# Characters who murder a version of themselves (SPOILERS OF MANY MOVIES) \[edited\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818 "2014-07-11T01:55:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/1 "2014-07-11T01:55:48Z")
. . . . . . . . . Probably the best way to explain is with a few examples: In **Looper** , hit men kill people sent to them via time travel from the future. Eventually, their contract is over when they “close their loop” and kill their future selves sent back. In **The Prestige** , a magician is given a machine that can create a perfect clone of himself. So as not to divulge the “trick” of his stage illusion, he kills his clone (or perhaps it’s the other way around?) during each show. In **The One** , a homicidal maniac transports from one alternate universe to another, accumulating power with each version of himself he kills in each new universe. So what are some other examples where a character kills an incarnation of themselves, but in a way that would better be considered homicide rather than suicide? Also, can you name an actor who killed himself in a movie by playing two distinctly separate characters (and not just incarnations of the same one like with the Hugh Jackman and Jet Li examples above)? Lee Marvin playing Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in **Cat Ballou** would be one case. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/2 "2014-07-11T03:15:55Z")
the [Iron Giant](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129167/). Although one might argue he knew he wasn’t dying. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/3 "2014-07-11T03:43:15Z")
Your OP title, _Non-suicidal characters who intentionally kill themselves (SPOILERS)_, sounds different from the example types you are looking for in your first post. Answering that supposition, of non-suicidal characters who intentionally kill themselves. I’d pick Dr. Serizawa, from 1954’s Gojira(Godzill) He deliberately cut the airline to his diving suit, so that nobody would ever be able to wring from him the knowledge of the oxygen destroyer. I’m assuming he didn’t _want_ to die, but was willing to do so, for the sake of not having such a dreadful weapon available. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/4 "2014-07-11T04:19:42Z")
Terminator in Terminator 2. Should we remove self-sacrifice to narrow the list down? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/5 "2014-07-11T06:52:56Z")
Gene Hackman, _That Capsized Ship Movie_ ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/6 "2014-07-11T15:07:37Z")
If television counts, then in _Orphan Black_ one of the clones kills another. Helena shoots Katja in an early episode of season 1 ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/7 "2014-07-11T15:12:21Z")
Spock in The Wrath of Khan. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/8 "2014-07-11T15:13:01Z")
Lady Mariko - _Shogun_ Allows herself to be killed when she could have escaped. She was in poor situation but after several readings I don’t believe she was suicidal. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/9 "2014-07-11T15:30:18Z")
Scott Glenn’s character in Vertical Limit cuts the rope preventing him from falling into a crevasse. He takes the bad guy with him. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/10 "2014-07-11T15:57:56Z")
Would you call Inspector Javert suicidal? A lot of old fashioned mystery stories had the killer “take the honorable way out.” **The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,** for instance. Simon in **Misfits** travels back in time knowing he will die. Rudy I and II also murder Rudy III and Curtis kills himself. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/11 "2014-07-11T16:08:22Z")
Going by the thread title - Randy Quaid played a non-suicidal character who chose to die heroically in _Independence Day_. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/12 "2014-07-11T17:10:50Z")
The protagonist of Fallen kills himself and his partner out in the woods in a vain attempt to kill the demon. And it would have worked, too, if it weren’t for that meddling cat. ETA: I really should read the OP first. Just realized this isn’t technically in line with the OP. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/13 "2014-07-11T17:14:59Z")
More in line with the OP: Hermes Conrad ostensibly kills a past version of himself in _Bender’s Big Score_, so he can get a new body. Does Marty McFly count, when he temporarily prevented his own conception in _Back to the Future_? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/14 "2014-07-11T17:30:15Z")
Well, if there was any doubt that people respond to a thread based purely on the title and not on reading one word of the OP, this is certainly it. Moderator: Please change the thread title to **Characters who murder a version of themselves**. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/15 "2014-07-11T17:33:20Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > More in line with the OP: Hermes Conrad ostensibly kills a past version of himself in _Bender’s Big Score_, so he can get a new body. > > Does Marty McFly count, when he temporarily prevented his own conception in _Back to the Future_? I figured there’d be a _Futurama_ example! I don’t always remember the serialized ones. Well, Marty was endangering his future self, but the “death” never happened. Though his death is memorialized (using his pseudonym Clint Eastwood). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/16 "2014-07-11T17:35:55Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > If television counts, then in _Orphan Black_ one of the clones kills another. Helena shoots Katja in an early episode of season 1 Thanks for the first response that actually read the OP! I’ve heard of this show, of course, but suspect I’ll never get around to seeing it until I resort to a week-long 4-season binge-watching marathon. But with all the different characters the same actress plays, I suppose it would happen eventually. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/17 "2014-07-11T17:38:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Simon in **Misfits** travels back in time knowing he will die. Rudy I and II also murder Rudy III and Curtis kills himself. Never even heard of this show but part of it seems to fit the bill. Trippy, I’ll have to look into this more. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/18 "2014-07-11T17:53:23Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > Going by the thread title - Randy Quaid played a non-suicidal character who chose to die heroically in _Independence Day_. Man, I am OFF today. Scrap my answer - I missed the “a version of” part. ☹ WAIT A MINUTE…I just read that the subject line was change. Now I’m completely confused. Maybe my answer \*\*\*was \*\*\*appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/19 "2014-07-11T18:40:17Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Never even heard of this show but part of it seems to fit the bill. Trippy, I’ll have to look into this more. **Misfits** is on [Hulu](http://www.hulu.com/misfits) (free). It’s the best superhero TV series ever produced. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818/20 "2014-07-11T18:45:13Z")
In John Dies at the End (the book), Dave finds a dead version of himself in his shed, and assumes it was a fake him from the monster dimension. Until he thinks to look for his birthmark, which isn’t there, but IS present on the body. It turns out he was a monster sent to kill the real Dave, and he succeeded. He gets over it, and ends up accepting that since he has all the memories and the personality of real Dave, he may as well be. Nothing really comes of it, except John jokingly calls him “monster Dave” sometimes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-murder-a-version-of-themselves-spoilers-of-many-movies-edited/692818.md?page=2)