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Film Continuity
Rachael 2

Rachael, a Nexus-7, being interviewed by Rick Deckard

Nexus-7 was the codename for a model of replicant developed by Eldon Tyrell and the Tyrell Corporation. The Nexus-7 series was believed to never have progressed beyond the prototype stage, and the only specimens known to have been produced were Rachael, Isobel Selwyn, and a second Isobel Selwyn replicant.

Description[]

Tyrell's research that led to the development of the Nexus-7 was kept top secret, with some employees believing he only entrusted this research to his closest confidants.[1]

The chief difference apparent between the Nexus-7 series and previous models was that Nexus-7s could be implanted with real human memories prior to their inception. While prior models would be close to their expiration date by the time that they accumulated enough memories to develop feelings and a sense of identity, Nexus-7s could thus be "born" with such a wealth of memories that they could pass as human immediately, Rachael not even being aware she was a replicant.[2]

Isobel Selwyn was designed to be identical to the late wife of Alexander Selwyn, to the point where Selwyn's daughter Cleo was unaware that her mother had died.[3] Following the death of this replicant, another was created.[4]

Blade Runner Rick Deckard remarked that while previous models could be confirmed as replicants within the first 20 to 30 questions being answered during a Voight-Kampff test, Rachael answered over 100 questions before the machine could positively identify her as a replicant.[2]

Deckard recalled Eldon Tyrell telling him Rachael was also unique in that she possessed no termination date, having an open-ended lifespan.[5][6] Tyrell also made Rachael host to an even more revolutionary technological achievement: the ability to reproduce, having borne a child by Deckard.[7]

Because of its classified nature, any Nexus-7 research was completely lost after Tyrell's murder, prompting the company to rush out the Nexus-8 to replace the controversial Nexus-6. The company issued a public explanation which claimed that at the time of his death, Tyrell had been developing a new Nexus model that was so advanced, that calling it the Nexus-7 would be inappropriate, thus naming it the Nexus-8.[1] Niander Wallace desperately sought to re-discover the Nexus-7 technology in order to exponentially ramp up the production of replicants and thus the colonization of other planets.[7]

Behind the scenes[]

Rachael's identity as a Nexus-7 was not revealed until Blade Runner 2049, where this is confirmed by her serial number.

The franchise's second Nexus-7, Isobel Selwyn, first appeared in Blade Runner 2019.

References[]

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