Super Breeding Program: Difference between revisions

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'''Spoony''': ''Eww!'' The androids need Yor's seed?! What kind of sick ass future is this? |''[[Yor, the Hunter from the Future]]'', as reviewed by [[The Spoony Experiment|Spoony.]] }}

A character (or more) creates a "superior" being through the good old-fashioned way (i.e. [[Don't Explain the Joke|sex]] (or at least something involving a womb, [[Uterine Replicator|artificial]] or not)). This can take multiple forms, such as making it multi-generational or including supernatural/[[Transhuman|technologically augmented]] parents. This usually is an attempt to make [[Super Soldier~~|Super Soldiers~~]], but not always.

A character (or more) creates a "superior" being through the good old-fashioned way (i.e. [[Don't Explain the Joke|sex]] (or at least something involving a womb, [[Uterine Replicator|artificial]] or not)). This can take multiple forms, such as making it multi-generational or including supernatural/[[Transhuman|technologically augmented]] parents. This usually is an attempt to make [[Super Soldier]]s, but not always.

This shouldn't be confused with [[Designer Babies]], which are artificially created to be better. Though, this is not to say that you can't have [[Designer Babies]] as part of the "experience". [[Stalker with a Test Tube]] is a more individual based [[Sub-Trope]], while [[Super Breeding Program]] usually means creating many super people that may or may not take several generations. [[The Social Darwinist]] likes to use this trope since it's basically what they want.

This shouldn't be confused with [[Designer Babies]], which are artificially created to be better. Though, this is not to say that you can't have [[Designer Babies]] as part of the "experience". [[Stalker with a Test Tube]] is a more individual based [[Sub-Trope]], while '''Super Breeding Program''' usually means creating many super people that may or may not take several generations. [[The Social Darwinist]] likes to use this trope since it's basically what they want.

See also [[Superpowerful Genetics]] and [[Transhuman]]. May be the result of crossbreeding two species, creating a bunch of [[Half Human Hybrids]] or [[Heinz Hybrid~~|Heinz Hybrids~~]]. Usually results in [[Superpowered Mooks]]. May require a [[Disposable Superhero Maker]]. Contrast [[Lego Genetics]] and/or [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke]]. Inevitably creates a [[Super Prototype]]. Usually works on the assumption of [[Evolutionary Levels]].

See also [[Superpowerful Genetics]] and [[Transhuman]]. May be the result of crossbreeding two species, creating a bunch of [[Half Human Hybrids]] or [[Heinz Hybrid]]s. Usually results in [[Superpowered Mooks]]. May require a [[Disposable Superhero Maker]]. Contrast [[Lego Genetics]] and/or [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke]]. Inevitably creates a [[Super Prototype]]. Usually works on the assumption of [[Evolutionary Levels]].

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* In [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' series, the "Teela Brown gene", which makes a human being who possesses it amazingly lucky, is the product of a very long-term breeding program performed in secret by the [[Manipulative Bastard|Pierson's Puppeteers]] on the entire human race. By the chronologically last story in the series, "Safe at Any Speed", the gene has spread to the point that nearly 90% of all humans in the galaxy are lucky.

* In the Future History stories by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], the Howard Families are a breeding project for longevity.

* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' there's an not-so-[[Ancient Conspiracy]] of [[Long Lived|long-living]] sorcerers who bred their own [[Ultimate Lifeform|uber-mage]] manipulating a few "interesting" ancestries via arranged marriages, "random" quarrels and love potions. One sorceress who was induced into the secret immediately expressed her opinion on the idea very ~~graphically -- by~~ swirling the visual representation of the bloodlines into complete chaos and stating that's how this works [[Bastard Bastard|outside the official genealogy books]]. As in ''[[Dune]]'', they ended up with something too hot for them to ~~handle -- but~~ weren't wise enough to drop it before some got burns.

* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' there's an not-so-[[Ancient Conspiracy]] of [[Long Lived|long-living]] sorcerers who bred their own [[Ultimate Lifeform|uber-mage]] manipulating a few "interesting" ancestries via arranged marriages, "random" quarrels and love potions. One sorceress who was induced into the secret immediately expressed her opinion on the idea very graphically—by swirling the visual representation of the bloodlines into complete chaos and stating that's how this works [[Bastard Bastard|outside the official genealogy books]]. As in ''[[Dune]]'', they ended up with something too hot for them to handle—but weren't wise enough to drop it before some got burns.

* ''[[Counselors and Kings]]'' trilogy tells about Halruaan tradition of divining for good marriages and tradition of occasionally arranging the births of [[Anti-Magic|antimagical]] Jordain. The first was generally suspected to be a work of [[Ancient Conspiracy]] breeding the desired talents and preventing undesirable, the second turned out to go much deeper and darker than the public believed.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* [[Ancient Conspiracy|The Familiars]] from ''[[Dark Angel]]'' had been running one of these for millennia.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' implied this is how Khan and his ilk came about. They were called the "Eugenics Wars," after all. ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'' [[~~Retcon|retconned~~]] it to have been modern genetic engineering.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' implied this is how Khan and his ilk came about. They were called the "Eugenics Wars," after all. ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'' [[retcon]]ned it to have been modern genetic engineering.

* The [[Mutant Draft Board|Psi Corps]] in ''[[Babylon 5]]'', among other things, bred telepaths for psionic ability.