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| 3 | %% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end. |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1448265144078302800 |
| 8 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheMatrixReloaded https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smithsimmilation.jpg]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:350:More Smiths will suffice.]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->'''Agent Thompson:''' You!\ |
| 14 | '''Smith:''' Yes, me. ''[starts transforming him into another Smith]'' Me, me, me.\ |
| 15 | '''Thompson-Smith:''' Me, too. |
| 16 | -->-- ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' |
| 17 | |
| 18 | One of the problems with cloning is how slow and inefficient it is; you have all the difficulties of creating life, letting the clone mature, dealing with it diverging from the original, CloneDegeneration and so on. One simple way around this is to start off with some raw materials... namely, another person. This can range from using FunctionalMagic or AppliedPhlebotinum to transform someone physically and mentally or using more mundane means like MagicPlasticSurgery and {{Brainwashing}}. Either way, the unfortunate victim becomes the original's {{Doppelganger}}. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Since this [[DeathOfPersonality basically]] involves killing the person who the clone is "made" from, this trope tends to be the province of villains. Indeed, since cloning has become possible in RealLife (and no longer automatically brings to mind a MadScientist), this is a good way for a writer to keep the act of cloning someone as ethically questionable. A villain who makes a habit of it might also be TheVirus (especially if the clones are able to transform people as well). |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Expect all the usual CloneAngst, since the copy has to deal with a LossOfIdentity on two levels; both as a copy of someone else and from losing their original identity (if they can even remember it). A SubTrope of OurClonesAreDifferent. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Compare and Contrast; {{Humanshifting}} (when someone has the ability to transform into another person), WeWillNotUseStageMakeupInTheFuture (when this is used where a simple disguise would have sufficed), BodySurf (when there is always only one of the "surfer", barring accidents), GrandTheftMe (when someone takes over another person's body), TheVirus (which transforms the victim into a member of the Virus' type, rather than into a specific individual, although this distinction may be blurred if the Virus has a HiveMind), FaceStealer (who forcefully transforms themselves into the original rather than the other way around), SelfConstructedBeing (when any material can be used as well as focusing on the being in question), and KillAndReplace (when the killer transforms into or impersonates the victim). |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ----- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 32 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFA6_uaAlzQ In]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7H_knHmoAY these]] Absolut commercials, a type of medicine known as [=BeKanye=] is advertised, which transforms the person who takes it into ''Music/KanyeWest''. |
| 33 | * In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kkiOfLUIUY this]] Medicus commercial, a mother is talking to a babysitter, explaining everything she needs to know. As time goes on, the babysitter begins transforming into the mother. |
| 34 | * A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhwzLBD-yk4 commercial]] for Sissy Boy Jeans involves a woman [[MedicalHorror operating on a man to transform him into herself]]. [[AndIMustScream He is fully aware of what's happening to him the whole time]], but by the end of the commercial, she doesn't seem to mind, in fact even [[ScrewYourself kissing the woman she is now a copy of, hence the commercial's Love Yourself tagline]]. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 38 | * ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'': Those marked by Kama will turn eventually turn into the ÅŒtsutsuki who marked them, erasing their genetic profile and personality in the process. |
| 39 | * In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', MonsterOfTheWeek Gyuukimon is said to be able to do this to other Digimon but when it attempts this on [[TheHero Hiro]]'s human classmates, it turns them into malformed hybrids. |
| 40 | * ''Manga/{{Dorohedoro}}'': In an episode, Chota is forcefully transformed into Nikaido in order to fool En and Chidaruma. However, he does not become a mental clone of Nikaido and therefore [[DifferentForGirls has to act like he is her]]. |
| 41 | * In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', this is one of the powers within the ability Convert Hands: Transfer Student. If the user touches someone with the palm of his or her right hand, that person becomes a physical duplicate of the user. Chrollo uses this ability as part of a trap for Hisoka, who was pursuing him, by turning a bystander into a copy of Chrollo so Hisoka would target the bystander instead of him.[[note]]The palm of the left hand is the [[InvertedTrope inversion]], allowing the user to [[HumanShifting take on the likeness of the person touched]]. Chrollo actually used both of them at once, effectively turning it into a FreakyFridayFlip in which the bodies are swapped.[[/note]] |
| 42 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', the Enhanced Person #4 [[spoiler:Elan Ceres]] is in fact a poor fellow who got hired to serve as a BodyDouble for the original, undergoing a memory wipe and surgical procedure to look just like them. [[spoiler:Once #4 outlives his usefullness, he is immediately killed and replaced with #5.]] This notably also raises some questions about main character Suletta Mercury, who's [[spoiler:perfectly identical to Ericht Samaya who was {{Brain Upload|ing}}ed several years before Suletta was supposedly born]]. |
| 43 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 44 | ** Impure World Resurrection brings people back from the dead by turning still-living people into clones of them. |
| 45 | ** Another technique transforms a person in a walking puppet of the controller and transforms the puppet body to match the master. These copies are only as strong as the amount of energy the controller transfers to them. When they are killed, the bodies revert to their true forms. |
| 46 | ** The Infinite Tsukuyomi very slowly turns humans trapped in it into White Zetsu clones by draining them of their personalities and defining features. |
| 47 | * In ''Manga/OnePiece'', one of Brûlée's lesser-used powers is this. Though she mainly uses her Mirror-Mirror Fruit powers to [[MirrorMonster appear in other people's mirrors and emerge through them]], she also has the power to take any animal (human or otherwise), including herself, and physically alter them into a mirror image of someone or something else, Devil Fruit powers included. The effects are easily undone, however, which is why she uses it only to confuse her enemies and to stall for time. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/{{Tomie}}'': If someone gets an organ transplant or blood transfusion from Tomie, that person will eventually turn into another Tomie. |
| 49 | * ''Franchise/YuGiOh'': |
| 50 | ** A character willingly subjects themselves to this in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Z-One]], [[HopeBringer in an attempt to bring hope]] to the BadFuture he came from, converted himself both physically and mentally into an exact duplicate of [[MagneticHero Yusei Fudo]], even to the point of being able to use the powers of both the Crimson Dragon and even ''Clear Mind'', [[AllForNothing though it ultimately amounts to nothing]], as eventually, only four survivors -- [[Anime/YuGiOhBondsBeyondTime Paradox]], Aporia, Antinomy and Z-One himself -- remained, and eventually [[LastOfHisKind only he remained]]. In his final duel with Yusei, he uses the fact that he now thinks exactly like Yusei to deadly effect, leading to Yusei having to rely on tactics he'd never use just to stay alive.]] |
| 51 | ** In ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', the card Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon can take control of enemy monsters and change their names, appearance, and stats to mirror it. |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Audio Plays]] |
| 55 | * In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio play ''Mission of the Viyrans'', Peri becomes the vector for a pathogen that painfully converts the entire populace of a planet, the Doctor included, into clones of her. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 59 | * ''Franchise/TheDCU'': |
| 60 | ** The Convert, one of the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague3000'''s main enemies, does this ''en masse'' as his primary ability. [[spoiler:It's also how the future versions of the Justice League were created.]] |
| 61 | ** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': The first villains who the Justice League ever face off against in [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] continuity (though it wasn't the first story about them published) are seven alien warlords who choose Earth as their battleground for a winner-take-all free-for-all. They each vary wildly in appearance and abilities, except for one: they each can turn any humans (or super-humans) they focus on into loyal, miniature {{Mook|s}} versions of themselves. Thankfully, this also has NoOntologicalInertia (it ''was'' [[LighterAndSofter the Silver Age]], after all). |
| 62 | ** ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': A story arc has the nanomachines that give Cyclone [[BlowYouAway her powers]] suffer a malfunction that makes them transmissible and convert other women into copies of her. She eventually works out the problem and reverts the victims, but not before someone she went to for help exploited the situation to try and copy her powers. |
| 63 | ** ''ComicBook/WorldsFinest1941'': In #173, the villainous Dr. Arron tricks Batman and Superman into drinking a potion which physically and mentally transforms them into two of their enemies: Two-Face and Kralik, respectively. |
| 64 | ** In ''Mystery of Space'' #103, this is the EvilPlan of four aliens who form an alliance to take over the galaxy. They use {{ray gun}}s that convert objects and people into loyal copies of themselves, possessing their powers. Their plans are fortunately thwarted by a man who catches wind of their evil schemes and gets caught in a crossfire between the four of them. This leaves each quart of his body transformed, granting him FlyingBrick, ShockAndAwe and SelectiveMagnetism powers, [[SuperHeroOrigin so he becomes Ultra the Multi-Alien]]. |
| 65 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Queen Atomia's "Proton Chamber" turns those of her victims that are forced into it and put through the chamber's process all into identical clones which are near mindlessly loyal to her and extra susceptible to her mental commands. |
| 66 | * ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': |
| 67 | ** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 68 | *** In ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', Norman Osborn creates a copy of Aunt May via a "genetically-altered actress" while keeping the real Aunt May captive as part of his AssPull-errific master plan. |
| 69 | *** Previous to this, the original ''Clone Saga'' was {{retcon}}ned by way of the Jackal using a retrovirus to create his clones, not the virtual instant clones as originally portrayed. Once the second ''Clone Saga'' kicked off, that retcon was unceremoniously dismissed in an "ILied" reversal. |
| 70 | ** ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'': The Karma Project's army of superhumans is made of numerous people who were injected with [[AdaptiveAbility Darwin]]'s DNA and transformed into exact copies of him. Fortunately, they all begin [[CloneDegeneration breaking down]]. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': In the UK comics, when Straxus fails into transferring his mind into Megatron's body, he turns a hapless Decepticon technician (that is retconed into Archforce by ask Vector Prime) into a "Megatron clone" to attempt the transfer again. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 75 | * ''Assimilation'' is a ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' fanwebcomic focusing on what the bluepills were doing during the Smith virus, as the title suggests. |
| 76 | * The ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/FelixsGuideToApocalypseSurvival'' is about this, with Carol, one of the [[GameMod game's mods]], becoming the vector of a pathogen that slowly assimilates everybody on Earth into clones of herself. By the end of the story, [[spoiler:[[AndThenJohnWasAZombie Felix himself gets fully assimilated]], but earlier in the story he was partially assimilated.]] Apparently, this story was inspired by the example from ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. |
| 77 | * ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'': In ''Radiance'', Elspeth accidentally does this. She can use her powers to [[MindRape implant thousands of memories into a given person]]. [[spoiler:With a bit of makeup, it's not too hard to mislead them as to which set of memories are their own.]] |
| 78 | * ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': Mayumi is convinced that the Minisukas are attempting to transform her into one of them. The first time she sees regular-sized Asuka, Mayumi becomes convinced that she was a normal girl whom they have turned into one member of their brethren. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 82 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', [[spoiler:the Joker implants his DNA and consciousness into a special chip installed into Tim Drake during his torture of him, causing him to turn into a copy of him many years later. Batman saves Tim and destroys Joker once and for all by shorting out the chip]]. |
| 83 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime'', Lady Tremaine, with the Fairy Godmother's wand, turns Anastasia into a duplicate of Cinderella so she can wed Prince Charming while the real Cinderella is sent to her doom. |
| 84 | [[/folder]] |
| 85 | |
| 86 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 87 | * In ''Film/The6thDay'', clones are created by growing a "blank" and then overlaying the DNA of the intended subject onto it. In this manner, a clone of anyone can be made in under an hour. |
| 88 | * Blofeld attempts this at the start of ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. Film/JamesBond [[MuggedForDisguise KOs a scientist on the project, steals his clothes]], and drowns the would-be clone in mud. |
| 89 | * ''Franchise/TheMatrix'': In ''[[Film/TheMatrixReloaded Reloaded]]'' and onwards, Smith gains the ability to do this after ceasing to be an Agent (in [[Film/TheMatrix the first movie]], he can only BodySurf people who are still plugged into the Matrix, like all the other Agents). He can do this not only to bluepills and his fellow Machines, but [[spoiler:also to Free Minds to use them to gain access to the Real World]]. By the end of ''[[Film/TheMatrixRevolutions Revolutions]]'', [[spoiler:he's [[AssimilationPlot turned more or less everyone in the Matrix into Smiths]]]]. |
| 90 | * ''Film/LaPielQueHabito'' is about a DeadlyDoctor using a MagicPlasticSurgery technique he invented to turn [[spoiler:a young woman]] into a ReplacementGoldfish for his dead wife. |
| 91 | * The 2010 horror movie ''Film/{{Victim|2010}}'' has a similar premise to ''La piel que habito'', although the doctor in question wants to turn his victim into a copy of his dead daughter [[spoiler:(who he attacked)]] through plastic surgery and brainwashing. [[spoiler:The ending reveals that the daughter survived the attack but was left in a coma.]] |
| 92 | [[/folder]] |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 95 | * ''Literature/{{Angelmaker}}'': The true villain, Shem Shem Tsien, used surgery and brainwashing to turn the serial killer Vaughn Parry into a perfect replica of himself, allowing him to "survive" and continue his plans well past his death by old age. This pseudo-resurrection didn't help his preexisting god complex any. A number of "prototypes" with incomplete brainwashing are employed as part of his goon squad. |
| 96 | * In ''Literature/{{Beta}}'', clones are created by extracting the soul of the original person (the "First") out of his/her body, then implanting a computer chip with information into said body. |
| 97 | * In the {{Light Novel|s}} ''The Brave Man's Plan for Conquest'', the protagonist Rain Shudo [[spoiler:loses a battle with a demon lord. However, he keeps her alive]] and clones her as in many ways as possible [[spoiler:to create world peace]]. Rain agrees, and eventually, she learns SelfDuplication magic, and creates spells and potions to transform others into her copies. |
| 98 | * ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'' reveals that [[spoiler:the Didact from the ''VideoGame/Halo3'' terminals]] was the result of [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact (the one from ''VideoGame/Halo4'')]] imprinting his consciousness upon a younger Forerunner. Unusually for this trope, the original personality still maintains some influence (most notably in his ''much'' more friendly attitude towards humanity compared with the original), and the act itself is portrayed as a necessary one, with the [[spoiler:Didact]] imprint even promising his host that he'll return control when his mission is over, though, by the time that happens, their personalities seem to have become [[SplitPersonalityMerge irrecoverably merged]]. [[spoiler:He's ''still'' much better off than his progenitor.]] |
| 99 | * In the ''Literature/ImperialRadch'' trilogy, [[HiveMind Anaander Mianaai]] pulled this on [[spoiler:Lieutenant Tisarwat before we even got a chance to meet the poor kid]], kidnapping and secretly installing ancillary implants in her brain to assimilate her as a "stealth" segment of the Anaander personality for espionage purposes. It does ''not'' end well. |
| 100 | * ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'' lays down the concept that certain people with neurochemically similar brains can form empathic states and become a singular mind when [[ElectronicTelepathy mentally linked up using the Bremen Chip]]. Connecting two similar brains together can cause the less-dominant brain to become more dominant-like (although the full effects can take months to manifest). [[spoiler:This is what happens to Lauren when she connects to Marian's brain, fully maturing an Independent Psychological State, allowing her brain to mimic Marian's brain activity and thus break into Marian's brain-locked computer.]] |
| 101 | * In ''Literature/MoreAndMoreAndMoreTalesToGiveYouGoosebumps'', this starts happening to Beth's family when they watch the Christmas tape in "A Holly Jolly Holiday" -- as they continue watching, they gain the star of the tape, Susie Snowflake’s personality and her looks. |
| 102 | * In ''Literature/{{Slimer}}'', Charlie is a genetically engineered shapeshifting shark who absorbs the minds and bodies of his victims. [[spoiler:Near the end, as his original body is dying, he "impregnates" the body of a Brinkstone helicopter pilot instead of absorbing him. The original body dies, while the cells implanted into the pilot convert the man's body into an exact duplicate of Charlie, with his memories and personality.]] Overlaps with BodySurf a little. |
| 103 | * In ''Literature/{{Stardoc}}: Plague of Memory'', Cherijo's long-dead first love, Kao Torin, is sighted on the Hsktskt homeworld. [[spoiler:He turns out to be a genetically altered Hsktskt, created from DNA extracted from Kao's corpse which was [[BurialInSpace buried in space]] by Jorenian custom.]] |
| 104 | * In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', when a Fused spirit kills a singer and takes their body, the singer's form shifts to something unique to the Fused. |
| 105 | * In ''Literature/ThePerfectRun'' Bloodstream was able to do this, having both the Blue power to turn into pure information and the Green power to control his blood. Due to being his own blood, [[spoiler:Dynamis made a knockoff elixir that would eventually transform the drinker into a Bloodstream]] |
| 106 | * In ''Literature/VampireCity'', being turned into a vampire can have this effect on the victim, which can be a little weird if they [[GenderBender were originally a different sex than the vampire that bit them]]. |
| 107 | * ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Blood transfusions from someone with a high-level HealingFactor carry the risk of this, with or without the DeathOfPersonality aspects. |
| 108 | ** [[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/mama-s-boy Knockoff]] was fortunate; while he became a physical copy of [[GenderBender his mother]] after she was forced to give him a life-saving transfusion, his/her own mutation manifested as a result, which meant that not only did she retain her own memories and personality, she also developed powers that differed from her mother's. |
| 109 | ** A more tragic example was [[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/slipping-away Adavia Taylor]], who became contaminated with a male superhero's blood during a supervillain battle. For the next several months, she slowly became an almost-exact copy of the hero, in both body and mind, eventually forgetting his previous life entirely. |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 113 | * An episode of Cracksnory shows a postman unsatisfied with life meet a new girl named Zoe, whom he begins to transform into as he reads her mail. |
| 114 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 115 | ** Similarly to the example from ''Franchise/TheMatrix'', the Master does this to [[spoiler:[[AssimilationPlot almost the entire human race]]]] in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]". |
| 116 | --->''"[[DeadlineNews Breaking news]]: [[spoiler:I'm everyone -- and everyone in the world is ME]]!"'' |
| 117 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor The Power of the Doctor]]" the Master does this again [[spoiler:to the Doctor herself, using a machine to force her to regenerate into a copy of the Master that has the Master's brain. He then travels the universe trying to ruin the Doctor's reputation. Eventually, the Doctor ([[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind with the help of her past selves]]) is able to reverse the regeneration]]. |
| 118 | * The ''Series/EvenStevens'' special "A Very Scary Story" has Rn convert everyone in the school into exact copies of herself, not even sparing her family |
| 119 | * In an episode of ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', many characters are transformed into the maid Janet. |
| 120 | * ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' has Adel, Prince of the Ganma, who intends to '''become the world'''. Allying with the Ganmaizers, fifteen monsters who assume his form, Adel gains the ability to transform the populace of both human and Ganma worlds into copies of himself, including his henchmen ''and his sister''. |
| 121 | * In season 2 of ''Series/Legion2017'', there is the ongoing mystery of how Lenny seems to have been resurrected, as she was killed in Season 1 and Farouk took her form when tormenting David. It turns out that Farouk had absorbed her mind when she died, and kept her imprisoned within himself. After regaining his own physical body, he kidnapped David's sister, Amy, and murdered her by using a machine that physically transformed her body into an identical copy of Lenny's. Then he placed Lenny's mind inside said body. This means that Lenny, while effectively resurrected, is really just possessing the EmptyShell that ''was'' once Amy. |
| 122 | * The first episode of the second season of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' has Lex Luthor's ex-wife requesting a surgical procedure on a woman to turn her into an exact lookalike of Lois Lane as part of a revenge plot. |
| 123 | * In 2003, the [[MediaNotes/MTVMovieAndTVAward MTV Movie Awards]] did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5OfG_wxkJI a parody]] of ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' in which, among other things, [[Film/AmericanPie Seann William Scott]] as Agent Smith did this to Wanda Sykes. He later tries to do this to Music/JustinTimberlake, but Justin is The One and proceeds to beat the crap out of all of the Agent Scotts, which causes the original to snap out of it and go back to normal. |
| 124 | -->'''Wanda:''' Hey, you're that guy that got peed on in ''Film/{{American P|ie}}''-- ''[Agent Scott shoves his fist into Wanda's gut and starts transforming her into an Agent]'' Mmm, ooh, you're hittin' the spot! How big is your fist? Good lord! Hey, wait a minute, man, [[SkewedPriorities this shit is dry-clean only]]!\ |
| 125 | '''Agent Scott:''' You'll like being a dude. ''[the transformation finishes]''\ |
| 126 | '''Agent Scott's clone:''' I do. |
| 127 | * ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGoBusters'' has an unusual example of a villain doing this to ''himself''. Late in the show, [[spoiler:Enter]], attempting to gain ThePowerOfHate for himself, deliberately begins copying more and more of Hiromu's abilities, fighting style, and eventually even his Buster form. It even reaches the point of his face morphing into Hiromu's at times. |
| 128 | * In ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'', Nandor uses a series of [[JackassGenie wishes from a djinn]] to bring his favorite wife, Marwa, BackFromTheDead. While the djinn [[BenevolentGenie returns Marwa with no baggage or angst]], Nandor turns out to have liked her as a person much less than he remembers. Throughout the season, Nandor wishes for Marwa's appearance and tastes to morph to match his own, ultimately [[DeathOfPersonality wishing that she were a copy of Guillermo's boyfriend, Freddy, in body and mind]]. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 132 | * A willing version of the process is ''very'' common in VisualKei. Whether out of their admiration for other artists or out of wanting in on their success, this happens with some artists who take FollowTheLeader to an extreme and become, in effect, clones of other artists' personas and sometimes even scarily close to their actual selves. Some common artists that pick up a lot of this are [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto hide]] of Music/XJapan -- to the point that hides clones and cosplayers are almost their own subculture within visual kei -- Music/{{Kyo}} of Music/DirEnGrey -- who was himself one of Music/{{Kuroyume}}'s Kiyoharu -- and Atsushi Sakurai of Music/BuckTick. |
| 133 | ** Music/{{Kisaki}} and Music/{{Kaoru}} are among the ''many'' artists who are famous for hiding clone attempts, though both have somewhat moved on from that phase. |
| 134 | ** Leoneil of Music/{{Vaniru}} is probably the most famous Atsushi Sakurai clone yet -- to the point that it is widely rumored the two are father and son. |
| 135 | [[/folder]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 138 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 139 | ** The third edition introduces the psionic power "Mind Seed" which, after a week-long incubation, turns the target into a mental duplicate of the psion (though eight levels lower than the psion when s/he infected the target). This power, in turn, is one of the tools the Dreaming Dark uses in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}''. |
| 140 | ** In the ''Venom's Taste'' trilogy, a yuan-ti psion used this power a lot. Anyone could be one of her minions (since they keep their original body). She converted chieftains, and once threatened a character's baby with it. ParanoiaFuel indeed. |
| 141 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': |
| 142 | ** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=254133 Essence of the Wild]] operates this way, turning any other creature you cast or otherwise put into play into a copy of itself. Since they will then also have the copying ability... |
| 143 | ** Interestingly, while all clone spells encourage copying the strongest creature on the battlefield, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=447196 Metamorphic Alteration]] also rewards turning an opponent's best creature [[ForcedTransformation into a copy of the weakest creature]]. |
| 144 | ** [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414467 Permeating Mass]] can turn every creature it touches into a copy of itself. |
| 145 | * One artifact weapon in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' is a cursed, intelligent longsword that causes any user who is drawn into a contest of wills against it and fails the Will save to slowly transform into such a clone of the long-dead barbarian warlord who originally wielded it |
| 146 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Carl Brackhaven murdered his son Kenneth for turning into an ork at the age of twelve, then stole a kid off the street and had him surgically and mentally altered to keep up the appearance of having a pure human son. Players learn the truth of this in ''Ghost Story'', one of the adventures in the ''Super Tuesday!'' Third Edition supplement. |
| 147 | [[/folder]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 150 | * The Hydraxon seen in the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' series isn't the original, rather a matoran named Dekar who was unwillingly transformed into Hydraxon by the [[MaskOfPower Mask of Life]] as a protector, with the transformed Dekar having all of the originals skills, memories and loyalties of the deceased jailer, with Dekar being completely overwritten to the point that Hydraxon doesn't even realize he used to be someone else, and the only difference being that the original is dead and the new one used to be someone else. While it takes a while for the new Hydraxon to learn the truth, he ultimately doesn't care as who he is now is what is important to him. To him, he is the real, one and only Hydraxon, and fully replaces the original to the point that the other members of the Order of Mata Nui don't even realize that the Hydraxon they knew is dead. |
| 151 | -->'''Hydraxon:''' ''[to Pridak]'' You don't get it. It doesn't matter who I was before. All that counts is who I am now -- Hydraxon. Your enemy, your jailer, your nightmare for 90 millennia, and for every day that's left to you. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 155 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': Four individuals (Johnny Charisma, Christina Bell, Albert King, and Henry Adams) are slowly transforming into clones of the Joker due to being transfused with his Titan-infected blood, which Joker shipped out to hospitals prior to his death in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]''. This leads to them developing Joker's traits, such as green hair, white skin, and his AxCrazy personality traits. |
| 156 | * This happens to [[spoiler:Alcatraz]] in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'', who was given [[spoiler:Prophet's nanosuit as the two were dying. Through the game, the suit heals him, at the expense of turning him ''into'' Prophet]]. The effect has fully completed by the time of ''VideoGame/Crysis3'', with no mention of who the current [[spoiler:Prophet]] used to be. |
| 157 | * In ''VideoGame/CytusII'', Phoenix Wyle has access to MagicPlasticSurgery technology that lets him turn a person into a doppelganger of someone else, so long as they have the same gender and blood type. It's later revealed that [[spoiler:PAFF/Aroma White]] as we know her is the result of this technology being applied: [[spoiler:after she was mortally injured in a car accident, another girl named Kaori was kidnapped and turned into a copy of Aroma, as well as being subjected to brainwashing to overwrite her memories, though this was incomplete and left her with small fragments of Kaori's memories which eventually allow her to learn the truth about herself]]. |
| 158 | * A virus transforms many demons in ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' into clones of [[GoldfishPoopGang Axel]], first just acting like him, but later sounding and looking like him. The protagonists do manage to turn everyone back. Or not, depending on which ending you get. |
| 159 | * In ''VideoGame/EndlessSpace2'', the [[CloneArmy Horatio]] faction unlocks the unique "Genetic Resequencing" technology in the late game. Each use converts one population unit of another species into a Horatio, even if they're robots or constructs of rock. |
| 160 | * The cloning pod in ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' works by copying the Evil Genius's appearance onto one of the many [[WeHaveReserves disposable]] {{mooks}} in your employ. The purpose of this is to get the mook killed in order to make the World Powers believe your Evil Genius is dead and lower your heat level. The ID Eliminator arguably as well, though it turns its victims into boilerplate template mooks instead of into a copy of the Evil Genius. |
| 161 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 162 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', [[spoiler:Cloud Strife]] turns out to be this kind of clone of Sephiroth (along with countless others who were implanted with Jenova's cells, with the amount they were injected with determining whether they just get a little power boost [[spoiler:like everybody in SOLDIER]], or end up crippled, insane, and vulnerable to having their body completely taken over by Sephiroth). [[spoiler:Cloud]] is also one, to a lesser degree, of [[spoiler:his dead friend Zack, whose personality and memories he partly absorbed, repressing his own due to guilt and shame after the resident MadScientist messed up his head. This kind of mimicry is part of the whole Jenova-cell package apparently, but it combined with Cloud's psychological trauma and major pre-existing self-esteem issues, to create a real mess of his identity]]. |
| 163 | ** Happens occasionally in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': |
| 164 | *** This is how [[spoiler:the Weapons' Oversoul]] works -- it overwrites [[spoiler:the pilot]]'s personality with that of the person whose combat data was chosen as the template, and reshapes their body into a more monstrous and bizarre version of that person. Over the course of the questline, the player has to contend with clones of [[spoiler:Nael van Darnus, Gaius van Baelsar (whose original, still-alive self is decidedly ''not'' amused) and Regula van Hydrus]]. |
| 165 | *** In the [[spoiler:caster]] questline of ''Endwalker'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the bishop attempted to summon Thordan as a primal, but has only succeeded in transforming a person into a clone of one of the Heaven's Ward knights -- with memories of all of them, to boot]]. |
| 166 | * In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', it is revealed that the BigBad Xehanort's plan is to create an AllianceOfAlternates by gathering thirteen incarnations of himself from across space and time, with most of them being preestablished antagonists subjected to this trope by having them host a fragment of Xehanort's [[AnatomyOfTheSoul heart]]. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' utilizes this in the story of K'. He's still considered a clone of the main hero Kyo despite only being injected with Kyo's genes and retaining his own appearance. |
| 168 | * In ''VideoGame/LoopHero'', the Priestess Sigma is the personification of faith in God. When her physical body dies, a suitably faithful host undergoes a slow physical conversion as their soul is gradually supplanted by Sigma. |
| 169 | * In ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', the Kett have spent so long tinkering with their genes that they can now only reproduce via this method, abducting other species and "exalting" them into more Kett. |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'': Agent Smith can be seen copying himself over a female civilian in cutscenes during the Burly Brawl segment. |
| 171 | * In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', [[spoiler:Venom Snake]] is this to [[spoiler:Big Boss]], achieved through plastic surgery and hypnosis. |
| 172 | * ''VideoGame/QuantumProtocol'': The Black Virus card can transform the card that destroys it into a copy of itself while still having an automatic effect that regularly damages the operator. Worse yet, it voids the original card so that it cannot be accessed from the trash. However, the conversion effect won't work if the card that destroys the virus is sent to the trash via execution or card effects. |
| 173 | * In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', AncientConspiracy leader Simmons created a clone of [[spoiler:his employee, Ada Wong (whom he was [[StalkerWithACrush a little obsessed with]])]] by testing out the C-Virus on his lover, and employee, [[spoiler:Carla Radames]]. When she got her memories back, she was [[TheStarscream not amused]]. |
| 174 | * The Tarr from ''VideoGame/SlimeRancher'' will attempt to devour any slimes in its vicinity. Upon devouring a victim, it expands, and spawns a clone of itself. [[KillItWithWater Water will sterilize them, and can potentially destroy them altogether]]. |
| 175 | * The Space Retrovirus from ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' turns all the later infected into duplicates of the original. |
| 176 | * Claygirls from ''VideoGame/StringTyrant'' make more Claygirls like this. Their clay spreads over the victim's body and unless washed off turns the victim into a Claygirl. |
| 177 | * In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', it turns out that [[spoiler:the entire Journey of Regeneration is actually just a front for the villain to resurrect his sister via this method. {{The Chosen One}}s are really just people specifically bred to have bodies as similar to his sister as possible]]. |
| 178 | [[/folder]] |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 181 | * In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', [[spoiler:King Radical]]'s plan turns out to be to do this on a massive scale. More specifically, [[spoiler:he would replace people by summoning inhabitants of the Radical Lands, where he came from, in their place]]. |
| 182 | * ''Webcomic/AsteroidQuest'': The baddies in ''Polo Quest'' are able to convert people into clones of the badass warrior Rokoa, provided they're of the same species as her. As the payload contains her personality and memories, it involves a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind. The results vary depending on how that confrontation went. |
| 183 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': In the "Family Tree" arc, all of the guests at a college party [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1656 start turning into obedient clones of Nanase]]. This was done by [[spoiler:"Not-Tengu" as part of a RevengeByProxy scheme against Nanase's aunt]]. |
| 184 | * ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': Anyone who eats one of [[WormThatWalks Gog-Agog's worms]] becomes Gog-Agog. It's presently uncertain whether those who have become Gog-Agog but do not look like her are Gog-Agog mentally but just look like their old self (meaning the host is effectively dead), or if Gog-Agog's personality remains latent within them until she feels like emerging (consuming the host's body in the process and reforming it into another Gog-Agog). Either way, Gog-Agog is [[MesACrowd a population of her own]], and with titles like "Queen of Worms" and "The Great Devourer", she definitively falls on the 'villain' part of the spectrum. |
| 185 | * Chris Daily's GuestStrip of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' involves multiple characters transforming into copies of the same woman before [[ScrewYourself making out with each other]]. |
| 186 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' introduces the "[=REDHack=]" technology in the "Random Access Memorabilia" arc; StateSec's plan to capture a BigDumbObject is to [[spoiler:use a combination of SuperSoldier and advanced medical technology to stream [[BrainUploading mind backups]] of one of its agents into the skins of the civilian research staff, allowing them to physically convert each victim into a SuperSoldier duplicate of the agent when the [[TriggerPhrase activation signal]] is sent]]. A later storyline reveals that the same agency has regularly been creating sleeper agents using the same technology, who would be overwritten on-demand by the mind of the same agent. In theory, the sleeper is supposed to have a backup gestalt so they can be restored after the mission and only lose a few days of memories. In practice, the gestalts are often too out of date to be useful, and the agent usually dies during the mission anyway. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 190 | * A {{Creepypasta}} titled "Nurse Joy" explains that this is how there are so many Nurse Joys in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. |
| 191 | * ''WebVideo/{{Oxventure}}'': In the episode "Sect Appeal", [[spoiler:this turns out to be the cultists' plan; rather than grow Egbert clones from scratch, they're going to inject townsfolk with a serum to transform them into them]]. |
| 192 | * ''Website/RPCAuthority'': [[http://rpcauthority.wikidot.com/rpc-239 RPC-239]] can replace someone's consciousness with his own by coming into direct physical contact with them. The worst part is that there's no way to revert this, not even with amnestics. |
| 193 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': |
| 194 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-963 SCP-936]] is capable of this. The object was discovered in the possession of a man who had tried to commit suicide to transfer his consciousness into the object. Instead, an SCP researcher carrying the object died while transporting it, successfully transferring his consciousness into the amulet and possessing whoever touches it. If the host touches the object for 30 days (usually via wearing it like an amulet), the consciousness transfer is permanent, even after the object is removed. The Foundation is restricting the researcher to possessing only one person at a time cycling hosts just in case, but thankfully he retains his loyalty to the cause and is searching for a release. |
| 195 | ** Implied with [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2009 SCP-2009,]] which causes infectees to assume the appearance, personality, and memories of a "Thomas Hoang," who may or may not be the origin of the contagion. |
| 196 | [[/folder]] |
| 197 | |
| 198 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 199 | * ''WesternAnimation/ArchiesWeirdMysteries'': One episode shows Veronica accidentally causing the populace of Riverdale to start gradually turning into duplicates of herself after making a misguided wish on a wish-granting artifact that everyone was more like her. By the time Veronica is able to reverse this, the whole town is filled with snobby teenage girls and even Archie and Betty are starting to not act like themselves. |
| 200 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The Gaang are given a [[StepfordSmiler creepy]] guide called Joo Dee when they visit the Earth Kingdom. When her veneer breaks, she's taken away and replaced by an eerily similar guide who answers to the same name and insists she's the same person. [[spoiler:It's revealed that the city in question has an entire room full of "Joo Dee"s being brainwashed into similar guides. It's never made clear if they're based off someone, but it certainly fits the spirit of the trope.]] |
| 201 | * ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': Albedo is a [[TheGreys Galvan]] who turned into a copy of Ben thanks to [[EvilDoppelganger making his own Omnitrix copy]] and the original setting Ben's DNA as the default form. He also retains his original personality while playing TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody completely straight, hating Ben because his body gives him irrational impulses, hormones, and chili fry cravings (that last one [[AliensLoveHumanFood being his own quirk]] that [[NeverMyFault he chooses to blame on Ben]]). |
| 202 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E22FamilyGuyViewerMailTwo Family Guy Viewer Mail #2]]" story ''Fat Man and Robin'', Peter gains the ability to transform anyone he touches into a clone of Creator/RobinWilliams. |
| 203 | * ''WesternAnimation/JumanjiTheAnimatedSeries'': The protagonists manage to drop [[GreatWhiteHunter Van Pelt]] into a bottomless pit. However, afterwards Peter slowly begins to look and act more like him. Eventually Van Pelt Peter explains that there must ''always'' be a Van Pelt in the game -- even if Alan kills Van Pelt Peter, ''he'll'' just become Van Pelt instead. They eventually save Peter, at which point the old Van Pelt manages to climb out of the pit and goes back to hunting Alan. |
| 204 | * in ''WesternAnimation/KuuKuuHarajuku'', [[GirlGroup HJ5]] receives a record deal from a record company named Monotone Records, which is owned by [[AIIsACrapshoot a robot named Monotone]]. The girls receive a makeover that makes them look nearly like exact duplicates of one another, with the only noticeable differences being in their skin tone, makeup, and eye color. |
| 205 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': This is MonsterOfTheWeek Reflekta's primary ability. Fortunately for the victims, they keep their personalities and simply transform physically into her. Fortunately for her, they do not get her superhuman powers but are robbed of any they might have. [[spoiler:It also has a logical weakness; since her powers are based around turning people into her, it does nothing further to whomever it's already affecting, especially if they act as human shields or get their hands on other equipment.]] |
| 206 | * ''WesternAnimation/MonsterFarm'': "A Pair of Jacks" had Count Cluckula drink a potion that turned him into a duplicate of Jack Haylee. |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Dr. Doofenshmirtz's -Inator in "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbNightOfTheLivingPharmacists Night of the Living Pharmacists]]" has the power to turn anyone repulsive...by turning people into zombie-like clones of Doof himself, which turn other people into Doof-clones [[ViralTransformation upon contact]]. [[ZombieApocalypse Chaos ensues]]. |
| 208 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': In "[[Recap/RegularShowS02Ep11BensonBeGone Benson Be Gone]]", [[MeanBoss Benson]] is replaced by Susan, who proceeds to work the park workers harder than he ever did, which slowly starts to turn them into copies of her, though they keep their original faces and personalities. |
| 209 | * [[AdorableAbomination Mr. Frundles]] from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is a living GreyGoo scenario: anything it bites grows a living, sentient Mr. Frundles face. When it bites Season 2 Jerry's ankle in "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS6E1Solaricks Solaricks]]", his ankle becomes Mr. Frundles and it gets control of just his leg, but when it bites him on the face, his ''face'' changes and it takes over his entire body. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The entire world is Mr. Frundles about 30 seconds later]]. |
| 210 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS35E5TreehouseofHorrorXXXIV Treehouse of Horror XXXIV]]" segment ''Lout Break'', Homer eats a "radioactive garbage donut" that creates a burp-borne virus that turns everyone ([[TheImmune except Bart, Lisa and Maggie]]) into fat, balding, lazy idiots like himself. |
| 211 | -->'''Homer-Ned:''' I've been neighbor-ino'd into Hom-diddly-omer! And why am I in church when football is on? |
| 212 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E01StrangeEnergies Strange Energies]]", after accidentally developing godlike powers, Ransom transforms the Apergosian citizens' heads into copies of his own, but retaining their natural orange skin. |
| 213 | * ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'': One episode features a plague that's turning New Yorkers into clones of Larry King. Apparently, the plague is a rare side effect caused by the original Larry King taking too many medications that interacted in an unexpected way. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 |
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