AND his nephew Dimitri.
    • The Golden Wildfire route features an Almyran warrior, Prince Shahid, and save for his eyes he looks quite a bit like his younger half-brother Prince Khalid... aka Claude von Riegan.
  • Fire Emblem: Engage has Prince Fogado and Princess Timerra of Solm, who look like each other and resemble their mother Queen Seforia. Same to Prince Alfred of Firene, his sister Princess Céline and their mother Queen Éve.
    • Prince Diamant of Brodia is a younger, beard-less version of his father King Morion.
• In what is part this trope and part Uncanny Family Resemblance, in Back to the Future: The Video Game, Marty runs into his grandfather, Artie McFly, who looks and sounds just like George McFly (both being based on Crispin Glover's performance in the film). Artie's father, William, is once again played by Michael J. Fox, who had previously portrayed him in a photo shown in the third film (even though Marty himself is actually voiced by Anthony Junior "AJ" LoCascio). This leads one to believe that if the pattern continues, since Marty's son will end up looking like Michael J. Fox, his grandson and great-grandson will look like Crispin Glover, and so on. Also, Kid Tannen is basically just Biff with a moustache and zoot suit.
• In the first EP of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Genji remarks that Battler looks a lot like Kinzo used to back when he was young. He is not wrong. This is taken further when Battler's hair turns white in Twilight of the Golden Witch and he cuts it short, taking the "damn-near" out of damn-near identical.
  • This is also played for tragedy with Beatrice II, the daughter of Kinzo and Beatrice "Bice" Castiglioni. Bice died in childbirth, causing Kinzo to fall into despair, and as she grew older Beatrice began to look more and more like her to the point that Kinzo believed she was her mother's reincarnation. This eventually led to him forcing himself on his own daughter.
• Shall We Date Ninja Shadow has some cases:
  • A given between Kaname Shishido and his younger twin sister Saori, aka the Player Character. If not for them closely resembling one another, Saori wouldn't have been able to become a Sweet Polly Oliver to take on the dead Kaname's spot and avenge his murder. The only thing she couldn't copy from him was the mole Kaname had on his neck, which saves her life when Sanosuke, a man who believes Kaname betrayed him horribly, attacks her under the belief Saori is him, but sees she doesn't have said mole and stops himself from killing her.
  • The Nakagawa brothers look noticeably alike, especially in regards to their jawlines and their eyes. It's so strong that the eldest brother Toru's sprites include a set where he conceals his identity with his Cool Mask, and when Saori sees the man's bare face for the first time in each route, she tends to soon point out how he and his brother look similar.
  • Yuzuki Hirano's brothers aren't seen on screen, but according to Saori's narration, they closely resemble one another and their father. The fact that Yuzuki is said to NOT physically resemble any of them turns out to be extremely important: he takes after his courtesan mother instead.
  • The Nagasaki Vigilante's leader Makoto Nakagawa is said to resemble his father, Tadateru, though the latter isn't seen onscreen. As said above, Toru resembles Makoto so it's likely that he also looks like their father.
  • The brothers Tou, Sou and Kou subvert this: they have very different clothes and hairstyles, but upon closer inspection one can see that their features are QUITE similar. Only in the case of Kou and Tou - Sou turns out to not be blood related to them, and his actual younger brother is none other than their enemy Kasumi.
• Mortal Kombat X: MANY Arcade Mode pre-fight intros have the fighters comment on how Cassandra "Cassie" Cage looks exactly like her Hot Mom, Sonya Blade, and has the attitude of her Hot Dad Johnny Cage.
  • Kung Jin may be much younger and taller than his uncle (originally, older cousin) Kung Lao, but if one uses Kung Lao's Tournament and MK3 skins/outfits (depicting Lao's younger self), the resemblance between both men becomes far closer.
  • While Jacqui doesn't look that much like her Hunky Hot Dad Jax, the comics state that she looks much more like her Hot Mom Vera.
• In The Arcana: A Mystic Romance, Dr. Julian Devorak and his younger sister Portia look a lot like one another. And they also strongly resemble their aunt Tasya.
  • It's also revealed that Asra is a perfect "mix" of his parents Aisha and Selim whereas Lucio resembles his mother Morga.
• Quite frequent in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
  • The brothers Farkas and Vilkas from the Companions are almost indistinguishable.
  • Serana looks very similar to her mother Valerica aside from hairstyle
  • Eorlund and Vignar look similar aside from Vignar's darker skin, Olfina is pretty much a younger version of her mother Fralia
  • Similarly Ingun Black-Briar is just a younger version of her mother Maven. Though her preferences are nothing like her mothers.
• Played straight and averted in Rumble Roses, Noble Rose and Reiko aside from hairstyle have a resemblance but in story Reiko is said to resemble their mother more than Noble Rose, to the point Anesthesia calls Reiko the mirror image of her mother. This is taken further in the 360 version where Reiko's hairstyle is said to be the exact same as her mother when she is in Superstar mode. For reference aside from in story being the superior wrestler and closer to her mother than Reiko no one comments on Noble Rose's looks in relation to her mother.
• Ninja Gaiden: Momiji resembles her late older sister Kureha aside from hairstyle... the same of which she often gets access to in many of the Dead or Alive or DOAX games replacing her ponytail for Kureha's hairstyle.
• Fiona Belli in Haunting Ground is said to resemble her mother in game, which is proven by supplemental material that shows her mother.

Webcomics

• In Gunnerkrigg Court, Antimony is nearly identical to her mother, Surma; apparently the only traits she inherited from her father are her small nose and straight hair.
  • Kat resembles her parents, especially her mother when her hair gets longer. It's just normally cut too short for the curls to show. And as it turns out, Antimony and her mother are descended from fire spirits, whose very life essence is passed down from one generation to the next.
• In Platinum Grit, siblings Kate and Andre Provocski have faces that are drawn almost identically. Several members of the Mac Connor family share a recognisable "blonde and bland" look. And the lead character Jeremy Mac Connor looks so uncannily like his uncle that it just has to be relevant.
• In Order of the Stick, General Tarquin, the father of the identical twins Nale and Elan, is drawn as looking the same as his sons except with white hair (brown in flashbacks), and other characters note that he looks much like Elan and Nale.
• In General Protection Fault, Nick looks like almost exactly his father, but doesn't have a mustache and his hair is not yet gray.
• Kell and Sheila are cousins, but look enough like each other that they can pass themselves off as each other well enough to fool their own families.
• Homestuck loves playing this with clone and Timey-Wimey Ball shenanigans.
  • After John creates the paradox clone babies of the kids and their "parents", it's pretty easy to see how similar everyone looks, especially between John/Grandpa and Jade/Nanna. Similarly, in the flashbacks to Grandpa and Nanna as thirteen-year-olds in 1923, again they look near-identical to modern-day John and Jade, the only real difference being Nanna's hair compared to Jade's.
  • Becquerel was created partially using Halley's DNA, and so looks almost exactly like Halley except without a visible face.
  • According to Word of God, had all twelve trolls successfully grown to adulthood, they would have looked identical to their Famous Ancestors; conversely, when we see the Handmaid as a six-sweep-old, she is literally identical to her descendant Aradia save for her attire. This was pretty much the entire point: Word of God goes that the ancestors were pretty much a look at what the trolls would be like in most respects had they grown up, though admittedly that's overlooking some glaring differences on their part.
  • The baby guardians in the ectobiology lab already bore a strong resemblance to the four kids, but in Act 6, sprite-mode Jake and Jane bear an exceptionally strong resemblance to John and Jade respectively, with only minor outfit differences distinguishing them, and Lalonde looks just like Rose except for her shirt and her Mom-style hair curl.
• In the Mega Crossover fancomic Roommates Jareth (even more so in his Dark form) and his father. They look alike, dress alike (Painted-On Pants rule), have similar modus operandi and even share a Catch Phrase or two... but for some reason no Hereditary Hairstyle in sight (Jareth has Eighties Hair his dad is a Long-Haired Pretty Boy).

Web Original

• The animated online epic Broken Saints: Take a look at Gabriel Dunn. Now take a look at the young man from the West in Chapter 14 Act 1.
• In the Gaz6231 adaptation of Half Life Full Life Consequences, Henry Freeman has the same model as his father, who turns out to be John Freeman.

Western Animation

• In Dexter's Laboratory, Dexter and Dee Dee are an interesting variant where they each visibly inherited different traits from their parents. Dee Dee has blonde hair like their father while Dexter inherited his mother's red hair and his father's Expressive Nerd Glasses.
  • One scene took things a step further and showed where they each inherited their personalities from. The mother was shown tirelessly whipping up recipes in the kitchen with meticulous scientific precision (just like Dexter) before the father burst into the scene and started wrecking things like an idiot (just like Dee Dee).
  • Dexter's grandfather is another, less frequently seen character, who is nearly identical to Dexter in everyway, except being old and pruning. In fact Dexter's grandfather is exactly the same as old Dexter from previous episodes.
    • "Hi Grandpa!" "I'm not grandpa!"
• Billy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy looks an awful lot like his dad — big nose, beady Black Eyes and all.
• In The Magic School Bus, Arnold's cousin Janet basically looks like a female version of him. She has the same hair style, also wears glasses and sports a feminine version of his regular outfit.
• Obligatory Avatar: The Last Airbender example: Zuko would look EXACTLY like a younger version of his father... if it weren't for his trademark scar given to him by said father. Word of God is that Ozai was pretty much designed to look like an older Zuko, which explains why he's way prettier than a lot of people expected such a despicable Big Bad to look.
  • Also, when Azula is shown not wearing makeup, she bears a pretty strong resemblance to her mother, Princess Ursa.
  • Sokka is basically a younger, more hyper version of his and Katara's father Hakoda. Even more when The Legend of Korra shows an Older and Wiser Sokka.
• The Legend of Korra itself has this as well. Korra looks a LOT like her mother Senna, though with some touches of her father Tonraq.
  • Asami Sato looks a lot like her Missing Mom Yasuko.
  • Toph's daughter Lin resembles Toph's mom, while her other daughter Suyin resembles Toph herself to a smaller degree. Regarding Suyin's own family, her sons (save for Huan) look a lot like their dad Baatar, while Huan himself and his younger sister Opal resemble her.
  • Out of Aang and Katara's children, the one who resembles him the most is his youngest son and fellow Airbender Tenzin, whose daughter Jinora is pretty much a genderflipped Aang. On the other hand, their daughter Kya looks like Katara and is a Waterbender too, and their other son Bumi kinda looks like a rougher Sokka.
  • Zuko's daughter and grandson, the current Fire Lady Izumi and her son General Iroh, look a lot like him. And Izumi also slightly resembles Mai, implying that Mai is her mother after all.
  • The brothers Noatak/Amon and Tarrlok are VERY similar in looks, as seen when Amon is without his mask.
• The Simpsons:
  • Milhouse's parents look very much like him, something Bart pointed out once. While Bart thought them siblings, "Let's Go Fly a Coot" revealed that they were Kissing Cousins. They're from Shelbyville, a city founded on the basis that one could marry their cousins.
  • OTOH, Lisa resembles a younger Marge. Good for her.
  • Homer and his father Abe look very alike. It's been shown that the wrinkles are the only thing preventing them from looking identical. Homer's half-siblings, Herb and Abie, also look very much like the two.
  • Flash forward episodes, such as "Holidays of Future Passed", show that Bart, Lisa and Maggie's children will look near identical to their parents. And Maggie herself will look just like Lisa when she grows older.
• Batman Beyond has two of these: first, Terry's younger brother Matt looks almost identical to him, something the show's creators actually joke about on the DVD commentary (the lack of resemblance to either of their parents is best not delved into here, considering the later explanation is supposedly something of a Sure Why Not Retcon). Second, when Big Bad Derek Powers' son Paxton appears at the end of the first season, the facial resemblance is strong enough it's pretty clear that they're family even before dialogue actually states it.
• In the cartoon Back to the Future one of Doc Brown's kids — specifically, his younger son Verne — was able to pass himself off as Doc Brown's younger self during a trip to the past (his eye color even changes from his usual blue to Doc's brown). Ironically, a different, earlier episode had his older brother Jules claiming Verne had to be adopted because he bore no resemblance to the rest of the family (Jules, it should be noted, resembles his mother Clara).
• Storm Hawks: Aerrow looks exactly like a young Lightning Strike, but with a different hairstyle. That is pretty much the only difference.
  • They also have different eye colors. Aerrow's are green, Lightning Strike's are brown. But yeah, that's pretty much it.
• Averted to an extent on Daria. Quinn and Daria have appearances unique from each other and their parents, though Daria looks uncannily like her maternal aunt Amy.
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is almost parodying this trope.
  • Velma resembles both parents a little.
  • Daphne's parents look like older versions of Daphne and Fred.
  • Shaggy looks like both of his parents, and vice-versa.
  • Fred, on the other hand, looks nothing like his father Mayor Jones. Which is one of the first hints that he isn't his real father. He does look a lot like his biological parents, however.
• In Phineas and Ferb, Stacy's female relatives in Tokyo all look like clones of her. Her little sister, Ginger, also looks almost like her.
  • Additionally, every male on Ferb's side of the family, parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc., all have the same tall, thin face and squarish nose. Ferb and his Grandfather are pretty near Identical.
• In Gargoyles, Angela his a near-dead ringer to her mother Demona and has a spot-on match to her father Goliath's skin and hair color. Elisa notices it immediately.
  • Let's not forget the Maza siblings and Alex, the son of Xanatos and Fox. Elisa resembles her dad Peter, her brother Derek looks like their mother Diane, and their sister Beth resembles both of their parents. Adult Alex looks like David with Fox's bright red hair. (Of course, he was All Just a Dream anyway, so who knows if he will actually look like that?)
• In The New Batman Adventures, Tim Drake looks exactly like the mugshot of his dad Steven "Shifty" Drake.
• In Totally Spies, the girls' mothers looked more and more like them with each appearance.
• In Recess T.J. looks like his mom, Gus resembles a younger less rugged version of his dad and he also has a presumably great grandfather who looked just like him as a kid, Vince looks like his dad, Mikey looks like his mom, and Gretchen resembles both of her parents.
• As revealed in the show Jungle Cubs, Hathi Jr., the baby elephant from Disney's The Jungle Book, actually looks exactly like his mother Winifred when she was still a calf.
  • Colonel Hathi (Hathi Jr.'s father) from the same series for some reason looks exactly like his father-in-law (Winifred's father).
• In "Peter's Two Dads" in Family Guy, after Peter Griffin accidentally kills his (fake) father and discovers that his real father is from Ireland, it's revealed that Peter looks exactly like his real father right down to the fact that they both wear a small pair of glasses that are the same width as their eyes, a white shirt, and green pants, are both fat and are idiots, but Peter lacks his father's beard.
  • Mort, Muriel, and Neil Goldman all resemble one another.
• Chum Chum from Fanboy and Chum Chum has a female cousin Muck Muck, who looks exactly like him, except with pigtails, eyelashes and a different outfit.
• The original My Little Pony "Baby" characters looked exactly like their mothers, except for less markings on their hide.
  • Megan's little sister Molly looked like a younger version of her, save for having Girlish Pigtails in a lighter shade of blond.
  • Twilight in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic resembles her mom, Twilight Velvet, to a T. Fluttershy also resembles her mom, and Sweetie Belle looks a lot like her older sister Rarity.
• Voltron: Legendary Defender:
  • The four members of the Holt Family (Sam, Colleen, Matthew and Katie) look quite alike. It's a plot point, albeit one revealed very early in the story itself: Katie is this continuity's "Pidge Gunderson", and she used her near terrifying physical resemblance to her much adored older brother Matt as the basis for her "Pidge" persona. It's amusingly lampshaded in the pilot when Hunk pulls out a picture of a teen Matt and a pre-teen, pre-SPO Pidge... and actually mistakes Matt for Pidge, even referring to her as "(his) girlfriend".
  • Like in GoLion, Princess Allura looks near exactly like her Missing Mom Queen Melenor, save for the hairstyle. Zarkon's ghost actually mistakes her for her mother, even.
  • Keith resembles both of his parents, but more strongly his Missing Mom Krolia... despite her being Galra.
  • Lance's older sister Veronica is an older, female, glasses-using and somewhat more self-assured Lance. His other sister, Rachel, is basically Lance as a long-haired girl.
• The Nutcracker Prince has Clara Stahlbaum and her older sister Louisa, who resemble each other and their mother Ingrid.
• The Mortal Kombat animated movie MK Legends: Battle of the Realms shows Liu Kang's murdered birth parents, and Liu is basically a long-haired version of his Disappeared Dad with some slight "touches" of his Missing Mom.
• The title character of Steven Universe looks very much like his father Greg, the two sharing the same facial structure, something that's best seen when Steven ages himself in "Too Many Birthdays" and in some flashbacks that show Greg when he was young. It also provides a hint as to the truth about Rose Quartz as Steven inherited the hairstyle she had back when she was Pink Diamond.
• In M.O.D.O.K., the Tarleton kids clearly take after their mother Jodie, Lou looking like a male version of her and Melissa looking like a Cephalothorax version of her mother.

Real Life

• Henry Fonda and daughter Jane.
• English Chess players James M. and Chantelle Foster look very similar to each other and to both parents.
• Mother Kikuko Inoue and daughter Honoka Inoue.
• Father King Charles III of Great Britain and youngest son Prince Harry/the Duke of Sussex. Especially considering the pictures from the very late 70's that have a young Charles with a beard.
  • Additionally, Harry also looks like both his paternal grandfather Prince Phillip/the Duke of Edimbourgh AND his maternal uncle Charles, the Earl of Spencer.
  • Charles' heir and elder son/Harry's older brother, William aka the current Prince of Wales, looks like a male version of his late mother Diana "Lady Di" Spencer instead.