The Clones are, as their name suggests, imperfect clones of the original Peregrine Falcon and S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S soldiers. These grotesque aberrations of nature are created by the Mars People. They serve as the final regular enemies of Metal Slug 3.
Information
In Metal Slug 3, after the General Morden on the Hi-Do is revealed to be an imposter, the Mars People kidnap Player 1's character and take them and the real General Morden deep into the Rugname. A substitute character is sent via Astro Slug to infiltrate the Rugname to rescue the kidnapped soldier.
After destroying Rootmars' control center (which causes the Rugname to slowly break apart), the player will be swarmed upon by an army of green clones mass-produced to the same likeness as the kidnapped soldier except with a green complexion and black eyes. Fighting through these clones, the player will happen upon a stasis chamber holding the kidnapped soldier suspended in a spherical tank of unknown fluid. The clones continue to attack the player until at last, the membrane of the stasis chamber is ruptured, freeing the soldier and disintegrating the now hostless clones.
Not all the clones died so simply, however, with most of the surviving clones being corrupted into zombies in the process. They, along with the remaining normal clones, attempt to impede the soldiers' escape from the rapidly deteriorating Rugname. Upon opening the ship's bay doors, both forms of clones are seen blown into the vacuum of space, where they presumably perish.
Combat
Clones typically survive no more than three rounds each, making them extremely frail. To compensate, they often pack heavy weaponry normally used by the player, such as Heavy Machine Gun or Flame Shot. Much like the player, clones also carry knives for close combat and grenades.
The clones in the hallway after facing Fake Rootmars always drop a rotten egg when defeated. These are worth zero points and can make a player fat by collecting too many of them.
Zombie clones don't fire their weapons, preferring to use their vomit attacks periodically. They are substantially stronger than regular clones, requiring six melee strikes to kill whereas regular clones take only one. Zombies take time to turn around, meaning jumping over their heads can buy time to take them out before they can strike.
Variants
Biological
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Clone Marco: A cloned variant of Marco Rossi. In Metal Slug Attack, a zombie variant also appears after being defeated in its clone form. |
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Clone Tarma: A cloned variant of Tarma Roving. In Metal Slug Attack, they're separated into two units - an actual clone and a zombified version. The clone version uses a shotgun, while the zombified version uses a pistol and blood pukes. |
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Clone Eri: A cloned variant of Eri Kasamoto. |
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Clone Fio: A cloned variant of Fio Germi. In Metal Slug Attack, they're separated into two units - an actual clone (here, a palette swap of regular Fio) and a zombified version. |
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Clone Trevor: A cloned variant of Trevor Spacey following his brief abduction by the Martians during the second summer event in Metal Slug Attack. They utilize their Two Machine Guns and spiked boots to attack enemies with nimble speed. |
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Clone Eri (Awakening): A Clone Eri who gained a sense of will upon seeing Clario's awakening and follows her in eradicating their enemies. This Clone Eri appears and acts similar to Eri for Liberty. She fires her grenade launchers in an arc as her main attack. She can also heal herself over time and even regenerate from an egg up to twice her HP. |
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Clone Neander: A clone of Dr. Neander created with cloning technology stolen from the Martians. The clone fights alongside the real doctor and share the same attacks and damage pool. When time runs out, the clone dies and Dr. Neander flees. |
Mechanical
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Clone Abby: A cloned variant of Abigail. Emotionally colder than the original. Fires lasers from her large gun. |
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Clone Betty: A cloned variant of Beatriz. Is much nicer to others than the original. Breathes cold mist, uses a variant of the Freeze Gun, and summons satellites that drop large amounts of ice. |
Gallery
Trivia
- The clones are a reference to the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
- All of the Clones (including Zombie Clones) uses the respective character's death sound when as a Zombie.
- In Metal Slug 6, the brainwashed soldier encountered just prior to the final boss has the same sprites as a clone, only with their regular color scheme instead of all green.
- Although they appear in the Shootout Challenge mode's splash screen, texture data of them being present for the playable characters, and Dr. Neander taunting the players about fighting themselves, the Clones currently do not show up at all in Metal Slug: Awakening.
- Animation and Graphics:
- If a clone is killed with a flame based weaponry, they will all use a burn animation where they simply fade away normally rather than dissolve into a puddle.
- For the Eri and Fio clones, their Acid death animation when being hit in the air is slightly censored. They will hit the ground but will simply disappear in green liquid, instead of landing with their rear facing the screen and their shorts melting off, revealing their buttocks. The sprites exist but are not seen in-game. The on-ground death (where their shirt melts off and reveals their chest) remains unchanged.
- Tarma's clones lack the trademarked sunglasses. Oddly, the zombie Tarma clones still retain the sunglasses.