Line #113 Main/CloningGambit


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7	->'''Luke Skywalker:''' Clones! So it's true!\
8	'''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.
9	-->-- ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire''
10
11	A Cloning Gambit is a scheme involving a character cloning themselves, by [[AppliedPhlebotinum some means]] and using said clone to last out multiple deaths. Maybe they send clones out on suicide missions that they don't want to give to anyone else. Maybe they can BodySurf and transfer their mind from clone to clone, or use a set of "inactive" clones as a BodyBackupDrive. Maybe they can't transfer their consciousness between clones ''per se'', but each clone in a succession of them activates with their memories and personality. In any of the above, there's always a version of them out making trouble or [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated appearing, in person, to crash the enemies' celebration party]].
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13	The clone may or may not be subject to CloneAngst; they may or may not realize that they're not "the original", but they are ''very'' disposable, they rarely come up with their own unique identities, and they are very rarely prone to WhichMe. Only rarely does this overlap with SendInTheClones, since typically neither the other characters nor the viewer see more than one or two of that character walking around at any one time. Floating in PeopleJars, perhaps, after the reveal that the character is using this trope, but not up and talking.
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15	The genetic duplicate to BackupTwin. Either trope can easily turn into an AssPull, if not properly foreshadowed, and often results in OpeningACanOfClones. Compare ActuallyADoombot.
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17	!!Examples
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* The series ''Manga/{{Akumetsu}}'' is almost entirely based off of this.
23	* Used in an early episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. A resistance leader appears to keep surviving assassinations by using clones. Somewhat subverted in that its actually other high-ranking members of the organization who keep the charade going, while the original has been dead for years.
24	* [[spoiler: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.
25	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' only uses short-lived clones, but he is very good at this. One bonus to the shadow-clone technique is that a clone's memories return to the user upon its death, which is useful for reconnaissance and fast learning.
26	* A variant is used in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': when Gendo cloned [[spoiler:his wife Yui]] to create Rei, he also created dozens of clones he keeps in a tank of LCL somewhere around Central Dogma. In the event that she dies (which has happened twice so far), a new clone is pulled out and uploaded with [[LaserGuidedAmnesia some]] of her memories. Rei knows that she's replaceable, so she lets herself be used by the Commander, since she would be killed and replaced at the first sign of defiance. He knows that she knows this and uses it as leverage against her... until [[spoiler:Ritsuko destroys the clones in [[TheReveal episode 23]]]]. Gendo's plans are screwed up even more by the fact that Rei, while [[SugarAndIcePersonality not associating with anyone]] because she's going to die anyway, does eventually [[spoiler:grow fond of Gendo's son Shinji (and likely falls in love with him, [[BrotherSisterIncest despite them technically being half-siblings]])]], so when Third Impact comes, Rei instantly [[spoiler:betrays Gendo since [[HoistByHisOwnPetard after she took Adam from his body, she no longer needs him]] to [[AssimilationPlot trigger Instrumentality and gives control over mankind's souls to Shinji instead]]]]. Tons of MindScrew, indeed.
27	* Played with in ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle''. The evil twin-type clone, despite being created by the villain, manages to fill this role nicely due to a ''really'' last-minute HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler:He then reincarnates back in time to reappear five minutes later (though it was decades to him), and dies for his original(s)/[[MyOwnGrampa sons]] a ''second time''.]]
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Comic Books]]
31	* The creation of Brianna Diggers in ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'' manages to be an accidental version of this. Gina ''was'' deliberately trying to fake out a deadly curse by copying her and Brittany's auras onto a non-sentient blob of protoplasm. They did not, however, expect the curse to interact with the protoplasm and become a TwoDonorClone.
32	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
33	** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'':
34	*** 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 happens when he's ''presumed'' dead during the original ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984''. When that Ultron finally returns to Earth, he not only finds that not only have his machines built an improved replacement copy, but he's also horrified to find that the "improvements" have made the copy ''[[HeelFaceTurn nice]]''. They fight and the evil Ultron wins, [[StatusQuoIsGod naturally]].
35	*** ''ComicBook/TheAvengersKurtBusiek'' eventually declares that this is how ComicBook/IronMan's enemy Madam Masque keeps coming back from the dead, and why her personality is [[DependingOnTheWriter inconsistent from one appearance to the next]]. The story which introduces this idea also kills off the last of the clones, asserting that only the original Madame Masque is still around.
36	** Knowing that he's liable to die at some point, Loki sets up one of these. After his demise in ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'', Loki is reborn as a young boy, with none of his older self's memories or issues. [[spoiler:Then a copy of the original Loki's personality appears, planning to take possession of the child Loki and thereby get away with more schemes. However, the process doesn't go exactly according to plan, as the new Loki feels guilt over killing a child and part of the child Loki's personality seeps through into them. After their self-loathing nearly destroys reality itself in volume 2 of ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', they attempt 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's no tomorrow (it's in Loki's nature to create as much confusion as possible).
37	** Any time you see someone or something kill ComicBook/NickFury, it's [[ActuallyADoombot actually a Life Model Decoy]].
38	** After a few rather poor showings by Thanos, Creator/JimStarlin [[AuthorsSavingThrow wrote a story]] in which [[{{Retcon}} it is revealed]] that those various Thanosi have all been clones, much weaker than the original. As a [[ArmedWithCanon snarky response]] to this, another writer later wrote a comic in which [[ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl Squirrel Girl]] defeats Thanos, with [[AllPowerfulBystander Uatu the Watcher]] right there to confirm that it's 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 in which Thanos is revealed to have created a new type of clone that can fool even the Watcher's cosmic senses. [[TakeThatTitForTat Another comic]] was then written in which Squirrel Girl confronts Thanos again, pointing out that if she defeated a doppelganger that was ''completely indistinguishable from the real Thanos'', then she's equally capable of defeating the real thing, at which point Thanos [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cuts and runs]].
39	** ''ComicBook/XMen'':
40	*** [[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.
41	*** In ''ComicBook/XMenTheEnd'', it's revealed that Sinister once created a clone from his original, baseline human DNA as part of a plan to take down Apocalypse (he needed a body without Apocalypse's genetic meddling). He spliced in some DNA from Cyclops, believing that the Summers genes would ensure awesome superpowers. He was right; the clone would grow up to be, ironically enough, [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Gambit\|MarvelComics}}]].
42	*** 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]] finds and hijacks them, reprogramming the clones as disposable minions.
43	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
44	** 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 comics. Canon holds that the one in the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' series is real and the one who survives until ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'' is the clone.
45	** In ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'', Palpatine, following his death at Endor, inhabits a clone waiting in a storage facility on a secret fortress world. Six years later, apparently spending the whole time building superweapons, he reappears to the Empire and launches campaigns against the New Republic, being killed multiple times and always activating a new clone. Things then go wrong when one of his Royal Guardsmen sabotages the process so that each clone [[CloneDegeneration degrades quickly]], forcing Palpatine to look into other options -- like, perhaps, Leia Organa's unborn son. In ''Literature/TheHandOfThrawn'', Mara sardonically says that she doubts that 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 that she was unique.]]
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] famously does this a few years after Creator/JohnByrne's ComicBook/PostCrisis reboot when the kryptonite ring which he constantly wears to keep Superman at bay gives him terminal cancer.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Fan Works]]
50	* At the end of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'' season 1, the heroes NeverFoundTheBody of Professor Moriarty -- even worse, they ''caused'' his death, were ''right there'', but were focused on the injured heroine. Two episodes later, in season 2, the Professor Moriarty responsible for terrorizing New London is revealed to be a clone. He later tells Beth Holmes that his conscious can return to life in a new clone again and again, as many times as necessary to accomplish his goals. However, the intended BadassBoast fails in an epic way when Beth can only express horror for this, as she, too, has died and can't imagine the thought of experiencing death over and over again like that.
51	* ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters'' uses this for a major twist at the end of the Dark Hand arc. [[spoiler:The Bartholomew Chang arrested by Section 13 after Harold Hale "changes sides" is actually a magically created clone. This enables the real Chang to keep running the Asian branch in secret, while Harold takes over the American branch, while [[DoubleAgent pretending to be]] Section 13's MoleInCharge.]]
52	* In ''Fanfic/{{Ladder}}'', the Professor tries to revive his daughters by cloning them and transferring their memories, but each time fails. He repeats this dozens, if not hundreds, of times to the point where he becomes the antagonist. He also has clones of himself for whenever he's killed.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
56	* In ''Film/The6thDay'''s climax, main character Adam Gibson and his clone pull of a series of these. Subverted in that all are voluntary.
57	* In ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Ernest Stavro Blofeld pulls this trick on Film/JamesBond with variable success -- albeit it's a case of CloneByConversion instead of genetic replicas.
58	* ''Film/ThePrestige'' [[GambitPileup has its fair share of Gambits]], but through the course of the 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"]]]].
59	* ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' opens with Palpatine [[UnexplainedRecovery inexplicably alive]]. There are a few hints, confirmed by the {{novelization}}, that he's {{Body Surf}}ed into a clone, taking a cue from the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' franchise.
60	* In the ending to ''Film/ShortCircuit'', Johnny Five uses his [[ChekhovsGun previously demonstrated]] repair skills to build a physical duplicate of himself, which he sends out for Nova Robotics to kill so they'd assume they got him.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Literature]]
64	* Played straight and inverted in ''Literature/SeventhSon''. [[spoiler:While John Alpha's clone willingly and knowingly sacrifices himself, Klaus/Special K sacrifices ''his original self'' so that his clone, into which he's downloaded his memories and personality, is free and clear to carry on with the EvilPlan.]]
65	* The central character of ''Literature/AgainstADarkBackground'' gets lucky with this -- [[spoiler:the BigBad has a clone made of her, which is killed. The corpse is soon found by the religious fanatics who want her dead]].
66	* In the ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' series, this is revealed to be the secret behind why the Red Queen [[NotHyperbole can't be bothered to die]]. She has a magic tree that grows copies of her; every time her body's killed, her spirit just [[BodySurf moves to another]]. [[spoiler:[=AuRon=] destroys the tree after killing her... but then she just [[GrandTheftMe possesses Infamnia]].]]
67	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'':
68	** ''The Opal Deception'' has a variation. [[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.]]
69	** Played straight(-er) in the final novel [[spoiler:by Artemis himself, who realizes that the reason these clones are catatonic is because they have no soul, so he gets Foaly to create a clone of himself, pulls off a HeroicSacrifice to ruin Opal's final revenge plan, then later allows his spirit to inhabit the clone's body, effectively bringing him back to life, albeit at the cost of his memories]].
70	* Inverted in Creator/BrandonSanderson's "Firstborn", in which [[spoiler:the clone is created by someone else for the sole purpose of being pitted against the original, who has grown too powerful]].
71	* In the fifth ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' chapter, [[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]]. [[spoiler:Since the copy is completely identical, she doesn't care which one is original, completely discarding concept of identity. She makes several bodies, links their memories with some ersatz HiveMind spell, and stuffs all but one in multiple freezers, achieving punctuated linear existence: once the currently active body is killed, nearest one activates and pick up on wherever she stopped. And then she makes new copy, both for practical reasons and to prove that she is still the same being.]]
72	* The involuntary Cloning Gambit for involuntary immortality is used in the ''Literature/MapsInAMirror'' short story "A Thousand Deaths".
73	* In ''Literature/SandpaperKiss'', Lucretia discovers that [[spoiler:her best friend Lucy is a clone grown to give her disease-free spare parts]]. She doesn't like the idea, and instead [[spoiler:gives the clone her diary so a part of her can live on]].
74	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
75	** In the ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novel ''Isard's Revenge'', Isard [[EnemyMine tells the Rogues]] that she had clones, each of which believed herself to be the original, which she activated and used regularly to be where she could not, and [[ExpendableClone killed]] once they were no longer useful. One of them was sent to scatter the prisoners from the ''Lusankya'', managed to survive afterward, and unwittingly opposed Isard by working with a warlord the real one wanted dead.
76	** Also in the ''Literature/XWingSeries'', a clueless Imperial talking to a disguised Wedge speculates, based on the number of times the most famous Rogues have seemingly come BackFromTheDead, that Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson, Hobbie Klivian, and others have died again and again, but the New Republic just keeps activating new clones.
77	** One of the (many, many, many) subplots in ''Literature/TheHandOfThrawn'' is that Grand Admiral Thrawn, who died at the end of ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'', set up a clone to be activated ten years after his death, telling his people to be ready when it happened. It didn't fall through ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero thanks, Luke and Mara]]), but there are occasional hints that ThereIsAnother. Creator/TimothyZahn [[WordOfGod has said]] that he would like to introduce a Thrawn clone one day, when the [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway Galaxy Far Far Away]] needs a master strategist -- but, unusually, this clone will be fully aware that he is not Thrawn, and will be under enormous pressure to live up to the original.
78	** ''Literature/OutboundFlight'' has Palpatine sending all of the Outbound Flight Jedi to their deaths, but taking genetic samples first, making it a Reverse Cloning Gambit.
79	** 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, and asked the New Republic to make sure they got it right this time.
80	* ''Literature/TimeWars'': The main villain, Drakov, created a number of identical clones and implanted them with his memories, so that even he/they aren't sure which one is the original. This allows the heroes to kill him in one book and still have to fight him in the next one.
81	* One of the many things Jackson's Whole is infamous for in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' is the clone brain transplant business, where the brains of the rich are transplanted in the bodies of their younger clones. The clone's brains are then discarded.
82	* A central factor in the rather convoluted plot of Creator/AEVanVogt's ''The World of Null-A'' and its sequel ''The Players of Null-A''.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
86	* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent Heaven Sent]]", [[spoiler:the Doctor clones himself literally ''billions of times'', one after another in an endless loop, to enable himself to break through a twenty-foot-thick wall made of a substance harder than diamond, with ''[[CherryTapping only his bare fists]]'' at his disposal. It takes him a total of '''''4.5 BILLION years''''' to break through]].
87	* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' features something like this trope. Those closest to the Dollhouse elite can back up their memories every month, ready to be uploaded into a new body after death. Of course, they don't actually have the body-cloning tech that goes with it, so you have to "borrow" someone else's body to make it work. Good thing there's so many dull, unimportant poor people around who don't matter.
88	* A season finale in ''Series/FirstWave'' ends with Cade's best friend shooting him on live TV in front of a Gua. The first episode of the next season flashes back to Cade and Eddie finding a clone of Cade created to house their [[TheAntichrist Antichrist]]. While Gua/human hybrids normally dissolve after death, they gambled that this "feature" is activated by the process of BrainUploading. It's only a short reprieve, though, as the Gua find out they've been duped fairly quickly.
89	* ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'': Z uses one of her duplicates as a decoy to fool a monster that turned people into dolls.
90	* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', [[spoiler:Lana Lang does this to get away from Lex Luthor]].
91	* This is the m.o. of Ba'al for the last few seasons of ''Series/StargateSG1''. The viewer is never sure which is the real one, [[spoiler:but it's strongly implied in ''Film/StargateContinuum'' that Col. Mitchell killed the last one off]].
92	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
93	** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E04AManAlone A Man Alone]]", the villain clones himself and then kills the clone in order to frame Odo for murder.
94	** The Vorta have several clones on standby at all times, all of whom share their predecessor's memories (including how they died), and can be restocked almost instantly. The main Vorta of the series, Weyoun, is actually the fourth one when he first appears. [[spoiler:He's on his eighth life when [[OutOfContinues the base holding his clones is destroyed]], and is finally KilledOffForReal in the GrandFinale.]]
95	* ''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 MeaningfulName. 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.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
99	* In the ''TabletopGame/CarWars'' universe, it's possible to buy ''true'' life insurance from Gold Cross, which will maintain a clone body and memory tape, enabling you to pick up where you left off (as of your latest memory update session) if you die. Just don't miss a payment or the clone gets used for spare parts.
100	* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'': The robotic villain Mechanon (an [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Ultron]] {{Expy}}) can either detach his head and send it off if he's about to be destroyed, or upload his mind to his closest base. Either way, when he builds his new body, he'll be able to tweak things to adapt to whatever caused his failure the ''last'' time.
101	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
102	** A "simulacrum" is a short-lived duplicate of the caster that is basically designed to be treated as expendable.
103	** There's also a 'Clone' spell. The spell creates a clone of the body of the target. In ''AD&D'', the clone has all of the original's memories up to the point where the tissue sample was taken and if it meets its original, they each have an irresistible urge to [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne kill the other]], though the clone can be grown after the original dies. After 3rd Edition, the clone is merely inert flesh until the original body is killed, at which point the creature's soul enters the clone.
104	** The "Acererak" that you kill in the original ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' module? Pfft, forget it, he's just a underpowered clone of the real demilich. Who sits right in the middle of the Negative Energy Plane in the sequel module...
105	* Easily done in the world of ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'', where humans back up their brains as software on a regular basis. True clones can get expensive, though; it's more cost-effective to get an off-the-rack body and have it cosmetically engineered to match.
106	* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' has a lot of stated ways to do this. In the basic rules a clone spell and the Advantage "Extra Life" exist to help facilitate this (and keep players alive).
107	* This is one of the main mechanics in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. Should one of the [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] die -- [[EverythingTryingToKillYou and if someone DOESN'T die at some point during the session]], [[KillerGameMaster the GM is not doing their job right]] -- their next clone is just shipped off to the scene with the same personality as before, and thanks to [=MemoMax=] technology, the same memories as well. Including how they died. One module even suggests a way to get the clone to the party Outside: the new Sub-Orbital Clone Insertion Module! When somebody dies Outside, the GM starts a long, descending whistle... the number of descending whistles shortly afterward depends on how many Troubleshooters have the presence of mind to ''take cover'' at that point.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Video Games]]
111	* ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'' uses this trope with some twists:
112	** The Elektrosoldat PraetorianGuard are all clones of the SmugSnake Adler, but one of them begins to grow a mind of his own and realizes how expendable they all are. So he decids to rebel and fight back...
113	** [[spoiler:Murakumo]] is known to have cloned himself twice ''and'' having placed his two clones in huge positions of power in [[spoiler:a Chinese Triad]] and [[spoiler:the Japanese Army]]. At least [[ExpendableClone one clone has been ultimately offed]] [[spoiler:after trying to seize power for himself instead]].
114	* In the Platform/ZXSpectrum game ''Astroclone'' (definitely a MeaningfulName), the [[JustifiedExtraLives in-universe explanation for the player's extra lives]] is that the mission has been entrusted to a squad of clones.
115	* [[spoiler:[[BigBad Frank Fontaine]]]] of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' pulled one of these by using [[AppliedPhlebotinum Plasmids]] to turn one of his subordinates into his BodyDouble. When the double was killed, all of Rapture thought that the illustrious criminal mastermind had finally fallen, allowing him to [[spoiler:organize LaResistance in the guise of the charismatic rebel leader Atlas]].
116	* A major, [[TitleDrop title-dropping]] plot point in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. At least the clone is completely mindless.
117	* In ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'', the main character is a clone of the Empire’s greatest admiral. He comes from a secret facility dedicated to churning out clones of him and his crew: if the current clone dies, his memories will be transferred to a fresh one.
118	* This [[JustifiedExtraLives explains respawning]] in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' and is the reason why Cryptosporidium-137 is there on Earth in the first place. The Furon [[CloneDegeneration have cloned themselves so much that they run the risk of going extinct]], so Crypto and his clones have to collect Furon DNA contained in human brains to add fresher blood into his species.
119	* ''VideoGame/EveOnline'': Upon death, the players transfer their consciousness (or at least some of their memories) to a prepared clone, [[JustifiedExtraLives hence explaining their ability to respawn]].
120	* You can pull a Cloning Gambit in ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'', 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.
121	* From what ''[[JigsawPuzzlePlot appears]]'' to be the case in the ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series, ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'' saw the long-overdue [[KilledOffForReal real death]] 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]]...
122	* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', having a Cloning Bay turns all scenarios in which a crew member may die into a joke, with the flavor text describing them running recklessly into dangerous situations, because they can't really die. In combat, you can use the clones to ZergRush rival ships and kill their crew. Of course, they can do the same to you, and if your Cloning Bay is knocked offline by laser fire...
123	* ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'' uses this to [[JustifiedExtraLives explain the characters' multiple lives]]. Every time they die, their consciousnesses are transferred to new cloned bodies.
124	* In ''VideoGame/HackNSlash'', Alice is the result of one of these. Her creator/source code is still around, though -- just incapacitated.
125	* In ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace'', Zenitonian Admiral Rubriko has a base full of clones standing by to receive uploaded memories in the event of his death. After fighting him four or five times, the player party finds the base and [[spoiler:activates all of them, resulting in psychic feedback that kills all of them in a pretty horrifying way]].
126	* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2000'' hinges on one of those backfiring; Zero has a clone created of him to continue NESTS's agenda, but unfortunately, [[TheStarscream Clone Zero]] goes behind his back and ends up causing unchecked mayhem. Needless to say, in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'', the original Zero is not happy with the results.
127	* Implied in ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure'', since [[BigBad Dr. FunFrock]] has perfected cloning technology. You have to kill him twice in the first game, [[spoiler:and twice more when he [[HijackedByGanon reveals himself as the]] BigBad of the second as well]].
128	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'''s "Citadel" DLC, we learn that Cerberus created a clone of [[spoiler:Shepard]] for the express purpose of [[WalkingTransplant harvesting his/her organs should the original need a transplant]]. They never do, but the clone escapes and is understandably angry. Unfortunately, they turn this anger against the original and their friends and try to kill them in an attempt to take the original's place.
129	* Pretty much the entire scheme enacted by [[spoiler:Big Boss]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. (To a lesser extent, completed by [[spoiler:Liquid Ocelot]] in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]''.)
130	* The clones P.B. Winterbottom makes in ''VideoGame/TheMisadventuresOfPBWinterbottom'' so he can get all of his pie.
131	* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' has this in its expansion pack where Halastr Blackcloak (not a big man in the sanity department at any time) tries this, only for the clone to be saved by the Player before he wanted it to be saved by him. Or not, it might be that the original that was captured and the clone who came to save him... They can't agree.
132	* 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.
133	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'':
134	** Sort of used: [[spoiler:BigBad Van needs Ashe's powers for his EndOfTheWorldSpecial, but a prophecy had dictated that Ashe was going to die at the age of 17, so Van creates a clone to take Ashe's place in the world, including his death. Things get complicated when the clone actually ''survives'' the event that would have killed him]].
135	** Another example is in the case of [[spoiler:the original Fon Master Ion, who was also prophesied to die, so Ion creates a bunch of clones in the hope that one of ''them'' will die instead (or that their mere existence will be enough to throw off the prophecy). Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work]].
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Webcomics]]
139	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
140	** 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]]:
141	--->'''Gav-0:''' That begs a question: Does it count as selfless sacrifice if you clone yourself before your suicide mission?\
142	'''Kevyn:''' I'm putting it in my resume and hoping nobody asks.
143	** [[SapientShip Petey]] manages to cheat death by cloning a blank Ob'enn and uploading his own mind into its brain, then sending it off before the attacking Ob'enn undo Tagon's standing orders to [[ItMakesSenseInContext not think about ghosts]] by resetting his loyalty switch, which predictably [[AIIsACrapshoot drives his original self crazy]] in a matter of minutes and ends with him blowing up the ship.
144	** Tagon's HeroicSacrifice during the Uli-Oa mission more or less hinges on him being cloned from a [[BrainUploading RED-REO backup]] afterwards; for this reason, [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-08-27 he quickly turns down assistance]] from [[TheMedic Doctor Bunnigus]] when she offers to help, clueing her in to the nature of his plan.
145	--->'''Bunni:''' [[PoweredArmor I'm the one dressed for this fight, sir]]. It's okay for you to admit you need my help now.\
146	'''Tagon:''' If I admit ''anything'', it's that [[SuicideAttack my plan]] involves me needing your help ''later''.\
147	'''Bunni:''' [[LateToTheRealization Oh.]]
148	* In ''Webcomic/{{Starslip}}'', protocol officers are deemed mission-critical, so on their death [[BodyBackupDrive their minds are automatically uploaded to a fresh clone]]. We find this out two strips ''after'' we see protocol officer Quine stabbed through the heart.
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Western Animation]]
152	* In the second season of ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', BigBad Phaeton sends a clone of himself to fight in the Battle for Venus. The clone is betrayed and left for dead by treacherous General Draconis who, in turn, is executed by the real Phaeton.
153	* 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]].
154	* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'':
155	** 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 it's no big deal]]. 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.
156	** Another episode had an alien criminal clone himself before being captured, so that the clone could free him from custody.
157	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / CloningGambit