The long-anticipated film “Blade Runner 2049” heralds the return of the replicants, uncannily life-like robots who, in the 1982 “Blade Runner” film, rebelled against their human overlords with mixed results and were subsequently hunted and brutally “retired” by a specialized police officer.
Androids — constructs that combine artificial intelligence and a mechanical body with a human-like appearance — are mainstays of science fiction; they appear as fugitives from the law, remorseless killing machines, costumed superheroes, or space-faring science officers. Aspects of how they look or behave usually distinguish them from people, but it’s the many ways in which they resemble us that compel audiences to re-examine — and perhaps question — how we define what makes us human.
Here are some of the human-resembling androids that have populated sci-fi over recent decades.
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