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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 case--well, why? And who? And how? And if it's the latter, how exactly did the vast chemical stew of hydrocarbons and proteins somehow get together and become self-replicating? And then how did those cute little squirmy germs grow and change and evolve enough to become, well, us?
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.
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, though--that aliens of some kind were actually the origin for life on Earth, or some other planet.
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|Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] planted either the seeds for life or primitive multicellular lifeforms on a planet to begin with, and, depending on the type of alien, either left them to their own devices or "guided" their evolution in a large-scale [[Xanatos Roulette]].
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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|Living Ships]]' exhaust was microscopic organisms that started life on both Krypton and Earth, among other planets. (This story has been reprinted because it's also a Superman/Flash race.)
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* 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 Patrol -- they're "family".
* 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 species--the Howlers.
** 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.
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* ''[[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 Earth -- specifically a nuclear plant, which caused it to rapidly mutate and somehow become a mind-devouring god-like being.
* 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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== Western Animation ==
* According to the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Cancelled", all life on Earth is one big intergalactic [[Reality Show]], in which different species from other planets had been brought together for the amusement of the viewing public.
* In the "Bolero" segment of ''[[Allegro Non Troppo]]'', life on a planet ([[Earth All Along|maybe Earth]], maybe not) evolves from the gunk at the bottom of an astronaut's discarded Coca-Cola bottle.
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