Ryouko Kuriba (Doppelganger)

A doppelganger of Kuriba Ryouko, said to possess a soul that was created during an experiment where the original Kuriba Ryouko was split into two cyborgs for a year before being recombined. Residing within the combined mechanical components and initially believing she was the real one, the doppelganger eventually realized what she was and escaped the laboratory to seek her original out. The doppelganger's face is mostly identical to the original Kuriba Ryouko, with vertically striped hair, alternating between light and dark from a dark stripe at the middle of her frontal fringe. There is a slight shade difference across her face, likely acquired during separation. Below her neck, her body's mechanical nature is more apparent with exposed joints and a set of panels opening onto a hole on her back. Following her escape, the doppelganger acquired a black and pink patient gown and artificial skin to cover up her mechanical parts. After the doppelganger assimilated an enormous amount of material after her container was breached, her appearance changed slightly, acquiring the darker skin over the entire body and completely white hair, as well as a dress made from pale threads. It isn't known how much of the original Kuriba Ryouko's personality is shared by the doppelganger. After learning her true nature, the doppelganger displayed a tendency for speculative talk regarding her nature as a fake compared to normal people, the body and the soul, particularly when harming others. She also showed no compunctions about severely harming anyone in her way or causing massive destruction in pursuit of her goals. The doppelganger stated that she wished to eliminate all threats to her existence and sought to kill her creator. With the matter of the doppelganger's soul in doubt, Misaka Mikoto theorized that her despair might not just be from realizing she wasn't human, but from confirming that she didn't have a soul. The doppelganger later confirmed that her plan was to destroy herself along with any data and means which could recreate her, intending to trigger Academy City's defense systems to shoot her and the data storage airship down, seeing as she couldn't commit suicide herself. After Mikoto reluctantly fulfilled her wishes, she thanked her and described her destruction as being the same as throwing out a broken appliance. Much like her original, the doppelganger accepted sacrifice as a necessary condition to achieve something, that being the reason she tried to terminate her original rather than a grudge.