That Thing Is Not My Child: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''[[Batman|Bruce Wayne]]:''' Look, I know [[Superboy|he]]... troubles you. But he's here. You have to get over the [[Cloning Blues|how]] and [[Laser Guided Tykebomb|why]]. Trust me on this... this boy needs his father.<br />

A trope common to [[Science Fiction]] or [[Horror]], in which a victim finds their genes, DNA, soul, or "essence" taken or copied without their permission, resulting in an offspring which is either unnatural or unwanted--orunwanted—or ''both''. This being could be a [[Cloning Blues|Clone]], [[Humanoid Abomination]], or a [[Designer Babies|Designer Baby]] created by a [[Stalker with a Test Tube]]. Sometimes, the villainous party may take what they want from the character's ''real'' offspring instead, twisting it with [[Body Horror]], [[Demonic Possession]] or [[The Corruption]], prompting the parent to now consider it a different entity entirely and deny any kinship. In any case, the clear message is that the parent DOES NOT WANT.

Things can get even [[Squick|Squickier]]ier if the "offspring" is a full-size, adult clone. Many people in real life have identical twins, so most would consider a copy that's close to their age (or even older) a "sibling" rather than a "child"... although that's moot if this trope is played straight, of course.

This trope is often the result when [[The Bad Guy Wins]] in a story with a [[Stalker with a Test Tube]], or after a character catches a [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong]]. A common reaction is ~[[But I Can't Be Pregnant!~]], and sometimes happens in [[Real Life]] with a [[Child by Rape]].

* In a particularly [[Tear Jerker|heartbreaking]] example, ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' features [[Stepford Smiler|Momiji]]'s mother reacting this way (using the almost exact quote) upon discovering that her child [[Involuntary Shapeshifting|turns into a rabbit when she holds him]] because he's under the zodiac curse. Momiji's father had {{spoiler|her memory of her son cleared}} to aid her failing health brought on by the emotional stress of all this.

{{quote| ''"I heard her talking in her sleep, pleading, shrieking, snarling. It was not my daughter's voice. That is not my daughter."''}}

* Averted with [[Superboy]] in the comics, whom [[Superman]] intially accepts as a buddy, and then as a cousin--butcousin—but never as a ''son''. (Although an in-universe newspaper article written after Superboy came [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] states that Superman felt Superboy's death was "like losing a son".) Even [[Lex Luthor]], who created the boy and donated the other half of the DNA, considered him a son... [[I Have No Son|at first]].

** [[Word of God]] has a [https://web.archive.org/web/20121129204039/http://collider.com/inception-christopher-nolan-explains/61972/ strongly implied conclusion] and a definite final answer.

* In "''[[Doctor Who|The Doctor's Daughter]]''", the Doctor originally reacts this way to his "daughter", actually an [[Opposite SexGender Clone]].

* Played with in ''[[Tin Man (TV series)|Tin Man]]'' where the [[The High Queen|Queen]] tells [[Big Bad|Azkedellia]] that she is "not my daughter." At the time, you think it;s just because of Az's bad behavior. {{spoiler|She's ''really'' addressing the Evil Witch that has possessed Azkedellia}}.

* Done in the stage adaptation of ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]''. Elphaba's father undisguisedly loathes her with a passion and dotes on her younger sister Nessa merely because Elphaba is green. The moment she's born he screams [[ThisPunctuated! IsFor! SpartaEmphasis!|"TAKE! IT! AWAY!"]] at the nurse before angrily storming off.

** To be fair, Big Boss claimed to always respect Solid Snake as a man and a soldier, and it's pretty obvious, given that Big Boss took the trouble to train Snake and teach him CQC, that Big Boss played his role as a father for at least part of Snake's life. Trying to kill Solid Snake just seems to be a pre-requisite for being part of the Snake family, the only family member who didn't try to kill Snake was EVA (his mother).

* Played with in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'', with "replicas" (clones) in general.

{{quote| '''Alexstrazsa:''' They are...my clutch no longer. Bring them down.}}

** Though he's at least nicer than most examples of this trope--sotrope—so far he has never blamed Superboy or considered him a "thing," but he also clearly doesn't want to consider him his child (see page quote). He's also rationalized this as a way to avoid giving Superboy [[Cloning Blues]], claiming that it would be better if [[Batman]] or someone took on a mentoring role instead.

** Which actually makes this an [[Inverted Trope|inversion]]--it—it really only takes Goliath about a minute or two to accept Thailog as a son, but Thailog refuses to accept Goliath as a ''parent,'' claiming he's too weak for him to admire. He rejects Xanatos and Sevarius too, but that's more because his own ambitions oppose theirs.