Well, Doppelgangers are shape-shifting monsters that pretend to be normal customers. They look mostly human but usually have small mistakes that help you detect them.
If you let one through, they come back later as a scary monster and try to kill you and your team. Nobody wants that right?
I’ll provide all the tips I learned to help you identify them. Some tips are based on my own experience and some come from the community. Hope they help.
Anything You need to Read:
A List of All Doppelgangers
Many players think that just like the Demo version, all the Doppelgangers in each shift are the same for all the players, but that’s not the case. The game selects the Doppelgangers for each shift randomly. So one doppelganger might appear in the third shift for you while you friend encounter the same doppelganger in the 10th shift. Also keep in mind that each doppelganger has a human version; so a person might be doppelganger in my game but for you he or she is just a human.
However, you can detect a doppelganger in the same way no matter in which shift they appear in your game. For example whenever you encounter Keith Hargreaves, if he claims to be a bus driver you can be sure he is a doppelganger.
After playing the game and watching many walkthroughs, I managed to make a list of all the possible doppelgangers and how you can detect them:
| Customer | How you can tell |
| Agnes Wells | The real one is 3 years old, yet this was an old lady. |
| Amelia Kramer | She isn’t visible through the Anomaly Lens. |
| Andal Khan | His name is Andal but his nametag says Adnal. He doesn’t realize this error. |
| Anita Varma | She’s missing a hand. She says she was born that way but it’s always bleeding. |
| Aria Romero | The Anomaly Lens reveals that she is a doppelganger. |
| Baron Dean | He claims that his hair miraculously grew through “Human Photosynthesis”. |
| Brandon Keller | Claimed to come from a shift at the diner that had burnt down yesterday according to the newspaper. |
| Cara Hastings | The real one is 23 years old. She claimed she was preparing for her 38th birthday party. |
| Clyde Dawson | This is Clyde, the tutorial character, but he acts like it’s his first time meeting you. |
| Daniel Flores | The description states that he’s “Blind in left eye”. This one claimed that both of his eyes were blind. |
| Darla Groves | Her vitiligo pattern is different to the one shown in her ID photo. |
| David Kennedy | He claims his twin sister is at home. The newspaper on the notice board displays an obituary for her. |
| Derrick Vaughn | Claims to always only wear one jacket, yet this jacket is different to the one in his ID photo. |
| Diana Volkov | The Anomaly Lens reveals that she is actually Norbert in disguise. |
| Dmitri Volkov | His birthmark is different to the one shown in his ID photo. |
| Driver 1 | A hidden passport reveals that the driver’s name is Madison Gray. Searching her up reveals she is deceased. |
| Driver 2 | Claims to have been present for the death of Janet Davis, and that she died of a heart attack. Searching her up reveals she died of mutilation. |
| Driver 3 | He claims to have just driven the Junior Bears team home, but searching them up in the database reveals they are all deceased. |
| Driver 4 | Her car did not have an engine. |
| Driver 5 | Shining the flashlight reveals that the car was built out of contorting flesh. |
| Driver 6 | There is a hidden framed portrait of a family. The driver claims to be the father in the photo, though they are clearly different people. |
| Dylan Pike | The real one only wears shorts. This one denies that. |
| Elena Park | Says she had a shift working on car parts, but she is a computer engineer. |
| Elise Hart | Claims to be going to the beach on this sunny day, but it’s nighttime. |
| Ethan Voss | The newspaper mentions a Power outage in the east, halting business operations. Ethan claims to have been busy at his laundromat in the east today. |
| Evan Walker | The Anomaly Lens reveals that he is a doppelganger. |
| Harold Brant | Says he’s been working at his job for forty years. He is 39 years old. |
| Herbert | It’s a talking bear. |
| Howard Elkins | His nametag showed NAME: JACK and he mistakenly calls himself Jack. |
| Isaac Warren | Wearing an upside-down cross necklace despite being a pastor and he is missing eyes. |
| Jade Sinclair | She looked completely different from her ID photo. |
| Judith Calhoun | The real one is a widow. This one mentioned her husband at home. |
| Julietta Granger | The real one is a plumber, but this one was wearing a flight attendant uniform. |
| Keith Hargreaves | The real one is a train conductor, but this one believes he’s a bus driver. |
| Linda Carver | The database says her tattoo is on her left hand. This one has it on her right hand. |
| Lisa Cannon | Refers to Mia Cannon as her twin, but if you search her up, Mia is younger. |
| Louisa Mari | Her left leg was extremely elongated, beyond anything human. |
| Martha Collins | When asked about her kids, she calls them “Lee and Ken.” But the database lists them as Leo and Ben. |
| Maya Davila | She came back from a date with her husband. The newspaper reveals that he is missing. |
| Mia Cannon | Her tattoo pattern is different to the one shown in her ID photo. |
| Natasha Lin | Claims she’s been working since morning, but works as a bartender in a bar that only opens at night. |
| Nathan Calloway | The real one is deceased according to the computer database. |
| Net Pongsak | He’s levitating, and believes all humans can do this after reaching enlightenment. |
| Norbert | He provided a fake ID and searching him up yielded no results. |
| Ramona Delgado | EmotiScope revealed she was “Craving Human Flesh”. |
| Ray Rowland | His neck was abnormally long. He denies this. |
| Ren Takahashi | The Anomaly Lens reveals that he is a doppelganger. |
| Richard McCree | Asks for hair products for his wife. Searching her up reveals she is bald. |
| Ricky Lawson | The database says he has a lazy eye. When questioned about it, he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. |
| Rudnick Wex | He contorted in impossible ways when entering the store. Also the real one is deceased. |
| Tommy Delgado | He mentioned he was grabbing stuff for his sister. Search the database to find out his sister is deceased. |
| Travis Dunn | His description says he “speaks with a lisp”, yet this one spoke perfectly. |
| Tyler Brackett | He just admits it. If allowed to live, he doesn’t call the entity. |
| Vivien Marrow | The Anomaly Lens reveals that she is a doppelganger. |
| Wade Callahan | The Anomaly Lens reveals a flesh parasite across his face. |
| Yasmin Carvalho | Her gold jewelry is missing when viewed through the Anomaly Lens. |
Note: You encounter some drivers and you have to check them too. In the table above I provided the signs that tell you a driver is actually a doppelganger.
Besides doppelgangers, there are some suspicious customers that despite their weird behavior, are actually humans. Be careful not to shoot them for these reasons. Here is a list of them:
| Name | How you can tell |
| Barry Aoki | When questioned about his occupation, he explains that he was working on his fence all day. |
| Bonnie McCree | If questioned about her glasses, she says she took them off before coming in. |
| Hao Chen | He uses a fake ID, but searching him up in the database reveals he’s just trying to buy alcohol while underage. |
| Louisa Mari | The real Louisa as she knew the manager called ahead. |
| Roger Conroy | He was just drunk. |
If you came across a doppelganger that wasn’t on the list, please leave us a comment.
Spot the Fakes Before they Leave
If you want a general guide to find out who is a human and who is a monster (as I said the doppelgangers in each shift are random), continue reading for a general guide in finding out who is who.
You only get 5 questions per customer plus ID scan and computer check.
I prefer to check the ID first. Just scan it on the computer right away and check for any kinds of mismatches. Do you see anything wrong about the age or appearance match between the ID and the person? If yes, there’s probably a problem.
And don’t stop at their own ID. If a customer mentions someone else in conversation (a sibling, a coworker), search that name in the database too. Sometimes it comes back deceased, and that’s a serious red flag.
Ask Smart Questions
Ask about their job or where they’re going. You can also ask for details from the ID. Fake answers are often weird and you’ll understand that something’s not right. If any answer mismatched with the ID card, you’ve actually have got a strong clue.
Watch Behavior & Appearance
I love this game because even a fake laugh at the wrong time can reveal a Doppelganger. Any kind of strange movement (like stiff walking or something) can be considered a sign. If they avoid eye contact or stare too much, be careful about them.
There is something in the game called Emotion Detector which unlocks around the second night. It shows the feeling. If the feeling doesn’t match the words and actions, you are probably looking at a non-human.
Shift at Midnight Doppelgangers Co-op Tips
The real fun is when you play co-op, and in co-op the way to detect Doppelgangers can be a bit different. For example, one person can talk, another can check the computer and a third player can watch cameras or handle pumps.
Lobbies now support up to 6 players (raised from the original 3 at launch). Anyway Devs recommend the maximum of 3. Too many players make the game more and more chaotic. So , Don’t forget to share every detail over voice chat.
What to Do When You Find One
It’s simple, shoot them before finishing the sale. Note that shooting after checkout still counts as a mistake and brings trouble later. Many players don’t know that.
After killing one, you should clean up fast, mop up the blood, bag the limbs and throw them out.
Pro Tip: As I said, missing one usually triggers a monster attack phase. Board up windows and doors, set traps and hide. You may also encounter the optional Marionette during your hunt in Shift 9, if you deliberately fail to rewind the Jack-in-the-Box. Check out our Shift at Midnight Marionette guide for the music box location and the best way to kill him.
What if You Kill a Human
This is an important question. Mistakenly killing a human is not as bad as mistakenly let a monster go. If you shoot the wrong person, the punishment is financial and you’ll pay 15 dollars for every wrong killing. So, try not to do it wrong.
But the point is that: Shoot If you really doubt the identity of the person you’re checking.
Common Types & Tells
In my opinion, Shift at Midnight Doppelgangers are basically in two types. Some of them are bad actors and some of them know how to mimic, like a true evil. Those who act bad has obvious mistakes like wrong clothes or unbelievable stories.
But the real challenge is when you deal with those professional evils. With them, mostly focus on the computer data and the clues Emotion Detector provides for you.
Oh, and you should know that some of them can even impersonate people you know. They are among the most dangerous too.
