History Main / CloningGambit

** In DarkEmpire, Palpatine, following his death at Endor, inhabited a clone waiting in a storage facility on a secret fortress world. Six years later, apparently spending the whole time building superweapons, he reappeared to the Empire and launched campaigns against the New Republic, and was killed multiple times, always activating a new clone. Then things went wrong, when one of his Royal Guardsmen sabotaged the process so that each clone [[CloneDegeneration degraded quickly]], forcing Palpatine to look into other options - like, perhaps, Leia Organa's unborn son. In the HandOfThrawn duology, Mara sardonically says that she doubts this was really Palpatine, since during all that time he never called on her, his agent.

* In the ending to ''ShortCircuit'', Johnny Five uses his [[ChekhovsGun previously demonstrated]] repair skills to build a physical duplicate of himself, which he sends out for Nova Robotics to kill so they'd assume they got him.

* In DungeonsAndDragons "basic" clone is not something cool in normal circumstances, but there's lots of other imitations, e.g. simulacrum is much more... obviously [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman expendable]].

* This is one of the main mechanics in Paranoia. Should one of the [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] die, and they will, there next clone is just shipped off to the scene with the same memory and personality as before (except of course for the details of the death.)

* In the ''MenInBlack'' AnimatedAdaptation, this is the most second most common use of the Quick-clones, behind being simple decoys. The clones only last for a few hours anyway before [[CloneDegeneration melting]], so [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman NBD]]. In one episode, a bunch of Quick-clones play a basketball game once their job was done, since their lifespan isn't long enough to worry about much.

* In the fifth ''Anime/KaraNoKyoukai'' movie, [[spoiler:Aozaki Touko]] is revealed to have created [[spoiler:a perfect puppet of herself (a clone, for all intents and purposes) out of pure scientific interest, then went into hybernation until it is killed by Araya]]. [[MindScrew Or it may have been the other way around]].

** The novel Darksaber had an involuntary Cloning Gambit: Whenever Bevel Lemelisk did something to displease the Emperor (Such as failing to notice a certain thermal exhaust port in the Death Star designs), Palpatine had him killed in a variety of hideously painful manners (Eaten alive by pirahna beetles or slowly dipped into a smelter full of molten copper, for example), and then transferred his mind to a clone at the moment of death so that the Empire would not lose his services as a master engineer. When finally captured by the New Republic and sentenced to death for designing numerous weapons of mass destruction, Lemelisk is actually relieved that he is going die, and stay that way for a change.

* In the fifth ''KaraNoKyoukai'' movie, [[spoiler:Aozaki Touko]] is revealed to have created [[spoiler:a perfect puppet of herself (a clone, for all intents and purposes) out of pure scientific interest, then went into hybernation until it is killed by Araya]]. [[MindScrew Or it may have been the other way around]].

** What screwed up Gendo's plans was that even though Rei [[{{Kuudere}} doesn't associate with anyone]] due to the fact that she's going to die anyway, she does eventually falls in love with Shinji so when Third Impact comes, Rei instantly betrays Gendo since [[HoistByHisOwnPetard after she took Adam from his body, she no longer needs him]] to [[AssimilationPlot trigger Instrumentality and give control over mankind's souls to Shinji instead]]. Tons of MindScrew, I know.

* {{Naruto}} only uses short-lived clones, but he is [[{{Understatement}} very good]] at this.

* The Avengers' robot enemy Ultron does this routinely. He always has hidden equipment set up to rebuild him from a backed-up copy of his memories if he is destroyed. Amusingly, this happened when he was ''presumed'' dead during the original ''SecretWars.'' When that Ultron finally returned to Earth, he found not only that had his machines built an improved replacement copy, but he was horrified to find that the "improvements" made the copy ''[[HeelFaceTurn nice.]]'' They fought and evil Ultron won, [[StatusQuoIsGod naturally.]]

** This same idea is also used in [[OrsonScottCard Card's]]short story "A Thousand Deaths" in his short story compilation Maps in a Mirror.

* EveOnline: The players. Upon death they transfer their consciousness (or at least some of their memories)to a prepared clone, hence explaining their ability to respawn.

* Towards the end of ''{{StrikerS}}'', [[MadScientist Jail Scaglietti]] tried to pull of [[spoiler:an Inverse Cloning Gambit by allowing his real self be killed by Fate, then having at least one of his Numbers escape and give birth to his clone with all of his memories, effectively resurrecting him in a safe place. His plan was foiled by a) Fate controlling her rage and leaving him alive and b) the Team Nanoha disabling and apprehending all twelve Numbers]].

The genetic duplicate to BackupTwin. Either trope can easily turn into an AssPull, if not properly foreshadowed. Compare ActuallyADoombot.

* In ''The6thDay'''s climax, main character Adam Gibson and ''two'' of his clones pull of a series of these. Subverted in that all are voluntary.
** There's only one clone, plus the original.
*** He was also a clone, the 'original' having been killed in the attack on the helicopter by the fundies early in the film. It's likely that one was also a clone and the original died looong before.

* What screwed up Gendo's plans was that even though Rei [[{{Kuudere}} doesn't associate with anyone]] due to the fact that she's going to die anyway, she does eventually falls in love with Shinji so when Third Impact comes, Rei instantly betrays Gendo since [[HoistByHisOwnPetard after she took Adam from his body, she no longer needs him]] to [[AssimilationPlot trigger Instrumentality and give control over mankind's souls to Shinji instead]]. Tons of MindScrew, I know.

* In the ''MenInBlack'' AnimatedAdaptation, there was at least one instance where Jay used a "quick clone" for this purpose, which only had a lifespan of a few hours anyway, so [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman NBD]].

* The series Akumetsu is almost entirely based off of this.

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** One of the (many, many, many) subplots in the HandOfThrawn duology is that Grand Admiral Thrawn, who died at the end of TheThrawnTrilogy, set up a clone to be activated ten years after his death, telling his people to be ready when it happened. It didn't fall through ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero thanks, Luke and Mara]]), but there are occasional hints that ThereIsAnother. TimothyZahn [[WordOfGod has said]] that he would like to introduce a Thrawn clone one day, when the GalaxyFarFarAway needs a master strategist - but, unusually, this clone will be fully aware that he is not Thrawn, and will be under enormous pressure to live up to the original.

* This is one of the main mechanics in Paranoia. Should one of the PCs die, and they will, there next clone is just shipped off to the scene with the same memory and personality as before (except of course for the details of the death.)