Compare and Contrast: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? versus Blade Runner

Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, was the inspiration behind the movie Blade Runner. Other than the core plot—a man is hired to track down escaped androids in a futuristic Los Angeles—they don't have all that much in common.

Warning: there are spoilers in here.

	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)	Blade Runner (1982)
Setting	Los Angeles in the 2020s, after a nuclear war has left Earth largely desertified, nearly vacant, and covered with radioactive dust.	Los Angeles in 2019, which has become a run-down, ramshackle, polyglot, multicultural city with noodle bars and flying blimps advertising off-world colony living.
Main Character	Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who tracks down escaped androids. He works as an independent contractor for the Los Angeles police department but he is not a policeman himself. The words “blade runner” are never uttered.	Rick Deckard, a former police officer with the Los Angeles police department. He had served the LAPD in the capacity of a “blade runner,” a cop who tracks down escaped androids.
Main Character’s Home Life	Married to Iran Deckard. Spends much of his free time avoiding participating in either the religion or the entertainments currently popular with his wife and most other people. Owns one pet, a malfunctioning robot sheep.	Single, living in a claustrophobically cluttered apartment. Likes it that way. Often eats take-out at noodle bars. No pets.
Inciting Incident	Deckard is contracted by the LAPD to track down six Nexus-6 androids who have escaped from a colony on Mars. (Two others were killed while escaping.)	Deckard is re-hired by the LAPD to track down four Nexus-6 androids who have escaped from an unspecified off-world colony. (Two others were killed while escaping.)
Slang Term for Humanoid Robots	“Andy”	“Replicant,” “skin job”
Android Lifespan	2 years	4 years
Company that Makes the Nexus-6	Rosen Associates	Tyrell Corporation
First Android Observed to Fail the Voigt-Kampff Test of Emotional Response	Rachael Rosen	Leon Kowalski
Human Sympathizer Who Provides Shelter to Androids	J.R. Isadore, a slow-witted “special” person who works as a veterinarian’s assistant and lives in an abandoned apartment building in the suburbs	J.F. Sebastian, a quirky genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation who lives in an abandoned apartment building in the suburbs and makes robotic toys as a hobby
Relationship between Pris Stratton and Rachael Rosen	Rachael and Pris are made from the same model and are physically identical	Rachael and Pris are made from different models because Sean Young does not look like Daryl Hannah
First Female Android Killed	Luba Luft, an opera singer	Zhora, an exotic snake dancer
First Male Android Killed	Max Polokov, smart android posing as a Soviet policeman	Leon Kowalski, somewhat slow android applying for a job at the Tyrell Corporation
Why Rachael Rosen Sleeps with Rick Deckard	Because she’s trying to get him to not to go after Pris	Because she loves him
Android Roy Batty’s Significant Other	Wife Irmgard Batty	Girlfriend Pris Stratton
Android Ruse to Attempt to Fool Rick Deckard	Setting up a completely fake police station complete with bored desk sergeant	Disguising self as one of Sebastian’s robotic toys
Ultimate Cause of Roy Batty’s Demise	Rick Deckard shoots him	His battery expires
Inexplicable Dramatic Element	Rachael Rosen’s wanton killing of Deckards’ pet	Edward James Olmos as blue-eyed cop who does origami