Panspermia: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Lots of people wonder about the origins of life on Earth. Were we placed here by a benevolent god? Did we arise out of a primeval soup of microbes? If the former is the
Some stories attempt to answer these questions. But others decide to skirt this touchy ontological issue entirely, by bringing into it a different element: Outer space.
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In other words, they propose that life ''on'' Earth is not ''of'' this earth.
''Panspermia'' ([[Accidental Innuendo|get your mind out of the gutter]]) is a scientific idea which proposes that life on Earth [[Pun|came]] to it from outer space, as aliens. This is a real, scientific theory, mind you. ([[That Other Wiki]], of course, [[wikipedia:Panspermia|has plenty of information.]]) This isn't the "[[Little Green Men]]"-style of alien, either. We're talking more along the lines of "cosmic pond scum hitching a ride in some water vapor in a comet." In ''fiction,'' panspermia (or exogenesis, which is similar but not identical) tends to gravitate toward the former,
In fiction, this idea tends to pop up in one of two forms:
* '''Literal panspermia and/or exogenesis.''' Microbes from space landed on Earth (or another planet, in more sci-fi oriented settings), and evolved into the lifeforms that now populate that planet. This can be used both to get around the idea of having to answer how life arises in the first place, or as [[Hand Wave|a justification]] for the similarities between life forms on very different planets.
* '''"Alientelligent Design."''' [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien
Frequently, this as used as part of a [[Reveal]], and can lead to [[Contemplate Our Navels|navel-gazing.]] Occasionally leads to [[Mars Needs Women]], in cases of ''literal'' panspermia. See also [[Transplanted Humans]], which is this trope in reverse (alien life coming from Earth).
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== Anime & Manga ==
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', Humanity (indeed, all life on Earth), and Angels were both created by [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien
** {{spoiler|The progenitor of Earth-like life is a type of alien called a "Lilith," while the progenitor of Angel-like life is a type of alien called an "Adam." Many copies were spread throughout the known universe in order to seed life toward an unknown purpose.}}
** {{spoiler|Also, Earth was meant to be inhabited by Angels, but before they hatched from Adam, the [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] screwed up and accidentally crash-landed Lilith on the planet, resulting in Adam's Lance of Longinus activating and putting him in stasis. Then came the Katsuragi expedition...}}
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== Comic Books ==
* The Polish comic series from the 80s, ''Expedition'' told the story of how [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] come to Earth and help apes evolve in their image, creating the basis for several religions and mythologies in the process.
* ''[[DC Comics Presents]]'' #1-2 has an alien race whose [[Living Ship
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== Literature ==
* The backstory of the [[Lensman]] novels states that all life in Earth's galaxy (and I believe the Second Galaxy as well) came from Arisian spores. Mentor tells at least one Lensman that this is why he's offering the Lens to the Galactic
* This appears to be the case in [[Dan Brown]]'s ''[[Deception Point]]''. {{spoiler|It's actually a conspiracy to get NASA back up on its feet.}}
* ''The Hainish Cycle'' by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] used this trope for human and semi-human life, spread by the [[Precursors]] in the title.
* The more scientific sort is a suggested origin of all life in the [[CoDominium]] universe (at least until ''The Mote in God's Eye'' introduces truly ''alien'' aliens.)
* The Ellimist (an extremely powerful [[Last of His Kind]] god-like being) in ''[[Animorphs]]'' was responsible for creating the Pemalites. His evil counterpart, Crayak, also created his own
** What's more, he created the Pemalites specifically so that ''they'' would go out and "spread life around the universe".
** Also, several Earth vegetables were apparently imported by crab people during the Cretaceous period.
* This is alluded
* [[Larry Niven]] has done this at least twice. In his [[Known Space]] future history, nearly all alien species evolved from food yeast grown to feed the Thrint and their subjects. Then, about 3 million years ago, a species called the Pak colonized the Earth and became ''Homo habilis''.
* One [[The Authority|Authority]] story had the team face off against an alien life-form the size of the moon -- "the closest thing to God" that had "planted" life millions of years ago. Subverted in that life on the planet didn't develop as it should have, leading to, among others, the rise of humanity.
* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' reveals what earth ''really'' is. It is implied though that no organism on Earth is older than a few million years, and was likely brought in from other places. And, furthermore, humanity is {{spoiler|the descendants of middle-men who crashed here 2 million years ago, completely unplanned by Earth's architects}}.
* [[Discworld]] example: In ''[[Discworld/Eric|Eric]]'' Rincewind drops a sandwich in a tide-pool and the narrator wonders what life would have been like with mustard rather than mayonnaise.
* The Darkness from Michael Grant's ''[[Gone (novel)]]'' is an alien virus that was riding a meteorite when it crashed into
* At the end of ''Last and First Men'' the solar system is about to be destroyed by increasing radiation from the sun. The Last Men devote their remaining time to sending out [[Science Marches On|"the germs of life"]] on the solar wind.
* This was part of [[The Reveal]] in [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]''; it turns out that {{spoiler|all Earthly life evolved from microbes that the Old Ones planted here. For food.}}
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** Apparently, there's a ''machine'' that can be programmed to do this.
** The Asgard appear to have evolved independently, though, despite the fact that their original form (seen only once) is very similar to that of the humans. It was the millennia of [[Cloning Blues|cloning]] that resulted in [[Clone Degeneration]] (apparently, keeping the original DNA on file is beyond a race of [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]).
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' uses the [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] version to explain all its [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]]
** [[Fridge Logic|On the other hand they'd still be about as related as birds and mollusks.]]
** In the 6th season ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "The Chase," it's revealed that the first starfaring species, which emerged 4 billion years ago, was so lonely that they seeded the entire Milky Way galaxy with a "genetic program" which would cause emerging life to, eventually, evolve into a form that physically resembled them. Since such a genetic program would likely herd all the different planets' developing genomes along the same narrow path, it actually makes sense that all humanoid species would be genetically similar enough to interbreed.
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