Summary

• Riker faced his own clone early on in TNG, refusing to be replicated for the sake of individuality.
• Mariposans cloned Riker and Pulaski without consent, leading to Riker taking matters into his own hands.
• Later, Riker discovered his own transporter duplicate in a twist of fate, navigating the complexities of having a double.

Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) had a clone in Star Trek: The Next Generation long before he found out about his transporter duplicate, Thomas Riker. For seven seasons of TNG and four movies, Riker served as First Officer of the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). The Enterprise and her crew encountered many strange phenomena over the years, including the occasional evil twin or surprise doppelganger. In TNG season 7, Riker met his transporter clone, but he had a much more violent reaction the first time he was cloned.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 18, "Up the Long Ladder," the USS Enterprise-D crew encounters two different colonies that both originated from the same ship, the SS Mariposa. One of the colonies, the Bringloidi, has embraced a simple life of farming and the Enterprise brings them aboard when their planet begins experiencing solar flares. The Bringloidians inform Captain Picard of the other colony, Mariposa, which has become a more advanced society made up of clones. With an original population of only five colonists, the Mariposan clones have begun degrading, and they want more DNA samples to add to their gene pool.

The Bringloidians are based on cliched Irish stereotypes that were outdated even in 1989 when the episode aired.

Commander Riker Murdered His First Clone In Star Trek: TNG's "Up the Long Ladder"

The Mariposans steal Riker and Dr. Pulaski's DNA so they can clone them.

Soon after the USS Enterprise-D s the Mariposans, Commander Riker beams down to the planet with Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) and Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn). After the Mariposans reveal themselves as clones, they ask for samples of DNA from Enterprise crew to repopulate their gene pool. Because they have been continuously copying and recopying the same five people, the clones have begun to experience replicative fading and will be nonviable within a few generations. When the Mariposans ask for DNA samples, Riker is the first to speak up, saying:

No way, not me. [...] One William Riker is unique, perhaps even special. But a hundred of him, a thousand of him diminishes me in ways I can't even imagine.

The Prime Minister of Mariposa, Walter Granger (Jon De Vries), seems to accept their refusal, asking if the Enterprise crew could still help repair their equipment. As Lt. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and an engineering team work on repairs, the Mariposans steal DNA from Riker and Pulaski and clone them anyway. As they were unconscious through the process, Riker and Pulaski did not notice anything amiss, but, with his VISOR, Geordi could tell that Granger was lying. Riker, Pulaski, and La Forge then beam back down to Mariposa's cloning labs, and Riker kills both clones. Although Pulaski cringes, she s Riker's decision, and though Granger calls them murderers, the away team suffers no consequences for killing two defenseless lifeforms.

Will Riker's Greatest Fear Later Came True With His Clone Thomas Riker

Will Riker is no longer unique after this TNG season 6 episode.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 24, "Second Chances," the Enterprise visits the planet Nervala IV to investigate a Federation research station that was abandoned eight years ago. Commander Riker leads an away team down to the planet, and they discover an exact double of Riker claiming to be Lt. Will Riker. Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) determines that the man is genetically indistinguishable from Commander Riker. Riker had been on a mission to Nervala IV eight years before and was the last to beam up from the planet. La Forge realizes that the transporter beam must have split, resulting in one Riker being beamed to the ship and one being left on Nervala IV.

"Second Chances" is the directing debut of LeVar Burton, who would go on to direct another Riker-centric episode in TNG season 7, episode 12, "The Pegasus."

Lt. Riker decides to go by the name Thomas and transfers to another ship at the end of "Second Chances," before eventually ing the rebel group known as the Maquis and popping up on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. By TNG season 6, Riker has experienced many strange adventures since his encounter with the Mariposans in "Up the Long Ladder." While he is still clearly unsettled that he has a clone, he never considers killing his duplicate. The situation is different, of course, as Thomas Riker's creation was an accident, but it's clear Riker does not feel quite as strongly about having a duplicate as he did earlier on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+.