Recursive Precursors: Difference between revisions
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[[The Precursors]] are a staple of a great many [[Sci Fi]] and [[Fantasy]] settings. While [[The Precursors|Precursors]] come in many different varieties, the defining aspect of [[The Precursors]] is that they existed in the time before a setting's contemporary civilization.
Of course, having a long series [[The Precursors|Precursor]] races carries some [[Fridge Horror|Disturbing Implications]]. Beyond the fact that [[The Precursors]] existed in the time before the setting's present civilizations, another important aspect of [[The Precursors]] is that they are no longer around, due to [[Precursor Killers]], being [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sealed]] [[Sealed Badass in a Can|In A Can]] [[Sealed Good in a Can|Of Some Sort]], [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence|Ascending]] to some sort of higher reality, dying out for mundane reasons, and so on. While the last two options are certainly a possibility, when dealing with large number of
Naturally, this is a [[Sub-Trope]] of [[The Precursors]]. When [[Creating Life]] is involved, this trope is highly compatible with [[Recursive Creators]], but is otherwise not related to other "Recursive Tropes" such as [[Recursive Reality]] and [[Recursive Fanfiction]].
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]]
* In ''[[Gall Force]]: Eternal Story'', the {{spoiler|Solnoids}} are the precursors of {{spoiler|humanity}}; in ''[[Gall Force]]: Stardust War'' it's also revealed that the {{spoiler|Solnoids}} also have precursors. Finally, in ''[[Gall Force]]: New Era'', it's revealed that {{spoiler|due to a [[Stable Time Loop]], all the races in the story are each other's precursors}}.
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* ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'': The People of Kobol were [[Precursors]] to the {{spoiler|People of Earth}} and the 12 Colonies, but there was presumably no one before them {{spoiler|unless you count whatever "It" is that doesn't like being called "God" and the Head People.}}
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', we have [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|the Eternals]], some of which were apparently the seldom mentioned [[Ancient Astronauts|gods of Gallifrey]]; [[Precursors]] to the Time Lords who are themselves [[Depending on the Writer|(sometimes)]] cited as the reason for there being so many races of [[Human Aliens]], [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]], and [[Humanoid Aliens]] in the [[Whoniverse]].
* In ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' it is speculated that all life in the universe originated on Earth, with humans acting as [[The Precursors]] to countless other races, who in turn acted as
* In the [[Stargate Verse]], the Goa'uld were originally thought to be the ones who had built the Stargate network, come to Earth to find slaves, and built the Pyramids to land their spaceships. SG-1 quickly discovers that while the Goa'uld were indeed the ones on Earth thousands of years ago, the Stargates were actually built by ''their'' precursors, the Ancients, millions of years ago. ''[[Stargate Universe]]'' revealed that the Ancients had found signs of their own [[Precursors]] (or [[God]]), but the series ended before they could be revealed.
* The ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[Expanded Universe]] is full of these. There's all the [[Energy Being|uberpowerful noncorporeal life]], and the ancient humanoid preservers, and a hundred or so other ancient powerful empires.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* [[The Precursors]] of the contemporary object of worship--"[[The Maker]]"
* In ''[[Homeworld]]'', the anchient Hiigarans left their warp core to be discovered by the Kushans 3000 years later. But the Anchient Hiigarans never built the core, they found it. It was made by a still older race known only as the Precursors, who, according to legend, are said to have originated from beyond the galaxy.
* The ''[[Mass Effect]]'' universe has a bunch of these, one of which–a [[Eldritch Abomination|Reaper]] called {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Sovereign]]}}–provides the page quotes. Of course, due to the [[Law of Conservation of Detail]], only two of these races–the [[Time Abyss|billion or so]] year old [[Deus Est Machina|mechanical]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Reapers]] and the 50,000 year old [[Benevolent Precursors|Protheans]], respectively the first and last in the line of
** The third game reveals {{spoiler|that the Protheans weren't as benevolent as originally thought, having united the Galaxy by expansionism and imperialism, with their belief that the strongest race should lead the Galaxy. If the Protheans lost, they would freely serve any race who managed to beat them. No-one did.}}
** {{spoiler|Javik reveals that the precursors to the Protheans were the Issuanon, who's ruins on Ilos were where the Prothean first discovered Mass Effect technology, much like Humans had from the Prothean ruins on Mars.}}
** Towards the end, it is even considered that the [[The Alliance|Citadel Races]] might become the Precursors for the next generation of galactic species.
* ''[[Halo]]'s'' Forerunners had the preceding species Precursors, who were rumored to have exceeded technology and [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|become transentient]]. By the time of the Flood invasion, many believed the Precursors were legend, {{spoiler|unaware that they had defeated the Precursors millennia before and the Flood was their revenge.}}
* In the ''[[Star Control]]'' series, the first [[Precursors]] we know of is the race that left behind the massive battleship that the Ur-Quan use, who themselves [[Turned Against Their Masters|Turned Against]] their Dnyarri slavemasters, who themselves had killed their own [[Precursors]], the Sentient Milieu. The reason for the original [[Precursors]] not being around anymore was eventually revealed in [[Fanon Discontinuity|(the often-ignored)]] ''[[Star Control|Star Control III]]'' ; {{spoiler|they were wiped out by an [[Up to Eleven|Even More Advanced]] race, possibly their own
* The ''[[Free Space]]'' series has some in-universe speculation on this. The Ancients were the Precursors to the modern-day Terrans and Vasudans, but they were wiped out by a total enigma of an advanced species called [[Precursor Killers|the Shivans]], who are now attacking the Terrans and Vasudans. One character speculates that the Shivans have been around for a ''really'' long time, and exterminating any civilization that evolves to a certain point like they did the Ancients, though there is no direct evidence that this is the case.
** Some [[Word of God]] statements about the [[Left Hanging|never-made third game]] implied {{spoiler|that the Shivans themselves are an engineered species, so that would be another Precursor race who did the engineering.}}
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', [[Space Elves|Eldar]] are a borderline example of [[The Precursors|a Precursor Race]], in which case their creators, the Old Ones, would be
* [[Forgotten Realms]] elves dominated Faerun before they torn both continent and their civilizations apart in Crown Wars, which left them weakened and gradually displaced by human expansion, all the while Dwarven and Giant kingdoms still fought each other. But the Elves in turn took the world from Dragons' claws. That's where we switch from merely mythical era to the [[Time Abyss]] of [http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Creator_race Creator Races] about whom little is known: Dragons [http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drrl/20071107a fought giants] after knocking birdlike Aearee out of Toril's sky... Aearee in turn spread when [[Frogs and Toads|Batrachi]] got themselves extinct, before ''their'' time there were [[Lizard Folk|Sarrukh]] and [[Fair Folk|Fey]], and so on. And before that was "[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15988&whichpage=24#385780 Time of the Rauth]"
* [[Eberron]] has a long history of being ruled by demons, then dragons, then giants, then goblinoids (in Khorvaire), then finally the common races. Some of them are still around to some extent, from the [[Neglectful Precursors|Dragons of Argonessen]] to the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Demon Wastes]] to whatever is happening in [[Dug Too Deep|the depths of Khyber]].
* [[Traveller]] Gurps ''Alien Races 3'' discusses this as an optional alternative for lore about The Ancients. However the normal canon does not discuss this much.
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