Expendable Clone: Difference between revisions

* Usually but not always averted with Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. His mutant power is [[Me's a Crowd|creating duplicates of himself]], which become more independent the longer they are separate. In the current series of ''[[X-Factor (Comic Book)|X-Factor]]'', in which Madrox is the lead character, the duplicates embody aspects of Jamie's personality at random. Jamie usually regards the duplicates as extensions of himself, but occasionally as independent people depending on circumstances. The duplicates themselves, however, are all over the map on how they think of him, themselves and each other.

* [[Calvin and Hobbes|Calvin]] intentionally created a duplicate to do tasks that he doesn't want to do, like clean his room. Predictably, the duplicate doesn't want to do them either, and runs off to misbehave, knowing the original will get all the blame. A few clones later, it turns out Calvin ''really'' doesn't get along with himself, and ends up turning them all into worms (but, as Calvin knows, this makes them happy, because now they're gross). Later, Calvin creates a ''good'' duplicate of himself that doesn't mind doing his chores, but ends up driving Calvin crazy anyway by trying to be nice to Suzie. Calvin and his good copy get so mad at each other that they get into a fight, since fighting is bad, the good duplicate self-destructs in a [[Logic Bomb]]. Hobbes comments on the irony that even Calvin's ''good'' version is prone to doing bad. Later still, Calvin meets "duplicates" of himself through time travel, and of course gets into a fight with those past and future selves as well, because none of them want to do a creative writing homework assignment, but each of them has "good" excuses for not being the one to do it. Meanwhile Hobbes gets along perfectly well with his past version, and they actually work together to complete the homework themselves by basically writing a story about how foolish Calvin's time-travel scheme is.

* By the 1970's, two members of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes]] had been [[Killed Off for Real]]. The Legion created clones of them, knowing that the clones lasted 48 hours and then ''exploded'', in order to test whether they have the same bravery as the originals. The Legion seemed to think there was nothing wrong with creating sentient beings who die after 48 hours and think they're their old teammates, as long as they're clones.

* In [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s ''[[Megalex (Comic Book)|Megalex]]'', The police clones are terminated after living for four hundred days, the limit enforced by explosive control tabs implanted at the base of their skulls. This is done to prevent them being infected by dissidents. The clones are filed into a large room like a group show, made to strip, disinfected to allow more efficient recycling, and then their control tabs are detonated. The allusions to concentration camps are obvious. One of the protagonists, Ram, is an escaped police clone.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* [[Dollhouse]]:

** Carol-lite ([[Fan Nickname]]), being a copy of Caroline in a little girl.

** ''[[Star Trek Enterprise (TV)|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' has the episode with "Sim" Tucker, in which he is made and [[Human Resources|harvested for parts]] in order to save Trip. He doesn't take it all that well at first, but comes around in the end. (He was going to die anyway in an hour or two, after all. And in their defense... harvesting him for parts wasn't the ''plan,'' they just needed the injured Trip's skills in a ''big'' hurry, and no one expected the clone would retain Trip's memories (or IIRC even be cognizant))

** The teleporters can be considered this. They create a clone of you somewhere else and destroy you where you are.

* [[Wizards of Waverly Place]] (yes a ''[[Disney]]'' show) where it's implied in an episode that Alex does this to her own magic copy.

* Surprisingly averted in ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]''. The main character is duplicated for the greater part of Season Three, but neither duplicate is actually a fake, and neither is the original (the original was somehow just split into two, and each half made whole). Neither Chrichton is treated as expendable, and in fact, when one does die later in the season, it's played with just as much drama and residual emotional trauma as if there hadn't been a spare Chrichton. This is probably helped by the fact that they spent most of their time apart from each other. Unsurprisingly, though, they [[Status Quo Is God|killed off the one who had progressed in his relationship with Aeryn and figured out the all-important control of wormholes]].

* Seen several times in the [[Stargate Verse]]. Once with [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Teal'c]] when he shot his [[Alternate Universe]] [[Doppelganger]], saying that theirs was "the only reality of consequence.". Inverted with an alternate universe SG-1, who try to steal "our" universe's [[Applied Phlebotinum|ZPM]] in order to save their reality. Also inverted with alternate Woolsey in "Vegas", who doesn't care that their failure to find a [[Our Vampires Are Different|Wraith]] threatens other Earths. Additionally, Ba'al does this with his own clones at the end. Slightly subverted with the clone of Jack O'Neill, though his two other doubles weren't so lucky.

* An episode of ''[[Sliders]]'' has the protagonists land [[In a World]] where human cloning is real, and clones are grown for spare parts. When the real Quinn is grabbed because the locals think he's a clone of this world's Quinn (who is in need of new eyes), his friends break into the cloning building and rescue him. Except they really took the clone, who was kept in a vegetative state. Then the clone starts developing a personality of his own. In the end, this world's Quinn chooses to remain blind rather than take the eyes of his clone. [[Acting for Two|Acting For Three]].

[[Category:Doppelganger]]

[[Category:Expendable Clone]]