History Main / OurClonesAreDifferent

So far the idea of cloning humans belongs only in fiction. The mere ''existence'' of such a person would have serious ethical questions about individuality and what scientists should and should not be allowed to accomplish using their methods, as well as whether or not the clone in question qualifies as a separate person. Due to this, there is plenty of leeway with how a clone of a human being might turn out. [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Rarely, if ever, does it resemble the real life process in any way]]. This is justified, however, considering the science of cloning is still in its very early stages. The examples depicted in media are likely to stay fictional, considering the extensive ethical concerns surrounding it. This trope denotes many of the fanciful ways media depicts cloning which would definitely not be possible in real life. Considering cloning has long made an appearance in media, the extent writers can create their own systems of how it works is very large. Some of the most notable deviations include the following.

Clones are defined as an identical duplicate of another living thing. In RealLife, this is generally done by removing a nucleus from an egg cell and combining it with another cell using electricity. Some animals have been successfully cloned, albeit usually [[CloneDegeneration with a multitude of health problems]]. So far the idea of cloning humans belongs only in fiction. The mere ''existence'' of such a person would have serious ethical questions about individuality and what scientists should and should not be allowed to accomplish using their methods, as well as whether or not the clone in question qualifies as a separate person. Due to this, there is plenty of leeway with how a clone of a human being might turn out. [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Rarely, if ever, does it resemble the real life process in any way]]. This is justified, however, considering the science of cloning is still in its very early stages. The examples depicted in media are likely to stay fictional, considering the extensive ethical concerns surrounding it. This trope denotes many of the fanciful ways media depicts cloning which would definitely not be possible in real life. Considering cloning has long made an appearance in media, the extent writers can create their own systems of how it works is very large. Some of the most notable deviations include the following.

* '''Aging:''' RealLife clones go through the same process of aging that every other organism does[[note]]Their tendency to die shortly after they are born has nothing to do with what fiction often thinks is the reason[[/note]], but fiction has a tendency to make aging a crucial aspect of who they are. Fictional clones are oftentimes [[BornAsAnAdult "born" at the same age their original happens to be at the time of their creation]]. In addition, it's common to see clones [[RapidAging age much faster than a normal human]], even though there is ''zero'' evidence for such a thing in real cloning science.

* '''Creation:''' The most common variant media plays with. In RealLife, a clone needs a DNA sample of whoever you're cloning, and they also need to be incubated in the womb of a genetically similar organism (so no putting a human embryo inside of an elephant). ''Fictional'' clones on the other hand are almost always grown in PeopleJars from nothing more than a single strand of hair or another small and easily-lost piece of genetic code. More fantastical works often feature [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus-esque]] ''[[FunctionalMagic magic]]'' clones that are oftentimes created from pretty much anything related to the person you are cloning, such as memories, [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]], the aforementioned genetic samples, or [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising kicking a mirror too hard]]. Occasionally a person may in fact be born unique before they ''[[CloneByConversion become]]'' a clone through external sources.

* It is gradually revealed throughout ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' that Rei is actually several different clones of the same person. One horrific scene even includes a massive vat filled with lifeless clone bodies of Rei, currently without having her memories and personality implanted. Rei herself is a [[TwoDonorClone mishmash]] between Yui Ikari and the second [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angel]], Lilith, looking like the former with blue hair and red eyes.

* A classic ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story tells of a malfunctioning duplication device scanning Superman and creating a deformed and contrarian copy of Superman called Bizarro. In later incarnations, he is a more traditional clone engineered from a copy of Superman's DNA.
* The Marvel OGN ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl Beats Up the Marvel Universe'' sees Squirrel Girl cloned by accident in the midst of a superhero battle. She and the clone seem almost exactly the same and they quickly become a team. However it soon becomes clear that the clone doesn't have the original's ability to compromise, causing her to become an anti-villain who sets out to make the world a better place for squirrels, plunging the city into chaos and taking out the Avengers along the way.

--> '''Mikoto:''' Oh, no, that's just... I can make clones out of electricity. It's... um. One of my powers. To make weaker doubles that can exist near... uh, near a generator. Yes.

* In ''Film/The6thDay'', "Blank" clones are grown which have all identifying characteristics stripped from their genome. When a specific person needs to be cloned, their DNA is overlayed on the Blank.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' features a cloning ray that can instantly duplicate both living beings ''and'' inanimate objects (as Hacker finds out when he's trapped behind a bunch of cloned pylons). The clones in question seem perfectly functional and obedient, but it's shown that too many of them will cause the original to start shrinking in mass; for some reason, they also multiply every time the original sneezes. Most of this is possibly justified by the implication that since they're in, well, {{Cyberspace}}, everything is ''actually'' made of computer data.

** There are at least three instances of cloning in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', [[CloneAngst none of which]] can be described as truly perfect. In the main game, Clone Dedede is created from a DNA sample of King Dedede that Susie somehow acquired. The clone greatly resembles Dedede except for the purple shading (yellow for the 2.0 version) and the Haltmann Works Company logo on the back of its coat. It uses similar hammer attacks [[TurningRed until it takes enough damage]] to eventually explode into three slimy blobs that reform as smaller clones. Each one becomes smaller and weaker upon successive regenerations until all health is eventually depleted. [[FlavorText The pause screen]] for the 2.0 version in the "Meta Knightmare Returns" mode states that while it has the look and voice of the king, it does not have his soul for some things cannot be cloned. Also, some trial models were only interested in food whilst others were afraid of a certain insect; all were imperfect.

* ''Series/TheWorstWitch'' features a spell that a which can use to clone herself. Among the ingredients are kippers and slippers. Done correctly, the clone has the exact same personality as the donor, but if another type of fish is used in place of the kippers, the personality will be different.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': The Starscream Clones are the result of [[TheStarscream Starscream]] placing an [=AllSpark=] fragment inside of a [[BlankSlate Protoform]] body. Most of them are mindless duplicates, but some are {{Palette Swap}}s which exhibit a LiteralSplitPersonality trait of Starscream's ([[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers along with an]] OppositeSexClone).

* ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}: ''The Romulan Way'' states that the Romulans used cloning and genetic engineering to replenish their numbers after over half their original population was lost in various mishaps during the Journey from Vulcan. This resulted in the removal of ''pon farr'' from their genomes, allowing them to reproduce more regularly than baseline Vulcans, but conversely also cost them most of their telepathic powers.