Replicants (Blade Runner)

Replicants are bio-engineered machines that feature in the movie Blade Runner.

History

Replicants were highly advanced organic robots that were created by humanity. Their development came about in the early part of the 21st Century when the Tyrell Corporation made a breakthrough in advanced robotic design when they created the NEXUS phase with these creations being virtually indistinguishable from humans. The Replicants were sent Off-World where they were used as slave labour, to conduct hazardous exploration and to aid in the colonization of other planets. During this time, a munity erupted from a NEXUS 6 combat team on an Off-World colony with this leading to Replicants being declared illegal on Earth under penalty of death. To enforce this law, special police squads were formed that were known as Blade Runner Units that had orders to kill any trespassing Replicant on detection with these being termed as retiring the units.

Two weeks ago, six Nexus-6 replicants escaped the off-world colonies where they killed 23 people and took a shuttle for Earth.

In 2022, an EMP was detonated on Earth leading to the events of the Blackout that caused havoc on the planet. A great deal of destruction impacted the world with digital records were lost. By the next year, all production of Replicants were prohibited leading to the collapse of the Tyrell Corporation. In 2025, a new company emerged named as Wallace Corp headed by Niander Wallace that solved the global food crisis and becomes a massive power. It took over the assets of Tyrell and generated a new line of Replicants leading to prohibition over their creation being repealed by 2030.

Overview

In appearance, Replicants were artificial life forms that were composed of organic and visually identical to humans.

A particular line of robotic evolution was the NEXUS phase that were virtually identical to humans. Among these, the NEXUS 6 series were superior in strength, and agility to humans with them being at least equal in intelligence to the genetic engineers that created them. A safety mechanism was introduced into this line namely a four-year lifespan to prevent them from developing empathic abilities which could make them immune to the Voight-Kampff test.

All attempts to increase a replicant's lifespan had resulted in death with these unsuccessful procedures including:

• Reverse mutations which formed revertant cells that killed the host
• Recombinant mutations which created fatal recombinant viruses
• Repressor proteins which caused lethal errors in cellular replication

An experimental reproductive model of replicant consisted of a high percentage of human organs in comparison to replicant parts. It had an internal human bone structure, natural eyes, hair, skin and reproductive organs, which gave it the ability to pass as human.

Replicants could be detected through the use of the Voigh-Kampff test that tested emotional responses and attempted to provoke the subject.

Due to their nature, they were sometimes referred to by humans by the epithet 'skin-job'.

Members

• Rachael :
• Roy Batty :
• Pris Stratton :
• Zhora Salome :
• Leon Kowalski :
• Elle :
• K :

Notes

• Replicants were created by Ridley Scott where they featured in the setting of the Blade Runner universe.
• In the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick used the term android (or "andy"), but director Ridley Scott wanted a new term that the audience would not have any preconceptions about. As David Peoples was re-writing the screenplay, he consulted his daughter, who was involved in microbiology and biochemistry. She suggested the term "replicating", the biological process of a cell making a copy of itself. From that, either Peoples or Scott—each would later recall it was the other—came up with replicant, and it was inserted into Hampton Fancher's screenplay.

In other media

Television

• In Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Replicants feature in the setting of the CGI anime television series.

Video games

• In Blade Runner, Replicants appeared in the 1997 point and click adventure video game. Blade Runner Roy McCoy was tasked with tracking down a group of Replicants who were suspected of murdering animals that was a crime nearly as heinous as murdering humans as most animal species are extinct and real specimens are exceedingly rare. Clovis was the leader of a renegade group of Replicants who was highly intelligent, eloquent and ruthless.

Novels

• In Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human, Replicants appeared in the setting of the 1995 novel written by K. W. Jeter.

Appearances

• Blade Runner:
• Blade Runner: 2049:

External Link

• Blade Runner Wiki Entry

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