Twinmaker: Difference between revisions

The concept of clones or copies being made to replace original people, usually either as a means of [[Teleportation]] (by creating a copy somewhere else and destroying the original) or as a way of obtaining [[Immortality]] ([[Body Backup Drive|creating clones to replace a dying or dead original]], for example).

 

 

Where this trope gets interesting is how the moral status of the new copy and the moral implications of disposing of the original are handled. First, the treatment of the twin: Some characters won't see the problem with treating them both as if they were the same person, whereas others will point out that it only works from an ''external'' viewpoint: the person will seem exactly the same to everyone else, but the actual stream of consciousness has been severed, and the new copy is, in this sense, a completely different person. Sometimes it will be argued that the copy doesn't count as the original person, though given how interchangeable they would be if the paperwork for their birth certificates were ever mixed up, this argument is harder to hold up for long.

Second, the ethics of disposing of the original: If this matter is addressed at all in fiction, the [[Uniqueness Value]] and [[Cloning Blues]] tropes may well be invoked or played with as part of the story. A teleportation machine that worked in the manner of the short story ''To Be'' (see quotation above) would probably be regarded as a killing machine, but if there is any doubt about whether the stream-of-consciousness continues or not, the issue may well be sidestepped. If nothing in the device suggests anything sinister, it's generally treated as harmless. It's probably a straightforward [[Teleportation]].

 

 

Often involves [[Cloning Blues]]. [[Clone Jesus]] and [[You Cloned Hitler]] are related, but not subtropes.

{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==

** Furthermore, a [[Freeze-Frame Bonus]] reveals that the lower half of Lilith is actually {{spoiler|''[http://www.evacommentary.org/full-op/full-op_C237_comp.jpg Unit-01]''.}}

 

 

* The trope namer is ''[[Resurrected Man]]'', where "Murdering Twinmaker" is both a nickname for the teleporter and the nickname for a serial killer who uses the data in the sending teleporter to create his own copies, which he murders for pleasure.

* [[Orson Scott Card]]'s short story "Fat Farm": People can be cloned and have their memories copied into the clone. The clone then replaces the original person.

* The [[C. J. Cherryh]] novel ''Cyteen'', explored the difficulties of using cloning to make an exact duplicate. In order to produce a clone genius on par with the original the scientists raising the clone had to duplicate the original's upbringing as closely as possible.

* In some of [[Greg Egan]]'s stories, characters deal with things by imagining a line of continuity from the death of the first copy to the creation of the second, despite the lack of causal connection; this shows up in ''[[Permutation City]]'' and in ''Schild's Ladder'', and possibly elsewhere.

{{quote|"I'm [[Humans by Any Other Name|embodied]], not deranged! If a copy of my mind experiences a few minutes' consciousness, then is lost, that's not the death of anyone. It's just amnesia."}}

** In ''Permutation City'', {{spoiler|after launching [[It Makes Sense in Context|Elysium]], the Paul left behind on Earth kills himself, apparently having only ever cared about his Elysian copy.<ref>[[Fridge Logic|You'd think]] that he'd expect to survive in the same way he survived his last [[It Makes Sense in Context|22 deaths]], but the messy gradual death of a brain [[Fan Wank|might work differently]] from the instantaneous deletion of a [[Brain Uploading|Copy]]; he might get pared down to a tiny thread of consciousness as he dies, and in the process [[Esoteric Happy Ending|forget all about]] [[Go Mad from the Revelation|dust theory]].)</ref> Meanwhile, Peer is [[Machine Worship|happy to]] [[Jumped At the Call|sign up]] to become two people, seeing it as a new way of breaking away from the "quintessentially human" experience.}}

** In the short story "[http://eidolon.net/?story=The%20Extra&pagetitle=The+Extra§ion=fiction The Extra]", {{spoiler|the protagonist inadvertently condemns himself by transferring what he thinks are the key portions of his brain to a younger cloned body, not realizing that his consciousness will continue in the old body as well as in the clone}}.

* Averted in [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[Line of Delirium]]'', where the aTan machine re-creates people after their deaths by replicating their bodies from the previous molecular scan and downloading the stored memories into the new brains. Originally, it is claimed by the aTan Corporation that each re-created person is indeed new, although they are considered to be the heir to the dead person's life. However, it is revealed later that re-creating the same person twice only results in one having a consciousness, while the other is a mindless zombie, only able to passively answer questions and perform routine tasks. This is due to something the aTan people call the "[[Our Souls Are Different|x-factor]]" that is present in humans and several other races. When a person dies and his or her body is re-created by aTan, this "x-factor" locates the new body and inhabits it, giving this new body the same consciousness as the dead person. For some reason, the aTan Corporation decides to keep this a secret from the general public, only informing the [[The Church|Church of the One Will]] of their findings. Needless to say, the Patriarch immediately gives full blessing to aTan. After all, it's not every day that someone proves the existence of the soul.

* [[China Mieville]]'s novel ''[[Kraken (novel)|Kraken]]'' has a nasty subplot based on this idea, about an [[Urban Fantasy]] magician who developes a teleportation spell consciously inspired by ''[[Star Trek]]'' transporters. He doesn't realise that the method actually kills the original and creates an unaware, perfect copy until the vengeful spirits of his dead former versions start haunting him. {{spoiler|The hero finally deliberately submits to this as a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], as it's the only fast enough way to get him where he needs to be to save the world.}}

* In ''[[The End of Eternity]]'', the eponymous organization considers replicators as undesirable as nuclear wars - because there can be no satisfactory solution to the problems caused by this trope.

 

 

== Tabletop RPG ==

* In ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' Clone spell could be used to create copies of a creature, normally as a form of resurrection when the original is lost completely. [[Only One Me Allowed Right Now]] effects implied that it's more than just an identical body, though. Stasis Clone (unique spell from ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'') makes the revival of one stored copy upon death automatic and allows to "update" inactive clones.

** As of 3E the Clone spell simply creates an inert duplicate that the original's soul transfers to at death.

** Similarly, later on {{spoiler|Schlock is killed off, and a new Schlock is created to replace him. The new Schlock thinks it's kind of cool, "but not cool enough to do twice."}}

** In later chapters, they obtain [[Precursor]] nanotech that allows copies to be made of everyone. When {{spoiler|Captain Tagon}} dies in a full LAZ-5 event, they mourn and memorialize the first version, and then build a new clone with all of the memories except the final moments.

 

== Web Original ==