Twinmaker: Difference between revisions

 
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Often involves [[Cloning Blues]]. [[Clone Jesus]] and [[You Cloned Hitler]] are related, but not subtropes.
 
 
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{{examples}}
== Anime &and Manga ==
* The {{spoiler|Ayanami Rei}} we see in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is actually three different clones who each replaces their predecessor during the course of the show. This isn't known until [[The Reveal]].
** 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]''.}}
* {{spoiler|Fate Testarossa}} of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' was developed as a [[Replacement Goldfish]] shortly after the originals' death. [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|It didn't go exactly as planned,]] and [[Abusive Parents|and her creator wasn't thrilled.]]
 
 
== Film ==
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** {{spoiler|This troper thought it was clear that it was the copy that appeared some distance away, creating the appearance of teleportation - so the magician had actually repeatedly drowned versions of himself and been replaced with a clone}}
** The first time this happens, {{spoiler|the one who stayed in place shot the one who appeared at a distance, meaning the original Angier is dead either way}}. (Then again, the concept of [http://lesswrong.com/lw/r9/quantum_mechanics_and_personal_identity/ "the original"] isn't well-defined, given what we know about quantum physics.)
 
 
== Literature ==
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{{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 "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200328172602/http://eidolon.net/?story=The%20Extra+Extra&pagetitle=The+Extra%2BExtra§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}}.
* Sam Vimes objects to using magic anyway, but in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]'', even when he gives in and goes to the wizards for help, he absolutely refuses to use teleportation because he's paranoid about the idea that the person at the other end isn't the same person as the one who was teleported.
* In James Patrick Kelly's novelette ''Think Like a Dinosaur'', reptilian aliens give us teleportation, but insist on "balancing the equation" (destroying the original afterward) or they'll cut us off from the network. Normally the original is unconscious, but one is revived after the teleport is mistakenly believed to have failed, invoking this trope in full.
* In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[Expanded Universe]] novel ''Federation'', when Zefram Cochrane is first transported aboard the ''Enterprise'', he immediately thinks he is a duplicate of the original, assuming transporters to work like replicators. Instead, a crew member calms him down, explaning that the process works on the quantum level, meaning he is still the original Cochrane.
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* 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.
 
== Live-Action TelevisionTV ==
 
== Live-Action Television ==
* ''[[Farscape]]'' had a subplot of Crichton's twinning. Although in this case, neither one was a copy or original exactly. Crichton really was just duplicated/"twinned" into two identical Crichtons (they play rock-paper-scissors and draw some 100+ in a row).
** They even use this in the next episode to have one twin impersonate the other to "prove" Crichton was never at the scene of an explosion (since he is of course, completely unhurt).
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** Like many devices introduced in the series, this Twinmaker is never mentioned again, even though it would have been very helpful in many other circumstances.
 
== Tabletop RPGGames ==
 
== Tabletop RPG ==
* ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'': Every player character is actually six identical clones, and [[Expendable Clone|when one dies, the next one is sent in to replace it]].
* 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.
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* The "Immortality Through Cloning" version is used as a plot point and gameplay mechanic in ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]''. The reason the Furons are harvesting human brains is because it contains a strain of DNA vital to their cloning process, and every time you die in-game, your [[You Are Number Six|name increases by one digit]]. There's even a level about recovering your own remains.
* In the ''[[Star Trek Armada]]'' games, ''Nebula''-class ships have a special ability called the "Gemini Effect", which temporarily creates a duplicate of the target ship. With some quick thinking, this ability can be used to get free resources by duplicating a vessel and then scrapping the duplicate for parts. The game designers, apparently, did not think of this possibility.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Freefall]]'' robots don't care much about backups. [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00383.htm Want to know why?]
* While actual teleportation is possible in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', the wormgate network used for it prior to the invention of the teraport could also be used as a [[Matter Replicator]] (given enough energy) and created clones of those who used it without the traveler's knowledge. {{spoiler|This became a major plot point when it turned out the Gatekeepers were interrogating and executing the clones, and using the information gained to control the galaxy's wealth and suppress rival teleporter technology. The current Kevyn Andreyasn is a clone created in this manner shortly before the original made a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], who simply took over his original's life without a single care about the existential issues.}}
** 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, theybrain obtainbackup/restore procedures become a thing, and after merging UNS development and [[Precursor]] nanotech, thatactually allowsavailable, copiesso tothere's be1-5 madescale of everyone."how dead you are", where clinical death is only the first notch. When {{spoiler|Captain Tagon}} dies in a [[No Kill Like Overkill|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 moments42 minutes.
 
 
== Web Original ==
* In the ''[[Mortasheen]]'' universe, [[Knight Templar|Wreathe]] uses portal technology, which preserves the teleported person intact but is incredibly inefficient. Meanwhile [[Crazy Awesome|Mortasheen]] utilizes teleportation that makes a twin of the user somewhere else and destroys the original. Mortasheen being [[Crapsack World|what it is]], no one there is bothered by this and the twin is considered and treated as the original. Wreathe, however, is revolted.
* An one-shot [http://goldenage.comicgenesis.com/d/20100919.html short story] on ''[[Golden Age of Adventurers]]''.
 
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Canadian animator John Weldon's terrifying short, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdxucpPq6Lc&feature=related To Be]'': In it, a scientist is demonstrating his new "Murdering Twinmaker"-style teleporter. The heroine claims that the machine is immoral, and to assure her that there's no need to worry, he agrees to delay the "murdering" part of the machine by a few minutes. The original and the clone come out and meet each other, they play a game of chess, and then each fights tooth and nail to push the other into the machine. She just grabs one of them and helps the other scientist push him in as he kicks and screams and begs for his life. They end up shutting him in with his arm slammed in the door and nuking him, causing his arm to visibly disintegrate. [[Stunned Silence|Then it gets quiet.]] The surviving scientist realizes the immorality of such a device and walks away, but the heroine feels guilty and decides that she has to atone for what she does, and enters the machine.
* In one ''[[Aeon Flux]]'' episode, the titular character's archenemy and lover creates a clone of her. The clone and the original meet and conspire against him. In the end, one of them gets gunned down in front of Trevor. {{spoiler|It wasn't the clone.}}
* {{spoiler|The Venture Twins}} have this kind of immortality in ''[[The Venture Bros]].'', but they're unaware of it. As ofuntil Season 3, [[Send in the Clones|when the clones were used as an army]] during an attack on the Venture compound, this is no longer true.
 
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