Shinzon was a clone of Human Starfleet captain Jean-Luc Picard, created by the Romulans for the initial purpose of replacing Picard with a Romulan operative. Shinzon became the leader of the Reman people, staging a successful coup d'état against the Romulan Senate and plotting the annihilation of Earth in the name of Reman freedom. Created at Kamino, Shinzon was a clone intended to conduct covert espionage within the Alliance of Nations.
Shinzon was meant to replace Captain Jean-Luc Picard, one of the Federation Starfleet's most decorated and noted starship commanders. As part of this plot, Shinzon's design incorporated temporal RNA sequencing, which could be used to accelerate his physical age to Picard's at any time.