History Main / ClonesArePeopleToo

Expect any ZombieAdvocate to take this viewpoint, but expressing this view does not automatically make a person a ZombieAdvocate. See also AndroidsArePeopleToo. WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is when this trope is called into question or outright rejected and DeathMeansHumanity can lead to someone who views clones as lesser lifeforms to change their views to this trope.

%%* Namorita of the ComicBook/NewWarriors is the clone of Namora, ComicBook/SubMariner's seldom-seen cousin, a DistaffCounterpart who failed to catch on. Namorita, "Nita" to her friends, is not just a character in her own right, but ''much'' more of a major character, appearing continually whereas Namora sometimes goes decades without having her existence acknowledged. Namora couldn't have children, so she had her science folks implant her with an embryo made from herself. The plot has always treated her like more of a daughter, though her clone status has been discovered and caused trouble at times. Namorita's death at the beginning of ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' meant more appearances for Namora, but DeathIsCheap and Namorita's back. Her "mom" is still around, though. It should also be noted that her status as a clone was a RetCon introduced years after her introduction, which is certainly the main reason it has never been central to her characterization.

%%* Namorita of the ComicBook/NewWarriors is the clone of Namora, ComicBook/SubMariner's seldom-seen cousin, a DistaffCounterpart who failed to catch on. Namorita, "Nita" to her friends, is not just a character in her own right, but ''much'' more of a major character, appearing continually whereas Namora sometimes goes decades without having her existence acknowledged. Namora couldn't have children, so she had her science folks implant her with an embryo made from herself. The plot has always treated her like more of a daughter, though her clone status has been discovered and caused trouble at times. Namorita's death at the beginning of ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' meant more appearances for Namora, but DeathIsCheap and Namorita's back. Her "mom" is still around, though. It should also be noted that her status as a clone was a RetCon introduced years after her introduction, which is certainly the main reason it has never been central to her characterization.

* Namorita of the ComicBook/NewWarriors is the clone of Namora, ComicBook/SubMariner's seldom-seen cousin, a DistaffCounterpart who failed to catch on. Namorita, "Nita" to her friends, is not just a character in her own right, but ''much'' more of a major character, appearing continually whereas Namora sometimes goes decades without having her existence acknowledged. Namora couldn't have children, so she had her science folks implant her with an embryo made from herself. The plot has always treated her like more of a daughter, though her clone status has been discovered and caused trouble at times. Namorita's death at the beginning of ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' meant more appearances for Namora, but DeathIsCheap and Namorita's back. Her "mom" is still around, though. It should also be noted that her status as a clone was a RetCon introduced years after her introduction, which is certainly the main reason it has never been central to her characterization.

* The Nobodies of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' lore are essentially clones of regular people who've lost their hearts, leaving what's left behind to reanimate as an EmptyShell. Due to the nature of their existence being mutually exclusive to their original selves, they're generally treated as expendable not because they're clones but because [[AlwaysChaoticEvil almost all of them are evil]], and most Nobodies actually ''want'' to turn back into their original selves anyway. One exception to this is Roxas, who is the [[TokenHeroicOrc benevolent]] Nobody of TheHero Sora and due to special circumstances is able to exist while Sora is still alive and kicking. The caveat is that while Roxas exists as a separate entity, Sora is trapped in a BigSleep and can only wake up when Roxas remerges with him, something that's treated as a [[TomatoInTheMirror harsh but necessary reality]] that Roxas eventually accepts even though he's one of the few Nobodies who'd rather stay the way he is. Up to this point most characters have treated Roxas as nothing more than [[ExpendableClone a stand-in for Sora]], but when Sora ''himself'' finds out about all this later on, he's firmly of the opinion that Roxas deserves to be his own person and wants to find a way to make it happen. [[spoiler:By ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' they succeed in creating a separate body for Roxas to inhabit so he can aid the heroes in their DarkestHour, and from then on he gets to live his own life.]]
** Xion on the other hand is a more conventional clone, having been created deliberately in a lab as a replica made out of some of Sora's memories in order to provide Organization XIII with a backup in case something happens to Roxas, essentially making her a clone ''of'' a clone. Consequently she is viewed as expendable even by other Nobodies, but an integral part of her storyline involves her gaining her own identity and developing a bond with Roxas. Unfortunately, just as Roxas's existence endangers Sora, Xion's existence endangers Sora ''and'' Roxas and she chooses to commit SuicideByCop in a final showdown with Roxas in order to save him. It's Xion's choice to die in this manner that ensures the downfall of the Organization later on and drives Roxas to further pursue his own quest for self-actualization while honoring her sacrifice, [[spoiler:and just as with Roxas she's brought back to live her own life by ''III'']].

* In ''Fanfic/CoreLine'' there are a great many AlternateSelf versions of a single Fictional character running around, which leads to many people (villainous, of course) believing that the ExpendableAlternateUniverse is at work and one Alternate can be as similar as the next. Of course, the heroes believe in this trope, and in some stories (such as ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheVanguard'') being told that their friends and loved ones are [[ExpendableClone Expendable Clones]] leads to some ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge serious]]'' anger.

* In ''Literature/ALightInTheDarkness'', this is how the Slavic Empire treats clones. The Utopian States, on the other hand, believes that clones are [[ExpendableClone expendable]].

* Franchise/SpiderMan:

** In the original Marvel What-If involving the original cloning incident with the clone surviving, Peter is nothing but considerate to his duplicate's plight once things settle down. They agree to help him make his own life, while both of them can split the load of being Spider-Man. Really the only disagreement is who has to sleep on the couch until they can get a spare bed.

** ComicBook/SpiderGirl gets one too, and while they teased her possibly going evil, she hasn't. She is, however, an AntiHero and something of a wild card. [[spoiler: After a decent run, "April Parker" does die for her 'sister' May]] in the GrandFinale.

* The Aesop in the original Japanese version of ''Anime/MewtwoStrikesBack'' and it's remake amounts to this. The English dub changed it to "fighting is wrong" in the original film. However, they did keep Mewtwo's line about "the circumstances of one's birth". The English dub of the remake does keep the original Japanese version's moral.

* The Aesop in the original Japanese version of ''Anime/MewtwoStrikesBack'' and it's [[Anime/MewtwoStrikesBackEvolution]] amounts to this. The English dub changed it to "fighting is wrong" in the original film. However, they did keep Mewtwo's line about "the circumstances of one's birth". The English dub of the remake does keep the original Japanese version's moral.

* The Aesop in the original Japanese version of ''Anime/MewtwoStrikesBack'' amounts to this. The English dub changed it to "fighting is wrong". However, they did keep Mewtwo's line about "the circumstances of one's birth".

* Played with in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':

*** [[DesignerBabies Glemmy Toto]] may have [[TheEvilPrince Gihren]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Zabi]]'s DNA, and is almost as [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] and [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans evil]] as his donor, but the similarities end there. While [[InsaneAdmiral Gihren]] was a humourless, ugly [[LackOfEmpathy cold-blooded]] UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed stand-in]], [[AcePilot Glemmy]] is a smooth talking [[{{Bishonen}} pretty boy]] [[TheCharmer charmer]], with a [[BunnyEarsLawyer quirky]] [[LaughablyEvil sense of humour]] and a [[StepfordSmiler Stepford Smile]].

* Both ''Film/{{Clonus}}'' and ''Film/TheIsland'' run on the same plot point, clones that were made to be nothing but living organ recipients for their originals that will be eventually killed and cut open to provide said organs (in the latter film the clones are said to be brain-dead to the investors to prevent them from decrying this, but the doctor in charge then says that the clones could ''not'' be made brain-dead because of a {{Handwave}} that this led to unviable organs for some reason). But the problem of course becomes that said clones can have things like inquisitiveness, and sexual desires...

[[CloningBlues Clones have often gotten the short end of the stick]] in ScienceFiction. When they're not [[TheSoulless soulless]] [[EmptyShell abominations]] or [[EvilTwin evil dopplegangers]], they tend to be seen as [[ExpendableClone just back-up copies of the original and nothing more]].

This trope is when a clone is permitted to be their own person and live their own life, essentially becoming a character independent from the original. They may grapple with CloningBlues now and then, or they may recognize that their personality is sufficiently unique for them to think of themselves as -- well, themselves. This is more difficult if they started life with the copied memories of the original. Often, they become a recurring or supporting character. If the original is dead, it's likely the clone [[BackUpTwin takes over the original's role]].

* ''Literature/{{Heroics}}'': Part of the way to tell who the worst characters are is to see which ones treat [[CastingAShadow Alix]] [[CloningBlues Tolvaj]] as an actual person instead of a thing. Resident {{Jerkass}} Justin explicitly refers to her as an 'it'; BigBad Alice -- [[AbusiveParents who Alix was cloned from]] -- [[ExpendableClone treats her (and others like her) as a completely expendable tool]]; BigBad John Wechsler doesn't interact with her much but clearly sees her as nothing more than a wayward experiment; and [[spoiler: EvilAllAlong Stephanie]] wants her to be executed mostly just for existing. The rest of the main cast is much, ''much'' more welcoming.

** One episode has several characters "doubled" for the nefarious purposes of a [[ImAHumanitarian villain of weird tastes]], who repeatedly states that this is not cloning, but perfect duplication -- or as he liked to call it, "twinning". Both copies of the protagonist, John Crichton, survive the episode, remaining as crew members and participating in a LoveTriangle with "himself" over their LoveInterest, Aeryn. When she made a choice (somewhat forced by the situation at hand), CloningBlues set in for the other guy.
-->"I hope he's having a good time-- No, wait, I hope he's having a TERRIBLE time. I just hope he treats her well."

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': If you play the Paragon path when you find out the villain in the ''Citadel DLC'' is [[spoiler:an EvilKnockoff Clone of Shepard]], Shepard takes this approach. Unfortunately it doesn't work, [[spoiler:since CloningBlues, a severe InferioritySuperiorityComplex and a case of IJustWantToBeSpecial causes the clone to be DrivenToSuicide when abandoned by their one ally]].

** Ellen, Elliot's OppositeSexClone, is quickly accepted by Elliot and his family and now lives as Elliot's twin sister. Due to her brief case of CloningBlues, she has also developed a distinct personality from the original. Taken a step further when while having an argument with him, Ellen demands to know why Tedd, who started the series of events that led to her creation, never apologized for it. Tedd's [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2011-09-20 answer]] is epically heartwarming:

* In the finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', [[spoiler:Anne]] dies, but a "backup" is made that's exactly the same as immediately beforehand. Functionally, it's just as if they never died, though [[CloningBlues they can't rule out the possibility]] of [[ExistentialHorror an existential crisis]].

** Superboy counts here too, who while still incorporating elements of Superman, [[spoiler:Lex Luthor]], and his initial CloningBlues, has gone on to develop his own personality and live his own life.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' crosses this trope with JustAMachine with the episode "His Silicon Soul". A robot replica of Batman, left behind by the defeat of the evil A.I HARDAC in the two-parter "Heart Of Steel", is accidentally reactivated and belives himself to be the original Batman. After he discovers what he truly is, he almost resurrects HARDAC, but when he belives he killed the original Batman, his [[ThouShaltNotKill conscience]] resurfaces and he destroys HARDAC and himself. Batman surmises that his replica really did have a soul after all. This is an especially interesting example as the original robot clones did not have emotions or anything beyond a copy of the human original's memories, and were NOT examples of this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' has the episode "The Everywhere Man" exploring this. The villain of the show is the clone of an inventor who created a duplication device. Each clone starts as an identical copy of its original, until it gains self-awareness (and, for some reason, becomes increasingly worse than its original), and sometimes grows disgruntled with its creator. Clone n°1 deals with this by basically killing his clones [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once they're no longer useful to him]] or if they start rebelling. Some of the clones are okay with this, some of them... aren't.

* In ''Anime/AstraLostInSpace'', [[spoiler:the crew of the Astra never doubt themselves as being human after learning they are clones beyond the initial shock. The world government they live in feels the same, helping them revise their birth certificate after the truth is revealed and provind them support until they turn 18. The only ones who treat them as non-human are their parents, who are protrayed as villanious the whole time.]]

* ''{{Film/Moon}}'': Despite the way Lunar Industries treats them, both Sam clones act very much like normal human beings.

* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike]]'' has Black Hole create clones of the Allied Nations' best [=COs=] to battle on their behalf, which are at first believed to effectively be robotic empty shells that mindlessly do their job and then vanish. [[spoiler:Then they come face-to-face with the clone of Andy who reveals that he, and likely all the clones that have died thus far, were just ReallyBornYesterday by questioning his existence and being happy to learn his original is a good person with friends... [[DownerEnding before also dying]]. [[ThisIsUnforgivable Jake does NOT take this well]].]]

[[CloningBlues Clones have often gotten the short end of the stick]] in SciFi. When they're not [[TheSoulless soulless]] [[EmptyShell abominations]] or [[EvilTwin evil dopplegangers]], they tend to be seen as [[ExpendableClone just back-up copies of the original and nothing more]].

* ''[[VideoGame/AdvanceWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike]]'' has Black Hole create clones of the Allied Nations' best [=COs=] to battle on their behalf, which are at first believed to effectively be robotic empty shells that mindlessly do their job and then vanish. [[spoiler:Then they come face-to-face with the clone of Andy who reveals that he, and likely all the clones that have died thus far, were just ReallyBornYesterday by questioning his existence and being happy to learn his original is a good person with friends... [[DownerEnding before also dying]]. [[ThisIsUnforgivable Jake does NOT take this well]].]]

* This is a major plot point in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear series'', especially in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. At the very end [[spoiler:Big Boss himself]] tells Snake that he respects him as a soldier, and is sure that Snake would've made very different decisions if placed in the same situations as him. This neatly summarizes the whole [[AnAesop aesop]] of the series: your genes don't determine who you are –- your ''actions'' do.

** In New Testament, [[spoiler:the {{Cyborg}} Rensa explains that this was the very reason she was created as a countermeasure for a potential rebellion of the Level 5s instead of using more clones, stating that the failure of the Radio Noise Project (the above-mentioned incident with Misaka's clones) was in part ''because'' the clones were able to develop free will and individuality to deviate from their created goal of being slaves to the project. A {{Cyborg}} like her, on the other hand, has no need or desire for such a thing]].

* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "Replica", the clone in question, complete with the memories of the original, was created to replace the wife of a bioengineer who was wrongly thought to be irreversibly comatose. When the original awakens, a discussion begins of how to handle the copy, but murder is clearly off the table and instead their plan would allow the clone to have her own independent life [[spoiler:with a clone of the husband]]. The clone also notes how differences have begun to emerge between them.