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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Jean-Baptiste Lamarck:''' What I am saying is that basically, the inheritance of acquired traits change a species over time.
'''Georges Cuvier:''' And what I am saying is no, that is the stupidest thing anyone has ever heard of.|''[[Hark!
In [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]], there were well established ways for a character to [[Super-Hero Origin|gain his or her powers]]: being bitten by a [[Applied Phlebotinum|radioactive spider]], doing years of [[Charles Atlas Superpower|Charles Atlas training]], having a [[Die or Fly|near-death experience]], extensive mystic training, getting an [[Green Lantern Ring|artifact of great power]], being [[Crimefighting
Um. Okay. We'll make that deal, for the sake of story.
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If the comic or show is rife with [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours]], then the superkid will luck out and be ''at least'' as powerful as the strongest parent at the time of conception, and often [[Goo-Goo Godlike|radically more powerful]]. This can get interesting if a family has more than one kid, as each succeeding one gets stronger. This usually also applies to fighting skills; they'll be a prodigy black belt before they can walk. If the parent got their powers from a magical or technological artifact, they'll have ''"internalized"'' and passed on that item's power. To use a real world analogy: if your mom were an IT expert that always carried around a laptop, you'd have a Bluetooth connection in your head and know how to code a Linux kernel from scratch.
Other times, if the parent got their power from a [[Freak Lab Accident]] involving [[Applied Phlebotinum]], their children will all have that same power, regardless of whether it affected their DNA. This also applies to magic and telepathic powers. Of course, with [[A Wizard Did It|magic]], the reason it's passed down will frequently be less biological than spiritual, so the usual rules need not apply. Another real-world analogy: If your dad were a food tester who developed a high tolerance for poison through controlled exposure, you'd have his high resistance and then some. This one is often [[
This trope is named for Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French naturalist whose theories (of which we call Lamarckian evolution) inspired [[Charles Darwin]] and eventually led to modern Darwinian evolution. While very insightful, his theory of "Inheritance of Acquired Traits" incorrectly viewed the cause of evolution as the parents' self-improvements in life being passed on to their offspring. Giraffes had long necks because they kept stretching for higher branches over many generations, for instance. While this idea has become closely linked to Lamarck, it was not original to Lamarck, nor was it central to Lamarck's contribution to evolutionary theory.
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A.k.a. [[Inheritance of Acquired Traits]]. See also [[Evolutionary Levels]] and [[Superpowerful Genetics]]. Compare [[In the Blood]] for the morality version. [[Generation Xerox]] is this trope [[Up to Eleven]]; the kids inherit more than just their parent's physical traits. [[Sub-Trope]] of [[All Theories Are True]]. [[Muggle Born of Mages]] is the [[Subversion]]. [[Randomly-Gifted]] is an [[Aversion]].
{{examples}}
* Everyone in the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' world knows: (ahem...) THIS HAIR CURL, THESE MUSCLES, THESE PINK SPARKLES, THIS [[Badass Longcoat|GREATCOAT]], THIS ALCHEMY AND THIS [[Badass Mustache
▲== Anime & Manga ==
▲* Everyone in the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' world knows: (ahem...) THIS HAIR CURL, THESE MUSCLES, THESE PINK SPARKLES, THIS [[Badass Longcoat|GREATCOAT]], THIS ALCHEMY AND THIS [[Badass Mustache|BADASS MUSTACHE]] HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!!!
* It's never outright stated, but ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' implies that Goten and Trunks can reach Super Saiyan at a young age because their fathers had achieved the level before the boys' birth; compare to Gohan, born before Goku ever became a Super Saiyan, and had to earn it the same way his father and Vegeta did. This was apparently a major source of fan contention, since some viewers took a cue from Vegeta and complained it took away from the mythos of how becoming Super Saiyan was supposed to be incredibly difficult.
** An alternate fan theory is that [[Achievements in Ignorance|they achieved it so quickly because nobody ever told them it was supposed to be hard]].
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* In ''[[Historie]]'', Eumenes is not only naturally intelligent, but {{spoiler|he also inherited his natural fighting abilities from his true, Scythian parents}}.
* We never get to see it in the manga, but [[Word of God|according to the author]], [[Rurouni Kenshin|Kenshin]]'s son, Kenji, manages to master the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū style of kendo all by himself, without having ever ''seen it'' and figuring it out from mere ''descriptions'', because his father refuses to pass it down to him.
* In ''[[Baccano
* In ''[[Shaman Warrior]]'', {{spoiler|the titular shaman warriors are created by an occult [[Super Serum]] naturally their abilities are passed on to their children.}}
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' toys with this one, as Negi aspires to be just like his father Nagi, the most powerful mage ever. Negi himself turns out to be a prodigy, but his strength comes from [[Awesomeness By Analysis|his intelligence]] and [[Training
** Lately though its looking like Negi takes after his mother a lot more than he does his father: {{spoiler|although he isn't [[Tsundere]] (yet), but they both stress out, overthink things and wants to do everything themselves and not involve others.}}
** ...and then there is {{spoiler|Chao}} who might be playing with this trope (how directly though hasn't been seen yet).
* ''[[
** In the ''[[Pokémon (
* In ''[[Bleach]]'' it was recently revealed that {{spoiler|Ichigo Kurosaki can use his father's Getsuga Tenshou technique}}.
* A late manga story arc of ''[[Ranma
== Card Games ==▼
* In ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'', evolution seems to work this way. A telling example:▼
{{quote| ''Each new generation of slivers evolves to assimilate the strengths of the prey upon which their progenitors fed.''}}▼
==
* Alan Scott, the original [[Green Lantern]], had a daughter called Jade, who naturally had all the powers of his ring, and occasionally her mother's plant powers as well. He also has a son who has darkness-related powers, which are explained as Alan having been exposed to "Shadowlands energy" during a fight with a demon.
** Although, after multiple reboots and retcons, Alan Scott's power base ended up magical, so a [[Wizard Did It]].
* Man-Bat gained bat-themed powers artificially but his daughter inherited them. When consulted about this, [[Batman]] was skeptical, and explicitly said that acquired characteristics can't be inherited (despite the number of times that exactly that has happened in the DCU).
** The "Battle For The Cowl" miniseries/crossover began to fix that. Another villain points out to Langstrom that it's ''impossible'' for a mix of common chemicals to have that effect, that the formula was a psychological crutch for the activation of Langstrom's innate super-powers. And indeed, in that same issue he manages to transform ''without the formula'' and keep control (to a degree).
** Which didn't actually make any sense, considering this was maybe a year after [[Daddy's Little Villain|Talia al-Ghul]] managed to steal the formula and use it [[Grant Morrison's Batman
* A mainstay of the [[Marvel Universe]], where everything from [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'s radioactive spider bite to the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'s cosmic ray exposure can be inherited. Generally, it's revealed that the various doses of radiation ''did'' change their DNA, so the offspring of [[Freak Lab Accident]] Silver Agers can officially be called Mutants.
** The official Marvel parlance is Mutants for X-gene variations on the human template, and ''mutates'' for those like Spider-Man who've been mutated by some external factor. How the public magically tells the difference is another question altogether.
* Two [[The Flash|Flashes]]
** Indeed, Barry Allen's grandson's ''half-brother'' also has speed powers, although neither of his parents ever did. Also, as the [[Legacy Character|son of Captain Boomerang]], he's inherited his father's knack for using boomerangs as offensive weapons. {{spoiler|And as of [[Blackest Night]], his father's terrible decision-making skills}}.
*** On the other hand, Owen and Bart's mother, Meloni Thawne, is a descendant of Barry's twin brother, Malcolm Thawne, as was Eobard Thawne, AKA Professor Zoom, which suggests that the Barry Allen bloodline has a genetic predisposition toward speed, rather than a Lamarkian outgrowth from Barry's.
*** Which can further be explained by the fact that Barry Allen might have been the creator of the Speed Force, and so anybody else in his bloodline will have a higher chance of inheriting speed based powers. Of course, Barry's powers themselves are an ontological paradox, as it's been stated in the comics that he went back in time, turned into a bolt of [[Lightning Can Do Anything|energy]], and struck the chemicals which gave him superspeed.
* [[Double Subverted]] with Wildcat II, the son of Wildcat. Wildcat is a [[Badass Normal|superb fighter with no other powers]]. His son isn't so great at it. On the other hand, after the father spent a lifetime of dressing up in a cat suit, the son can turn into a [[Catgirl|Catboy]]. As it turns out, his powers really are inherited - his ''mother'' was a werepanther, so it's just an amusing coincidence that his power connected with his old man's gimmick.
* Scarlet and Sheena Hellpop inherited their father's fusionkasting powers, even though his abilities were given him by the Merk, and were also periodically taken away.{{context|reason=What work is this from?}}
* The ''Zenith'' series in ''[[
* The character Doomsday was created deliberately through a brutal process of Lamarckian evolution.
** Alternatively, given the vast number of mutations that occur within individual cells in the human body, the researchers could have simply been playing a genetic lottery each successive cloning generation.
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** It probably has something to do with the sheer power of the Phoenix Force. It can't inhabit most people, but it can inhabit Jean Grey due to her insane level of psionic power. And, as was made obvious by Sinister for like the last fifty years, all the children of Scott and Jean tend to inherit their mother's power and then some.
** In Spider-Man's case, the bite changed him on a genetic level, so it ''would'' make sense for any children of his to inherit his powers. And to be fair, Spider-Girl's powers aren't an exact copy of Peter's, there's a major difference in how their wall-crawling powers work.
** Kara Killgrave (a.k.a. Purple Girl, Persuasion, Purple Woman), the daughter of the Purple Man, is another case, as she developed the exact same powers as her father, [[Exactly What It Says
* Marvel character Scorpion (Carmilla Black) was designed based on the original plan that she was the daughter of Viper (Madame Hydra). To show she was Viper's daughter they gave her naturally green
** It's since been suggested Scorpion's father might be [[Incredible Hulk|Bruce Banner]] as an explanation for her green hair. Since this would have been before Banner became the Hulk, this just raises further questions.
* Speaking of Dr. Banner, he's had three children post-Hulk. His daughter Lyra has green skin and some super-strength, but averts the trope because she was created via genetic engineering. His son Skaar is able to become a Hulk himself, while his twin Hiro-Kala appears to have inherited nothing of the Hulk (implying they're likely fraternal twins).
* [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] received his powers (physical attributes at the absolute peak of human perfection) from a shot of the [[Super Soldier]] Serum; after that the serum was tested on black soldiers, and of the initial test subjects, only Isiah Bradley survived, gaining the peak physicality. Bradley's son, Josiah, inherited the Super Soldier Serum effects from his father. He uses the name Josiah X in his hero career. Bradley's grandson, [[Young Avengers|Elijah Bradley]], gets seriously injured when the Skrulls attack New York, and after a blood transfusion from his grandfather, gained the traits of Captain America. This is somewhat better than the standard explanation.
** In the Ultimateverse, Cap's son inherits superpowers. The son, however, appears to be better with them than Cap ever was, mostly because of training from a young age.
* While not really offspring, [[The Joker]] manages to "Jokerize" scores of supervillains in The Last Laugh storyline. He does this via some insane [[Evil Plan]] that infuses everyone with his DNA, turning their skin white, hair green and giving them Joker's sense of humor and making them totally loyal to him. How this works when the Joker's skin and hair color is not due to any sort of genetics but his skin and hair being permanently bleached from (in the usual backstories) falling into a vat of chemicals is not explained.
** For that matter, how does being "totally loyal to him" qualify as one of the traits in Joker's DNA? He's chaos embodied, the polar opposite of loyalty.
** Similarly, a [[Batman]] vs [[Alien
* [[Avengers Academy]] character Finesse has the same powers as [[Taskmaster]], who gained them by special serum, and it's implied she might be his daughter. When the two of them meet, she directly asks him about it, only for it to turn out that a drawback of his powers is loss of his non-combat related memories, so he has no damn idea.
* One ''[[What If]]'' story had the heroes getting trapped in Battleworld after the events of ''[[Secret War]]'', settling down and having children. All the kids have combinations of their parents' powers ''and'' traits; [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] and [[X
* In the movie version of ''[[A History of Violence]]'', Viggo Mortensen's character Tom Stall has the titular violent history along with wicked underhanded fighting skills. After his abilities are outed, his previously passive and somewhat defensively-snarky son (who had up to this point been in a healthy and loving environment, in which Tom preached self-control) went off like a claymore mine on a bully, beating him down with surprising savagery. However, it is mostly the surprise that won him the fight; the temper may have been his father's (such things may be inherited), and he showed no real technique, so this is a borderline example.
* Likewise, in ''[[August Rush]]'', the titular character is a musical prodigy whose biological parents were both musicians. Now, musical aptitude can be inherited. Not prodigy-level, but...
* Lampshaded in ''[[Sky High]]'', with a lecture on superhero genetics given by the school nurse.
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and
** He ''does'' swing every bit as well as the monkeys in the jungle around him...
* In ''[[The Mask of Zorro|The Legend of Zorro]]'', Don Alejandro de la Vega's son, Joaquin, seems to have inherited his father's taste for social justice and swordfighting skills despite the fact that he has no idea his father is actually Zorro.
* Somewhat related instance in ''[[Alien (
* ''[[Boondock Saints]]'': The brothers are extremely skilled at using firearms; but no mention is made of them having formal or informal military/firearms training. Their father is just as gun-crazy and vigilante-minded; but spent the entirety of his sons' lives in jail. It is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the second movie, when the ''[[Big Bad]]'' comes right out and states that killing runs in their blood.
** While it is never explicitly stated that the McManus brothers have had any specialized training; the first movie hints strongly that they were given some sort of training at their mother's insistence (this ''is'' explicitly stated regarding their polyglotism), as well as hinting strongly at ties to Irish Republican organizations. The second movie does invoke this trope, but it's a fairly weak example [[Fridge Brilliance|in context]].
* In ''[[Pandorum]]'', the colonists were injected with mutagens designed to make them undergo "accelerated evolution". Unfortunately it caused those who woke up first (or maybe their descendants) to become albino cannibals.
▲== Folklore ==
* One Cherokee creation myth states that originally, all the world's deer lived in a single cave. When a boy who wanted to hunt them unsealed the cave, they all ran out. The boy quickly shot them all as they fled, but they survived and [[Squick|he only managed to hit them in their anuses, because they were running away]]. As a result, they lifted their tails up. Supposedly, this is why deer keep their tails pointed up to this day.▼
* A European folktale says that the reason dogs have wet noses is that the two dogs on [[The Bible|Noah's Ark]] spent the Great Flood with their noses sticking out in the rain.▼
* There are similar tales on why bears have short tails (ice fishing with their tails, getting most of it bitten off by a pike/frozen off by the cold water) and why elephants have trunks (getting too close to a crocodile who grabbed his nose and ended up stretching it before the elephant managed to struggle free).▼
* Similarly, the tale of Loki's final capture and binding until Ragnarok told of how he tried to escape the Aesir's wrath by turning into a salmon and swimming away. Thor caught him by the tail, squeezing with godlike strength. This is the Norse explanation for salmon having pointed tails.▼
* There are countless tales that explain how a certain animal became what it is, all via artificial means. Be it a certain color they received via paint being dropped on them (like one bird which is very colorful, supposedly cause God was running out of paint and used a bit of everything on the last bird), body "deformations" due to mechanical force (like the elephant example above), losing body parts due to them being chopped off, or behaviors which are supposedly due to past experiences (e.g. the reason all birds are hostile towards owls is supposed to be because the owl messed something up in one folklore, so it seems even grudges get inherited.)▼
** Siamese cats supposedly have kinked tails because their ancestors used to hold the rings of their ancient Siamese princess owners on their tails while the women would bathe, and the cats would then helpfully curve the tails to hold the jewelry better.▼
* [[The Bible|Genesis]] suggests that men have one less rib than women because God took a rib from Adam to create Eve. (This isn't the case; men and women have the same number of ribs.)▼
** The "adam's apple", almost always more prominent in men, is named so after people assumed it came from a piece forbidden fruit that got caught in Adam's throat.▼
* Arguably, the snake which God cursed for having caused Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, dooming it to "crawl on its belly for the rest of its days" (implying it moved some other way before). Of course, God being who he is, he could have easily changed the snake's DNA around if he felt like it.▼
* According to Japanese folklore, a sleeping cat once had its tail catch on fire, and it ran, panicked through a city, burning the entire place to the ground. Henceforth, the emperor himself declared that all cats have their tails docked short, explaining why the Japanese bobtail breed has a short tail. ▼
== Literature ==
* [[Discworld]]
** ''[[
** Conina from ''[[
* The passing of skills along family lines is explained within the religious underpinnings of Nancy Farmer's ''The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm'': The spirits of your ancestors actually hung around the family, and if they took a liking to a kid, they'd pass down their own skills. Hence, if little Jimmy winds up with unbelievable skills at piloting a fighter plane, it's not so much because he's genetically related to great-great-grand-uncle George (the ace fighter pilot), but because George's spirit stuck around after death, and kinda melded with Jimmy to grant him George's original powers.
* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', Harry instantly becomes a talented Seeker despite never having played or even seen anyone play before. The characters explain this by saying that James was an incredible flyer as well.
** Justified somewhat considering Harry had ridden a practice broom at a young age, and technically only inherited good flying skills and reflexes, which can be from genes. (Though the reflexes he claims come from dodging his bully cousin Dudley.)
*** The problem here stems from the fact that it is said that Harry got his good eyesight for locating the snitch from his father. The same Harry that wears glasses
* In the ''[[Shannara]]'' book series, the Ohmsford family begins to have innate magic starting with the children of Wil Ohmsford. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in-story: Wil's use of the magical elfstones was problematic, as [[Half-Human Hybrid|he wasn't "elf" enough]], and permanently left a trace of magic within him.
* In the novel ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', the man-ape Moon-Watcher being made intelligent by the monolith is described thus: "The very atoms of his simple brain were being twisted into new patterns. If he survived, those patterns would become eternal, for his genes would pass them on to future generations." If the monolith wanted the patterns passed on, it should have been doing the twisting a bit lower down...
* [[Rudyard Kipling]] evidently believed in Lamarckian evolution. In "Kaa's Hunting" Mowgli is able to show the monkeys his skill at weaving sticks together because he is a woodcutter's son, while in "Red Dog" he cuts off the leading red dog's tail and then taunts him by telling him "There will now be many litters of little tailless red dogs, yea, with raw red stumps that sting when the sand is hot." (Since a wolf ends up killing him anyway this theory is never put to the test).
** And, of course, all of the ''[[
* [[Tarzan]]'s son inherited his father's highly trained strength, reflexes, and ability to understand animals (particularly apes).
* In ''[[Frankenstein]]'' Frankenstein destroys the "bride" he created for the monster because he fears what might happen if they reproduced. ''Frankenstein'' was written before either Lamarck's or Darwin's theories were proposed. In short, [[Science Marches On]].
* In [[Fred Saberhagen]]'s ''The Frankenstein Papers'', the greedy plantation-owner funding Frankenstein's research expects the trope to hold. He expects his creations will breed a new race of super-strong laborers to work as slaves on their Caribbean properties. No such luck.
* In Mike Resnick's ''Widowmaker'' series, the main character is the most lethal fighter in the galaxy but contracted a disease with no cure. He had himself frozen until a cure can be found but due to maintenance expenses, the doctors unfreeze him to make bounty hunter clones. The clones have his memories and skills but have subtle (sometimes) differences.
* In [[
* Runs rampant in the 4th book of ''[[Twilight (
* In the story ''Bisclavret'' from the Lais of Marie de France, a werewolf bites off a woman's nose and all of her descendants are born without noses because of that.
* Justified in the SF short story ''The Engineer and the Executioner'', about a genetic experiment in a hollowed-out asteroid (which is actually called Lamarck), as the colony used in the experiment was actually designed to use Lamarckian evolution (which, in the story, turns out to be astonishingly rapid).
* In the sequel to ''[[Wicked (
* Oddly abused in Brandon Sanderson's ''Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians'' YA novels, where superhuman powers, called "Talents," seem to come from having the last name "Smedry". Al's mother {{spoiler|acquires the ability to "lose things" by marrying Mr. Smedry, and an escape is engineered at one point by Alcatraz performing a marriage between a Smedry and a good librarian. This passes his ability to [[Dance Fight|Dance Badly]]}}.
* The novelization of [[Star Wars|''A New Hope'']] averts this. Ben comments that like his father, Luke is an excellent pilot, then goes on to say that "[p]iloting skill isn't hereditary, but many of the aptitudes that produce a good small-ship pilot are." It's also established that Luke's spent a lot of time practicing high-speed low-altitude high-precision flying.
* In [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Firestarter]],'' a couple gains [[Psychic Powers]] (he gains [[Mind Control]],
== Live-Action TV ==
* The Goa'uld in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' are an entire species for which
* The commercials for ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' made a great deal out of the idea that the daughter of [[Batman]] and Catwoman would have inherited her father's drive to fight crime and her mother's drive to commit it. She also inherited cat-like abilities from her mother (who was a metahuman in the television show, despite her comic book [[Badass Normal]] characterization).
* Used oddly in ''[[Psych]]'' where Gus insists that he can handle spicy (Indian) food because he's 1/4 Jamaican. His grandparent or parent may have cooked spicy Jamaican foods a lot, but it's not mentioned.
* In a season two episode of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', it is revealed that the PsiCorps have developed a treatment that turns telepaths into empaths, and that they want to subject Talia to the treatment and then have her get with the other empath to make lots of empath babies, proving that they are not only evil, they also [[You Fail Biology Forever|Fail Biology Forever]].
* In ''[[
* On ''[[The Mentalist]]'', an internal affairs officer tells [[Lawful Good]] [[Fair Cop]] Rigsby it's not his fault if he's prone to crime, since his father was a biker, and evidence suggests criminality could run in the family. He is [[Berserk Button|not happy]]. Also subverted in that everybody on the team is seen to be very different from their parents (who include the aforementioned biker, an abusive drunk, and a particularly nasty conman).
== Music Videos ==
* 2D of [[Gorillaz]] got his trademark blue hair when [[Art Major Biology|a head injury changed something in his brain chemistry, causing all his hair to fall out and grow back blue]]. In the old Kong Studios interactive website, there was an email on 2D's computer from a lawyer telling him he couldn't deny that his many illegitimate children were his because "the spiky blue hair is a dead giveaway".
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
▲* One Cherokee creation myth states that originally, all the world's deer lived in a single cave. When a boy who wanted to hunt them unsealed the cave, they all ran out. The boy quickly shot them all as they fled, but they survived and [[Squick|he only managed to hit them in their anuses, because they were running away]]. As a result, they lifted their tails up. Supposedly, this is why deer keep their tails pointed up to this day.
▲* A European folktale says that the reason dogs have wet noses is that the two dogs on [[The Bible|Noah's Ark]] spent the Great Flood with their noses sticking out in the rain.
▲* There are similar tales on why bears have short tails (ice fishing with their tails, getting most of it bitten off by a pike/frozen off by the cold water) and why elephants have trunks (getting too close to a crocodile who grabbed his nose and ended up stretching it before the elephant managed to struggle free).
▲* Similarly, the tale of Loki's final capture and binding until Ragnarok told of how he tried to escape the Aesir's wrath by turning into a salmon and swimming away. Thor caught him by the tail, squeezing with godlike strength. This is the Norse explanation for salmon having pointed tails.
▲* There are countless tales that explain how a certain animal became what it is, all via artificial means. Be it a certain color they received via paint being dropped on them (like one bird which is very colorful, supposedly cause God was running out of paint and used a bit of everything on the last bird), body "deformations" due to mechanical force (like the elephant example above), losing body parts due to them being chopped off, or behaviors which are supposedly due to past experiences (e.g. the reason all birds are hostile towards owls is supposed to be because the owl messed something up in one folklore, so it seems even grudges get inherited.)
▲** Siamese cats supposedly have kinked tails because their ancestors used to hold the rings of their ancient Siamese princess owners on their tails while the women would bathe, and the cats would then helpfully curve the tails to hold the jewelry better.
▲* [[The Bible|Genesis]] suggests that men have one less rib than women because God took a rib from Adam to create Eve. (This isn't the case; men and women have the same number of ribs.)
▲** The "adam's apple", almost always more prominent in men, is named so after people assumed it came from a piece forbidden fruit that got caught in Adam's throat.
▲* Arguably, the snake which God cursed for having caused Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, dooming it to "crawl on its belly for the rest of its days" (implying it moved some other way before). Of course, God being who he is, he could have easily changed the snake's DNA around if he felt like it.
▲* According to Japanese folklore, a sleeping cat once had its tail catch on fire, and it ran, panicked through a city, burning the entire place to the ground. Henceforth, the emperor himself declared that all cats have their tails docked short, explaining why the Japanese bobtail breed has a short tail.
== Tabletop Games ==
* Tieflings in the 4th Edition of ''[[
* According to ''Draconomicon'', dragons can pass on some of what they learn to their offspring. It's a [[Hand Wave|handy]] way of ensuring they're [[
* In keeping with Gothic fiction, powerful curses in the ''[[Ravenloft]]'' setting can be passed down from one generation to the next, deserved or not. This may say more about the Dark Powers' [[Jerkass]] tendencies than about Lamarckism, however.
* In ''[[GURPS]]'' 3rd Edition ''Steampunk'' sourcebook, optional rules are given if you want to play in a gameworld where Lamarckian evolution is correct, allowing high-skill parents to give exceptional talents to their offspring.
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* The Archeans, human-analogs from the ''Talislanta'' game, are descended from [[Beast Folk]] who'd used magic to eliminate their more animalistic traits. Justified in that, well, it's magic.
▲=== Card Games ===
▲{{quote|
== Video Games ==
* Played straight in ''[[Phantasy Star III]]'' where at the end of each chapter, the main character can marry one of two girls. The kid will inherit the skills of his parents (including the capability of using magic) and some physical traits, including hair color.
* Solid Snake of the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series inherited, among other things, near-inhuman combat abilities and love of [[Companion Cube|cardboard boxes]] from his "father" Big Boss. ''[[Metal Gear]] Solid'' even featured "Genome Soldiers" that were augmented by "gene therapy" with Big Boss's "soldier genes" in an effort to create elite soldiers without military training. [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|It didn't work]].
* ''[[Romancing
* This is one of the main reasons for breeding in ''[[Pokémon]]''. The offspring will inherit certain moves from the father, and a lengthy "breeding chain" can be set up to get unique moves for Pokémon that wouldn't learn then normally.
* The ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series has this with {{spoiler|Apollo, Trucy, and Thalassa, who evidently inherited Magnifi's ability to tell when people are tensing up in very subtle ways. They need a bracelet made of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] for its full effect, though.}}
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* The Asari from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' have an element of this. Essentially, because of the way their reproductive system works, it's theorised that the child develops traits that the "mother" really likes about the "father". It's not treated as fact, but more like a popular belief. Given the limited examples, however, the theory seems somewhat supported (though far from proven).
** In the third game, {{spoiler|Liara's Asari father}} tells her that her grandfather was a Krogan, so it's perfectly understandable if she wants to head-butt somebody.
*** However {{spoiler|Matriarch Aethyta}} also lampshades the fact that, truthfully, ''no-one'' really knows how it works.
* ''[[Minecraft]]'' takes this to extremes with livestock breeding. Sheep are usually white, but other natural colors include black, gray, brown, and (rarely) pink. However, sheep can be dyed any color of the rainbow, and this color is passed onto offspring. This feature was implemented by popular request, since blue dye is made from lapis lazuli, a mineral found deep underground, only slightly more common than diamonds.
* ''[[Infinity Blade]]'' is this trope distilled into a video game. In it, the hero must defeat the evil God King, but will inevitably fail. No worries though, as his offspring inherits all XP and equipment from him, allowing the player to become stronger with each new generation.
* In ''[[The Sims]] 3'', parents can pass on their traits to their children. Also, since all hair/eye/skin colors are now equally dominant (opposed to following the basic Punnett model of dominant and recessive that was in its predecessor), you could easily have a child with Dad's blue skin and Mom's pink hair with orange highlights.
* In ''[[Pokémon]]'',
== Web Comics ==
* Parodied in [http://www.gigaville.com/comic.php?id=331 this strip] of ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]''. The comic also has a lot of fun with its [[Metal Gear Solid|source material's]] love of this trope.
* In ''[[Questionable Content]]'', somehow a Roomba with a jet engine attached reproduced with another Roomba and had [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1643 flying children]. The Lamarckian inheritance is the least of our worries.
* Twins Elan and Nale in ''[[The Order of the Stick
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== Web Original ==
* Web prose series ''[
* The ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' is an "unlimited source" setting, where superpowers can be gained through pretty much any possible way that can be imagined. Nevertheless, and regardless of what real-world genetic science says, its pretty much guaranteed that the child of two superhumans will have either the same powers as one of their parents, or a mix between the two. (Children with only one superhuman parent tend to have a 50/50 chance of getting either the same powers as their parents, or else no powers at all.) Of course, people who get their powers from technology don't count.
* Something like this is going on in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]''. Getting mutant powers is really really rare. But superheroes and supervillains seem to have insanely high odds of having kids with powers too. What, does using your powers a ton make them pop up in your kids?
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** According to [[Word of God]], the "mutant gene complex" is actually fairly common in the human population of Whateley Earth (about one in seven). It's that complex becoming ''active'' (usually at puberty) that's normally quite rare. Depending on how said complex gets passed on and what exactly triggers it, the chances of two "live" mutants who by definition both have it in their DNA themselves producing more mutant offspring could thus plausibly be quite high (non-mutant supers, however, are on their own).
* Thoroughly deconstructed in [http://shifti.org/wiki/Lamarckism_Troubles Lamarckism Troubles].
* Grandchildren of people who had lived through famine were less likely to catch diabetes. Mice exposed to enriched learning environments had offspring with improved memory This apparent Lamarckian inheritance is the [http://www.cracked.com/article_19161_the-6-creepiest-things-hiding-in-your-dna_p2.html third creepiest thing hiding in your DNA] according to ''[[Cracked
== Western Animation ==
* This idea is tossed around a bit in [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]. If at least one of the parent is a bender, there's a good chance the child they have will also be a bender. Of course that's not including combinations from diffirent tribes and what not.
* Subverted by ''[[Clone High]]'', in which absolutely none of the clones have anything in common with their progenitors except for their appearance (and even that can be somewhat dubious; for instance, Cleopatra was not a beautiful native Egyptian, but descended from Greek rulers). The only one who even vaguely resembles their progenitor is JFK, who acts like a caricature of the actual Kennedy, due to a combination of insecurity over his masculinity due to his gay foster parents, and his belief that that's how the actual JFK acted.
** Outright spoofed with Gandhi, who acts exactly how you wouldn't expect a clone of Mohandas Gandhi to behave; he's a loud, obnoxious, dim-witted skirt-chaser. Still non-violent, though. Sometimes.
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** Many of the minor clones really do act like their predecessors, though. This is mostly done for a quick gag (i.e., George Washington Carver's clone has somehow genetically engineered a talking peanut).
* ''Famous 5: On The Case'', the [[Disney]] cartoon based loosely on [[Enid Blyton|The Famous Five]], plays this straight with the children of the original Five. Both boys have sons, both girls have daughters. Julian and his son Max are both action leaders, Dick and Dylan are both [[Smart Guy|smart guys]], George and Jo are tomboys, Allie and Anne are girly girls. And, well, Timmy Jr is still a dog, but that one's justified.
== Real Life ==
* As mentioned above, recently, it's been discovered that some acquired changes ''can'' be inherited, albeit in a weaker, less permanent, and (probably) less important form. The study of this is called [[wikipedia:Epigenetics|epigenetics]]. Basically, chemical changes to the DNA can help inactivate or activate parts of
** Experiments in rats have shown that cross-fostered pups of mothers who exhibit attentive parental care (licking and grooming behaviors, in particular) end up, through the action of acetylation and methylation, having less of an "anxious" response to stressors. When these rats become mothers themselves, they exhibit the same sort of parental behavior towards their pups, so it is a continuing
* Endosymbiosis is the current prevailing theory on the origin of certain
** Further, the organelles provide an energy source which was not previously available, so it [[Rule of Funny|could be argued]] that they cells were given superpowers by something that they ate, which was then passed on to their descendants.
* Bacteria can pass down traits acquired through horizontal gene transfer. When two bacteria swap genes or "mate", the exchange is permanent and the altered genome carries on to all offspring.
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* Cultural evolution ''does'' work like this, as ideas acquired in life (or [[Memetic Mutation|mutations thereof]]) can be taught to one's offspring.
* If your parents are 'intelligentsia' or 'politicians' or 'military middle class' you'll usually be expected to be good at the same sort of jobs, and be expected to grow up as one as well.
** Before the development of trade schools and formal educations, most jobs were like this; boys were expected to grow up and take their fathers' jobs, especially more mundane positions, like farming, carpentry, and other manual labor jobs. If a boy wanted to learn a trade different from his father's, he would have to become an apprentice to someone else. It was simply easier to become an apprentice to your own father. Younger children might have had more options, though, because they weren't expected to inherit the family business.
* Briefly thought to have occured with second-generation phocomelia, a congenital deformity primarily seen in infants whose mothers used thalidomide during pregnancy. Although the damage inflicted on these unborn children was environmental in origin, a small number of phocomeliacs subsequently grew up, married one another, and (rarely) produced phocomeliac children. Further investigation subverted this trope, revealing that children who'd been deformed by thalidomide had ''already'' been genetically predisposed to suffer such developmental flaws in response to chemical contaminants, and their second-generation children inherited a double dose of that susceptibility, making them subject to phocomelia even in the absence of thalidomide.
* To a certain extent, this is true anyway, though less based upon what your parents did, and more what they ''[[I Did What I Had to Do|needed to do]] to survive.'' For example, native-born Koreans [[wikipedia:Body odor|don't sweat the same way]], because not sweating is a way to survive in cold climates. Likewise tanning skin is likely an adaptation to very sunny climates. The process, however, is reversible over time if the need suddenly no longer exists.
* [
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