A prime clone, also known as a clone template, was the source of genetic material that was essential in the process of cloning.

Contents 1 Overview 2 History 3 List of prime clones 3.1 For armed forces 3.2 For single clones 4 Appearances 5 Sources 6 Notes and references

OverviewEdit

A prime clone was the designation^[1] of an organic subject—the original host—whose genetic code provided the basis for single or multiple clones.^[2] The first step in the process of cloning was the extraction of cells from the prime clone.^[3] The cells could then be artificially manipulated to grow either an exact or modified version of the original subject. Under a stable and unmodified cloning process, a clone was physically identical to the prime clone.^[2] Unstable procedures, however, resulted in physically deformed copies, which were generally termed as genetic failures.^[4]

A prime clone's psychological traits could also be copied and implemented into a clone subject through memory flashes.^[4] By scanning and duplicating the original host's brain patterns,^[5] a clone could essentially inherit the identity of its template, although some personality traits could be more dominant than others. According to Ni-Ke-Vanz, an expert on Khommite cloning processes, clones were psychologically different versions of their genetic donor.^[6] However, the use of memory flashes could also produce mental instability, ranging from confusion to insanity, thus causing the clone subject to suffer from an identity crisis. A clone could only successfully absorb the memory flashes if it was able to compartmentalize them, thus allowing it to distinguish its own experiences from the genetic template's memories.^[7]

HistoryEdit

The creation of a clone army, programmed with absolute loyalty, was first conceived by the Order of the Sith Lords as part of their agenda to exact vengeance on the Jedi Order and reassert Sith hegemony over the galaxy. The Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Plagueis chose the planet Kamino as the covert site for the new army, mainly because its native species—the Kaminoans—were regarded as expert scientists in the field of cloning. Although Plagueis originally intended to use a Yinchorri host as the basis for the clone army, the Dark Lord was ultimately convinced by the Kaminoans that a Human template was easier to duplicate and modify.^[8]

After Plagueis was killed and succeeded by Darth Sidious in 32 BBY,^[8] the new Sith Master proceeded with the plan for the clone army's creation. He instructed his Sith apprentice, Darth Tyranus, to provide a genetic template for the cloners on Kamino. Tyranus invited several of the galaxy's most dangerous mercenaries to join a contest; the objective to capture or kill the Dark Jedi Komari Vosa for the reward of five million credits. The victor of the contest was a former Mandalorian-turned-bounty hunter named Jango Fett, who agreed to become the clone army's template in exchange for a considerable amount of money, and under the condition that the first clone would be his to keep.^[9]

Jango Fett lived on Kamino for roughly a decade where he served as both the prime clone and a close adviser in the training of the clone troopers. Fett was given an unaltered clone—neither modified for growth acceleration or tampered with for greater docility—whom he named Boba Fett. The rest of his clones were engineered to physically grow twice as fast as real Humans, thus allowing them to reach adulthood at a faster rate. By and large, the clones were produced with a diminished sense of individuality to better ensure that they would be loyal to the Galactic Republic; completely susceptible to executing orders without question. By 22 BBY, two hundred thousand units were combat ready,^[2] followed by millions more by the near end of the Clone Wars.^[10]

Fett's progeny fulfilled the true purpose behind their creation when Darth Sidious, in his public guise as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, issued Order 66, hence causing the clones to betray and execute their Jedi officers.^[11] Under the era of the Galactic Empire the successor state of the Old Republic, the Fett template was retained as a source for clone soldiers, although new prime clones were later selected, which in turn led to the production of different clones that supplemented the original Fett-based clone troopers.^[11]

It was generally assumed that Force-sensitive beings were incapable of becoming clones.^[8] Although the exact reason was unknown, experts like Ni-Ke-Vanz believed that the Force somehow interfered with the cloning process, thus making it virtually impossible to create a stable clone from a genetic source with a significantly high percentage in midi-chlorians.^[6] The creation of Force-sensitive clones was ultimately achieved by Kaminoan technology on two occassions; first in the last years of the Republic;^[12] and then during the time of the Empire.^[4] The first successful attempt was conducted by the Kaminoans in addition to the production of Jango Fett's clone troopers. Genetic samples of the Jedi Knight Falon Grey, taken without his knowledge, were used to produce two prototypes: X1 and X2.^[12] In 1 BBY, the Sith Lord Darth Vader attempted to clone a new secret apprentice after the death of his redeemed disciple, Galen Marek.^[4]

Though Marek was dead, Vader brought the body to Kamino and preserved it within a cold chamber located in the Timira City Cloning Facility,^[13] thus preventing the genetic material from being destroyed by decomposition. Around the same time, Kaminoan technology had been modified by Imperial scientists to create the "accelerated cloning process," an experimental procedure in which clone subjects could be grown to adulthood in the span of a few weeks.^[5] However, the process was highly flawed and led to the production of numerous aberrant monstrosities, both physically deformed and mentally deranged. More stable versions were eventually produced,^[7] including a renegade clone who fled from Kamino.^[4] Yet they too were dismissed as imperfect because of their inability to successfully absorb the memory flashes.^[7][6] However, such failures ultimately led to the creation of a single clone who exceeded all of the Dark Lord's expectations. Vader judged him to be the only perfect clone in the entire endeavor, and thus allowed the clone to see the corpse of his template.^[13]

After the fragmentation of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn created his own clone army for his campaign against the New Republic by using the Spaarti cloning cylinders in order to grow fully-developed clone stormtroopers in less than one year. For this project, the clone templates included Corporal Terkuss, Lieutenant Creb, Baron Soontir Fel, and possibly General Maximilian Veers.

Emperor Palpatine survived death several times by periodically transferring his spirit into cloned versions of his younger self, especially around the time when his own campaign against the New Republic began shortly after Thrawn's failed attempt to reclaim the Galaxy for the Empire. Unlike other clones from different templates, Palpatine's clones were essentially "blank slates" with no minds of their own. Their only purpose was to serve as a shell to house the spirit of Palpatine, who utilized the Force technique essence transfer to literally pass his consciousness on to a new vessel before death could permanently claim him.

List of prime clonesEdit

For armed forcesEdit

• Sa Cuis for the Stormtrooper Corps (terminated shortly after inception)
• Jango Fett for the Grand Army of the Republic, and later the Stormtrooper Corps
• Falon Grey for the Grand Army of the Republic through X1 and X2
• Erv Lekauf for the Stormtrooper Corps
• Barrow Oicunn for the Stormtrooper Corps
• Terkuss, Creb, Soontir Fel and Maximilian Veers for Thrawn's Spaarti-engineered clone army
• Bok for the CIS Morgukai Shadow Army
• Daine Jir for the Stormtrooper Corps
• Nahdonnis Praji for the Stormtrooper Corps
• Teti Viba for the Stormtrooper Corps
• Boba Fett for the Stormtrooper Corps (terminated shortly after inception)

For single clonesEdit

• Jorus C'baoth, for Joruus C'baoth
• Feena D'Asta
• Jango Fett, for Boba Fett
• Ysanne Isard
• Palpatine, for consciousness transferring
• Darth Tyranus (possibly a dark-side emanation instead of a clone)
• Darth Vader by accident
• Sate Pestage
• Luke Skywalker, for Luuke Skywalker
• Thrawn
• Darth Maul
• Xandel Carivus
• Bevel Lemelisk, to test consciousness transferring for Palpatine no less than seven times
• Grodin Tierce, for an experimental clone (created to be the perfect leader; ultimately deemed as a failure)
• Galen Marek, for the Dark Apprentice (a single stable version to take Marek's place as Darth Vader's apprentice); also resulted in numerous imperfect clones, including Starkiller (a more stable version compared to the aberrant clones, but ultimately deemed as another failure)

AppearancesEdit

• Jango Fett: Open Seasons
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "R2 Come Home" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Republic 50: The Defense of Kamino (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Republic 60: Hate and Fear
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• In His Image
• Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood

SourcesEdit

• The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook
• Vision of the Future
• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• The New Essential Chronology
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and referencesEdit