History Main / PreCursors

** ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':

** Some [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] examples would be the Fabrini, and (from "Return to Tomorrow") the race from which Sargon, Henoch and Thalassa are the only survivors.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

-->-- '''Music/{{Rush}}''', "2112"

* ''Art/BeastFables'': Before the current werebeast civilisation, there was the Primeval Age, when were-dinosaurs ruled the land. They're long gone, but their memory lives on through oral traditions and artefacts.

[[folder:Film]]

* 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 this part of it. 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.

* Any ancient state ended up either as this or a VestigialEmpire. The best examples would be the six "cradles of civilization" where writing, urbanization, and features of modern society first developed independently of other civilizations: [[{{Mayincatec}} Mesoamerica]], the central Andes, AncientEgypt, Mesopotamia, [[SimSimSalabim the Indus River Valley]], and China.

** What allows them to escape being considered [[NeglectfulPrecursors neglectful]] is that they sent a contingency against "inter-egg wars" -- the Spear of Longinus, which can best be described as some sort of control rod which deactivates the egg it is attached to. Both Eggs had a Spear but Lilith's was lost on impact; Adam was the first to find Earth, but upon Lilith's unexpected landing, his Spear activated and sealed him; so, technically, everything worked just as expected. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero It's not their fault the Lilim decided to yank Adam's Spear]]. There's a definite potential for the FAR to be AbusivePrecursors though. For all they supposedly didn't want the two eggs to mix, the warning they left behind [[IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou contained explicit instructions on how to go about doing it in such a way as to become a nigh-omnipotent cosmic being.]]

** Theories on the origins of Atlantis are far ranging and include everything from islands in the Mediterranean to the continents of North and South America. Proponents of the latter theories, however, are not taken seriously because no such civilisation could have existed and left zero trace or record of its existence whatsoever.[[note]]Note that there are several ancient civilisations in the Americas, such as the Olmecs and Mound Builders; its just that they have nothing to do with Attlantis.[[/note]]

** Theories on the origins of Atlantis are far ranging and include everything from islands in the Mediterranean to the continents of North and South America. Proponents of the latter theories, however, are not taken seriously because no such civilisation could have existed and left zero trace or record of its existence whatsoever.

* ''Once Upon a Time... Space'' (the sci-fi and prevalently entertaining installment of the ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois'' educational series) has ''at least'' two of these races. The two confirmed races were at war with each other, with one composed by [[HumanAliens human lookalikes]] (some of which landed on a primitive planet inhabitated by other HumanAliens and [[ETGaveUsWiFi taught them better science]] before [[NukeEm nuking them]] [[DisproportionateRetribution for attacking them in order to steal their technology]]) and the other implied to have normal-sized starships capable to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up a planet]] (the asteroid belt is believed having been one such planet, where this race believed some of their enemies had taken refuge). The inhabitants of {{Atlantis}} are a subgroup of another race of HumanAliens, known for having interbred with Earth humans (with Psi's PsychicPowers implied to be the result of descending from them) and who are possibly connected to the first group, and a fourth, who actually appear, is a SufficientlyAdvancedAliens that may be the same who sent the Atlanteans on Earth and have some connection to Psi. The protagonist themselves become this from time to time, acting as teachers to less developed species.

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': The Senet Beasts came before humans, most have been wiped out ''by'' humans who use the First Materials they're made of for various things which means that many of the surviving ones will not hesitate to kill or trick humans they come across, and they do not reproduce. All Senet Beasts that are still around have been around since ere the dawn of humanity.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, the Malthusians were one of the earliest sentient races in the universe. They went on to become the Guardians of the Universe. And the Controllers, and the Zamarons, and Krona. They run the gamut of precursor subtropes.

* The Merk in ''Nexus'' are or were a race of extremely psychically gifted and technologically advanced aliens who left the galaxy and, apparently, their bodies, behind. One of them remained behind, however, and empowered the eponymous hero.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', it is hinted that [[PhysicalGod Dr. Manhattan]] will [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence go on to do this]].

** The Celestials have influenced many planets, including Earth, where they created multiple races of superhumans and placed the initial spark in human DNA which would later mutate into the [[ComicBook/XMen X-Gene]]. They also test races and civilisations according to their standards to see who are worthy. They normally appear as skyscraper-sized mechanical giants, but these are actually suits of armour concealing their unknown true forms. Unfortunately, "capable of killing a Celestial" would eventually become [[TheWorfEffect something of a yardstick to show off how strong a new character or weapon is]].
** In addition, there are also the Elders of the Universe, a loose associations of beings who all are The LastOfTheirKind, and who hail from the first intelligent races to develop in the universe. They are less active, though, since they are all obsessed with one narrow hobby which apparently is the only thing that keeps them from dying of sheer boredom. The Grandmaster may be interested in the gaming and gambling habits of various lesser races, for instance, but couldn't care less about any aspects of their culture that has nothing to do with his obsession with games.
** There is also the race know as the Watchers, who ''started'' to do something similar, but got cold feet when early interference with a much more primitive race led to horrible wars. They have sworn to not interfere with their nigh godlike powers, only record what happens. (The Watcher appointed to Earth is a juvenile delinquent who breaks this rule regularly, but surreptitiously, so as to not get in trouble with his kind.)

* ''ComicBook/{{Royals}}'' has a reveal that [[spoiler:the Kree]] were created by a long-gone bunch called the Progenitors, [[spoiler:much like how they created the Inhumans.]] These Progenitors are also the ones responsible for the mysterious Sky Spears. [[spoiler:It eventually turns out they're full on Abusive Precursors. They enhance species, then come back and sample the innovations to make more Progenitors out of their test subjects. They gave up on the Kree thanks to their becoming an evolutionary dead-end, but when a handful of Inhumans stumbled upon one of their farm-moons and blew it up, ''that'' got their attention. And so they decide to come to Earth to farm the Inhumans.]]
[[spoiler: after the events of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' somewhere else in the universe, or in another one of his own creation]].

*** The Centaur Empire, which was once the biggest and most advanced Empire in it's heyday [[spoiler:and predated Ponykind as a sapient species]]. Sadly, Lord Tirek is the SoleSurvivor of the Empire [[spoiler:because [[PrecursorKillers he destroyed it]]]], and he is most certainly an {{Abusive Precursor|s}}. The Empire as a whole may count as BenevolentPrecursors to a degree, as they [[spoiler:treated the then nonsapient Ponies fairly well.]]

* It is hinted that [[PhysicalGod Dr. Manhattan]] will [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence go on to do this]].
* There's also the Old Gods, precursors of Jack Kirby's Fourth World beings. They are actually older than the DC Universe, and are said to have caused the destruction of the one before.

Precursors, a.k.a. "Ancients", "Elders" or "Old Ones", are a standard of ScienceFiction (especially SpaceOpera), fantasy and occasionally {{Horror}}: an ancient race whose culture and knowledge rose to its pinnacle in ages long past but which is no longer present.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/AtlantisTheSecondAge'': The world is destined to be dominated by seven different species over its existence. Humans are the fifth of these races, making the Jinn, Ophidians, Lemurians, and Atlanteans all Precursor races, and making humanity fated to be itself a Precursor for two future species. Somewhat unusually, none of the old Precursors 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.
* ''TabletopGame/CeruleanSeas'': The great civilisation of the drylanders and their sahuagin enemies, which flourished in the ancient past and perished in the chaos of TheGreatFlood. The phantom lobsters are also described as descendants of a once great eurypterid empire.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'': As Precursors are a stock feature of superhero comics, ''Champions'' features the idea from time to time. For example, ''Kingdom of Champions'' introduced the "Progenitors" in this role.
* ''TabletopGame/ClaimTheSky'': The Azari colonized Earth millennia ago, and left behind caches of ultra-high technology. In addition, their genetic experiments on humans are believed to be the cause of superpowers.
* ''TabletopGame/CosmicEncounter'': The backstory has a universe-scale version of this to explain the game's [[MassiveRaceSelection huge number of alien races]].
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'':
*** The three great Creator Races -- the saurian sarrukh, amphibious batrachi and avians aearee -- ruled Abeir-Toril in the days when the world was warm, and created many of the modern-day sapient races as servants, soldiers and experiments. Their empires fell and most went extinct, although their ruins and creations endure into the modern day. Other races, including dragons, humans and the fey, are sometimes counted among the creator races. The exact listing is sometimes discussed, but the rule seem to be "Precursor, and native to Abeir-Toril". This makes humans 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 came from the Feywild after the original Creator empires rose and fell).
*** In more recent history, the human empire of Netheril built up their empire north of the Sea of Fallen Stars, developing extremely advanced magic beyond anything that has been replicated since (Elven High Magic can emulate it somewhat, but only through collaboration of several mages and long preparation). They founded several of the cities in the region that still prosper, but eventually declined following a long war with a species of magical parasites known as Phaerimm, their ultimate collapse coming when the archmage Karsus accidentally caused their floating capitals to fall to the ground. They had a comeback in 4th edition, with one city having survived by shifting into the Shadowfell, but were destroyed again recently.
%%***Imaskar, Illefarn
** ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'': 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.
** ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'': The rhulisti, or ancient halflings, were the first civilized race in the setting; all other humanoid races, including humans and giants, are descended from them, while those who retained their original form are now mostly cannibalistic savages.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'s'' past history is chock full of this trope, including the [[AbusivePrecursors Carnifex]], the [[NeglectfulPrecursors Blackmoorians]], and the [[AncientEgypt Nithians]].
** Subverted in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting: while many societies have legends about Precursors, it's all false history imposed upon the memories of natives, as their world's only a little more than four centuries old.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' does this several times with its [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas First Age]], [[AdventureTowns Second Age]], and [[EarthAllAlong possibly]] the [[CrapsackWorld Sixth]] [[TabletopGame/OldWorldofDarkness Age]]. It even has [[DinosaursAreDragons 0th Age]] and [[EldritchAbomination 1st Age]] civilizations that few inhabitants are aware of.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
** ''GURPS Space'' includes Precursors as a potential element a Game Master might want to weave into his game world.
** In the MetaOrigin of ''TabletopGame/GURPSSupers: IST'', beings called the Seeders (who may or may not be the same as ''GURPS Space'''s Precursors) travelled the galaxy millennia ago, tweaking the genes of varous species to give them potential for intelligence and a unique superpower. HumansAreSpecial because this went wrong, and instead of evolving so we all had the same power, we evolved to have the ''possibility'' of developing all kinds of powers.
* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' have this in the form of the "Preservers" in Freedom City.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'': The game's central premise involves discovering the unfathomably advanced technology of eight previous godlike 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 is still littered with the wreckage and detritus of the Precursors, from half-working, country-sized machines and bizarre architecture to still entirely functional robots, genetically and cybernetically engineered animals and long-stranded aliens, making for a very AdventureFriendlyWorld.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
** Azlant was once a mighty empire whose magic and technology far outstripped their neighbors. The secret to their power was the aboleths running the nation from behind the scenes, whose advancements were even greater than their puppet nation. When their shadow empire was discovered, they called down meteors to obliterate the entire continent rather than allow their subjects to disobey them.
** Thassilon, founded by Azlanti secessionists, was itself a massive empire with incredible magic, but was brought low during the same meteor impact that annihilated Azlant.
** The xiomorns were an ancient species from the Plane of Earth who had mastered the secrets of life and came to Golarion to practice their work, creating caverns deep below the earth to use as test chambers for environments and lifeforms. Come present day, they're nowhere to be found and their self contained caverns have cracked open, revealing their remaining treasures to the world even as it loosed their creations.
* ''TabletopGame/RaceForTheGalaxy'': The Alien Overlords were apparently a very advanced species and the dominant civilization in the Milky Way at some point in the past, but 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.
* ''TabletopGame/{{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.
* ''TabletopGame/TheSplinter'': The history of the Realm 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.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' (both fantasy and ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 40k]]'') has the Old Ones, who created most sapient races. In ''Fantasy'' they just left, never to return, when the polar warp gats collapsed and let Chaos into the world, 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.
** These may or may not be the same race, and the two collapses may be parts of the same event. The 7th edition ''Warhammer'' core book and Lizardman book hint heavily at this, and the ''40k'' Necron book suggests using Lizardman models to represent the last refugees of the Old Ones.
** The ''Warhammer'' world (un)officially used to be an isolated world in the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Eye of Terror]] of ''40k'', but had been drifting from that idea for a while before WordOfGod revealed them to be distinct settings, sometime around '98.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the ''{{VideoGame/Seventh Dragon}}'' franchise, the Lucier played this role, originally. A highly advanced race whose technology seems almost magical to modern humans, they were at their peak when humans were ''just'' transitioning from the Paleolithic to Neolithic. This is also when they ultimately sacrificed themselves to defeat the first Draconic invasion of Earth, saving humanity and the rest of the biosphere. They're revived via cloning in ''7th Dragon 2020-II'' and given their own nation for their participation in thwarting that invasion, and by the original ''7th Dragon'', which takes place so far AfterTheEnd that trope no longer applies -- hinted at originally, confirmed later -- they're just known as one of the races of Eden, as the Earth of that time is known to its inhabitants.
* 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 {{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...]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Ascendancy}}'' Xenoarchiological Ruins pop up all the time, sometimes giving access to a technology far up the TechTree, though these are [[AwesomeButImpractical not always useful]] without adequate advancements in production capability and/or power sources.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBastardOfKosigan'', a ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' community module series, the precursor race were early humans who lived on Atlantis, but after the natural disaster that resulted in its sinking split into the "control" faction and the "free will" faction. The control faction, led by Gabriel, eventually won the ensuing war with the free will faction, led by Elisa Than (read Satan, though she wasn't actually that bad). Their war was primarily fought by using their advanced technology to mimic deities and create religions among lesser humans, so the control faction are the angels of modern Catholicism (the game is set in approximately 1300, but with magic and monsters and such) while the freedom faction became the demons. Ironically, Jesus was actually manipulated by the demons (and you even get to meet the demon commonly known as St. John), and the angels created the Catholic church to subvert his message.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'', the Eridians fill this role. They had created an incredibly advanced civilization on the wasteland planet Pandora, but it all mysteriously vanished millenia before the game's events. Remnants of their civilization are all over the place, and simple artifacts of their technology hold immense power. But by far the most legendary aspect of their legacy is The Vault, a container for... something, no one really knows what, that is the most sought after power on Pandora. The Vault is revealed to be [[spoiler:the TailorMadePrison for [[SealedEvilInACan The Destroyer]], an EldritchAbomination which nearly wiped out the Eridians. They sacrificed everything to contain The Destroyer within The Vault, leaving "Guardians" to ensure that no idiot would open the vault and cause the apocalypse. It doesn't work... [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu but the player(s) handle the Destroyer just fine]], and the [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 sequel]] shows them being set to keep doing that to the other nasties in any others of the Eridians' vaults.]] It's noted that the various corporations' interest in Pandora is due to alien relics being found on a different planet nearby, so either the Eridians were space-faring, or there is more than one Precursor civilization. ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' has [[spoiler:its protagonists open an Eridian vault that houses a chest within it, [[AmbiguousEnding but them opening the chest is only shown to have made them suddenly disappear]].]]
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuest'': The First Internet, of Boxxyfan and his people, then came the Second Internet, where those of the First Internet were unable to survive. Boxxyfan himself is a DarkLordOnLifeSupport, even during the Third Internet, caused by the improper semi-deletion of the Second.
* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'': The Titans are the precursor race, who harnessed the power of the fallen Ormagöden, the Eternal Fire Beast, to build wonderous things like cars that could drive extremely fast, great monuments upon the lands, and musical instruments that could play HeavyMetal. They also created the Tainted Coil, whom they loved and who loved them back, but then the Titans AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, leaving the Tainted Coil to fend for themselves. There are still a few Titans left at the time the game starts, dwelling deep underground in locations accessable by the Mouth of Metal. If Eddie brings them [[WeirdCurrency Fire Tributes]], they can craft new upgrades for his axe, guitar, and car.
* The Kingdom of Zeal in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' which in 12,000 BC (during the Ice Age) built floating cities in the sky and an "Ocean Palace" under the sea. Their civilization was powered originally by the Sun Stone (which harnessed solar energy) and then by the more abundant (but of course, more dangerous) Mammon Machine which extracted energy from Lavos the BigBad [[CosmicHorrorStory from outer space]].
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}: Test of Time'' sci-fi campaign, the entire system is filled with ancient alien tech, including space platforms in orbit of Funestis and even more advanced ones floating in the upper layers of the gas giant Nona.
* ''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 humanity in the future.]]
* ''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]]. Another reason is that the other races have their ''own'' precursor civilizations to look up to; the setting in general is deep into a dark age that they're only just starting to crawl out of, and everyone is lucky if they can ''use'' things like the Imperial Highway and Deep Roads, much less make more.
* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' has the Ancient Civilisation, a race of arthropods that had a really bad taste in Gods. Initially worshopping the "Moon", they then went on to worship [[EldritchAbomination Them]], who gave them shadow magic. This eventually turned the whole race into the Shadow Monsters that haunt the insane. Almost all of their technology [[CastFromSanity lowers your sanity just by using it]].
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** For all the mortal races, save for possibly the [[LizardFolk Argonians]] (the [[UnreliableCanon lore is unclear]]), there is the Ehlnofey. They are the lesser et'Ada ("original spirits") from the creation of Mundus who remained in the mortal realm and populated it, becoming the progenitors of the modern races.
** After the Ehlnofey, for the races of Mer (Elves), come the Aldmer. They came to Tamriel during the Merethic Era from the now-lost continent of Aldmeris (though other sources say that Aldmeris was another name for Tamriel prior to the emergence of the races of men). Whatever the case, the Altmer are their closest living relatives with the other races of Mer having split off over the ages for various reasons (usually religious in nature).
** For the races of Men, except for the Redguard and maybe the Nords (again, there is unclear and contradictory lore) it is the Nedes. [[UnreliableNarrator Septim propaganda]] claims that they came from the now frozen-over continent of Atmora, though this may have been a lie meant to appeal to the [[ProudWarriorRace mighty Nords]] to make them supportive of the Cyrodiilic empire. Other sources state that they were among the many human tribes native to Tamriel. In either case, they are definitely the precursors of the Imperials and Bretons, with the Nibenese Imperials as their closest living relatives.
** There were known to be actual migrants from Atmora, known as the Atmorans, who emigrated to Tamriel throughout the 1st Era after Atmora began to experience the "Frost Fall," a gradual complete freeze that would render it uninhabitable. They definitely make up at least part of the ancestry of the Nords.
** The Dwemer ("Deep Elves or "[[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwarves]]") and the Ayleids ("Wild Elves") were each AbusivePrecursors toward the Falmer ("Snow Elves") and the Nedes, respectively. Additional details can be found on that trope page.
** The Men of [[{{Wutai}} Akavir]], possibly or in part to the Tsaesci "[[SnakePeople snake vampires]]''. The lore states that there was once a race of Men who lived on the continent of Akavir, far to the east of Tamriel. However, they were "devoured" by the Tsaesci and are now gone. While some believe this means they were [[ImAHumanitarian literally eaten]], another theory posits that this is a [[MetaphoricallyTrue metaphor]] for being enslaved and/or culturally absorbed. (Another work regarding the Tsaesci uses "devour" and "enslave" interchangeably in reference to what the Tsaesci did to the red dragons of Akavir.)
* The Endless of ''Videogame/EndlessSpace''. Unlike most precursors, the denizens of the galaxy know exactly what happened to them; they ended up fracturing into factions (the Concrete and the [[BrainUploading Virtual]]) and wiped themselves out in a [[GuiltFreeExterminationWar massive interstellar pogrom]] millenia ago; the [[HumanPopsicle frozen survivors]] can be counted on one hand. Before that happened, though, they [[UpliftedAnimal nurtured species into sapience]] (including the Drakken of ''Videogame/EndlessLegend''), [[TerraForm terraformed worlds]] with their artificially intelligent robots ([[AndThenWhat who are still around after completing their mission]]), and built [[BigDumbObject vast megastructures]]; planetary core taps, orbital shipyards, et cetera. The Pilgrims, a human nation of scientists and mystics, seek out the Endless's lost homeworld, Tor.
* In ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Nova'', the precursors are known as [[http://evn.wikia.com/wiki/Those_Who_Came_Before Those Who Came Before]] ([[NamesTheSame no relation to]] ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed's'' precursors). Very little is known about them, since they [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence merged with the universe]] ''en masse'' centuries (if not millennia) before humans achieved space travel. They left behind {{bizarrchitecture}} like artificial rings around the planets Kont and Kel'ar Iy, and a ringworld called Tre'ar Helonis. And in four of the six mission strings, [[spoiler:humanity ascends and becomes precursors in turn to an unnamed alien race]].
* In ''VideoGame/EVEOnline,'' ''we'' are the precursors. We used the EVE wormhole to travel to the Galaxy of New Eden, but when the wormhole collapsed, so to did civilization in New Eden, and as new civilizations formed, their origins faded into myth and legend.
** The ''Apocrypha'' expansion has given us a glimpse of some of the old technology which the precursor humans left behind: the sleepers. Ancient drone ships guarding long forgotten structures packed with technology that makes the most advanced player ships and weaponry look like we're using BB guns to fight enemies with nukes. The technology that has been scavenged so far has allowed the playerbase to build relatively small cruisers with the firepower and defenses equal to and even beyond battleships. It will be a terrifying day when we can finally build new kinds of battleships with sleeper tech.
* The Sky People were the once powerful ancestors of the Lufenian race of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''. After mastering the power of the Wind Crystal, they constructed many ancient wonders such as the Airship, the Mirage Tower and the Flying Fortress. Their civilization was eventually destroyed by the Fiend of Wind, Tiamat.
* The Cetra of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' were the first inhabitants of the Planet, which they cultivated in their search for ThePromisedLand. They looked exactly like humans, except that they were deeply spiritual and could communicate with TheLifestream. In fact, it's said that humans are descendants of Cetra who stopped the search for the Promised Land and chose a life of convenience. Two thousand years ago, the Cetra were nearly wiped out when the alien Jenova started infecting them with a virus which mutated them into monsters. Though the Cetra managed to seal Jenova, their numbers rapidly dwindled. The last known full-blooded Cetra was Ifalna, who was experimented upon by Shinra as they sought for her knowledge of the Planet. Before she died, she fell in love with a human and gave birth to Aerith. Although Aerith is only half-Cetra, she is still able to communicate with the Lifestream, can sense when people die (as they "return to the Planet"), and knows how to summon Holy, the only spell capable of defending the Planet from the [[ColonyDrop Meteor]].
* The Zilart of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI''. A few of them still remain but most of them are relatively insane and/or genocidal. [[spoiler:Only two Zilart favor the current civilizations at all, and one of them Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence]].
* The "Ancients" from ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'' fit this trope, although for once we actually get a [[ApocalypticLog detailed history of their annihilation]] at the hands of the Shivans. (They recorded this so that later races would be warned not to piss the Shivans off... or, having failed that, would have some insight into the Shivans' [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture weaknesses]]). The [[BigBad Shivans]] themselves qualify as Precursors in some respects: while not extinct, their technology is far more advanced than humans' and they've been that advanced for at least 8,000 years. There are EpilepticTrees both in-game and out about the origins of the Shivans (whether they were created as weapons by an even older race), and exactly how long they've been at their xenocidal mission (one character muses that there might be multiple Precursors extending far back in time, each annihilated by the Shivans when they grew too powerful and the later ones founding empires on the ruins of those that came before). [[ShrugOfGod None of this has been confirmed nor denied by the authors.]]
* In ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations II'':
** The unimaginatively named Precursors and their enemies the Dread Lords (who have become SealedEvilInACan). The campaign in the original revolves around you fighting the latter, and if the player is unlucky enough to encounter them in a standard game...
** According to the game's expansions, the "Precursors" mentioned above were called the Arnor, and were the same species as the Dread Lords, but were ideologically opposed: the Arnor wanted to guide and look after new intelligent life, while the Dread Lords wanted to exterminate it. It isn't clear what happened to the Arnor after they defeated the Dread Lords, although one survivor is found in the ''Twilight of the Arnor'' campaign.
** There are also the mysterious [[spoiler:Mithrilar, a group of five immortal beings that were precursors to the Arnor and Dread Lords (indeed, they ''created'' the Arnor and Dread Lords). What happened to them is unknown, although it is known that one of them, Draginol, was a time-travelling ascended human.]]
* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': The Precursors who created all the lost technology used in the games come from Eden, another name for Earth, making modern humanity the Precursors to the people of the game's time.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The Forerunners are very much a precursor race, who believed that they held the "Mantle of Responsibility" for all life in the galaxy. All that's left of them are artifacts such as the titular "Halo" rings. [[spoiler:They purposely destroyed themselves activating the rings as a last resort to prevent a traveling parasite called "The Flood" from consuming all life in the galaxy, but not before leaving measures for the reseeding of life afterwards.]] Oddly, humans seem to have a unique connection to them -- much of Forerunner technology, including the Halos, can only be utilized by humans, and the major Forerunner installation on Earth is located in East Africa, right next to the area where modern humans are believed to have first evolved (since Forerunners were contemporaries of OriginalMan).
** In fact, the ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' terminals reveal that this connection was because [[spoiler:the high-ranking Forerunner known as "The Librarian" felt that humans would be the rightful "reclaimers" of the Forerunners' legacy.]] Later, ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'' books add a twist to this by revealing that [[spoiler:most Forerunners felt otherwise, due to a long and bloody war they fought with prehistoric humanity's own highly advanced interstellar empire, which was invading Forerunner space in order to flee the Flood and cleanse infected planets; it ended with the victorious Forerunners completely dismantling all traces of human technology they could find, devolving the survivors into a primitive state (who would quickly (re?)evolve into many of the various hominid species we know about today, including modern humans), and shoving them back to their homeworld of Earth.]]
** In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', we find out that [[spoiler:at least one Forerunner still survives; "The Ur-Didact", the former supreme commander of the Forerunner military, who also happens to be the BigBad]]. The game also provide evidence, namely a speech given by [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact in TheStinger, that there are many more Forerunners living outside of the galaxy]], which was confirmed by [[spoiler:the audio epilogue to ''Literature/HaloSilentium''.]]
** The Forerunners believed that they inherited the Mantle from a long-gone race of even more advanced beings they called "The Precursors", who are revealed in the Forerunner Saga [[spoiler:to have played a major role in the creation of both the Forerunners and humanity, among many other species. They ended up being almost completely annihilated when they tried to wipe out the Forerunners for being unworthy of the Mantle. Most of the survivors turned themselves into powder with the plan of eventually re-constituting their original forms, but they all CameBackWrong and became the ''Flood''. They then apparently decided to eliminate the Forerunners, "unite" all life in the galaxy, and test whether humanity was worthy of the Mantle... or maybe they just wanted their creations to suffer for all eternity. Either way, their technology (which seems to have been made of ''thought'') was completely destroyed when the Halos (the only things capable of destroying Precursor relics) were fired. The prisoner of Charum Hakkor, a scorpion-like creature with 4 arms and an impossibly ugly face, was a Precursor-turned-Flood-Gravemind, while the Forerunner Domain, an immaterial and self-aware galaxy-wide information network, is revealed to be one of their many creations. They themselves were not bound to any form, being able to assume an infinite amount of forms, physical and incorporeal, had minds that transcended realms and dimensions, they created entire realms and dimensions and they are potentially older than the actual universe itself.]]
* There are the Solon in ''VideoGame/HaegemoniaLegionsOfIron''. You only really find their starbases protected by advanced defenses, which can blow up any ship you have. Presumably, they're meant to hold off their ancient enemies. Once you manage to get past the defenses, though, you get some nifty technology, which helps in your own war against a powerful enemy [[spoiler:who turns out to be working for those who have wiped out the Solon]]. Despite the name, the ExpansionPack ''The Solon Heritage'' doesn't explain anything, since it lacks a campaign mode.
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}} 2'' featured the aptly-named Progenitors, who left behind various relics including several {{Wave Motion Gun}}s which the player and the enemy fight for control of. One of the WaveMotionGun ships gave its name to [[spoiler:a deity that the current races have been worshipping for several thousand years]].
* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'': ''We''[[note]]or, at least, we when we reach the late 2060s[[/note]] are the Precursors (or simply "the Old Ones", as is the title we are remembered by). The game is set in a PostApocalyptic future -- somewhere around the late-31st century -- where humanity has been reduced to [[FuturePrimitive primitive tribes comparable to the stone age]]. What exactly happened to us is one of the two great mysteries the game's story is centered around (the other being why half the planet's wildlife now consists mainly of cybernetic animals).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', the Komato are the ancestors of the Tasen, and, although it's not clear how close they are to humans, first evolved on Earth, leaving without a trace some time before the halocene period.
* The ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' franchise has an ancient race called "The Precursors". They leave deep-voiced oracular statues and various giant robots scattered about, and depict themselves as glowing EnergyBeings, [[spoiler:but that's just a Wizard of Oz act; they're really ottsels, otter-weasel hybrids like Jak's sidekick Daxter. In fact, he becomes one because all eco contains their essence.]]
* According to ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}''[='=]s confluences, the White Robes are implied to be this to the Red Robes.
* ''Videogame/TheJourneymanProject:'' The titular 'Legacy of Time' from the third game is a series of artifacts left behind on Earth by an extinct, advanced alien species called the Sosiqui. Each Legacy piece offers a different power; the Atlantean Legacy makes its guardians immortal[[note]]One of whom eventually becomes the villain of the first game, [[Really700YearsOld three millennia later]][[/note]], the El Dorado Legacy grants detailed visions of the future to the city's shaman, and the Shangri La Legacy gives certain monks the ability to transmute matter.
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' has several iterations of Precursors, although you only ever learn much about one of them. And then there's [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien The Mother]]...
** In ''VideoGame/LaMulana2'' not only do we meet several survivors of the various generations of Precursors, Lumisa brings an end to the sources of conflict that caused each of them to go extinct.
* The "Ancients" and their adversaries in ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain''.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', the Oocca are suggested to be the Precursors of the Hylians -- as one AdventurerArchaeologist tells us, the goddesses may have made the Oocca first, then the Oocca made the Hylians before retreating to the City in the Sky. This is a slightly inaccurate interpretation in the English version: The Japanese text states they helped the Hylians create a society, rather than literally creating them.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', a race of [[CuteMachines Ancient Robots]] can be found in the Lanayru Desert. They are all old and worn away. [[spoiler: Once you strike a nearby Timeshift Crystal however, you return the local area to the state it was in hundreds of years in the past, where everything is still working. Their joints, and almost every single device within the premises are powered by electricity.]] This could justify where all of the SchizoTech in the Zelda series originates from.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has the Sheikah Tribe, who had extremely advanced technology 10,000 years before the game's date. Remnants of it include what appear to be computers (including a handheld tablet with networking capabilities and apps ("runes") that can affect the material world around it), autonomous laser-spewing {{Spider Mech}}s, melee weapons made of HardLight, and four HumongousMecha known as the "Divine Beasts". This LostTechnology is crucial to defeating the latest version of Ganon that's attacked Hyrule. Unusually for this trope, the Sheikah are still around and thriving, but are only on the same roughly medieval level of tech as every other race in Hyrule; this is because [[spoiler:they deliberately abandoned their technology after being banished from Hyrule thousands of years ago]], though a handful of Sheikah are working to recover their lost knowledge.
* ''VideoGame/LuminousArc2'' has the Navillian race, who had advanced knowledge in magic and were the ancestors of humans and witches/wizards. 4,000 years ago, a catastrophe ended their civilization and it is believed that the modern world rose from their demise.
* Bungie is fond of this. In most likely the earliest first-person shooter example of this trope, the Jjaro from ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' were an advanced species that created the [[{{Cyborg}} S'pht]] and left a host of technological artifacts on many worlds. They are considered by many to be mythical beings, but since AllMythsAreTrue, [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Durandal]] does everything that he does in ''Marathon 2'' to find them.]] In ''Marathon Infinity'', their technology might be what's for responsible sending the player through different points in time and space to find a way to stop an EldritchAbomination (which they had previously sealed) from destroying the entire universe.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** The Protheans are said to be this until [[HotScientist Dr. Liara T'Soni]] joins your party and suggests that they probably weren't the actual precursors. It's revealed later that [[spoiler:she's right: the ''real'' precursors are the [[AbusivePrecursors Reapers]], which are robotic {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that are out for everyone's blood.]] Though the Protheans must have been interested in early humanity, since [[spoiler:as the big silver unexplained ball explains; the Prothean research station on Mars would routinely abduct and mess with early humans.]] ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' eventually reveals that [[spoiler: the Collectors are genetically and cybernetically-modified Protheans]]. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', there is [[spoiler: one Prothean still alive, named Javik, in suspended animation]].
** It's also revealed that the Protheans themselves had their own Precursor race to learn from, called the Inusannon. And so on, and so forth. Each cycle leaves something behind for the next one to find. The ultimate artifact appears to be the [[spoiler:Crucible]], whose construction started millions of years ago and was continued each cycle by a new race culminating in [[spoiler:humanity and their contemporaries in its cycle ([[MultipleEndings possibly]]) finishing the Crucible and using it to wipe out the Reapers]].
** The "Leviathan" DLC shows that [[spoiler:the Leviathans (true name unknown) are the first species, the original intelligent life that preceded the Reapers. The Reapers were made in their image, and they have mental domination abilities that the Reapers used to create their indoctrination ability. They were the ones responsible for creating the Catalyst, and therefore are indirectly responsible for the Reapers. Their kind was harvested and used to create Harbinger, the first Reaper. A few of them are still alive, deep under the ocean on an aquatic world, where they have been hiding from the Reapers ever since the cycles began. Shepard can find them and convince them to give their aid in the current war against the Reapers.]]
** In the Refusal ending, [[spoiler:the contemporary major races fill this role -- Shepard and everyone s/he cares about get killed or worse, but the records you leave behind prove vital in a future cycle, allowing ''them'' to defeat the Reapers]].
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', there's a series of ruins called "vaults" spread across the habitable worlds of Andromeda's Heleus cluster featuring blindingly advanced technology and tended to by strange synthetic constructs that Peebee dubs "Remnants". We know from the get-go that these were left behind by an earlier civilization for some unknown purpose; it's only late in the game that we learn [[spoiler: they're the creations of a hyper-advanced race called the Jardann. The Jardann also created most of Andromeda's wildlife out of a test tube along with the angara, which explains why the angara don't remember their origins or most of their history]]. The story goes that [[spoiler: the Jardann left behind their technology, including the vaults (which are essentially giant terraforming machines that can be manipulated to alter the environments of entire planets) for the angara to discover and use as they colonized the cluster]]. Whether or not they [[spoiler: intended to make their presence known to the angara is unknown, because they aborted the project and fled Heleus centuries ago after the Scourge -- a giant superweapon -- detonated with the force of a large supernova and destroyed the environments of the garden worlds the Jardann had created]]. They weren't around to see that the Scourge, while a destructive and possibly permanent presence in Heleus, was not fatal to the angara and they continue to survive on multiple worlds despite the hostile invasion of the Kett. Interestingly, [[spoiler:the Jardann were still in Heleus while the Andromeda Initiative arks were in flight, so all the events of the original trilogy take place centuries prior to the release of the Scourge]].
* The Orions and Antarans in the ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'' series fought a hugely destructive war which led to the Antarans becoming SealedEvilInACan, and the Orion homeworld abandoned and protected by the enormous Guardian of Orion. In the second game, you can also recruit Loknar, the Last Orion, in a powerful ship, the ''Avenger''. Also, some planets have Artifacts property -- contain ruins of ancient civilizations, which boosts local scientists' performance; races with "Artifacts World" have one of these as the homeworld.
* The world of ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' features robot-human creatures similar to the Reploids of earlier series. Too bad they're (mostly) under the KillEmAll directive of the vast computer system that controls them.
* The ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' series also has the lost civilization of Mu.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** Although they raised Samus to adulthood and had extensive contact with faraway races like the Luminoth, the Bryyonians, the Elysians, and even the Federation, the Chozo have vanished from all known space. Their entire legacy consists of decayed ruins, cryptic messages for Samus, and the odd upgrade module for her Power Suit. And, of course, the Metroids themselves.
** The Alimbic race in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' went extinct long before the events of the game [[spoiler:containing the EldritchAbomination Gorea in [[TailorMadePrison the appropriately named Oubliette]]]]. They are said to have created incredibly advanced technologies, including an "ultimate weapon".
* The Ancients from the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' universe (at least when it was in the hands of Creator/NewWorldComputing) were creating various worlds out of the four elements and seeding them with life as part of a great experiment. Their true agenda is never entirely revealed but there are hints that they had a specific outcome in mind for most of their worlds, before the Creators and the Kreegan interfered. And between ''VI'', ''VII'' and ''VIII'', it was established that whatever their original agenda was, their ''current'' goal is 'Stop the Kreegans'. The settings of the games (and the novels) just happen to be in the galactic arm that was cut off from the [[PortalNetwork Gateweb]], and the Ancients are a bit too busy with the Kreegan to bother restoring it (especially as the cause of the breach was Kreegan infiltration of the gate network).
* In the lore of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'', there was an "Ancient Civilization" that was highly advanced in comparison to modern society, which was wiped out following the Great Dragon War, a devastating conflict with the elder dragons that led to its downfall. Ruins of the Ancient Civilzation are all that's left, although some of the technology from that time was salvaged and put to use by the Hunter's Guild today, including the Switch Axe, Charge Blade, and Dragonator.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' series of games gradually reveals that the long-lost civilization of D'ni was actually located on Earth; its founders originally ''came from'' an alternate universe, but they founded a city BeneathTheEarth. However, the D'ni are not the ancestors of humans; the existence of a nearly identical race on the surface appears to be pure coincidence (although the Earth was specifically chosen because it was known to be hospitable to our kind of life).
* ''VideoGame/PacManWorld 3'' features the Ancients (possibly members or ancestors of Pac-Man's spherical race), about whose lives little is known, although their deaths comprise a well-known story 'of greed, of tampering with unknown forces, and of running and screaming and dying', to quote an in-game archaeologist. As it turns out, the Ancients were wiped out when they tried to siphon energy from the Spectral Realm (the Pac-Man universe's afterlife), [[HistoryRepeats which is exactly what the game's villain is trying to do in the present]].
* The Ancients from ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon'' qualify, having made many, many technological breakthroughs, most notably [[spoiler:the many, many Towers, the drones to control them, the dragons to protect them, the monsters the Towers create to sustain the environment (or so Craymen claims), and Sestren to tie it all together]]. And then they conveniently vanished, leaving virtually nobody who understands any of the crap they left lying around, just that it's powerful and needs to be reclaimed. Of course, [[spoiler:the Towers keeping the environment in its status quo means removing any factor that could be a detriment. Including humans, should they overpopulate. Thus, the Ancients are ''kind of'' the reason the series takes place in a CrapsackWorld]]. It's never really stated what the true nature of all of the above is, really, just that it's bad and you have to stop it ([[spoiler:which you ultimately do in ''Saga'', leaving it on a somewhat triumphant note -- and then in ''Orta'', it's implied that the consequences to the environment afterwards [[NiceJobBreakingItHero were hardly worth the effort]]]]).
* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' has the Engwithans, a civilization that existed thousands of years before the time in which the game is set. Their understanding of how souls function was leagues ahead of what modern animancers have learned and their ruins still dot the lands, most prominently in Eir Glanfath (amusingly the ruins imply -- and WordOfGod confirms -- that the Engwithans were ''inferior'' in many aspects of science and technology to the modern day Eora. It's just that soul science is a very flexible science with lots of applications in the setting). The Glanfathan culture is based around protecting these ancient sites, a task supposedly given to their ancestors by the ancient Engwithans, [[spoiler: presumably to prevent anyone from discovering the origin of the [[PowersThatBe gods]].]]
* The Azran from the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series, most notably as the focus of ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy''.
* In ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', you keep finding remains of the so-called Progenitors and eventually discover that the entire planet was a grand GeniusLoci experiment. In fact, it is but one of at least six and the only one still remaining. One of them went horribly wrong and wiped out the Progenitor civilization. You meet the descendants of the survivors of that race (whose degraded tech is still better than humans'), who have split into two ideological factions. Their crashed escape pods arrive with spider-like mechs that remain from the old Progenitor civilization. Unlike every other unit, they never heal damage, as that knowledge is lost.
* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' has loads of these, naturally, due to the structure of the Ages. The most obvious are the Host who literally created everything in reality by setting up the Gaia Engines, but honorable mention goes to [[spoiler: Lilith]], who created most of the monsters you encounter in the game via mad science, and [[spoiler: the djinn]], who more or less created all of the societal and structural problems in current reality by throwing a civilization-scale temper tantrum when the Host created more beings and they were just the first children instead of the only children.
* ''VideoGame/SentinelDescendantsInTime'' has the Tastans, who vanished 500 years ago. [[spoiler:They weren't the first, as Beni lists to other types of people who came and vanished before them.]]
* The as-of-yet unnamed race from ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' who built the Phase Jump Inhibitors and, presumably, the other obtainable artifacts.
* Appropriately for a series where ancient ruins are one of the most populous level types, the ''VideoGame/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 ''VideoGame/SonicChroniclesTheDarkBrotherhood'', one of the races trapped inside the [[AnotherDimension Twilight Cage]] is outright referred to as the Precursors.
* In the space stage of ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'':
** You can purchase "Monoliths" which, when placed upon a planet with life at any stage of development, will cause that planet to develop quickly to the space stage, and gives you a relationship bonus with the resulting empire. Of course, after that you're free to do whatever you like to the poor guys, including conquering their cities by force and enslaving them to extract the planet's resources for your own empire's benefit.
** Your planet can be visited by spaceships earlier in your own development, although they rarely do more than abduct a member of your pack or a livestock animal.
** The Grox empire, which is violently opposed to your existence by default. They occupy 2400 systems around the centre of the galaxy, guarding the Galactic Core itself, which [[spoiler:contains a robotic member of an unknown race (possibly from Earth). His name is Steve, and he gives you the most powerful terraforming tool in the game, although it is limited to 42 uses.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/StarControl'' games, there is a race explicitly called "The Precursors" which vanished but left behind many artifacts and installations across the galaxy. The second one is notable for containing artifacts and mysteries which are ''not'' [[AWizardDidIt explained away]] with the Precursors. The third one attributes everything to them to the point of {{retcon}}ning previous reveals. The Precursors are heavily hinted to having created at least one of the major alien races in the game, namely the [[spoiler:Mycon, genetically engineered fungus who were apparently designed to (or malfunctioned into a state where they) do the opposite: return lush planets to a molten and unstable state]]. The third game posits that they also left a race of robotic caretakers to make sure things stay orderly while [[spoiler:they're gone]], although yeah, fans [[FanonDiscontinuity really really don't much care]].
* In ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' the Xel'Naga, who created the Protoss and Zerg, take this role, although the reason for their disappearance is [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters less mysterious]] than most, or so it seems at first. In the sequel and its associated books it is hinted that [[spoiler:they aren't really gone, and they might well make a return before the end of Starcraft 2]]. Oh, and there's an [[spoiler:EldritchAbomination out there that hates their guts, wants to KillEmAll and destroy the Universe]].
* Subverted in the first ''VideoGame/StarFlight''. "The Ancients" were thought to be a race that left behind several artifacts and ruins. However, it's later revealed that they are unlike any other form of life, in that they are in fact sapient crystals. Modern civilization has been using these crystals as the fuel Endurium, and in self-defense "The Ancients" began causing stars to flare, setting the game's events in motion.
* The ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' series plays with this trope. The games are filled with Out of Place Artifacts, mystical technologies such as the time gate on the apparently sentient planet Styx, and near the middle of the third game, there's even a precursor-like group of beings called the Executioners who rain havoc upon ALL the races of the galaxy. It turns out [[spoiler:that the universe is actually a video game called the Eternal Sphere, and all the Precursor like artifacts, including the Executioners, were planted by the programmer. They're basically debugging tools and easter eggs, Styx basically works like the mother of all hearthstones.]] The series also has more traditional precursors such as the [[SpaceElves Nedians]] and [[AdvancedAncientHumans Muah]].
* The Remnants of ''VideoGame/StarRuler'', leftovers of a now-fallen space empire. At the start, their artificially intelligent [[HigherTechSpecies ships are better than anything you'll have]], and even if you can blow through those, they have even better (and bigger) ones. Fortunately, Remnants are content to guard systems without acting aggressively. The ''Galactic Armory'' [[GameMod mod]] makes the Remnants ''much'' more aggressive, making them send out routine missions to [[AbusivePrecursors cull the lesser races]], using even more powerful ships than in the base game, and the Remnant will keep pace with the player, causing them to eventually start sending [[PlanetSpaceship planet-sized ships]] to cull systems.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'':
** It's quite likely the Iconians are being built up as the precursor race; the scant few times they are seen, they disable your ship completely to demonstrate their godlike power, and later they obliterate Borg cubes effortlessly. Demons of air and darkness, indeed.
** At the end of the Deferi/Breen story arc, the Ancient Humanoids/Preservers are revived and decide to once again explore the galaxy and meet their descendants, making it one of the few cases where the Precursors come back.
* The Chodak from ''[[VideoGame/AFinalUnity Star Trek: The Next Generation -- A Final Unity]]''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'':
** The galaxy features a small number of [[VestigialEmpire Fallen Empires]], immensely-advanced civilizations that control only three systems and mostly ignore the rest of the galaxy, unless someone presses their {{Berserk Button}}s. Their remaining fleets will wipe the floor with anything short of an endgame flotilla, but they won't expand or replenish their numbers... [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant unless they become Awakened Empires.]]
** Some of the first anomalies your science ships discover will start an event chain to study the ruins left behind by one of five different precursor civilizations[[note]]it is rare but possible to begin more than one, since each precursor was active in a different era of history[[/note]]. The Vultaum Star Assembly, a race of worm-like creatures, fell victim to a species-wide SuicidePact 12 million years ago. The Yuht were a [[SpaceAgeStasis socially-stagnant]] and [[AbsoluteXenophobe xenophobic]] race that was defeated by their enemies six million years ago. The multiracial [[TheFederation First League]] collapsed into infighting two million years ago. The rulers of the Irassian Concordant died to [[ThePlague a plague]] spread by their angry vassals one million years ago. The Cybrex led a RobotWar against the rest of the galaxy a mere six hundred thousand years ago [[spoiler:before having a HeelFaceTurn and going into hiding]]. In all cases, completing the event chain will reveal the location of a Precursor empire's home system, which typically has planets with substantial research or resource production, or even a ruined RingWorldPlanet you can repair much later with the right technology and resources.
** You can become a Precursor -- [[BenevolentPrecursors benevolent]] or [[AbusivePrecursors otherwise]] -- when you come across pre-space flight or pre-sapient species on other planets in the galaxy. You can establish an observation post over a world, enlighten the natives until they're ready to leave their home system, and keep them as a protectorate, perhaps to be integrated into your multicultural empire. Alternatively, you can crush their primitive armies with your invasion force and purge the planet of its original inhabitants, or {{Uplift|edAnimal}} a species just so you can use your mastery of genetic engineering to make them a [[HappinessInSlavery docile]], [[SapientEatSapient delicious]] SlaveRace.
** The Ancient Relics expansion added two more races, the Baol, an isolationist and slow-moving hive mind who may be responsible for [[BenevolentPrecursors most or all of the]] [[ParadisePlanet Gaia Worlds]] you encounter. They were wiped out by the [[AbusivePrecursors Grunur]] and you can find the last member of their species, and use the information found in its corpse and suspended animation chamber lets you create new Gaia worlds and a non-hivemind version of them. The other species, the [[MeaningfulName Zroni]] were the masters of and possibly the first species to unlock PsychicPowers. They discovered [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace The Shroud]], and discovered they could use it for transportation, draw upon it for power, and gain RealityWarper powers by living in it. Eventually however, it was discovered that to fuel manipulating the Shroud like that, they made the galactic core black hole bigger to the point where it threatened to annihilate the entire galaxy. The Saviors thought this was a good reason to not do it, while the Divine didn't care. The resultant civil war raged on for an untold number of years, with the Saviors more numerous and the Divine more powerful, the resultant conflict leading to the rise of the gods and monsters of the Shroud. Eventually, a Savior discovered that they could render themselves down into dust containing [[PowerSource all the psi power a Zroni]] [[AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome could express in its lifetime]]. The conflict was then resolved by all but one of the Saviors rending themselves down into Zro dust for the single remaining one to consume and unleash sufficient power to wipe out the Divine, leaving the Zroni extinct and trace amounts of the highly addictive dust scattered across the galaxy.
* Much of the plot of ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'' is fixing the mistakes of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Precursor Race]], who accidentally infected much of planet 4546B with a bacteria that was devastating their race (which is implied to have later driven them to extinction) after setting up a research station there to find a cure. It's up to you to finish what they weren't able to so you can cure your sickness and escape the planet.
* The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series mention several names. ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'' had the Mu, who are aliens in this game. The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' setting has the "[[{{Ultraterrestrials}} First People]]", ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW'' has the "E's" and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK'' has the "Crusians". Some titles like ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny'' or ''Scramble Commander 2'' have relics left by a nameless race. This is a source of EpilepticTrees in the mythos.
* ''Videogame/SwordOfTheStars'' Morrigi are actually still around -- [[CulturalPosturing and very smug about it]] -- but until the last expansion, they had to quietly limp into hiding thanks to the efforts of the [[AbusivePrecursors rather less nice variety of Precusors]]. And then the [[SpaceWhale Liir]] had to go and kill off the bad kind of Precursors, allowing the Morrigi to return. Still worse, the pre-release information for the sequel suggests strongly that the Liir didn't finish the job. In fact, [[spoiler:said evil Precursors are actually insane Liir Elders with incredible PsychicPowers, not a separate species. So yeah, the Liir have been lying to everyone]].
* The dragons, giants, and elves from ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' and ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'', whose civilizations were destroyed by the heavens, but evidently a not insignificant population of each remains. The more powerful lineages of these races are worshiped as gods by humans.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series has the long-gone civilization from the ancient ruined city of Karath Din (a.k.a. "The Lost City"), which is known only under the colloquial moniker "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Precursors]]". The environments of their ruins and various readables imply that at least part of The City's society and technology has very early roots in the survivors of this bygone civilization. Most of the details on the reasons behind the Precursors' demise [[RiddleForTheAges are deliberately left open to speculation]], given the series' [[ShowDontTell elliptical approach]] to revealing the history and inner workings of its setting. One of the more notable facts revealed is that the Precursors had [[spoiler:much more sophisticated technology than does the present-day civilization, [[PunkPunk in a way]].]] To quote the Keeper faction's opinion on the Precursors :
-->When we looked at the relics of the Precursors, we saw the height civilization can attain.\\
When we looked at their ruins, we marked the danger of that height.\\
-- from the ''Keeper Annals''
* ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'' features the Spires (massive towers) and the Oldwalls (enormous walls, so long as to separate entire ''nations'', infested by hostile magical entities called Banes) as relics of some older, gone civilization. In the Tiers, the region of Terratus where the game takes place, that civilization is called the Older Realms (hence why the Tiers call themselves the Younger Realms) -- most of the exposition on them is from Tiersfolk so that's the only name mentioned. ''Bastard's Wound'' reveals [[spoiler: the Older Realms had some form of connection with the Beastwomen by the presence of Beasts on ancient murals within an Oldwall, although it is ambiguous what the exact relation was.]]
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has the Valkyrur, a now extinct ([[spoiler:mostly]]) race who learned to weaponize [[AppliedPhlebotinum Ragnite]] and who possessed weapons with [[MagicFromTechnology seemingly magical]] abilities that can't be replicated by modern science. Although not the first humans, all non-[[FantasyCounterpartCulture Darcsen]] inhabitants of Europa are descended from them and they are credited with starting the proto-civilization from which all others on the continent grew. Many people even worship them as gods. [[spoiler:It turns out they were [[WrittenByTheWinners kind of dicks]].]]
* ''VideoGame/VegaStrike'' BackStory has [[http://wiki.vega-strike.org/Species:Ancients the Ancients]], "Those Who Have Only Names" (species Ancients' records mentioned) and later "Alphan and Betan". They left lots of ruins, their "lab monkeys" who now rob blind everyone else for access to the best of said ruins, and... the nano-plague that breaks {{nanomachines}}, but ignores most lifeforms and non-construction nano scale devices.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** The lore features the Titans, who went around ordering many of the worlds in the Warcraft Universe, specifically those with a World Soul, or nascent Titan. They would leave behind stone races to watch over the planet, though the ones on Azeroth mostly fell to the curse of flesh that turned them into either their modern version (Earthen to Dwarves) or a step before (Iron Vrykul to normal Vrykul, birthing humanity). One of these titans, Sargeras, would eventually become one of the main villains of the series and lead an army of demons to destroy the works of his brethren [[spoiler:in hopes to prevent the void from corrupting one of the world souls]].
** The Old Gods once ruled over the entirety of Azeroth with their Faceless and Aqir servitor races. Their Black Empire was eventually shattered by the Titans and the Old Gods and their servants were bound in prisons. Remnants of their rule remain scattered across Azeroth, below its surface, and within [[spoiler:Ny'alotha, the nightmare realm overlying reality]].
** Also fitting this, yet to a less extent, are the ancient Night Elves: They were ruling the whole super continent, fought off any competing race and had access to unlimited magic -- until they attracted the Burning Legion, which resulted in the Sundering, destroying most of their race, a huge part of the continent, and all of their magic-based civilization. Their ruins are still everywhere to be found and, of course, contain most powerful artifacts.
** Even before the Night Elves were the trolls who, while being less advanced than most other races, built gigantic cities and temples that were abandoned after the Night Elf takeover. Modern trolls live in these ruins today, worshipping their ancientry, but unable to achieve their greatness -- the ancient trolls are their own race's Precursors.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' features the Orokin, who created the Tenno to fight a race known as the Sentients in the GreatOffscreenWar. The Grineer pursue Orokin technology in their quest to conquer the solar system, while the Corpus are more interested in selling the tech for profit; the Tenno don't particularly want either side finding anything. [[spoiler:If the Stalker's Codex entry is to be believed, [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters the Tenno]] were the ones who killed off the Orokin in the first place]]. Some of the Orokin's towers escaped into the Void, where their technology was preserved, but others were left behind to become filled with the Infested.
* ''VideoGame/WildArms'': On Filgaia a race of Precursors left behind a vast array of LostTechnology. [[spoiler:In the anime series ''Twilight Venom'' it was revealed that the precursors were from Earth, but left due to the annoyance of RandomEncounters]].
* ''VideoGame/WingCommanderPrivateer'': The Steltek were Precursors of the {{neglectful|Precursors}} variety, though they did make an effort to clean up after themselves once made aware of the problem.
* ''VideoGame/{{X}}'': The Ancients built the games jumpgate network and currently exist as [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence a gestalt consciousness who have surrendered their individuality to become in effect a single entity]]. They use another precursor race, the [[MechanicalLifeform Sohnen]], as an intermediary to the young races. Their objectives are to preserve intelligent life throughout the universe, retard the heat death of the universe, and to become [[JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Type VI on the Kardashev scale]], a civilization one that uses the energy of several universes and can alter the physical laws of universes. Basically, gods.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': The resident Precursor race was known as Samaar, who are said to have come into this universe from someplace else soon after its creation. The civilization they founded, the Samaar Federation, still exists in the present day, and is stated to control a radius of over 6 million light-years (which means it spans many galaxies, including the Milky Way and Andromeda). The game is rather ambiguous on whether the original Samaarians are still around, they're never directly said to have died out or disappeared, but everyone speaks of them in the past tense, and [[spoiler:humanity is revealed to be their direct biological descendants]].
* A {{Downplayed}} example in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''. While exploring the world it's possible to come across [[AbandonedArea abandoned structures]] like [[AbandonedMine abandoned mineshafts]], underground dungeons [[note]][[NonIndicativeName Which are just]] one room with a chest containing some loot and a monster spawner[[/note]] and strongholds, jungle and desert temples (heavily implied to be funerary structures) and underwater ruins or shipwrecks. It's not clear who built them, or what happened to them, but the overall level of technology is not too different from what the player can construct (none of the blocks used are particularly difficult to craft or obtain through normal gameplay). The only really unique thing they built that [[LostTechnology can't be replicated]] without cheats is the End Portal in strongholds.
** More complicated are the Ocean Monuments, which are [[CaptainObvious underwater]] and very different in construction from the other generated structures. They're built from "Prismarine", a material that can only be obtained by killing the Guardian creatures that live in the Ocean Monuments.
** [[FireAndBrimstoneHell The Nether]] also appears to have had its own Precursors, and once again who they were and what happened to them is not clear.
*** Introduced in version 1.0.0 were the Nether Fortresses, who are completely derelict if not for [[AmbiguousRobots Blazes]] spawning from Blaze spawners and patrolling the corridors (and after 1.4.2, Wither Skeletons now spawn there too). The fortresses are little more than enormous bridges, corridors and empty rooms, making their actual intended purpose unclear.
*** Damaged and inactive Nether portals exist, both in the Overworld and the Nether, and they can be repaired and reactived. Overworld variants are surrounded by Netherrack and lava and chests with gold items (favored by the Piglins of the Nether). It's not clear if these portals were built by an Overworld civilization to travel to the Nether or vice-versa.
*** Burried deep in the Nether are rare "[[LostTechnology ancient debris]]" that can be smelted into "Netherite scraps" and further alloyed with gold to produce "Netherite ingots" that can upgrade diamond gear. There is no way to directly produce this metal, so anyone wanting a sweet ArmorOfInvincibility or an InfinityPlusOneSword will need to salvage the ancient debris.
%%* The Eldeen in the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' had the Daskins, a race mentioned in myths and legends of most galactic races. According to some, they once ruled the galaxy and had advanced to the point where it's impossible for modern races to figure out how the remains of their tech work. They may be able to copy some of it, especially their OrganicTechnology, though. The rumors also say they had VoluntaryShapeshifting and PsychicPowers. They also built a PortalNetwork through the galaxy that even reaches as far as the Magellanic Clouds, with entrance points located in gas giants, including Jupiter (the Great Red Spot). At some point, some speculate that they have realized that they became AbusivePrecursors and left the galaxy, leaving behind their creations, known as the Lords of Emptiness, as temporary stewards, until another race was worthy of taking up the mantle. There are indications that humanity is being groomed for the role.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov: The ''Asimov's Universe'' story collection is notable for featuring space-faring humans alongside five other non-humanoid races. A recurring motif is the ruins and remnants left behind of an earlier, seventh space-faring species that has since vanished.
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/BetweenPlanets'' we have the First Empire which originated on the Fifth Planet and which became the asteroid belt. Its ruins could be found on Mars and Venus and beneath the oceans of Earth. Don Harvey's parents were doing archaeological work in ruins on Mars while Don was at BoardingSchool on Earth. While its technology was not immediately viable, records left behind contained hints to a new physics that through difficult research led to 20 g spaceships and artificial gravity. The story gave the example of reading a treatise on modern electronics being written in Sanskrit poetry being lucid in comparison.
%%* ''Literature/{{Cluster}}'': The Ancients.
* In "[[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm A Colder War]]" by Creator/CharlesStross, Stephen Jay Gould is presenting some recent paleozoic fossils and artifacts to members of a top-secret government agency that, unknown to him, deals in [[spoiler:{{Eldritch Abomination}}s straight out of Creator/HPLovecraft]], and has been trying to keep this stuff secret from the public. When he shows them a fossil of [[spoiler: one of the "Old Ones" from ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'']], the protagonist thinks "he's found a Predecessor, god help him."
* In ''Literature/CommonwealthSaga'', the Planters are an apparently long gone race who seeded a planet with "plants" strange combinations of organic and machine which come in ground, aquatic and orbital varieties. The humans who discovered the planet are secretly studying them -- non-invasively, in case the Planters come back and are displeased that the humans have damaged their creation.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ShadowsInTheMoonlight" Olivia thinks a god had been there in [[DreamingOfTimesGoneBy times she dreamed of]], even though absent now.
-->''"The nameless, forgotten ones. Who knows? They have gone back into the still waters of the lakes, the quiet hearts of the hills, the gulfs beyond the stars. Gods are no more stable than men."''
* In the Carl Sagan novel ''Literature/{{Contact}}'' and the movie based on it, an unknown ancient race of aliens built the "cosmic subway system" of wormhole transportation used to bring a single human to meet the successor aliens who inherited the system.
* [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]]'s [[Literature/TheCulture Culture]] novels are practically littered with Precursors, numerous advanced civilizations that existed in aeons past until they variously died off, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Sublimed]], or just plain mysteriously disappeared. These Precursors are the {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s ''of'' {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, since most of Banks' protagonists themselves belong to a civilization that can casually travel across the galaxy, build gigantic habitats in space, and ''use the fabric of the Universe itself as a weapon'' -- and ''they'' are occasionally awed by the Precursors.
* In ''Literature/TheDarkSideOfTheSun'', the Precursors called "Jokers" were known only for the mark they made on the universe of building blatantly impossible things for no known reason but [[GreatGazoo the lulz]].
* The ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'' is littered with Precursor artifacts; there's considerable evidence that the eldrae homeworld itself -- a BigDumbObject rather than a planet -- is one. There's not much indication of what happened to them, and some eldrae are a bit disturbed that they're apparently the oldest of the extant young sophont species.
* In ''Literature/TheExpanse'', [[spoiler:a precursor race once had a huge empire, and tried to colonize Earth by sending a thing which can change living beings to build a portal.]]

* In Creator/LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle's novel ''Literature/{{Footfall}}'', the aliens who invade Earth are actually at a caveman level of social development; the Forerunners left carved blocks on their planet which detail everything from simple metallurgy through advanced laser weapons and Bussard ramscoops. As a result, there are many technological paths they never even thought of.
* ''Literature/TheGam3'': The Game was created by the Predecessors and the Lords of Life as the culmination of their galaxy-spanning genocidal war. The Predecessors are still around, and are the strongest individual players in the game. The Lords of Life have barely been mentioned beyond their name.
* In the ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' series, the Eldren dotted the continent with vast constructions of [[MadeOfIndestructium utterly indestructible]] Elderglass, far beyond the capabilities of human alchemy or magic to duplicate or alter. The entire species disappeared millennia before the beginning of the series for no known reason. [[spoiler:The Bondsmagi of Karthain believe that Eldren magic drew the attention of something terrible from beyond the stars, and take great pains to disperse their own magic to keep it from happening again.]]
* Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Hainish}}'' books and stories by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin. The "Hain" are precursors who created humanoid life forms on many worlds (including earth), but they are still around and still a dominant species in interstellar society.
* Frederik Pohl's ''Literature/HeecheeSaga'' set many of the standards for this trope. Humanity has stumbled on an space station abandoned by the local Precursors, the Heechee, and try to use the FasterThanLightTravel spacecraft left behind to search for alien artifacts to reverse-engineer. The destinations are pre-programmed and can only be accessed randomly, making exploration a dangerous crapshoot. Some of the survivors return rich; many return dead, if they return at all.
* In Creator/CharlesSheffield's ''Heritage Universe'' novels, the Builders left behind artifacts the size of ''planets'' -- e.g. Cocoon, the first such artifact discovered by humans, was so named because that's what it looks like if you're far enough away from the planet it surrounds. A whole discipline of {{Adventurer Archaeologist}}s exists to study Builder artifacts.
* Every known non-human race in Andrey Livadny's ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series can be considered a precursor, as four of them are at least 3 millions of years old, while several others are ''billions'' of years old. Humanity is the youngest known race, even though their technology level means they are strong enough to kick everyone else's backsides should the need arise. It helps that most of those races have long ago passed the peak of the civilization. In fact, two of them spent several million years as slaves, degrading their technology to the point where they forgot about their former greatness.\\
\\
Ironically, the race that is actually known as the Precursors (or Forerunners, as there is no official translation to English) are non-sentient proto-lifeforms which have been created by an [[EnergyBeings energy being]] (supposedly, the first being to ever gain sentience in the universe) to serve as seeds for its copies. The Precursors contained within themselves the first ever DNA molecule. The unintended side effect of this was the creation of all known organic life in the galaxy.
* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series has humanity and its allies expanding into a significantly used universe, with a wide variety of species at various stages of development from primitive to superadvanced to completely extinct. Several of these, most notably the Xunca, the Tar-Aiym, and the Hur'rikku, had a profound impact on the earlier history of the galaxy and left numerous [[{{Phlebotinum}} artifacts]] [[NeglectfulPrecursors lying around]] after they variously departed. The Xunca are actually still around, but they packed up and moved to a different galaxy to avoid an encroaching EldritchAbomination that the modern day protagonists now have to deal with.
* The Grey Folk of Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle''. They were the original speakers of the [[LanguageOfMagic Ancient Language]], but lived in a time when the language wasn't connected to magic at all; instead, one cast spells by thinking about what one wanted to happen. However, this method was prone to interference by intrusive thoughts. Speaking one's intent aloud was helpful, and so was common practise, but wasn't foolproof. [[note]]As [[OldMaster Oromis]] puts it: "If you said 'burn that door' and by chance looked at me and thought of me..."[[/note]] Eventually, one of the Grey Folk became distracted and [[GoneHorriblyWrong accidentally cast a spell]] that [[ApocalypseHow devastated the whole world.]] Horrified, the surviving Grey Folk cast a spell that bound their language to magic, allowing the act of speaking one's intent aloud to override such distracted thoughts and maintain the spell's intended structure, creating magic as it's known today. The surviving Grey Folk were insufficient in numbers to maintain a population, so they're stated to have interbred with the 'younger races' and eventually disappeared.
* The ancient race that created the warp drive in ''Literature/IntoTheLookingGlass'' by Creator/JohnRingo and Creator/TravisSTaylor after the first book. They also created a space station that can control the output of an entire star. Why? [[MundaneMadeAwesome A systemwide concert venue!]]
* In ''{{Literature/Kane}}'' the last of "elder races" like the Scylredi and the Krelran, still live in degenerate forms, having forgotten their former greatness. Kane also meets Dwassllir, the last king of giants, in "Two Suns Setting".
* In Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' universe, there are ''two'' sets of precursors. First there were the Thrintun (AKA "Slavers"), who seeded the galaxy with the ingredients of life so it would grow and evolve into unique delicacies for them to eat (being hypnotic slavers, they were defeated by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tnuctip Tnuctipun]] in the inevitable TurnedAgainstTheirMasters, and they [[OmnicidalManiac took all sentient life with them]]. Talk about [[AbusivePrecursors bad parenting]]). Then there were the Pak, a race of more recent aliens with three life stages (child, breeder, Protector) only sentient in the third stage, and programmed to be homicidal to anything that could conceivably threaten their descendants (mutations were not recognized). Earth was a LostColony of them who couldn't advance to Protector stage when their supply of tree-of-life root ran out due to a lack of thallium in Earth's soil. They left behind lost colonies and random apelike animals all over, including [[spoiler:the Literature/{{Ringworld}}, which they had built and abandoned]].
* The Arisians feature predominantly in the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series. As well being the ancestors of all species (save [[BigBad one]]), they devise a multi-eon spanning plan leading to the birth of the Children of the Lens. These five psychic superpeople will not only be able to help vanquish the enemy (a race of malevolent being hailing from another space-time continuum), but will grow in power to become greater then the Arisians themselves.
* There are two examples in ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy''. The Builders were first, and they created magnificent cities, buildings and engineering marvels before causing their own destruction. The Shalis were second, and they mastered the use of Essence and passed down their knowledge to humans before going extinct at the hands of the Venerate.
* Sergey Lukyanenko's ''Literature/ALordFromPlanetEarth'' series features the Seeders, mysterious ancient beings who have left highly-advanced artifacts, some of which are {{Black Box}}es, while others are understood and adapted fairly well. They have also left mysterious spherical temples on every inhabited world (except Earth). It is eventually revealed that the Seeders are [[spoiler:humans from the future, who have seeded their past with humanoid races and advanced technology to create an army to fight an extragalactic enemy (Earth was left undisturbed to avoid messing with history)]].
* Creator/HPLovecraft loved this trope and his works arguably served as an early TropeCodifier. See for example "Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu", "Literature/TheShadowOutOfTime" and ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness''. In ''At the Mountains of Madness'' [[spoiler:the Elder Things colonized the Earth two billion years ago and sowed the seeds of all advanced life on the planet]]. The Mi-Go of "Literature/TheWhispererInDarkness" may precede the existence of the universe itself. Lovecraft usually concentrated more on the ''lore'' of his Precursors rather than their physical objects. In his work, the Precursors sometimes remain on Earth, hidden, in outer space, or in a space adjacent to our cosmos, ready to return at any time. The "Franchise/CthulhuMythos" codified by his friend and admirer Creator/AugustDerleth builds on this. (Lovecraft himself did not use the term "Cthulhu mythos".)
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', the Imass were what has become known as one of the Four Founding Races (together with their potentially RecursivePrecursors the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Jaghut]], the AbusivePrecursors known as the Forkrul Assail and the NeglectfulPrecursors, the [[LizardFolk K'Chain Che'Malle]]). Having been a hunter-gatherer society, they haven't left any advanced technology behind and besides, the ''[[DemBones T'lan]]'' Imass are still around anyway. Quite literally, the Imass were also the precursors of humans, preceding and in some places co-existing with them much like the Neanderthals did in the real world.
* Steve Perry's ''Literature/MatadorSeries'' had the Zonn, a race that died out thousands of years before humanity achieved FTL. They didn't leave behind much other than interesting ruins on a number of worlds.
* Andy [=McDermott=]'s action-adventure novels. The first is called ''The Hunt for Atlantis'' and is centered around, oddly enough, a hunt for Atlantis. As the series goes on, other mythical items are 'explained' as advanced technology stemming from the Atlanteans. [[spoiler:As the series goes on even further, the characters stumble across the Garden of Eden, which is the final resting place of a pre-human civilisztion which was driven to extinction by their human slaves, who stole certain technologies and fled. The Atlanteans are then revealed to have been the result of cross-breeding between those prehumans and the humans, causing the reader to re-evaluate the "it came from Atlantis" explanation.]]
* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/MorgaineCycle'' the Qhal left behind a PortalNetwork of {{Cool Gate}}s, which they themselves copied from [[RecursivePrecursors a still older alien species]]. The humans who discovered this, rather than copying it like the Qhal did, are systematically ''destroying'' the network left behind by the Qhal. That's because the Gates can be used for TimeTravel, and any TemporalParadox caused by the Gates will trigger a TimeCrash which will destroy civilization on each planet with a Gate. Such a TimeCrash is precisely what wiped out the Qhal, leaving behind their Gates for humans to discover.
* In ''Literature/NexusNine'' the main character ''is'' a Precursor, of sorts, a fusion of an uplifted cat in the Tri-Galactic Navy and a millennia-old memory chip implanted in her brain. Unfortunately, TheFogOfAges has set in and she doesn't recall the chip's origins, just that the [[HumanitysWake humans]] most uplifts revere as "The First Ones" were actually preceded by an eras-old octopus civilization and it came through a [[PortalNetwork Nexus pathway]] at some point.
* The first ''Literature/{{Noob}}'' novel mentions that another sentient race, the Keosamas, existed before the Olydrians, the race that all {{Player Character}}s incarnate. Keosamas reached a high level of progress in terms of magic due to the fact that Olydri was much more hostile at the time, so they HadToBeSharp. Suriving Keosamas can be found in a legendary underwater settlement near Piratas Island.
* In the Strugatsky Brothers' ''Literature/NoonUniverse'' series, the Wanderers may or may not be still active, but they fit this trope closely enough because the humans only ever find the traces of their continued and enigmatic work. They seem to be "progressing" the other civilisations, but their activities often enough utterly screw over local civilisations, though it [[OmniscientMoralityLicense might be for their ultimate good in some way anyway]].
* Creator/AndreNorton:
** She wrote a lot of space opera novels featuring relics of various lost civilizations, collectively called "Forerunners". She was one of the early developers of the abandoned-gateway-between-worlds idea that the ''[[Franchise/StargateVerse Stargate]]'' films and TV series are based on; one of her Forerunner cultures left behind such a network, which younger species, including humans, have started to explore.
** In her ''Literature/WitchWorld'' fantasy novels, humans migrated to High Hallack centuries ago only to find that the Old Ones had been there before them; these NeglectfulPrecursors left behind quite a few ruins and dangerous artifacts.
* In the ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' series, a million years ago the Barkonids settled the galaxy as their planet was shot out of it. New colonies weren't given a lot of technology to prevent them from becoming decadent, which let most of them to become low tech. Over 50,000 years age the 'First Mankind', the Lemurians, settled the galaxy again, but they were wiped away in an interstellar war and fled to Andromeda galaxy. Then at least 20,000 thousand years ago we get the Akonids, who spread out but become really isolationist after a colonial war of independence with the Arkonids, who are currently becoming decadent, the next step will probably be humanity.
* Played with in the world of ''Literature/ThePrinceOfThorns'', with the beings referred to as "the builders", who created incredible works of technology and then disappeared. It becomes increasingly apparent that the world is ''not'' your average MedievalEuropeanFantasy, but is actually AfterTheEnd -- "the builders" were us, before we nuked each other and lost most of our knowledge.
* ''The Psalms of Isaak'' has three levels of this, each filling a different precursor niche. Earliest were the [[SpaceElves Younger Gods]], who were so far in the past little of their works remain, but generally come off as BenevolentPrecursors. They were followed by the Weeping Czars, NeglectfulPrecursors who are mainly remembered for bringing the ''third'' group down on the world. That would be the [[SorcerousOverlord Wizard Kings]], very much AbusivePrecursors, though they still have worshippers in the present day of the series. The last Wizard King, Xhum Y'Zir, used a spell called the [[UnholyNuke Seven Cacaphonic Deaths]] to devastate most of the world to avenge [[DisproportionateRetribution his dead sons]], giving rise to the contemporary civilizations. The Younger Gods themselves were descended from the Elder Gods, who are hardly ever mentioned and so far into the past that they're little more than a mythical footnote, but are implied to be modern humans, or maybe our direct descendants (though EarthAllAlong is averted -- the books are set in what is eventually revealed to be a LostColony, not Earth).
%%* ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'': The Elderlings.
* In David R. Witanowski's [[Literature/TheReynardCycle Reynard Circle]] three major civilizations have come and gone by the time period of the novels. (Possibly more than three if the fan theory that the series is set long AfterTheEnd is ever confirmed.)
** The golden skinned Telchines, a matriarchal culture that coexisted with [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]]. The castle of Maleperduys was built by them. Their rule came to an end rather abruptly due to...
** ...the Demons, who enslaved the world in seven days. They created the Chimera, built functional ''robots'', and would have ruled for an eternity were it not for their apparent inability to get along with each other. A civil war (implied to be nuclear) weakened them to the point that the last of them was slain by the founder of the Kingdom of...
** Aquilia, a kingdom that eventually splintered into several dozen countries after the last member of the royal family drowned at sea a thousand years prior to the beginning of the saga. They built some truly impressive structures using the technology of the Demons, but seemingly forgot how to use it as the years went by (either that, or the technology stopped working and they had no idea how to fix it.) Duke Nobel claims to be a direct descendant of the royal family, but it's unclear if this is just part of his [[VillainWithGoodPublicity public relations policy]].
* The Valheru in Creator/RaymondEFeist's ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Riftwar]]'' series.
* ''Literature/RoguesOfTheRepublic:'' The "ancients" colonized the continent thousands of years ago, bringing with them incredible {{Magitek}} 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]].
* ''Literature/{{Semiosis}}'': The human colonists on Pax move into an abandoned city built by aliens who had arrive on the planet before them and then disappeared. The aliens are named "Glassmakers", as much of their architecture features ornate glass domes, windows, and ornaments. A century later, the colonists' descendants meet a group of living Glassmakers, who rejected mutualism with Pax's sapient PlantAliens and adopted a nomadic existence.
* The ''{{Literature/Shannara}}'' Series has an interesting take on this; as the series is set in the future, it's our current civilisation which is the precursor civilisation.
* ''Literature/TheShatteredSea'' takes place in a Norse FantasyCounterpartCulture within a Medieval fantasy setting, which has been built on the ashes of a previous Elven civilization, which built with materials that cannot be replicated and had strange magical devices. However, it's heavily implied throughout and more or less revealed that the setting is EarthAllAlong (it's actually not a FantasyCounterpartCulture -- it's actually ''in'' Scandinavia), the Elves are modern/slightly futuristic humans, and Elf Magic is just technology.
* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has several.
** Some elven kingdoms are precursors to the people of Middle-Earth.
** Númenor and Arnor. Even though Gondor still exists and so Númenórean civilization is not completely gone. However, it is [[VestigialEmpire much reduced]], occupying only a small southern corner of Middle-earth. Its northern counterpart Arnor is almost entirely gone, existing only as the Shire and Bree.
** From the perspective of the modern day, the Elves of Tolkien's [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Middle-Earth]] are a Precursor race. Humans did not descend from them, but they've been in the world longer than anyone and have ''really'' long-lasting artifacts. Gandalf, Thorin, and Bilbo's swords in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' are all artifacts from Gondolin, a city that was destroyed roughly 6,000 years before the events of the book. Not only are they unrusted and sharp, their [[PowerGlows orc proximity alert]] is still active.
** Downplayed, since they never actually ''did'' anything until much later, but dwarves are technically the oldest mortal race in Arda, having been created by Mahal (the dwarven name for Aulë) and granted souls by Eru long before the elves or humans awakened.
** And then there are the Woses, who are implied to be the original humans who built the first civilisations in middle earth.
* ''Literature/TheSisterVerseAndTheTalonsOfRuin'' has the Crest, who created the Dreadlands and most of its infrastructure before they were annihilated by the Lord in White and its darklings.
* In Creator/MichaelFlynn's ''Literature/SpiralArm: The January Dancer'', "the folk of sand and iron."
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' has several features that are attributed to Precursor-like races. The two most prominent are the Rakata and the Celestials:
** The Rakata, who debut in ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', created the first modern hyperdrives, built a vast empire (though it had relatively few planets since their dark side-powered hyperdrives could only travel to worlds with a large Force presence) and created a massive orbital factory called the Star Forge which could build enough material to supply their entire empire.
** The Celestials lived much further in the past, circa 200,000-50,000 BBY. They created Centerpoint Station (a giant repulsor beam that created the Corellian system and is so advanced that a 25,000-year-old Galactic civilization cannot replicate or even understand how it works!) as well as the Hyperspace Triangle that bisects the galaxy (which makes galactic civilization possible), the Maw Cluster of black holes, the hyperspace anomaly that seals off the Unkown Regions and much more. The Rakata and most of the other "younger" precursor races started out as vassals of the Celestials. The Celestials were created by the EU's then-head writer Troy Denning in his novel ''The Joiner King'', and they play a key role in the backstory of Denning's MythArc that stretched from the ''Literature/DarkNestTrilogy'' to ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi''; Denning also [[ArcWelding arc welded]] them to existing elements of TheVerse such as the aforementioned Centerpoint, which debuted in ''Literature/TheCorellianTrilogy'' a decade earlier. Only in the very last book of ''Fate of the Jedi'' is their true identity revealed as [[spoiler: [[AnthropomorphicPersonification the Family of Mortis]], as seen in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'']].
* The Quyans from ''Literature/TheStoneDanceOfTheChameleon'', whose civilization preceded that of the Chosen. [[spoiler:They are later revealed to actually be still around, as the Chosen's slaves called "sartlar".]]
* In Creator/TerryPratchett's novel ''Literature/{{Strata}}'', the Precursors built the titular strata machines reverse-engineered by humans for building planets, and other techology that humans didn't already develop themselves. These planet-building (and terraforming) precursors, called "Spindles" due to their great height, had their own set, called "Rollers" who didn't make celestial bodies, but megastructures (their ship is 500,000 miles long). These guys were preceeded by "Paleotechs", whom destroyed stars to make heavy elements (and pretty nebuli). These, in turn, had "[=ChThons=]", {{Space Whale}}s who exhaled hydrogen and kindled suns. Every precursor race had some kind of celestial artwork, which they made for no other reason than a hobby, and then they went extinct, all the way back to [[spoiler: the universe being created by a multiverse-spanning MegaCorp. This is, in fact, mostly a lie; the MegaCorp was the only real one, and they just wanted their creation (really only a few tens of thousands of years old) to have a bit of backstory.]].
%%* ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'': The Martians -- they're not actually from Mars; it just happened to be the first planet on which humans found their stuff.%%That's nice, but how are they an example?
* The Dolbrians In SA Swann's ''Literature/TerranConfederacy'' universe terraformed an unknown but large number of worlds, several of which still have star maps and/or megalithic artifacts on them. The [[ScienceMarchesOn Face on Mars]] is one such artifact. They vanished from the galaxy millions of years ago, for unknown reasons.
* ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'': Every intelligent race in the galaxy was Uplifted (engineered to sentience and given access to the Great Library) by a previous one, save the first. The Progenitors (self-evolved, now extinct) are [[GodGuise considered the next thing to gods]]. A race's clout in the galactic hierarchy is in part determined by how close they are to having been created directly by the Progenitors. Then along come the Humans, who have reached the stars alone, with no patron race and a complete fossil record that indicates they evolved naturally. It's practically heretical! It doesn't help matters (from the galactic standpoint) that humans have already Uplifted chimps and dolphins, too.\\
\\
In the second novel set in the Uplift Universe, ''Startide Rising,'' [[spoiler:the first dolphin-captained Earth ship discovers what is assumed to be a fleet of the fabled Progenitors, and must try to return to Earth while being hounded by bickering alien battle fleets after the transmission of their findings is intercepted; the most active (and warlike) of the alien races/alliances are not happy that the wolfling Humans might have the key to the fate of the Progenitors (which could prove most or all of their belief systems wrong]]. The idea that [[spoiler:humans may be the descendants or direct product of the Progenitors]] is also examined.
%%* ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'': The demons.
[[/folder]]

*** In more recent history, the human empires of Netheril, Imaskar, and Illefarn flourished before they disintegrated in nasty ways.

* In ''Literature/TheDarkSideOfTheSun'', the {{Precursors}} called "Jokers" were known only for the mark they made on the universe of building blatantly impossible things for no known reason but [[GreatGazoo the lulz]].

* In Creator/TerryPratchett's novel ''Literature/{{Strata}}'', the {{Precursors}} built the titular strata machines reverse-engineered by humans for building planets, and other techology that humans didn't already develop themselves. These planet-building (and terraforming) precursors, called "Spindles" due to their great height, had their own set, called "Rollers" who didn't make celestial bodies, but megastructures (their ship is 500,000 miles long). These guys were preceeded by "Paleotechs", whom destroyed stars to make heavy elements (and pretty nebuli). These, in turn, had "[=ChThons=]", {{Space Whale}}s who exhaled hydrogen and kindled suns. Every precursor race had some kind of celestial artwork, which they made for no other reason than a hobby, and then they went extinct, all the way back to [[spoiler: the universe being created by a multiverse-spanning MegaCorp. This is, in fact, mostly a lie; the MegaCorp was the only real one, and they just wanted their creation (really only a few tens of thousands of years old) to have a bit of backstory.]].

* ''VideoGame/WildArms'': On Filgaia a race of {{Precursors}} left behind a vast array of LostTechnology. [[spoiler:In the anime series ''Twilight Venom'' it was revealed that the precursors were from Earth, but left due to the annoyance of RandomEncounters]].