Beta Test Baddie: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
A villain whose main, often hidden, motivation is that he feels incomplete. This character is ashamed or enraged at the thought that he was seen as obsolete or surpassed by someone in front of him. This can be anything from a teacher who found a new student to a scientist who builds a [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|"better" android]], and is a common tragic fate for a [[Replacement Goldfish]].
 
In the android / [[Cloning Blues|clone]] / other [[Doppelganger]] scenario, the typical reason for this assumption is that the character lacks some vital component to be truly great or [[To Become Human|human]], and might even [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|be considered dangerous because of the lack]]. The typical subversion is that the original was ''too'' willful and independent, and subsequent models were made much more compliant.
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** Not to mention Mark, though {{spoiler|he did a [[Heel Face Turn]] quickly enough.}}
* Achilles of the Shadow books in the [[Ender's Game|Enderverse.]]
* Inverted in [[Shade's Children]]. A beta version of an [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|artificial intelligence gone rogue]] is discovered at one point. It's a lot less intelligent than its successor, though, so it doesn't understand the situation at all and [[Crapsack World|gets destroyed very quickly]].
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: In ''[[The Bible]]'', Cain slew his younger brother Abel because he was jealous of Abel's sacrifice receiving greater praise from God. "The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast." Genesis 4:4-5.
 
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== Live Action TV ==
 
* The android Lore from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'', who was literally the initial model replaced by his android brother Data. A textbook example of the trope. Ironically, Lore ''had'' emotions from the start, while Data started out as mild mannered artificial intelligence incapable of truly experiencing or understanding human emotions and longed to have them (classic [[Pinocchio Syndrome]]). Data once even told Lore that he "envied" him. Lore on the other hand lacked something Data was programmed with: a conscience. Lore murdered their creator, Dr. Noonian Soong, because he felt "daddy" loved Data more.
** In the TV series, Dr. Soong himself said Lore was the earlier model. Later Star Trek episodes suggested that there were previous models that didn't even get to Lore's sophistication (or crashed and burned before getting a chance to develop). The tenth movie ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]'' introduced one of these named "B-4", who only had a very crude artificial brain.
* ''[[Knight Rider]]'' featured not one, but two examples of this trope. KARR, the [[Evil Twin]] of KITT, was a flawed prototype that was mothballed for its indifference to human life, and harbored a lingering resentment against its creator and its replacement, which it called an "inferior production-line model." Garthe Knight was disowned by his father when he became a criminal, and later replaced as Wilton Knight's heir and son by series hero Michael Knight. Michael's face, which had been destroyed by a gunshot, was also reconstructed in Garthe's image. Garthe always bore a lingering resentment against Michael, who he considered a usurper and an inferior copy.
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== Web Comics ==
* A more literal version of this trope occurs in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=031019\]. Though it isn't a ''major'' villain in this case.
* Subverted in ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', where [[Opposite SexGender Clone|Ellen]] was going to be this but became part of the main cast instead because the creator wanted to avoid the [[Cerebus Syndrome]] that a recurring villain would entail.
** Ellen ''tried'' to be this for a little while, but [[Poke the Poodle|she wasn't very good at it]].
* Umbria/Zaedalkaah, from ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''. Umbria's main quest is to reclaim her power with 'The Brotherhood' and getting her old body back. The form she is currently using is an imperfect copy of Julie's [[Spoony Bard|Bard class]] and appearance, though Umbria [[Glamour Failure|looks little more evil]] than the original Julie.