Identity

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Ideas concerning identity and what it means to be oneself are a recurring theme on Futurama.

By Episode

"Rebirth" (6ACV01)

• At the beginning of the episode, the entire crew except Farnsworth are killed, as well as Zapp and Kif. Their bodies are revived via Farnsworth's stem cell vat. They seem to remain the same persons that they were before, that is, they aren't obviously zombies or anything strange.

• Fry makes a robot-Leela and Leela makes a robot-Fry. Both robots spend some time believing that they are the originals. Twice during this episode, Robot-Leela can be found musing on the meaning of identity and the nature of consciousness.

• The new Fry who appears at the end of the episode isn't simply revived as the others are. Their heads stayed intact, so they are presumably the same persons as before. But Fry's brain was destroyed: the person who comes out of the stem cell vat is a clone of the dead Fry. In other words, through Farnsworth's miracle of science, this person is a copy of the original Fry in every sense that the robot was a copy of the original Fry. It is notable that no one seems concerned about this.

• When Farnsworth finally tells the whole story and Leela learns that Fry is dead, she says, "My god, I can't believe I'll never see that particular Fry again." This is an important point with respect to identity: the original Fry has passed away.

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (6ACV02)

• In Zapp's dream, Leela is portrayed by a two-eyed woman with a cyclops mask; Fry is portrayed by a child; and Bender is portrayed by a man wearing a garbage can and ski goggles.
• Richard Nixon's head refers to Kif as "Reptilicus".

"Proposition Infinity" (6ACV04)

• Amy tells Kif to "stop being such a spineless jellyfish"; Kif reminds her that his species is more closely related to the sea cucumber.
• Farnsworth refers to Bender as a "four-dollar coffeepot".
• Farnsworth recounts a story of his youthful love affair with "Eunice", a human woman. But after he finishes the story, he reveals that "Eunice" was actually a fembot named "Unit 47".

"The Duh-Vinci Code" (6ACV05)

• The crew dig up the body of Animatronio, temporarily believing him to be Robot Saint James.

"Lethal Inspection" (6ACV06)

• Until Bender learns that he has no backup unit, he believes that if he dies, his consciousness can be downloaded into another Bender, making him effectively immortal.
• Hermes refers to Bender as a "cocktail shaker".

"The Late Philip J. Fry" (6ACV07)

It is worth noting that the Fry at the beginning of this episode, whom we have known for many episodes, is not the original. That Fry died in the crash that Farnsworth recounts at the beginning of "Rebirth"; the current Fry is a clone of the dead Fry. Other than Fry and Farnsworth, everyone else who appears at the beginning of this episode died in "Rebirth", but was revived and had their bodies restored. So they might be considered the "originals". In this episode, all of these people die except for the time-travelers. As Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender fly forward through time, they go to the ending of this universe. A second universe plays out, and presumably all of our characters live and die there as well. A third universe plays out until the point at which Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender drop back into time and kill the Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender who are native to this third universe. The following are the new identities of the characters:

• Farnsworth and Bender: still the originals
• Fry: a clone of the original
• Everyone else: native occupants of the third universe, the one that the time-travelers drop into.

"That Darn Katz!" (6ACV08)

• After a night of drinking, Kif appears on the floor in liquid form, that is, he is a puddle, apparently mixed in with vomit.
• Professor Katz, who chairs the panel that denies Amy her doctorate, turns out to be "one of those dog-operated puppets that's been adapted for use by a cat".

"A Clockwork Origin" (6ACV09)

• Farnsworth refers to Bender as a "bedspring".

"The Prisoner of Benda" (6ACV10)

• Farnsworth spends time in the bodies of Amy and Bender.
• Amy spends time in the bodies of Farnsworth, Leela, and Hermes.
• Bender spends time in the bodies of Amy, Washbucket, and Nikolai.
• Leela spends time in the body of Farnsworth.
• Fry spends time in the body of Zoidberg.
• Washbucket spends time in the body of Amy.
• Zoidberg spends time in the body of Fry.
• Emperor Nikolai spends time in the body of washbucket.
• Hermes spends time in the body of Leela.

Globetrotters Bubble Gum Tate and Sweet Clyde help the crew to return everyone back to their own body. They start with this permutation:

• Farnsworth is in Bender's body.
• Amy is in Hermes' body.
• Bender is in Nikolai's body.
• Leela is in Farnsworth's body.
• Fry is in Zoidberg's body.
• Washbucket is in Amy's body.
• Zoidberg is in Fry's body.
• Nikolai is in Washbucket's body.
• Hermes is in Leela's body.

They use this sequence of swaps to return everyone to normal.

1. Fry's body <-> Clyde's body, Zoidberg's body <-> Bubble Gum's body
   • Now Zoidberg is in Clyde's body, Fry is in Bubble Gum's body, Clyde is in Fry's body, Bubble Gum is in Zoidberg's body.
2. Clyde's body <-> Zoidberg's body, Bubble Gum's body <-> Fry's body
   • Now Zoidberg and Fry are finished; Bubble Gum and Clyde occupy each other's bodies.
3. Farnsworth's body <-> Clyde's body, Washbucket's bucket <-> Bubble Gum's body
   • Now Leela is in Clyde's body, Nikolai is in Bubble Gum's body, Clyde is in Washbucket's bucket, Bubble Gum is in Farnsworth's body.
4. Leela's body <-> Clyde's body, Nikolai's body <-> Bubble Gum's body
   • Now Leela and Nikolai are finished; Hermes is in Clyde's body, and Bender is in Bubble Gum's body.
5. Hermes' body <-> Clyde's body, Bender's body <-> Bubble Gum's body
   • Now Hermes and Bender are finished; Amy is in Clyde's body, and Farnsworth is in Bubble Gum's body.
6. Amy's body <-> Clyde's body, Farnsworth's body <-> Bubble Gum's body
   • Now Amy, Farnsworth, and Bubble Gum are finished; Washbucket is in Clyde's body.
7. Washbucket's bucket <-> Clyde's body
   • All done. It really works.

"Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" (6ACV11)

• Fry makes a comic strip with himself and Leela as the main characters.
• Some of the crew members participate in a costume contest. Bender poses as Leela, while Leela poses as Princess Leia.
• Lrrr and his guards are mistaken for costume contest participants.
• Lrrr almost has a one-night stand with Grrl, who turns out to be a human woman in an Omicronianx costume.
• Bender serves as a camera/transmitter for Fry's invasion movie.

"The Mutants Are Revolting" (6ACV12)

• When Fry jumps into Lake Mutagenic, everyone, including Fry himself, believes that he has mutated into a horrible monster. Later it is discovered that Mr. Aster is the horrible monster, and Fry has simply lodged in his mouth.