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{{trope}}
In [[Speculative Fiction]], [[Shape Shifter]]s, [[Robot Me|robot duplicates]] and [[Cloning Blues|clones]] are exciting and can add a layer of [[Ambiguous Clone Ending|ambiguity]] and [[They Look Like Us Now|suspense]] to a story. It will fill characters and viewers with paranoia and make for great [[The Reveal|shocking revelations]]. However, they can also completely derail said story and kill all drama when fans get lost in the forest of [[Epileptic Trees]]. The problem stems from the possibility that if clones, shape shifters, time travelers or body hopping aliens can make and unmake plot points at whim, how can viewers be sure that a given story element is "real?"<ref>by real, we mean in the story. Please don't make us go existentialist.</ref>
The reasoning here is similar to how a setting where [[Death Is Cheap]] takes away dramatic punch from future character deaths. By allowing for the existence of these duplicates the author basically has a huge [[Reset Button]] with giant neon lettering spelling out ''"Wanna bet this dramatic [[The Reveal|revelation]], death or plot twist is here to stay?"'' These fears can be confirmed if an author starts [[Retcon|Ret Conning]] events or [[Reset Button|casually]] [[Status Quo Is God|undoing]] changes using these tropes.
It's [[Tropes Are Not Bad|not that the tropes are bad]], but that they bring with them a latent threat that has to be defused quickly or risk distracting viewers or damaging [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. Perhaps clones [[Everything Fades|dissolve once killed]]; so if Alice leaves a corpse, then by golly she ''is'' dead. Of course, a story with clones or what not may never fully dispel some [[Wild Mass Guessing]] (even ''with'' [[Word of God]]), but hey, fans like tinfoil hats.
A few things that may cause this reaction:
* [[Death Is Cheap]] via [[Expendable Clone]]s.
* Overuse of the [[First Law of Resurrection]] inevitably makes any death suspect.
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A few ways to avoid this reaction:
* [[Ambiguous Clone Ending]]
* [[This Was His True Form]]
Also related to [[All the Myriad Ways]] and the [[Second Law of Metafictional Thermodynamics]].
{{examples}}▼
{{deathtrope}}
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Played with in ''[[Gunnm|Battle Angel Alita: Last Order]]'', with all the Desty Nova and Gally/Alita clones. Yukito Kishiro basically runs with the [[Brain Uploading]] and turns it into as ridiculous a situation as he can manage.
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** A running joke around the time of ''Secret Invasion'' is that when a character in Marvel is out of character, it was a Skrull impersonator.
* Honestly, this has become so much the norm for comics that almost NO death is taken seriously, with fans almost immediately asking "Well, [[Death Is Cheap|how long before they come back]]?" whenever someone dies. As early as 20 years ago, a number of characters in-universe in the X-Men titles would joke that "mutant heaven" didn't have pearly gates but revolving doors, and for years it was a common saying among comic fans that "No one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben" (and it's worth noting that two of those three are now alive again themselves...).
** Recent{{when}} storylines in both major companies ([[Blackest Night]], [[Secret Invasion]], [[Necrosha]]) have done absolutely nothing to dispel this mentality, as dozens of formerly dead characters are now alive again. DC ''claims'' that Blackest Night has closed the door to future resurrections, but very few fans seem to be buying it.
* Thanos, the Jim Starlin created [[Big Bad]] in the [[Marvel Universe]], has clones called Thanosi that Starlin can use to explain away any defeats that Thanos might suffer (which, purely coincidentally, are almost always written by writers other than Starlin). Starlin has even gone so far as to say that not even omnipotent cosmic observer the Watcher can tell the difference between a Thanosi and the real Thanos.
* Skrulls did it. To the entire Marvelverse. Lampshaded when Spidey complains that he had clones ''way'' before everyone else was getting replaced by Skrulls.
* Lampshaded in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] with ''[[Dark Empire]]''. Basically every time Luke kills a Palpatine clone, he transfers his soul to another clone. Luke pretends to go over to the dark side and is ultimately ''on'' the dark side.
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' introduced cloning in the form of "Project Helix", a process by which identical [[Doppelganger]]s of people could be produced. The first double was a one-off character, but the [[Title Drop|second double]] was a complete shocker: {{spoiler|it was Sydney's [[Black Best Friend|best friend]] [[The Scrappy|Francie]].}} The double was a very unique twist . . . at first. Then, they brought back the double-switch when {{spoiler|someone cloned Arvin Sloane - and the double was, of course, promptly [[Fan Nickname|nicknamed]] "Arvin Cloane"}}, again later in season four when it was revealed that {{spoiler|the woman Jack killed in Vienna wasn't Irina Derevko, it was a double of her}} and ''again'' in season five when {{spoiler|Anna Espinosa became a double of ''Sydney''}}. It got to the point where a common saying in regards to the show was "they're not dead even if we've seen a body - it's probably a clone".
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Number Six: Caprica Six, Head!Six, Gina Inviere, Natalie Faust, Shelly Godfrey, the Six on the Armistice Station, LabCoat!Six, the Six who headed "The Farm", the dying Six on the basestar, Lida, Sonja, and Prostitute!Six from "The Plan".
** Number Eight: Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, Sharon "Athena" Agathon, the Eight on Ragnar, WhiteCoat!Eight that Athena kills, the many naked tai chi Eights, the dying Eight on the basestar, the unplugged!Eight Anders talks to, the dying Eight Saul Tigh forgives, the Eight who resurrects D'Anna, Cynical!Eight from "Face of the Enemy", Sweet!Eight who betrays Gaeta, and the Eight who {{spoiler|connects Anders to the data stream so that he can become Galactica's hybrid}}.
* ''[[Misfits]]'' started to suffer from this in the second season, as Curtis has the ability to [[Reset Button|rewind time]] if he feels enough guilt towards something that has happened, giving him a chance to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]]. So when the Misfits [[Discard and Draw]] new powers during the [[Christmas Episode]] season finale, the show explicitly removes this power from play.
== Web Comics ==
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* Frequently [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Venture Brothers|The Venture Brothers]]'' whenever it is revealed that {{spoiler|Dr. Venture's sons Hank and Dean can be replaced with one of many clones, taken from a bank of clone storage tanks beneath the Venture Compound, whenever the boys die}}.
** This also explains why they give the impression of having been dropped on their heads several times as babies-{{spoiler|Dr. Venture has to keep giving the replacements the memories from the previous pair, and whatever method he's using to do it, the effectiveness is kind of sketchy.}}
** Up until the finale of season 3, {{spoiler|when the whole herd of Hank and Dean clones is wiped out.}}
* ''[[Gargoyles]]''' creator Greg Weissman tells in Ask Greg of how his children thought Elisa was acting bad in the episode "Protection" because it was a clone, given that an earlier episode had introduced a clone of Goliath (she was actually pretending to be a corrupt cop to fool a mob boss).
** At least in the show itself they avoid this by having clones be a [[Palette Swap]] of the originals instead of an exact physical match.
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[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Our Clones Are Identical]]
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[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]
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