K-Drama Characters That Swap Identities Or Even Bodies

Not satisfied with your life? K-dramas have a solution. You could switch places with someone who is better off than you. Or you could even switch bodies.

It's not a plot device that k-dramas invented but it certainly is one that's often employed. "Bride of the Century" is the latest k-drama to play this "Prince and the Pauper" strategy for laughs and tears.

In "Bride of the Century," actress Yang Jin Sung plays two women. She plays Jang Yi Kyung, a girl who needs a basic lesson in humanity and Na Doo Rim, a girl who can provide one. Jang Yi Kyung has every advantage and a chance at marrying money, while Na Doo Rim has little in the way of material goods but a great personality. Na Doo Rim is asked to pretend to be Jang Yi Kyung to protect a marriage arrangement. The inevitable complication happens when her fiancé, played by Lee Hong Ki falls in love with the substitute girl. But there's a darker complication in that Lee Hong Ki's first wife is doomed to die, due to a curse, and Na Doo Rim has been set up to fulfill that role.

Jang Yi Kyung and Na Doo Rim look so much alike they could be twins. Maybe they will turn out to be twins.

Speaking of twins, "Bride of the Century" is not the first k-drama to have characters-or even twins-switch roles and risk exposure. In "You're Beautiful,' Park Shin Hye pretends to be her twin brother and joins a band. Fortunately, she has musical talent and that helps her get at least halfway through the drama without everyone guessing that she is a girl.

And if switching identities is not interesting enough, how about switching bodies. That's what happens in "Big" when Gong Yoo winds up with the much younger Shin Won Ho's personality in his body. It's confusing for his girlfriend, played by Lee Min Jung, but winds up being a good thing.

In the 2006 drama "Come Back Soon Ae," two women, played by Shim Hye Jin and Park Jin Hee, switch bodies and literally have to walk a mile in each other's shoes. It helps them to understand each other and better understand their own fates.

Even more likely to complicate a plot is switching genders while switching bodies. In "Secret Garden," Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won switch bodies and learn a whole lot about each other. The switch sets up some comical and tragic scenarios.

If you've ever wanted to try on another life, check out these dramas. Did we miss any?