Rachael

Rachael:

Actress Sean Young plays the character of Rachael.

It is my contention that Rachael is the third main character in the film, behind Deckard and Roy Batty. Rachael is a newly designed ‘experimental’ replicant, and she differs from the Nexus-6 models for two reasons. Firstly, she has implanted memories of a past that was not hers (her memories are in fact Eldon Tyrell’s niece’s), causing her to falsely believe that she is a human and has lived a full and normal life. This was done to ensure that she is more emotionally stable and thus easier to control. Her second difference is that she does not have an automatic expiration date – presumably her body ages, develops and decays just like a normal human being. Although it may also be possible that she is immortal!

At the start of the film, Rachael falsely believes herself to be a human, although Tyrell admits to Deckard that even at that point she was beginning to suspect that she was not. After she fails the VK test, her suspicions grow and she confronts Deckard, who tells her the truth about her true identity. Reluctant to accept this at first, she eventually does and ironically seems to become more human and natural as the film develops.

We are not really made aware of what sort of person (or replicant) Rachael really is. She appears to display fully human emotion, and she saves Deckard’s life and then flees the city with him. For these reasons it is safe to presume that she is of sound character, and represents female humanity in the film.