Cloning is a plot device that has been used a lot in genre works. In your opinion who or what have been the best and worst clones in the genre-comics, literature, film, TV, etc.? Examples: Luuke Skywalker-Thrawn Trilogy Crichton's clone-Farscape Ben Reilly-Spider-Man Shinzon-ST: Nemesis Rico-Judge Dredd movie
I sincerely hope nobody's putting Ben Reilly in the "best" category. How about Carson Beckett in Stargate: Atlantis ?
I think Crichton was handled the best of all the clones I'm aware of. They almost always treated them both as individuals and real people. Hell, it's been so long since I've watched the series that I can't even remember which one survived or if they even established which was the original. The worst are pretty much any story that implies that a typical clone (ie, vat-grown rather than someone splitting into two) is somehow the exact same person as the original. That they somehow stole their soul because someone downloaded a few memories into their head, or that they magically know what the other is thinking and planning. Shinzon and Schwarzenegger in that one God-awful film are prime examples.
X-23 is a well-done alternate take/commentary on Wolverine's origin, reversing the idea of Logan having to overcome his programming; instead, the question is what is there beside the programming (the answer so far is "something, but not a whole lot").
Crichton was interesting because both Crichtons were clones, technically speaking. The original Crichton died in that episode where the two clones emerged. Also let's not forget the wonderful Weyoun clones, particularly in "Treachery, Faith and the Great River." Neither was original. And I can't remember which survived either! I certainly remember his death scene but not if it was Talyn John or Moya John.
Null ARC clone troops in the Republic Commando novels are the best. all other Clone troops are second. Weyoun in all incarnations is third.
Rei Ayanami (though of course, part of her storyline is that while she is a physical clone of the human Yui Ikari, she's got the "soul" of the alien entity Lilith implanted inside of her, so she's more a revanent version of Lilith using a cloned human body as a vessel, and part of her character arc is discovering how she, "Rei" is her own distinct person, neither Yui nor Lilith)
What the bad guys were doing with the cloning in The Sixth Day was pretty stupid -- when you die, you're dead. Your clone may be alive, but IT'S NOT YOU!!! Though it was funny (and a bit scary) when the clone deliberately killed his previous version. However, I completely bought the fakeout, thinking I was following one person and it turns out to be the other person. So that made the movie better than what it was -- which was Arnold on auto pilot.
the Clone Master! anyone remember this failed pilot/tv movie about a guy that makes like a jillion clone of himself. if it had gone to series each episode would have been about a different clone doing the typical helping strangers out that most 70s tv show heroes did on a weekly basis... I liked the version of Bizarro that was a failed clone of Superman also Spoiler: Doctor Who season 4 The Hand Doctor and what discussion of sci-fi clones can be complete without mentioning the Duncan Idahos from Dune (he was cloned once a generation for a few thousand years, right?)
I thought Idaho was cloned once every few thousand years? Every time Leto II wanted some Idaho back in the gene pool.
No, Idaho was cloned *continuously* for thousands of years. Leto II kept one around as an adviser for 3,500 years, so there's hundreds of them. The later Dune books get really deep and are obviously leading up to something, but what exactly Leto II's plan is we don't figure out exactly because Herbert died....his son claims to have a more or less outline of what was supposed to happen after that (I don't fully believe it but it loosely fits with what came before) but it wasn't just "to have a clone of Duncan": the Duncan Idaho series was Leto II's grand experiment. Further, Duncan Idaho + Siona Atreides (herself a product of Ghanima Atreides and Farad'n Corrino) = invisible to prescient vision.