History Main / PreCursors

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* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'':
** In the campaign setting for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', a saurian race ruled the world in the days when the world was warm. They are not entirely gone, though. The reptilian creator race, the sarrukh, was only one of several races that dominated the pre-human Realms. Others included the dragons, the amphibian batrachians, the birdlike aeree, and [[TheFairFolk the fey]].
** The Creator Race term. The exact listing is sometimes discussed, but the rule seem to be 'Precursor, and native to Abeir-Toril'. This means humans are a Creator Race (because at least ''some'' of them developed on Toril, and built mighty civilizations now gone), but elves aren't (they built mighty civilizations now gone before the humans did, but they immigrated from elsewhere first).
** After the arrival of humans, the empires of Netheril, Imaskar, and Illefarn flourished before they disintegrated in nasty ways.
** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' setting and later (3rd edition) sources, it's heavily stated that the [[LawfulEvil baatezu (devils)]], [[NeutralEvil yugoloths (daemons)]], and [[ChaoticEvil tanar'ri (demons)]] were each predated by three primordial races of fiends: the ancient Baatorians, the baernaloths, and the obyriths, respectively.
** The rhulisti, or ancient halflings, were the first civilized race in the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' campaign setting; all other humanoid races are descended from them (including humans and giants), while those who retained their original form are now mostly cannibalistic savages.

* ''[[TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} GURPS Space]]'', includes Precursors as a potential element a Game Master might want to weave into his game world.
* The Ancients of ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''.
* The Mnoren of ''TabletopGame/TheFantasyTrip''. Actually, the Mnoren are probably precursors of Precursors for the above two examples, given that TFT was published first and involved a lot of the same people.
* The Old Ones in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' (both fantasy and [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} 40k]]) created most sentient races. In Fantasy they just left, never to return, but in 40k their backstory is given out in more detail. Apparently they had a massive, galaxy-shaking war with another old race, the Necrontyr (which later became the robotic Necrons), and created many races to help them fight. They (as well as most life in the galaxy) were nearly wiped out in the aftermath of the war, when the psychic disturbance caused by the massive amount of warp-fueled power used by them and the races they created caused the reality to tear apart and horrible creatures to spill through.\\

The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world (un)officially used to be an isolated world in the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Eye of Terror]] of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} 40k]], but had been drifting from that idea for a while before WordOfGod revealed them to be separate but parallel 'verses (similar to the split between Warhammer Fantasy and Blood Bowl), sometime around '98. Of course, the references noted above are not the only hints: the Amazons of Warhammer have weapons left over from the Old Ones which bear a startling resemblance to wargear from 40k, not to mention Chaos champions with chainswords, and the second half of each volume of the in-universe ''Liber Chaotica''
* The Thran in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''.
* Iron Crown Enterprise's ''Spacemaster'' has the Sianetic Harbingers, a long dead (?) race of beings that seeded the Galaxy with humanoid life. They were powerful telepaths and had a level of technology that dwarfs modern Terran equipment. Their artifacts and ruins are both desired and feared. Also, in the ''Privateers'' campaign setting, the "Architects" seeded life on many planets 4 billion years ago and guided the evolution of the seven major races until quite recently, then disappeared. Very little is known about them in-universe.

* The history of The Realm from the game ''TabletopGame/TheSplinter'' stretches back 100,000,000,000 years and includes potentially ''thousands'' of precursor species/civilizations. This results in a tremendous range of (some very bizarre) SchizoTech that can be scavenged by players.
* The entire premise of ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'' involves discovering the unfathomably advanced technology of eight previous civilizations, some of which were capable of moving stars and bending the fabric of reality to their whim. One civilization was responsible for extending the lifespan of our Sun, which would have become a red giant and scorched all life from existence on Earth, a fate completely unknown to all the inhabitants of the present day.
* The world of ''TabletopGame/AtlantisTheSecondAge'' is destined to be dominated by seven different races throughout its entire existence. Humans are the fifth of these races, making the Jinn, Ophidians, Lemurians, and Atlanteans all Precursor races. Somewhat unusually, none of these have gone extinct yet, but their numbers and powers have been greatly diminished. The Atlanteans are still trying to cling on to their power, but humans are already in the process of taking over.
* The Alien Overlords in ''Race for the Galaxy''. They were apparently a very advanced race of aliens who were the dominant civilization in the Milky Way at some point in the past, but who have now vanished. They did leave behind many artifacts, including some very advanced technology. They also seem to have uplifted and genetically engineered several servitor races. Since the backstory in ''Race for the Galaxy'' is told only in the sketchiest fashion, however, very little is known about the Overlords.
* The backstory for ''TabletopGame/CosmicEncounter'' has a universe-scale version of this to explain the game's [[MassiveRaceSelection huge number of alien races]].

** Thassilon was once a massive empire with incredible magic, but was brought low during the same meteor impact that annihilated Azlant.

* As Precursors are a stock feature of superhero comics, ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' naturally features the idea from time to time. For example, ''Kingdom of Champions'' introduced the "Progenitors" in this role.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': There's a scattering of ruins from extinct civilizations, but not as much as one would expect considering Fermi's Paradox. The oldest race around, the Gatekeepers, are only a million years old. Quite old, to be sure, but young compared to the galaxy. As Petey put it, "If it's this easy to be immortal, where are all the adults?" [[spoiler:They were all wiped out due to a variety of reasons over the eons, top of the list being the long-gun, a weapon that can fire anywhere in the galaxy from anywhere in the galaxy as long as you have targeting coordinates. The few survivors of these eras went completely off the grid, hiding their stars in massive superstructures or constructing spaceships the size of planets and running dark. The reason the Gatekeepers were still around (though they hid the bulk of their people in {{Dyson Sphere}}s) was as part of a plan to halt this cycle by restricting galactic travel to a PortalNetwork instead of receiverless {{teleportation}}, in the hopes that this would prevent the rise of the long-gun. It worked for a while, and the current galactic civilization has lasted longer than most previous ones, but eventually the Gatekeeper stranglehold was broken and things continued on the same path as before]].

* The Remnant system in ''VideoGame/{{Achron}}'' (where the game largely takes place) has ancient alien ruins scattered throughout. The technology found in these ruins has become them basis of humankinds most advanced tech, most notably [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation]]. [[spoiler: The system is then invaded by aliens that use the exact same tech as those found in the ruins. And that technology includes TimeTravel. Hmmm...]]

* ''WebVideo/RWBYButBetter'' explains the SchizoTech of ''RWBY'' as being due to this. The world used to be very technologically advanced but an incident known as "the Fall" left everything all-but in ruins. Humanity has since picked itself up but it's not on the level of the Imperial Era. The only remnants of the old era is some of the advanced technology, such as holograms and robots, which have been mainly repurposed for military usage.

* ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'' has the enigmatic race of insectoids known as the Carapace Cross, who worshiped the [[TheOldGods Gods-from-Stone]]. [[MindScrew Some in-game lore implies they were devoured by humanity, some states they became humanity, and other implies they will descend from huanity in the future.]]

** The reason they aren't around anymore? [[spoiler:They sacrificed themselves to provide the souls needed to create new life.]]

* ''Literature/RoguesOfTheRepublic:'' The "ancients" colonized the continent thousands of years ago, bringing with them incredible MagiTech and all manner of servants, including all the human races, elves, and dwarves. Most modern civilizations are built on the scraps of technology they left behind, and even though none of it is operating perfectly, it is still capable of incredible things. They left the world in order to [[spoiler:protect it from the Glimmering Folk. As long as the ancients are gone, the Glimmering Folk cannot step foot on the world or any other connected to it]].

* ''FanFic/MegaManRecut'' has the Vannu'bi, an ancient civilization that existed on a small remote island and were apparently destroyed by a volcanic eruption. They may have been AbusivePrecursors, since they're architecture describes them as constantly warring with other civilizations and making deals with an EldritchAbomination.

* Medieval and Renaissance Europeans often thought of the Roman Empire this way, perceiving Rome as a great, civilized and intellectually superior culture they strived to emulate. The ruins of Roman buildings and infrastructure still dot the countryside to the modern day, and many European towns and cities were built among the ruins of Roman settlements -- which, in many cases, were much larger than their Medieval successors and more comparable in size to their modern iterations. The Greeks were held in a similar sort of awe, and Greek and Roman writings were held as a sort of final authority in scientific matters -- suggesting that modern people could equal or ''surpass'' the Greeks and Romans -- "the Ancients", as they were known -- in art and science was seen as ridiculous. {{Adventurer Archaeologist}}s in Central Asia often thought of the various Silk Road Civilizations this way, too. Similarly, the early Iron Age civilizations of Greece, Anatolia and Mesopotamia which emerged after the Bronze Age collapse and subsequent "Dark Ages" viewed their predecessors as such, most notably the awe in which the Hellenic Greeks held the Mycenaeans.

* Medieval and Renaissance Europeans often thought of the Roman Empire this way, perceiving Rome as a great, civilized and intellectually superior culture they strived to emulate, the remnants of whose cities and architecture still dotted the countryside. {{Adventurer Archaeologist}}s in Central Asia often thought of the various Silk Road Civilizations this way, too. Similarly, the early Iron Age civilizations of Greece, Anatolia and Mesopotamia which emerged after the Bronze Age collapse and subsequent "Dark Ages" viewed their predecessors as such, most notably the awe in which the Hellenic Greeks held the Mycenaeans.

* Homo Erectus. They inhabited Africa and most of Eurasia for over 2 million years, and are believed to be the first species of human, and the first in Earth's history to make complex hunting tools, control fire and cook their food, and (it's debated) to have symbolic customs, such as burial rites. They were so widespread that they gave rise to many different subspecies of humans, including Homo Heidelbergensis, the ancestor of both modern humans and Neanderthals. There are ongoing debates about whether some known groups of early humans are actually Homo Erectus or a subspecies descended from them.

* Medieval and Renaissance Europeans often thought of the Roman Empire this way. [[AdventurerArchaeologist Adventurer Archaeologists]] in Central Asia often thought of the various Silk Road Civilizations this way, too. Similarly, the early Iron Age civilizations of Greece, Anatolia and Mesopotamia which emerged after the Bronze Age collapse and subsequent "Dark Ages" viewed their predecessors as such, most notably the awe in which the Hellenic Greeks held the Mycenaeans.
* One serious solution proposed for the UsefulNotes/FermiParadox[[note]]in brief: The universe is at the very least not hostile to life, and it's big enough and old enough that we humans shouldn't be alone, so why haven't we encountered any other intelligent species in some way?[[/note]] is that ''we humans'' are the Precursors -- we are the first intelligent race, at the very least in this galaxy. Or at the very least, our elders are [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale too recently emerged to have expanded universe-wide yet]]. If this is true, uncounted billions of civilisations are depending on us not nuking ourselves or sinking back to pre-industrial levels. No pressure.

* The mysterious Indus civilization (Bronze Age) reached levels of technology, health and urbanism not reached again until the Middle Ages (in India) or later. For just a bit of perspective, the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro had a better sewage system than nearby Karachi does today.

* In the FurryWebcomic ''Webcomic/{{Jack|DavidHopkins}}'', the furries that currently live on Earth are the descendants of furries created in a lab by humans, making humans the Precursors. They were wiped out in a war started by the first furry, Jack. The furry version of the United States government knows about furrykind's origins, and is (probably wisely) [[GovernmentConspiracy keeping it a secret]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Drive}}'': The Sill were the most advanced race the galaxy has ever known and the only one to ever reach a type 2 Kardashev civilization. They ruled the galaxy for over 20,000 years undisputed, and their technology reached levels that modern societies can barely dream of. All that's left of them now are some impressive ruins and some slowly dying monks.

* The Ancients of ''Webcomic/LeavingTheCradle'' had unimaginably powerful presense in the galaxy some milions to billions years ago, changing planets and star systems so they could be able to support life, leaving behind artifacts that enabled the civilizations that came after to discover FTL and other fancy tech, and apparently they are even responsible for ''the very possibility of FTL travel itself'', with strong implications that they tampered with the fundamental physical forces of the Universe on a whim, and before that you could travel only as fast as Einstein would allow you. Then they just disappear without a trace, sans for some artifacts or occasional astroengineering project.

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2117 SCP-2117]] is an anomalous spaceship used by the Foundation against possible extraterrestrial threats. If the age of the ship is to be believed, [[spoiler: the Foundation has existed even before ''life'' did.]]

* Theosophy features Atlantis (Precursor to Egypt and Mayan culture), Hyperborea (North Pole, precursor of europeans and asians), and Lemuria (precursor to the african cultures and the lower castes of india).

** It was first recorded by Plato, and may be an allegory he dreamed up to serve his conception of a utopian society by providing it with an enemy. While the Atlantis in Plato's story is explicitly a fiction, the question is whether the idea was original or making use of an existing legend. Another possibility is that the legend of Atlantis grew out of stories about the civilization on Bronze-Age Crete, long before classical AncientGreece. Another candidate is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini Santorini,]] which was once Thera, an island city-state in the Aegean Sea, very advanced compared to its neighbors, even possessing indoor plumbing, but erased (along with the middle of the island) by a volcanic explosion about 36 centuries ago.

* One serious solution proposed for the UsefulNotes/FermiParadox[[note]]in brief: The universe is at the very least not hostile to life, and it's big enough and old enough that we humans shouldn't be alone, so why haven't we encountered any other intelligent species in some way?[[/note]] is that ''we humans'' are the Precursors -- we are the first intelligent race. Or at the very least, our elders are [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale too recently emerged to have expanded universe-wide yet]]. If this is true, uncounted billions of civilisations are depending on us not nuking ourselves or sinking back to pre-industrial levels. No pressure.

* As Precursors are a stock feature of superhero comics, TabletopGame/{{Champions}} naturally features the idea from time to time. For example, ''Kingdom of Champions'' introduced the "Progenitors" in this role.

* Iron Crown Enterprise's ''Spacemaster'' has the Sianetic Harbingers, a long dead (?) race of beings that seeded the Galaxy with humanoid life. They were powerful telepaths and had a level of technology that dwarfs modern Terran equipment. Their artifacts and ruins are both desired and feared.
** ''Privateers'' campaign setting. The Architects seeded life on many planets 4 billion years ago and guided the evolution of the seven major races until quite recently, then disappeared. Very little is known about them in-universe.

* Appropriately for a series where ancient ruins are one of the most populous level types, the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series is jam-packed with different precursors, most notably the ''Echidnas'' whose ancient weapons/relics/monsters set the stage for most of the world-threatening terror of the games. Interestingly enough, although absolutely all of them are shown to have possessed and/or utilized the [[{{MacGuffin}} Chaos Emeralds]] at some point, none of them claim responsibility for creating any of the Emeralds.\\

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': The ancient elves serve as this setting's precursors, despite the fact that their descendants are still alive and kicking. Much of the magic that made ancient Tevinter so powerful is implied to have been stolen and reverse engineered from elven artifacts, and modern Dalish elves spend most of their time combing through ruins for scraps of history left behind by their ancestors. Interestingly enough, even though they were once immortal and capable of incredible feats of magic (such as creating entirely new species, physically walking in the Fade, and [[spoiler:constructing the Veil between the waking and dreaming worlds]]), [[FantasticRacism ancient elves don't inspire any of the awe that usually accompanies this trope from their human successors]] - [[EnslavedElves probably because their descendants are now scrubbing floors]].

* Appropriately for a series where ancient ruins are one of the most populous level types, the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series is jam-packed with different precursors, most notably the ''Echidnas'' whose ancient weapons/relics/monsters set the stage for most of the world-threatening terror of the games. Interestingly enough, although absolutely all of them are shown to have possessed and/or utilized the [[{{MacGuffin}} Chaos Emeralds]] at some point, none of them claim responsibility for creating any of the Emeralds.\\
In ''Chronicles'' one of a races trapped inside the [[AnotherDimension Twilight Cage]] is referred to as the Precursors.