Uplifted Animal: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Wake up my brothers 488.jpg|link=The Powerpuff Girls|frame|Armies of [[Super Intelligence|super-genius]] [[My Brain Is Big|giant-brained]] simians: further proof that [[Chemistry Can Do Anything]].]]

 

A more Sci-Fi oriented version of the [[Talking Animal]], where the creature's ability to think and communicate with people on an equal level isn't typical of their species, but instead the result of some [[Applied Phlebotinum]] at work. Perhaps the animal's intelligence has been artificially increased (or inversely, people can communicate with them in their [[Animal Talk]]) and/or their physical voice structure altered so they can pronounce human words, or they have been fitted with a [[Translator Collar]]; but these animals have come to be more or less accepted as equals in human society.

 

See also [[Transhuman]] and [[Polly Wants a Microphone]].

{{examples}}

== Trope Namer ==

 

== Anime and Manga ==

{{quote|"I was a dog, but because I was really good, they upgraded me to human. Uh, sort of."}}

* Muntz' dogs in ''[[Up]]'' have been given the power to communicate in human speech, and to fly airplanes, among other things.

** And possibly all of the other mice.

* The ''[[Rise of the Planet of the Apes]]'' gets kicked off when this accidentally happens during the testing of a Alzheimer's treatment.

 

* The ''[[Ringworld]]'' game by Chaosium (based on [[Larry Niven]]'s book series) has [[Sapient Cetaceans|dolphins]] as playable characters. They can move around using powered suits.

* ''[[GURPS]] [[Transhuman Space]]'' has Doolittle [[Sapient Cetaceans|Dolphins]] and K-10A Postcanines, amongst others.

** In the [[Ravenloft]] D&D setting, the darklord Urik von Kharkov began life as a black leopard, but was transformed into a human by an evil wizard for use as a shapechanging assassin. [[It Got Worse|That was just the start of his troubles]].

** On the [[The Wiki Rule|D&D Wiki]], someone posted an [http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Uplift_%283.5e_NPC_Class%29 Uplift] NPC class. It's been called one of the [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227249 worst classes ever made for D&D].

* ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' has uplifted chimps, [[Sapient Cetaceans|dolphins]], parrots, crows, octopi and whales, all of which are entirely common player character backgrounds.

* ''[[Traveller]]'' has uplifted apes and [[Sapient Cetaceans|dolphins]] (though you hardly hear about them), and the Vargr were genetically engineered by the [[Precursors|Ancients]] from wolves.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Freefall]]'' also has this... Chimps were the first to be uplifted, but it didn't work very well, since they turned out to be natural sociopaths. Main character Florence is an uplifted Wolf, part of an experimental breed - only 14 of them exist so far. That ''may'' be all there ever will be - they're actually only a prototype for a future race of uplifted ''alien'' animals. However, if THEY have anything to do with it, they'll eventually be a full species. This seems fairly likely [[Genre Savvy|since Florence is a main character]] AND terrifyingly intelligent.

** However, the members of Florence's breed are ''not'' equal members of society: They are legally property. In practice, she is treated as an equal by ''most'' of the humans around her, but she has no more legal rights than a toaster. One of the things keeping her and others of her kind from doing too much about this too quickly is that they want to become a species - and for this they need to impress the humans, who can choose to help them or wipe them out as they please<ref>as Florence puts it, with a total of 14 members the Bowman's Wolf gene pool [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00019.htm doesn't even have a wading section].</ref>

* ''[[UNA Frontiers]]'' has the G.E.M.'s, Genetically Engineered Morgans, a gene-tinkered breed of horses incorporating cetacean and wolf genes to boost their intelligence and alter their behavior from "herd" to "pack" mode. An unexpected byproduct was the eventual development of psychic abilities as well, allowing a few of them to draw on the brain power of associated humans.

* ''[[Sheldon]]'': One of Sheldon's early experiments resulted in his pet duck Arthur gaining human intelligence and the ability to speak.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Transhuman Tropes]]