Totally Looks Like / Separated At Birth

About

Totally Looks Like, also known as “separated at birth”, images place two different photos side-by-side to suggest that they share similar physical characteristics. They often feature celebrity look-a-likes (also known as doppelgängers), but can compare a wide variety of things including animals, fictional characters, and inanimate objects.

Origin

“Separated at birth” images existed outside of the Internet, and may have originated from Spy Magazine. From Wikipedia:

The title “Separated at Birth?” was a trademark of Spy Publishing Partners, the publishers of the now defunct Spy Magazine, a monthly publication that published satire, humor, and investigative journalism from 1986 to 1998. The magazine would pair two carefully selected photos of two unrelated famous persons and the juxtaposition would highlight their physical similarities to humorous effect.^[1]

Totally Looks Like

On the Internet, these images have been popularized by the single topic blog totallylookslike.com, which was launched in 2008. The site also provides a builder to make your own images.^[2]

Search

Since August 2008, “totally looks like” search queries have passed “separated at birth” by a substantial amount. This corresponds with the launch of totallylookslike.com.

Photoshopped Versions

Sometimes images are altered with photo-editing software to make a more convincing look-alike image. An image of Richard Dawkins with Emma Watson bearing many striking similarities has made it’s way around the Internet, often used to troll fans of Dawkins. When comparing the original photos to the TLL version, it is clear that they were photoshopped to look the same.

Notable Examples

External References

^[1] Wikipedia – Separated At Birth

^[2]Totally Looks Like