History Main / CloningGambit

* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', F'sherl-Ganni wormgate technology can be used to make a very quick (perfect) copy of whatever passes through it. When threatened with murder by a sinister military force, three scientists decide to escape using the gate-copy technology. One of them figured out how to turn that same technology into a small WMD, leading to [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20020720.html this line]]:

* In the ''WesternAnimation/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.

* This was the explanation created as a way to rectify the two contradictory deaths of [[spoiler:[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sate_Pestage Sate Pestage]]]] in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' comics. Currently canon holds that the one in the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' series was real and the one who survived until ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'' was the clone. This will probably [[FlipFlopOfGod change again]] the next time someone who preferred Dark Empire gets to write for the [[AllThereInTheManual Fact File or New Essential Chronology]].
** In ''ComicBook/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 Literature/HandOfThrawn duology, Mara sardonically says that she doubts this was really Palpatine, since during all that time he never called on her, his agent. [[spoiler:Never mind that she was just one of his many agents, despite his telling her she was unique.]]
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** [[EvilutionaryBiologist Mister Sinister]] has become famous for this since the 2010s. Not only is he extremely hard to kill to begin with, if you do manage it, there will be at least a dozen more waiting. He's even started taking it to the point of creating entire cities full of his clones, all programmed for specific roles within his society -- even rebels against said society, in the case of Sinister London -- and more recently, the Bar Sinister, both on [[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Battleworld]] and in the main 616 reality.
*** In ''X-Men: The End'', it's revealed that he once created a clone from his original, baseline human DNA as part of a plan to take down [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]] (he needed a body without Apocalypse's genetic meddling). He spliced in some DNA from [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]], believing that the Summers genes would ensure awesome superpowers. He was right; the clone would grow up to be, ironically enough, [[spoiler:[[Characters/MarvelComicsGambit Gambit]]]].
** Sinister is also known for doing this with his chief minions, the Marauders (though he hasn't used them so much in recent years), activating cells of them when they're needed. In the run-up to ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] found them and hijacked them, reprogramming the clones as disposable minions.
* [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] famously did this a few years after Creator/JohnByrne's reboot of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'', when the kryptonite ring he constantly wore to keep Superman at bay gave him terminal cancer.
* Creator/KurtBusiek eventually declared this was how ComicBook/IronMan's enemy Madam Masque kept coming back from the dead, and why her personality was inconsistent from one appearance to the next. The story that introduced this idea also killed off the last of the clones, asserting that only the original Madame Masque is still around.
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsUltron 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 ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984''. When that Ultron finally returned to Earth, he found that not only 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]].
* ''ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'': Any time you see someone or something kill Nick Fury, it was [[ActuallyADoombot actually a Life Model Decoy]].
* Knowing that he was liable to die at some point, [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] set up one of these. After his demise in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'', Loki was reborn as a young boy, with none of his older self's memories or issues. [[spoiler:And then a copy of the original Loki's personality appeared, planning to take possession of the child Loki, and use it to get away with more schemes. Only the process didn't go exactly according to plan, as the new Loki began feeling guilt over killing a child, and part of the child Loki's personality seeped through into them, and after nearly getting reality itself destroyed by their self-loathing in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' v2, they attempted to make a genuine HeelFaceTurn in ''ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''.]] In this case, WhichMe is extremely common and {{invoked|Trope}}/{{exploited|Trope}}/{{lampshade|Hanging}}d/etc. like there is no tomorrow (it's in Loki's nature to create as much confusion as possible).
* After a few rather poor showings by [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]], Creator/JimStarlin [[AuthorsSavingThrow wrote a story]] [[{{Retcon}} where it was revealed]] that those various Thanosi had all been clones, much weaker than the original. As a [[ArmedWithCanon snarky response]] to this, another writer later wrote a comic where [[ComicBook/SquirrelGirl Squirrel Girl]] defeated Thanos, with [[AllPowerfulBystander Uatu the Watcher]] right there to confirm that it was the real Thanos, and not a 'clone, robot, or doppelganger'. Starlin, being [[SeriousBusiness petty enough to take this joking incident seriously]], then wrote a comic where Thanos was revealed to have created a new type of clone that could fool even the Watcher's cosmic senses. [[TakeThatTitForTat Another comic]] was then written where Squirrel Girl confronted Thanos again, and she pointed out that if she defeated a doppelganger that was completely indistinguishable from the real Thanos, then that meant that she was equally capable of defeating the real thing, at which point Thanos [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cut and ran]].

* A version of this gets pulled off in VideoGame/Persona5. Suffice to say, the main characters trick [[spoiler:Akechi]] into believing he's won by having him kill the cognitive version of [[spoiler:Joker]], saving the real one. However, since the cognitive version of someone is essentially a realistic hallucination and not really alive (no more alive than a robot or puppet is) it's okay.

* Creator/KurtBusiek eventually declared this was how ComicBook/IronMan's enemy Madam Masque kept coming back from the dead, and why her personality was inconsistent from one appearance to the next.

->'''Luke Skywalker''': Clones! So it's true!\\
'''Emperor Palpatine''': The dying is painful... the transition is not an enjoyable experience. But the suffering is a small price to pay... for eternal life.

** In ''ComicBook/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 Literature/HandOfThrawn duology, Mara sardonically says that she doubts this was really Palpatine, since during all that time he never called on her, his agent. [[spoiler:Nevermind that she was just one of his many agents, despite his telling her she was unique.]]

** Mister Sinister has become famous for this since the 2010s. Not only is he extremely hard to kill to begin with, if you do manage it, there will be at least a dozen more waiting. He's even started taking it to the point of creating entire cities full of his clones, all programmed for specific roles within his society - even rebels against said society, in the case of Sinister London - and more recently, the Bar Sinister, both on Battleworld and in the main 616 reality.
*** In ''X-Men The End'', it’s revealed that he once created a clone from his original, baseline human DNA as part of a plan to take down ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} (he needed a body without Apocalypse’s genetic meddling). He spliced in some DNA from ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, believing the Summers genes would ensure awesome superpowers. He was right, the clone would grow up to be, ironically enough: [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Gambit}}.]]
** Sinister is also known for doing this with his chief minions, the Marauders (though he hasn't used them so much in recent years), activating cells of them when they're needed. In the run-up to ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', Magneto found them and hijacked them, reprogramming the clones as disposable minions.
* ComicBook/LexLuthor famously did this a few years after Creator/JohnByrne's reboot of the Franchise/{{Superman}} franchise, when the kryptonite ring he constantly wore to keep Superman at bay gave him terminal cancer.

* 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 ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984.'' When that Ultron finally returned to Earth, he found that not only 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.]]
* Any time you see someone or something kill ComicBook/NickFury, it was actually a Life Model Decoy.
* ''Loki'': Knowing he was liable to die at some point, Loki set up one of these. After his demise in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'', Loki was reborn as a young boy, with none of his older self's memories or issues. [[spoiler:And then a copy of the original Loki's personality appeared, planning to take possession of the child Loki, and use it to get away with more schemes. Only the process didn't go exactly according to plan, as the new Loki began feeling guilt over killing a child, and part of the child Loki's personality seeped through into them, and after nearly getting reality itself destroyed by their self-loathing in ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers'' v2, they attempted to make a genuine HeelFaceTurn in ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard''.]] In this case WhichMe is extremely common and invoked/exploited/lampshades/etc. like there is no tomorrow (it's in Loki's nature to create as much confusion as possible).
* After a few rather poor showings by [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]], Creator/JimStarlin [[AuthorsSavingThrow wrote a story]] [[RetCon where it was revealed]] that those various Thanosi had all been clones, much weaker than the original. As a [[ArmedWithCanon snarky response]] to this, another writer later wrote a comic where [[ComicBook/SquirrelGirl Squirrel Girl]] defeated Thanos, with [[AllPowerfulBystander Uatu the Watcher]] right there to confirm that it was the real Thanos, and not a 'clone, robot, or doppelganger'. Starlin, being [[SeriousBusiness petty enough to take this joking incident seriously]], then wrote a comic where Thanos was revealed to have created a new type of clone that could fool even the Watcher's cosmic senses. [[TakeThatTitForTat Another comic]] was then written where Squirrel Girl confronted Thanos again, and she pointed out that if she defeated a doppelganger that was completely indistinguishable from the real Thanos, then that meant that she was equally capable of defeating the real thing, at which point Thanos [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cut and ran]].

* Ernest Stavro Blofeld pulls this trick on Film/JamesBond with variable success in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' - albeit it's a case of CloneByConversion instead of genetic replicas.

* The Creator/GerryAnderson series ''{{Series/Terrahawks}}'' has its lead character, Doctor "Tiger" Ninestein (or should that be characters?). An early episode sees him unambiguously killed...then, in the aftermath, as his friends are grieving, he calmly walks in. Ol' Tiger has a SignificantName. He's been cloned nine times, so - if one of him is killed - a full memory/personality download is made on the next clone in line, who promptly fills the gap of his predecessor.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'', [[spoiler: Robot hires the [[GeniusBruiser Mauler Twins]] to clone him a new body with a copy of his consciousness, as his original one was horribly deformed. They inform him that the process [[BrainUploading doesn't copy over his consciousness]] and that he'd still be stuck in his original body, but he doesn't care and wants to [[DeathSeeker die in peace]] while someone with his SuperIntelligence can help save the world in his place.]]

** 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 piranha 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 will be KilledOffForReal this time.

* After a few rather poor showings by [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]], [[Creator/JimStarlin Jim Starlin]] [[AuthorsSavingThrow wrote a story]] [[RetCon where it was revealed]] that those various Thanosi had all been clones, much weaker than the original. As a [[ArmedWithCanon snarky response]] to this, another writer later wrote a comic where [[ComicBook/SquirrelGirl Squirrel Girl]] defeated Thanos, with [[AllPowerfulBystander Uatu the Watcher]] right there to confirm that it was the real Thanos, and not a 'clone, robot, or doppelganger'. Starlin, being [[SeriousBusiness petty enough to take this joking incident seriously]], then wrote a comic where Thanos was revealed to have created a new type of clone that could fool even the Watcher's cosmic senses. [[TakeThatTitForTat Another comic]] was then written where Squirrel Girl confronted Thanos again, and she pointed out that if she defeated a doppelganger that was completely indistinguishable from the real Thanos, then that meant that she was equally capable of defeating the real thing, at which point Thanos [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cut and ran]].

** 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 piranha 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 to die and ''stay'' that way for a change.

** [[Characters/XMenMarauders Mr Sinister]] has become famous for this since the 2010s. Not only is he extremely hard to kill to begin with, if you do manage it, there will be at least a dozen more waiting. He's even started taking it to the point of creating entire cities full of his clones, all programmed for specific roles within his society - even rebels against said society, in the case of Sinister London - and more recently, the Bar Sinister, both on Battleworld and in the main 616 reality.

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* Like many of Christopher Nolan's other movies, [[spoiler:''Film/ThePrestige'']] [[GambitPileup has its fair share of Gambits anyway]], but through the course of this film [[spoiler:Robert Angier receives a steampunk matter duplicator from UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, and in one of the most glaring cases of (intentional on the writer's part) MisappliedPhlebotinum ever, uses this device to perform a stage magic trick: He tells the audience that the device is a "teleporter", he activates the machine, his clone materializes behind the audience, and his original self falls below the stage through a trap door, into a tank of water, where he drowns. The entire shtick may have been [[EvilPLan an elaborate ploy to frame Alfred Borden for his own "murder".]]]]

* Yamato Takeru from Manga/MakenKi got the ability to BodySurf after his current body dies, though this put a massive strain on his soul unless his new host is related to him. To make full use of this, he has been producing countless clones of himself to make sure he always have a spare body to inhabit once he's killed. Which makes him basically unkillable no matter how many of his bodies are destroyed by the heroes. To add to this, he makes use of his clones as elite warriors in his army through genetic engineering or putting souls he's stolen from others and modified into them.

* From what ''[[JigsawPuzzlePlot appears]]'' to be the case in the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series, ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'' saw the long-overdue FinalDeath of [[spoiler:William Afton, series BigBad and the infamous "Purple Guy"]], leading to an eternity of suffering in ''VideoGame/UltimateCustomNight''. However, in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysVRHelpWanted'' we learn that [[spoiler:he managed to leave a copy of either his mind or his soul in the chips for the Spring Bonnie suit he was trapped in, and tries to use it to perform GrandTheftMe on the player. Worse yet, he appears to have picked up an apprentice...]]

* Variation in Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception. [[spoiler: Fairy cloning technology can create a clone that is physically and genetically identical to the original, but has no brain functions beyond life support. Opal Koboi clones herself, fakes a coma, then leaves the clone apparently catatonic in the hospital while she skips off to ruin the heroes' lives.]]

* Ernest Stavro Blofeld pulls this trick on Film/JamesBond with variable success in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' - albeit not ''genetic'' clones, but people made to look and somehow sound exactly like Blofeld.

* Ernest Stavros Bloefild pulls this trick on Film/JamesBond with variable success in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''.

* You can pull a Cloning Gambit in ''Evil Genius'', transforming one of your minions into [[BodyDouble a duplicate of your evil mastermind]]. If the clone is killed, the world powers will think you're dead, reducing your heat significantly.

* In the fifth ''LightNovel/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 hibernation until it is killed by Araya]]. [[MindScrew Or it may have been the other way around]].

The genetic duplicate to BackupTwin. Either trope can easily turn into an AssPull, if not properly foreshadowed, and often results in OpeningACanOfClones. Compare ActuallyADoombot. Similar to but distinct from BodyBackupDrive; in a Cloning Gambit, the clone dies in lieu of the original, whereas in that trope, the original dies in lieu of the clone.

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

* Towards the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[MadScientist Jail Scaglietti]] tried to pull off [[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) Riot Force 6 disabling and apprehending all twelve Numbers]].

* Part of [[BigBad Ryuzu Myoujin]]'s evil plan in ''Anime/CardfightVanguardG'' involves summoning [[LivingMacGuffin Living MacGuffins]] from another planet, a process that is CastFromHitPoints and inflicts RapidAging on himself. By the time the heroes first confront him, he's physically an old man and is severely ill, so he lets himself die in a fire and resurrects himself in a child clone body to continue his work. In this [[CreepyChild form]] he would remain the BigBad for the rest of the season.

* Part of [[BigBad Ryuzu Myoujin]]'s evil plan in ''Anime/CardfightVanguardG'' involves summoning LivingMacGuffins from another planet, a process that is CastFromHitPoints and inflicts RapidAging on himself. By the time the heroes first confront him, he's physically an old man and is severely ill, so he lets himself die in a fire and resurrects himself in a child clone body to continue his work. In this [[CreepyChild form]] he would remain the BigBad for the rest of the season.

** [[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryMToZ Mr Sinister]] is famous for this. Not only is he extremely hard to kill to begin with, if you do manage it, there will be at least a dozen more waiting. He's even started taking it to the point of creating entire cities full of his clones, all programmed for specific roles within his society - even rebels against said society, in the case of Sinister London - and more recently, the Bar Sinister, both on Battleworld and in the main 616 reality.

* Towards the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[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) Riot Force 6 disabling and apprehending all twelve Numbers]].