Sapient Cetaceans: Difference between revisions

For dolphins in particular, this may sometimes overlap with [[Friendly Playful Dolphin]], or [[Heroic Dolphin]], or both, but not always. Compare [[Uplifted Animal]], which often includes (and may artificially induce) this trope.

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* In [[Piers Anthony]]'s stories about a human dentist abducted by aliens to serve as their on-ship oral hygiene practitioner (''Prosthro Plus''), the intrepid orthodontist is called upon to do some filings for a life-form on a wholly aquatic planet, who turns out to be the son of a whale-like species who are planetary rulers and who can therefore pay the fabulous costs of ''tons'' of gold used to restore the cavity-laden rotten teeth. After several days of work with JCB's to excavate the rot and a portable blast furnace to melt the gold for the fillings - all done inside the creature's mouth as it really is that large - the dentist asks what caused catastrophic rot in the first place, learning that over-indulgent parents had allowed too many sweeties and not imposed a good enough teeth-cleaning regime...

* [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Council Wars]]'' series has ''Delphinos'': Humans who have used advanced genetic engineering to turn themselves into dolphins and have lost all sense of their own humanity as a result.

* In Sergey Volnov's ''Army of the Sun'', someone thought it was a good idea to uplift not only whales but also sharks (despite the latter being a fish and not a mammal). Oh yeah, and they also have incredible [[Psychic Powers]]. Interestingly, the only intelligent shark in the novel is pretty peaceful and bears humans no ill will and is a mentor to a young intelligent orca. For reference, orca's kill sharks for sport.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' novel ''Small Favor'', dolphins turn out to not only be intelligent, but smart enough to recognize that Harry is a good guy and the squad of [[Fallen Angel|Fallen Angels]] lurking nearby are the bad guys and thus warn Harry that he's walking into an ambush.

 

== Radio ==

 

 

* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin (Video Game)|Ecco the Dolphin]]:'' Aside from Ecco discussing subjects like alien invasions and lost families with other creatures, [[Animal Talk|including those of other species]], the series also involves solving [[Nintendo Hard|notoriously challenging puzzles]] when playing as Ecco.

* In ''[[Aero Fighters]] 2'', Spanky is a dolphin who pilots a frickin' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YF-23 YF-23 fighter jet]. He [[Memetic Mutation|fries over jungles]].

* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' does this; the Liir are a race of starfaring telepathic cetaceans.

* ''[[Critical Depth]]'' - {{spoiler|The Cephalopod race had intended for dolphins to rule the earth. In one [[Multiple Endings|ending]] they are dismayed to find humans have taken over after millions of years, and vow to [[Alien Invasion|fix the situation]].}}

* A dolphin is one of the crew members in ''Halloween Harry 2''. He wears a suit of power armor to get around on land, push buttons, and wield assault rifles.

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'': in a [[Treehouse of Horror]] episode dolphins invade the land and take over. They can speak English.

{{quote| '''Snorky:''' ''[in high pitched voice]'' [[Eloquent in My Native Tongue|Snorky ... talk ... man ...]] ''[clears throat and reverts to deep male voice]'' I'm sorry, let me start over. Eons ago, dolphins lived on the land. Then your ancestors drove us into the sea, where we suffered for millions of years. I, King Snorky, hereby banish all humans to the sea!}}

* ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures (Animation)|Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' had occasional appearances by [[Orson Welles|Orson Whales]], who had the same voice as [[Pinky and The Brain (Animation)|Brain]].

* Mr. Krabs daughter Pearl from ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' is a talking whale and she lives the life of a human teenager. The dolphin king in ''SpongeBob'' is a sentient dolphin that warns bikini bottom about the threat of volcanoes.

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Sapient Cetaceans]]